Smoking dash!

[dodj]

So, I pulled the battery leads.the negative lead that grounds to the block was very loose. The positive side that runs to the starter was vey difficult to get off? I had to pry it off with a long screwdriver. In the process, I must have grounded it out because the engine made a small turn over. Does that make sense? Does that narrow down my my smoking dash?

Loose grounds can cause very peculiar things to happen. It is possible the dash smoke was caused by electricity trying to find the easiest path to ground and it was through your dash wiring.

[EMCD]

 So, the altenator has been bypassed and there was no bulkhead damage. The garage said by doing the bypas 1/2 of the effective current will not be going through the ammeter. Is this a fair assessment? Given the original altenator was 35 amp, am I safe with the 70 amp given that only 35 is passing through the ammeter? How many hours for a pro to do the complete ammeter bypass?

[Chryco Psycho]

Probably less than 1/2 so yes you will be safe . We ran a 110 amp alt on a car when the battery was going dead with a 65 amp & ran the bypass with no issues so mpre then 65 amps was being put out with no ammeter problems

[72cudamaan]

Probably less than 1/2 so yes you will be safe . We ran a 110 amp alt on a car when the battery was going dead with a 65 amp & ran the bypass with no issues so mpre then 65 amps was being put out with no ammeter problems

So you didn't bypass the ammeter? I thought that was the issue with these dashes.

[ShelbyDogg]

You don't have to bypass the ammeter. Just run the big wire. The ammeter will still show a little deflection, but just not a true reading of draw or charge anymore.

[EMCD]

The mechanic said there was no damage visible to the bulkhead or the wiring harness and the Leeds to the ammeter. I figured I'd ask you guys if it's needed given we did the other bypass. Sounds like we got one more issue nailed down. Now I just need to find a 3 pronged door adjar jam switch. Any ideas? I cannot find one on eBay.

[72cudamaan]

You don't have to bypass the ammeter. Just run the big wire. The ammeter will still show a little deflection, but just not a true reading of draw or charge anymore.

I had a spare ammeter bezel so I started to cut a 2 1/16" hole in it to fit a VDO volt gauge. Sounded like a good idea until
the bezel slipped in the drill press. Sliced down my thumb and through the thumbnail. Maybe a pic tomorrow.
Didn't do the bezel any favors either. 

[EMCD]

Holy crap, that must have hurt.

[wally426ci]

If that amp gauge is reading super high, you have a short circuit somewhere. Start disconnecting things here and there till you find out what is pulling a high load. I hope that you don't have a bypassed fusible link up front.

A common point of smoke is the arcing at the male female burning up where it plugs in at the bulkhead connector. Check the big red and big black wires first. If it shorted at the amp meter lugs to ground, you wont see the melted wire till you unwrap the harness.

Be careful with this. Something melted somewhere!

I just had a a big meltdown in my 68 truck last fall. I used an Amerex B417TC - 2.5 LB ABC Extinguisher. It is heavily corrosive and I am still finding areas that I missed with a baking soda soultion that are rusting.

Do what you can to find an extinguisher that is not corrosive. I've heard about CO2 ones?

My issue was the alternator stud snapped and grounded. Bad news.

[73Chally]

Have you thought about converting to a Volt Meter?  There are suppliers out there that offer meters that look exactly like the ammeter, and you eliminate the high voltage going through your dash.

[EMCD]

could you provide some of the co.'s names? i'd be interested in keeping the stock look of the non-ralley dash with the upgrade to an alt-meter. thanks for the help!

[73Chally]

could you provide some of the co.'s names? i'd be interested in keeping the stock look of the non-ralley dash with the upgrade to an alt-meter. thanks for the help!

Redline Gauges and Instrument Specialties are the 2 that come to mind.  RT Engineering (Dashworx) used to, but I don't know if they're still around.  You probably have to call.  I don't know if it's something they advertise on their website.  It might be considered custom.

[dodj]

So you didn't bypass the ammeter? I thought that was the issue with these dashes.

Personally, I think it is a good idea to disconnect the wires from the ammeter entirely. It won't be giving you accurate information anyway. Install a voltmeter. 

[72cudamaan]

Here's my voltmeter conversion. I screwed the bezel to a board so I had something to hold on to. Didn't
want a repeat of thumb damage.

[dodj]

  JEEEEZ that must have hurt!!! 

don't do that again.