Ive gone over the Mad diagram a few times and it seems simple enough. BTW many thanks to KhryslerKid for his help. My car is a convertible and off the red terminal on the amp gauge is a circuit breaker with a connection for the power top motor. I cant see how the top is not operable all the time as that terminal is always hot. So now with the black and red wire soldered together i was thinking of running a line off of the hot starter terminal to a circuit breaker and then to the wire that went to the original circuit breaker that was on the back of dash connected to amp meter. My question is what size circuit breaker? I was thinking 5 amps. What do you think? Thanks-------Forgot to thank Nacho so thank you also and all others
Hey Steve, first the reason your top is not "hot" when the key is off is because mopar uses a lower amp circuit to actuate the motor, kind of like an ignition switch, that small switch could never handle full starting amps, so they use a solenoid or relay to handle the amperage.
Next, if you do not want to drill your bulkhead fitting you do not have to, I see that as a great option, I agree, it will work, BUT I also do not feel great about doing it.
Heres the other options, all of which I have done,
1-drill another hole in the firewall or share an existing one, to run a well insulated/grommet fed 8g wire right to the fuse box feed.
2-Keep the bulkhead how it is, bypass or convert your amp meter to a voltmeter, BUT wire the alt to the starter relay and keep an eye on your bulk head connections, contact cleaner, dielectric grease, clean, dry connections and they wont burn up.
Most of the issues were old corroded wires and bad connections, I had a copy of a service bulletin given to Mopar service centers 45 years ago telling them at every scheduled service the bulk head connections should be unplugged, inspected, cleaned, greased, and resinstalled. They new it was a problem.
The drilling the bulkhead fix is great for people with old burnt bulkheads, but for someone who just spent $500 on a harness it may not make sense. Consider yourself the original owner now, and you can keep that weak point strong by taking care of it and never having an issue.
Some other issues that plagued these cars, was aftermarket items, such as radios, cbs, lighting, fans, and anything the factory didn't install. DO yourself a favor and switch every light you can to led, if you are running an aftermarket radio, pull that power separately with its own circuit breaker or fuse.
I know there is a debate about grease, some people say yay some nay, I have had cars long enough in new England to say, YAY, use the stuff, I use it on most connections in and out of the car, also they all are not created equal, this is the one I like.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFG4TD8/ref=dp_cerb_1
a little expensive but good stuff, if you do not want it everywhere here are the must have spots in my opinion
High beam switch, cover that thing with it
bulkhead fittings
column plug
door switch plugs
I also coat my tube fuses with it on the contact sides, the distributor plug, and orange box plugs. I also dab some on my outside open connections, battery, starter, relay, alternator.
Also if you like the clear stuff, you can put some of that clear dielectric tune up grease on the outside of the connector, in the back where the wires go in, use aq tip and cover the back side of all the connections, this keeps moisture out.
That little bit of time and material, and a quick inspection of all of them connections when you do you oil changes, you will live worry free..
