Dash power running through Alternator gauge?

I recently pulled the gauges out of my 65 Dart to clean and paint the bezel. I thought the car had never been messed with but there was some modern, large gauge wires going to the Alternator gauge. One was hot coming from the wire bulkhead in the firewall and the other side went to what appears to be a cluster of wires behind the spedo. This looked questionable so I disconnected them from the gauge and sat them aside. Put the dash back together and now nothing works. No headlights, no ignition, no anything. Does all of the power run through that gauge? Doesn't seem right to me.