No headlights, fusible link at bulkhead melted…

67Dart273 said
The fuse link should pretty much kill ALL power into the interior. That is in the main battery feed to the ammeter.

You need to find out WHY

One way to not burn the car down is to find an old headlamp, or stop/ tail lamp socket, and wire an 1157 or headlamp in series with the main battery ground. They you can pull fuses, and the lamp will light if there is a load turned on, or a short, and will protect everything from being burned down

Do NOT forget the main charging wire from the alternator, and the alternator itself.

Remember, too, that the ammeter wires are red and black and BLACK IS NOT GROUND.

If you do not have a diagram or shop manual, run over to MyMopar.com and download a free service manual. You may have to sub Plymouth vs Dodge, etc.

Here is a simplified diagram from MADD Electrical concerning primary power

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtmlThis varies year to year, but it shows the general plan. Power from the batt goes through the RED, fuse link, through the bulkhead connector, and to the ammeter. Through the ammeter, out on BLACK, and a few inches from the meter, a WELDED SPLICE branches off to feed the fuse panel hot buss, the key, the headlights ONLY power to the light switch.
View attachment 1716283351
Click to expand...

67Dart273 said
The fuse link should pretty much kill ALL power into the interior. That is in the main battery feed to the ammeter.

You need to find out WHY

One way to not burn the car down is to find an old headlamp, or stop/ tail lamp socket, and wire an 1157 or headlamp in series with the main battery ground. They you can pull fuses, and the lamp will light if there is a load turned on, or a short, and will protect everything from being burned down

Do NOT forget the main charging wire from the alternator, and the alternator itself.

Remember, too, that the ammeter wires are red and black and BLACK IS NOT GROUND.

If you do not have a diagram or shop manual, run over to MyMopar.com and download a free service manual. You may have to sub Plymouth vs Dodge, etc.

Here is a simplified diagram from MADD Electrical concerning primary power

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtmlThis varies year to year, but it shows the general plan. Power from the batt goes through the RED, fuse link, through the bulkhead connector, and to the ammeter. Through the ammeter, out on BLACK, and a few inches from the meter, a WELDED SPLICE branches off to feed the fuse panel hot buss, the key, the headlights ONLY power to the light switch.
View attachment 1716283351
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate the simplified diagram, I do have a factory manual, but the wiring diagrams are far from straight forward…
As I continue to investigate, the main feed terminal at the alternator saw some heat as the plastic shield around the post is all melted, so I’m thinking the alternator may have been overcharging and did some damage, at no point did I notice the ammeter spike, but I don’t know how accurate they are in the first place…
So even with all the overheating, if I have power at the headlight switch there has to be another problem that’s keeping the lights from working, because if the welded splice off the main feed out of the ammeter was an issue, I wouldn’t see power at the headlight switch, or am I missing something? Thanks again!