Electrical goes out while driving....

[Dragon383]

Chryco and Dodj, thanks. I was figured I could do that. I have now pulled my dash off and got behind everything. I need to get the bulkhead to a space where I can see/work with it.

Is there any reason I could not run a new, heavy gauge wire straight from the alt to the batt or starter relay or somewhere?
Then ground out the voltage gauge in the dash and run a wire out for the positive to connect somewhere?

If I do it this way, where is the best place to connect the voltage gauge so that is does not show voltage when the car is off? Or is it a problem for it to read the voltage all the time(direct connect to the battery). I feel this would create a small drain.?

Thanks again for all the help everyone.

[dodj]

Is there any reason I could not run a new, heavy gauge wire straight from the alt to the batt or starter relay or somewhere?

Nope. That's what many of us have done. But fuse it. I didn't at first but I was shown how it is a good idea. As for where you tie in the voltmeter, I don't remember where I connected mine but anywhere on the accesories circuitry will be fine.

[Dragon383]

Thanks again dodj,

I figured this would work, but I didn't know if it would interfer with the external regulator or anything.
I also figured that hooking up to an accessory would work but I didn't know if there was a perfered area to hook to.
I hope to have the car running by the end of the weekend...hooray for a long weekend!

[Chryco Psycho]

There are Yellow & red Tri plugs behind the dash if I recall right red is switched power the next place you could look is the radio feed for switched power for the volt guage

[Dragon383]

Alright, got the car all back together and everything hooked up.

New problem.
When I have the key on the voltage meter reads 12v. When I crank the car it drops to 8-9v. When the car fires it reads 16v and if I rev the motor at all it move to 18v.

This all seems to high to me. I went and bought a new voltage regulator and it does the same thing.

Any ideas why it is charging at idle and super charging at 1k+ rpm? 
BTW this is all sitting in my garage, I never even got it in gear.

Thanks

[dodj]

Ya, that's a little high.
To start, clean the bulkhead connections and clean/tighten the VR ground.
Voltage drop due to bad connections can cause the VR to 'up' the output of the alt.

[Chryco Psycho]

It could be a problem inside the Alt as well , blown diode or shorted field

[Dragon383]

Thanks guys.  I haven't had time to do anymore work on the car yet. 

Chryco I will get a new alt and see if that works.

If not, dodj, where is the VR (voltage Reg?) ground? Does it ground through the bolts or is it one of the wires coming off of it?
Which bulk head connections need to be cleaned. They all looked good except the one I bypassed for the alt into the car.

Also, how do I know which connection goes where on the alt?  If I had them backwards would it have this issue?

I have a green and blue wire I think. I just hooked it up the way I found it.  I have the green wire going to the GRD post and the blue to ther other(I forget what it is marked).

Thanks again for all the help.  I can't wait to drive the car again, it has been so much fun for the short while I have had it.

Edit:  So I came home  tonight and put my multi meter to the car to check what it read as voltage when running. The meter and gauge both showed 12v.  Confused I rev'd the gas a bit to see if I could see a change. I blew the 80amp fuse I put inline from the battery to the alt.
I pulled the alt took it in to get it tested. It tested at 13.7 low and 15.7 high.
I came home and put the alt back in. I went to turn the car over and had no power in the car.
I then checked the 60amp fuse I put inline to the car, it was still good.
I wiggled the wires inside the car at the fuse block. Nothing. Then I wiggled the wires on the engine side of the bulkhead. The 60amp inline fuse blew.
So I guess I have a wired grounding out in the bulkhead??? I am just so lost now.

[dodj]

Not a stock alt? You should have two field connections (both marked  'FLD') and an output post. But no ground connection. At least that's how mine is.
I have an 80 amp fuse on my charging wire and have never blown it. Any chance of a pic?
As for blowing the 60 amp fuse when you wiggled the wires on the engine side, you have bare wires somewhere in there. You have to spend some time going over your wires to find the short. No easy way, just one by one.

[ShelbyDogg]

If you are using a pre-70 alternator, one of the fields is grounded at the alt case. You will fry your battery. The green wire is the one the VR uses to control the output by grounding the field.
Do you have the right alternator?

The charging circuit is very simple. 3 connections on the alternator, 2 connections on the voltage reg (VR), not including the grounded case AND the grounded VR case.
1.Big battery post, which you already fuse-wired to the battery.
2.Green field wire. From the outside pin of the voltage regulator to one of the 2 field terminals on the Alt. (doesn't matter)
3.Blue field and 12v wire. From the middle-top VR terminal to the Alt's remaining field terminal.

That's it!
see my pic:

[Dragon383]

Thanks guys.  I know I could go through the bulkhead wire by wire but the bulkhead is so burned up I am worried about it in the future.
Car wiring is the only thing I know pretty well (besides the power system). I think I am going to just order a kit and rewire the car. There are too many things not stock about the car that now I have wires all over and some are spliced to other wires and it is just a big mess. I had planned on rewiring the car when I bought it, now I will just have to do it sooner than expected. I really just wanted to put a patch on the problem so I could finish out the summer/fall and drive the car.
ShelbyDogg, thanks for the diagram. It does help to know how it works, but the kit I am going to order switches over to a GM style alternator with a one wire connection.
I am going to order the American Autowire kit for mopars. I have seen some pretty good reviews on this site for it and it is the same kit I rewired my friends 68 camaro with.
This way I will know where every wire is and what it does
I am tired of looking over the stock diagram and having wire colors not match up.
Thanks for all the help guys. I really enjoy this forum and the helpful people in it.

[ShelbyDogg]

If you want to drive the rest of the summer, just drill your burned up bulkhead connector right through to pass a #10 wire through the old location. Splice it in at both ends then tape it up. Mine pass right through and you cant tell that it doesn't have a male female spade junction on the inside. Had mine bypassed  for the big red (power) and big black (alt), since about 81, when mine burned up.

Don't use a one-wire alternator. They are not getting the sense voltage from the battery.  Numerous articles on that.  Only use those for race cars.

[tommyg29]

search "starter relay bypass"
Lots of experience here from owners with electrical issues with 40 year old cars.
They had weaknesses to begin with, and add 40 years of age and back yard rigging...?
and PS
I had that connector at the base of the steering column burn up on me too.

[Dragon383]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I am pretty set on rewiring the car. I will look up the alternator issue with one wire pieces. I did car stereo for a decade and jerry rigged wiring (not saying your by pass message, what I have found in my car) and half done projects drive me nuts. Half my gauges are new and half are old, the trunk cylinder is gone and it has electric trunk pop (more poorly done spliced garbage), odd wires cut and re-worked into other wires and now with everything I have found, I just want it all new and done by me.
When the wire burned through the bulkhead it melted a handful of other wires with it. I tried checking them and taping them up but I guess some are worse than I thought and I must have missed something.

For me, it is an issue of time. I can take the time to fix all this right, and then re-wire the car someday anyways, or I can just bite the bullet up front and buy everything now and wire it once(or that is my hope).