Amp meter and bulkhead connector

[subforry]

I am going through my '66 Charger and in replacing the engine wiring harness, I found the amp meter wires in the plug had melted and been by-passed. Since there is other hacking to the dash harness, I decided to buy a new dash harness.

The car has factory AC and power windows. The stereo probably uses less power than the original. Question is, with new wiring harnesses, should I still consider an amp meter wire bulkhead by pass or amp meter delete? These are M&H harnesses. BTW: very nice stuff.

Thanks.

 

[Doorkicker]

Sounds like a really nice car! My gut reaction, I would avoid deleting it. It's nice to have, and it stays as intended.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Ammeter bypass, not needed if everything properly installed.

Bulkhead bypass, recomended.

Alt upgrade, IMHO allways a must even for stock system. We must remember overheat failures began on stock systems demands under a poorly rated alt, then the risk increased wit added accesories incorrectly sourced along with increased transit intensity throught the years.

 

[RT6PK]

If you were going to run an ammeter, I would recommend having the original refurbished or buying a new one. The original is almost 60 years old. There has been a lot written about original equipment degrading over time and failing. I have solved electrical issues in two different vehicles simply by by-passing the original ammeter and adding an aftermarket voltmeter.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Amm health is just about disasemblying, visual check, reinforce if required and reasembly again. No Vodoo magic trick on here.

I would trust better on a good and checked used part than any reproduction around.

Methods to know how and where to check, servicing if needed has been discussed and posted around here on several threads

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

Ammeters don’t degrade over time. Check the terminals for previous abuse, loose nuts, crushed insulators from overtightening, repair as necessary. Do bypass the charge circuit bulkhead terminals, by far the weakest link in the original system. Make sure there are no mis-placed added loads connected at the battery or starter relay.