70 Charger: Battery relocation and underhood wiring 2.0

[Kern Dog]

Hello all,
I've been working on the electrical system of my car. The wiring is all original except for the electronic ignitio conversion I did in 2002. Everything works and besides having the occasional no-spark episode, most everything is fine. I have just worried a bit that I was on borrowed time with the 43 year old wiring. I decided to make some changes.
First up, I moved the battery to the trunk. I did this in part because I set up the car for cornering/handling. Secondly I needed the room to mount a relay box for the headlight upgrades I have planned.
The battery + cable goes to a post on a Ford solenoid. The other post holds the 1/0 cable that runs to the starter. I ran an 8 ga wire from the Batt + to the + post on my firewall mounted Mopar starter relay to power all the needs of the car. I will end up putting in a fuse on this wire, though I have yet to do so. The Ford solenoid has 2 large posts and 2 small trigger posts. One of the small trigger posts has a 12 ga wire ran to the relay where the brown wire used to be. The solenoid on the starter has 2 terminals. One has the 1/0 cable. I added a 3" jumper wire connecting the two terminals. When the key is turned to crank, the firewall relay sends signal to the Ford solenoid to close, allowing the 1/0 cable to be energized, jumping to the small terminal on the solenoid. To be safe, I have a 2/0 ground cable from the engine to the NEG on the battery. I have the engine grounded to the core support and the battery grounded to the trunk floor.
It starts as fast as before, maybe faster. The Ford solenoid clicks a split second before the motor spins... THAT is different!
Next up, replacing the underhood wiring. A friend is walking me through the job since he has a far greater understanding of electrical systems. We're eliminating the ballast resistor. The ECM and voltage regulator will be moved over to sit on the fender apron near the alternator to shorten the wiring paths. We're using a box to house relays for the headlights. Eventually I want to switch to H4 type headlights to have lighting comparable to newer cars.
I'm hoping that these changes will ensure the car remains reliable and safe for years to come.
Is there anything you did different that you care to share? Thanks, Greg

 

[747mopar]

I would look into the bulkhead connectors while your at it, they are known to cause trouble especially the main power feed (Ammeter). It is best to do away with the ammeter and go to a voltmeter (safer, better and can be plugged into just about any power source). Something else you might consider, instead of moving the voltage regulator how about a one wire alternator. If your doing much electrical upgrades you may end up needing a little extra charging power and a one wire alternator would only require one wire to the battery doing away with the regulator. I'm thinking of doing the same thing to my battery (adding a solenoid to the trunk for safety).

 

[Kern Dog]

We're going to replace all of the wires on the engine side of the bulkhead. The interior harness is still soft and pliable, so I don't see the need to change anything there EXCEPt as you mentioned, the ammeter setup.