Electrical or ground issue?

Yes I took a look at a few different vendors but they didnt seem to have staff that could answer any questions. Another thought I just had was ...why could I not eliminate the bulkhead connector completely and just hook up wires directly one by one?

No real right answer to this. If you have time on your hands and some electrical skills, you could probably do it cheaply yourself if you don’t care about original look.

I bought the harnesses and put it back stock. Figured since I don’t drive it but about 3-5000 miles a year, I might get 10 years out of it before more trouble. I didn’t want to spend the time doing it from scratch.

On the bulkhead connections there are really only about three that are really a problem. The ignition and the two ammeter feeds. If you bypass those you might get most of the typical problems solved.