65amp wiring/trouble shooting

SlantedMark4 said
It is a '74 Valiant 225, 65A Alternator and Rear Window Defrost option (heard it has different wiring). It looks like none of all the connectors were ever changed or repaired, so those were also never checked I guess... There are also absolutely no modifications.
Everything worked fine until lighting in the dash went off on the left side, then the light switch failed and after all that the smoke came. This all might have the same source.
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One real weakness of these cars is the headlight circuits. The wiring (at least on US models) was intended for 40 Watt headlamps.
When the newer headlamps and replacements came along, they typically draw more power.
You can add a pair of relays and draw power straight from the alternator. This take a big load (9+ amps) off of all of the connections between the alternator and the lamps themselves.