After a fire.....

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64longroof

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How would you start to repair this? I have a manual, even an under dash harness.

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The engine bay harness seems salvageable... You'd have to redo the ends of the wires before they go into the bulkhead connector and then test them all for continuity and replace any other parts that look burnt up, but it would save you some dough. No matter what you do, I'd ditch the terminal connector at the firewall and find another way to join the interior harness and the engine bay harness when you redo it since you already have to take it all out. That's the weakpoint of the electrical system, and if I had to guess might've been what started the fire? I'm not sure what the premade alternatives are out there, but I can think of a couple ways to DIY it and make it safer and more reliable than the old connectors.
 
That's a damn shame, but it can be fixed. Be patient and methodical. Take photos for reference. I'd start by removing the glass, and then disassembling the dash, piece by piece. Make detailed notes of everything that needs replacement as you take it apart.
The longest journeys all begin with the first step.
 
The way I would approach this.

  1. Remove glass
  2. Remove entire dash (screws around where glass is and bolts under the dash on the sides, I assume the early A body's had that ability)
  3. Photograph everything.
  4. Start removing bad melted connectors
  5. Check the switches etc connectors.
  6. Check all wires.
  7. Determine if dash harness needs to be replaced.
  8. I would replace the engine harness, melted area away from the heat source and the blue tape suggests there may be issues there beyond the fire.
  9. Repair paint on cowl and elsewhere
  10. After dash is repaired, replace
 
Windshield out then disassemble the dash. I'd remove the entire dash. That way you can see it all easy.
 
Wow! I would say you got lucky.
Could have been left with a shell.
Great advice so far.
 
Make an easy dash stand out of 2x4's and some bracing. It is so much easier to sit on a stool with the dash at head height. The other thing I did was blew up the wiring diagram so it fits on a piece of cardboard that is around 2 ft. x 2 ft. Rod

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That sucks. Curious, Was the ammeter bypassed?

No. I did put in a transistor 5V for the other gauges, but it was only on with ign. on. It looks fine. I sandblasted the terminals in the bulkhead disconnect, put dielectric on them, not much. Yes, I had heard about this being a poor design, and risk.
 
Would purchasing an old under dash wiring harness and using that be a way to go, or buy one, have someone remake it, or just take one burnt wire at a time and replace ?
Luckily, I do have a replacement inst. cluster.
 
There's really no good reason to bypass the ammeter on stock set up. You got a winch or plow or some other specific reason, that's different. And some years seem to get better ones than others. Most are fine.
As far as the bulkhead connector goes; Several early-A years have a pretty good feed arrangement. On those there's a lot less reason to run the main feeds through a grommet. Again, assuming here stock electric loads.

First few years there's no fusible link. If this is a pre-63? that's an alteration worth considering - assuming not 100% original is Ok
 
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I personally don't like having full alternator current going through little connectors. I put in a voltmeter, installed relays for my headlights and for my electric fans. I also installed new inline fusible links. The last thing I want is a melt down. My volt meter, although not a perfect match, was only 12 bucks.

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That's thing. It's not like an ammeter on a generator. The alternator output does not go through ammeter.
I know it says 'alternator' on many Chrysler ammeters. It was unfortunate and confusing choice. It also says 'BATT' on the alternator. Whatchya gonna do.
The ammeter on a car only carries current going to or from the battery.
So the only times current flows through the ammeter is during start and while the battery is recharging.
A small ampount may also flow when stopped, especially at night in the rain, when the alternator can't produce enough power to cover all the needs.
 
I guess I have seen one too many wiring harnesses melted down and just don't want to take any chances...
 
The problem with the bulkhead (and with all connectors of this type) is that the loops on the female connector open up creating resistance and heat or something not to function. Take a harness that hasn't been cooked and remove every connector from the bulkhead one at a time and close the loops.
 
  • Also besides squeezing the female ends tighter, soak the both the male and female ends in CLR and scrub w a small steel wire brush, then rinse, dry, and repin.
  • You can also buy dielectric grease to pack the connectors this will keep moisture out and prevent corrosion from forming.
 
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I've been slowly digging into what is a daunting project.
Hagerty Insurance has been really good.
Dash out, windshield, headliner out.
Ignition switch and headlight switch seem OK. Wiper switch is damaged, so it the up/down switch for tailgate window.
One big challenge will be getting the acrylic enamel, metallic green paint blended in. Not sure if I can even get acrylic enamel any more, or someone who's pretty good at using it. Radio looks iffy. Vent louvers melted. One duct is gone. Heater core, glove box, fine. The pushbuttons are sooty, the white pain I added to the box is a bit discolored. Not sure if I can repaint the burned metal on the dash. Someone said that can be nearly impossible to clean:
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