This was a good learning experience here for all of us.
Always disconnect your battery when messing with wires under your dash
until your ready to fire it up or test it.
In the fall of 68 I was starting Navy Electronics "A" school at Treasure Island. We had been getting lectures about safety and "REMOVE your watch and other jewelry."
I had met a guy named Grote, a gearhead from back east, who had a ring scar around his wrist. He explained that a couple of years earlier, he had got it against the alternator stud on his Chev, and welded the expansion band pretty much into his wrist