Electrical woes!!!

[64ragtop]

I just cut and pasted a note and some photos from my friend who has the air conditioned shop (darn near a necessity in Texas in the summer)

"The previous owner of Bob’s car had a problem with the AMP wire running through the plug. A common problem with our old rides. They did the pass through thing with the AMP wire but didn’t bother to fix any of the other wires. They also didn’t bother to reuse the wiring plug. They just stuck the male wires into the bulkhead connector with out the plug.

"Most of the wires had been cut about 2 inches back and then spliced used wires on. A lot of the male terminals had corroded badly and were almost eaten away. This could have been a tragic loss of a great car.

"If you’re going to do the pass through thing with the AMP wire, I think it’s better to take it out of the plug and put it through a separate hole in the firewall. But then also clean or replace the remaining terminals. It’s not hard to get the terminals out of the connector plugs or the bulkhead connector.

"Once the wires get corrosion on them it creates a high resistance and the connection starts to heat up and melts the plastic connector and the insulation on the wire. There was also a problem with water getting into the connectors. Chrysler’s solution was to pack the connectors full of grease.

'There are also a host of butt connectors all over the wiring harness in Bob’s car. And they didn’t use heat shrink, they used tape. I think Bob’s choice of a new harness is the correct one.

'If your wiring isn’t this bad you can fix it with new wiring connectors (plugs), bulkhead connector and new terminals. The male and female terminals are available from NAPA using part numbers 725147 and 725145.

"The bulkhead connector for the early models that has 2 connectors isn’t available new (I couldn’t find one). The later one with 3 connectors is available from places like “Charger Specialties”, Mitchell, Restor Rick’s” ebay, “Year One” and “Classic Industries”. They also have the wiring connectors (plugs).

"Make sure you get the correct plug with the correct key for the connector you’re working on. All 3 plugs have different keys (left, middle & right)

"Also shop around, the prices vary from good to ridiculous."

I couldn't have said it any better myself!

 

[RedFish]

Cause and effect. That melt down effect may be considered common by some but... Considering the numbers/statistics, not true.
Regardless how it is repaired, same wire gauge and connectors or welding leads installed, the cause is still present. Might have been simply moisture and corrosion that comes with age. Might have been accesories pulling too much current.
A lot of times the actual cause will show itself after the power supply is improved,
wipers go on and off and on and off,
headlights go on and off and on and off,
blower goes on and off and on and off.
All of those circuits have thermal protection somehwere.
Good luck with it.

 

[BillGrissom]

I am guessing your bulkhead connector is from a 1964 A body. Here is some maybe info:

Early-A bulkhead connectors had 2 connectors (1962-1966?). In 1967?, they added a 3rd connector for the wiper motor since it moved to the engine bay. Variable-speed wipers need many wires. I recall they put a few other functions thru the 3rd connector.

In 1962 & 1965, the large ALT & BATT leads passed via dedicated studs w/ screw connectors, not the spade connectors that caused melted terminals in later Mopars. For some reason, 1964 bulkheads (photo above) did not have these feed-thrus (my 64 Valiant doesn't either).

The 1962 bulkhead is not the same as 1965, with smaller connectors. See photos below. I don't know how many bulkhead variations exist. It looks like the 64 bulkhead has a smaller firewall cutout than 1962 or 1965. Otherwise, using a 1965 bulkhead might be better in a total re-wire. I haven't seen a 1963 or 1966. These photos are from current ebay listings (high-priced).

In your case, your mechanics are all thumbs with electrical wiring, as most seem to be. Using stubs of wire with butt crimps and wrapping with electrical tape is ugly, amateur, and will lead to future problems. Wire extensions should be done with solder and heat shrink.

 

[67Dart273]

That is just about the best example of a worst case I've seen!!

But I take a slightly different view.

Unless you are worried about "restore correctness" consider this:

Just how many times do you really need to disconnect the bulkhead connector?

Let's say you are completely stripping the engine bay for paint or some other major mod. So, you would normally strip the engine bay wiring, and disconnect at the bulkhead.

BUT once you have the harness stripped (except the wiper) if all the wiring "fed through" the bulkhead instead of disconnecting, just how much more work would it really be, to simply yank the connector out of the hole, and feed all the wire into the interior?

As someone else on here pointed out, "there's more than one way to skin a cat," figuratively speaking.

 

[64ragtop]

67Dart273, That is an approach I considered. Two potential challenges that I see are the length of the wires without the connectors might be too short to bring both ends together, hold them in place and solder them. Then there's that big hole to fill. I'm not THAT dedicated to "restore correctness" but the simple "plug and play" process to replace the harnesses seemed like less work and hassle, and quicker too.

To your latter point, it's true that there are "more than one way to skin a cat" but there are none that the cat will enjoy!!

ATB

BC