Amp gauge and heater

[draginmopars]

We are working on a 72 Swinger > Snow Ball #2

Started out as replacing the head light switch -rheostat wire broke

While working on it
decided to take some load of the amp gauge


going to run a wire from the alt to the starter solenoid /battery post.

put the headlights on a relay

want to keep the amp guage ( stock looking)
know it won't read proper

want to put the heater blower motor on a relay
after the fan switch, but that will only give me one speed, Correct?

Any thing else I can do to reduce load on the amp gauge, beside removing it and bolting wires together

we have the complete wiring harness out of the car to check each connector
We plan on keeping the car,
want to prevent any wire/ electrical issues
down the road..

Thanks

 

[nm9stheham]

Can't see much point in reducing the current in the amp gauge. It is either good or marginal, and if marginal, then it ought to be cut out. But you have another issue.....the way you are doing this is not very good for the ammeter.

With the original wiring, the alternator current flowed into the car to the welded splice, and then from the welded splice into the car's circuits, and also from that welded splice back into the battery via the ammeter. Only the battery charge current went through the ammeter (as it was meant to do).

Now, all the alternator current will go to the starter relay big lug, the battery charging load will flow from the stater relay big lug, and all of the rest of the car's load will go back through the ammeter, into the welded splice and then on into the rest of the car. So, you are now going to have more overall current in the ammeter.

The whole point of the ammeter bypass is to complement the alternator current connection to the starter relay.

If you are keeping the ammeter, then you are better off IMO with the original car's main wiring configuration. Make sure the ammeter and its connection are in good condition (no corrosion around the connections or mating connectors, no melting in the area), clean the connections and treat with dielectric grease (silver loaded type is even better), and make a good wire and connections from the alternator to the welded splice. The alternator connections through the bulkhead connector, and the fusible link wire connection into the ammeter are the big problem areas.

 

[draginmopars]

thanks for the info

electrical knowledge
i have little of

 

[garyfish340]

Sure for some people reducing the current running through the instrument panel seems sort of ussless. I had to do this, and the answer was super simple. I learned this from that Ebooger guy from mopar action ( who I haven't many nice words for, but he is smart. ) So adapt it to your needs.
I have a G3 hemi stroker, and the alternator is 138 amps. The amps alone, are not the issue, it's the current that cause disasters. The solution was to run a 4 gauge wire from the Alternator to the starter relay, battery lug, and it needs a breaker in that circuit. In my case 120 amps. ( you need to adapt to whatever you alternator outputs.) So now instead of that tiny black wire running from all the current from the alternator, to your ammeter, through the dash, and to the starter relay. The current now has a giant secondry route, from the alternator directly to the relay, this relieves a ton of electrical push pressure. ( The fat wire off the alternator, across the front of the radiator support, to behind the battery area with a radio shack project box enclosing a circuit breaker - You can seal it in wax, or epoxy, if you're weather paranoid like me, and than to the battery lug on the starter relay. I used that set up for 7 years without a single issue. Road testes, and approved.

 

[garyfish340]

This is how the secondary is routed. It could be even shorter, and would work better, if it was routed directly across the front of the engine, and to the relay. I did it this way because I thought it looked to out of place the other way.