Charging system

[steve from staten island]

As I understand it the black wire off the alternator goes to the firewall connection and then to one side of the amp meter. Before the amp meter the black wire also feeds other accessories.
I have eliminated the spade connections at the bulkhead.
What I would like to do is run a #8 wire directly to the starter solenoid from the alternator.
My question is should I remove the original #12 wire now running from the alternator and just solder in a ring connector on the black wire to pick up 12 volts from the solenoid?
I also have already bypassed the amp meter but my question is now what purpose does the red wire serve if im running a direct line from alternator to starter solenoid. Its not feeding anything anymore. The black wire is feeding accessories and the alternator runs directly to solenoid.
Were should I use fusible links in all of this and would a fuse or circuit breaker work?
Thanks for any input.

 

[moes]

read this article, it should explain what you need to know and do. Check out #4. Goodluck!


https://www.allpar.com/history/mopar/electrical.html

 

[moes]

Steve, when I did the car I used 8 gauge wire and a 12 gauge fusible link. The fusible link goes on the starter solenoid wire end. I left all the OEM wire the way it came from the factory, some people eliminate the amp meter all together. The amp meter will not read correctly if you leave it connected, I run aftermarket gauges with a volt meter so I can keep an eye on the charging system. Doing the extra wire from the alternator to the start solenoid help reduce the load the the bulkhead connectors. This is one of the first mods I did to the car when I got it three years ago and I've never had an electrical problem with it.

 

[67belvedere/225]

what I did ( don't yell)is put a gm self charging alternator. I remove the amp meter and installed a volt meter instead, the gm alternator has just one big *** wire going to the battery the engine starts and its start charging right away . it was easy and reliable

 

[steve from staten island]

Steve, when I did the car I used 8 gauge wire and a 12 gauge fusible link. The fusible link goes on the starter solenoid wire end. I left all the OEM wire the way it came from the factory, some people eliminate the amp meter all together. The amp meter will not read correctly if you leave it connected, I run aftermarket gauges with a volt meter so I can keep an eye on the charging system. Doing the extra wire from the alternator to the start solenoid help reduce the load the the bulkhead connectors. This is one of the first mods I did to the car when I got it three years ago and I've never had an electrical problem with it.

Thanks Moe. Im going to do pretty much what you said. #8 from the alternator to a 5/16 lug connector, then #12 fusible link to starter solenoid
Im thinking of removing original alternator (black wire). and soldering lug on it were it comes out of firewall and connecting to to that HD lug terminal
My amp meter is bypassed and the spade connectors for the black and red wires to amp meter were removed and its soldered and directly wired. thanks for the help

 

[Ratbastard]

Did the same thing you guys are doing. Created a power point on the fender well, solid wire through the junction block, from there, I run solenoids to ignition, lights, electric fans, and head lights. 100 amp alt. 8 ga. Wire. 14 volts running everything in front of firewall. See MADELECTRIC.COM for wire schematic. Great info for mopar rewire.

 

[steve from staten island]

So I have a #6 gauge to a terminal stud and a 12 gauge fusible link to starter solenoid. The original alternator black wire and the red wire that goes to amp meter are now tied together eliminating amp meter. I will be doing a volt meter conversion over the winter.
My original harness from year one had a fusible link the went to starter solenoid failed. The insulation and not the wire itself burnt. What happened was the spade connectors at the firewall became over heated and deteriorated and failed. The black wire to spade also was overheated.
Im going to use a Maxi fuse holder and fuse in the black line from alternator that feeds lights and ignition.
Now I have a 100amp alternator and # 6 stranded wire to starter solenoid. Im going to use a Bussman 80 amp circuit breaker rated 48 volts DC max, in that #6 line
I had to drill out the old burnt failed spade connectors and run new wires through it soldering them, thereby hard wiring. It still looks original and you really cant tell the difference
I use a battery disconnect at the negative terminal and if I want I can trip the circuit breaker also