1970 Duster project in Sweden

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trebor75 said:
Thanks moparmat. That looks really nice and clean. How come you bypass it? Mine is working right now, is it a weak link in the electrical system?
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The entire charging current (30-50 amps?) goes through the bulkhead connector, in and out. Any oxide in those connectors and the whole thing melts. Standard fault on the earlier models. They fixed this sometime around 1970, I believe, maybe earlier.

If you bypass it, you only measure a voltage and hardly any current passes thru, keeping the bulkhead connector from destroying itself.

If you want pictures of a molten connector, I think I have some in my thread. They're attachments now, though. I need to fix that ...
 
Thanks for the kudos on my gage panel. I cut off the plastic pointer from the volt gage and super glued my old ammeter needle on so it matched the other gages. You can see that in the last pic. There is also a potentiometer on the volt gage to fine tune it with a volt meter to get the needle where you want it. At 13V mine is set to be slightly above half on the gage.

Yes Trebor, it is a weak link. As you add accessories and install a larger alternator to keep up with them, this will increase amp load along with the connections at the bulkhead being old and probably weak from corrosion or tarnish you run the risk of the bulkhead connector over heating and melting where these 2 wires go through it.

I dont agree with the second schematic completely where it shows running the red and black wires through the firewall itself bypassing the bulkhead connector altogether unless the connector is already melted. The reason for this is, once the ammeter is bypassed and alternator output is going directly to the battery and not running thru the bulkhead, the amp load at the bulkhead connector is now conciderably less. Plus now you now have 2 heavy gage wires feeding electrical from the battery thru the bulkhead. Whatever your total amp draw would be going into the car at the bulkhead connector is now halved because its split through 2 wires.

At this point, unpin the connectors at the bulkhead one wire at a time, clean them, tighten the females and repin them. After all the connector pins are clean, you can also add some electrical contact grease to the connector to keep moisture out. I use a product called Tarnex and a small steel wire brush to clean the pins, then dip in small cup of water to rinse off, dry, and repin. You may have something similar in sweden for removing tarnish and green corrosion
 
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360DartGT66 said:
The entire charging current (30-50 amps?) goes through the bulkhead connector, in and out. Any oxide in those connectors and the whole thing melts. Standard fault on the earlier models. They fixed this sometime around 1970, I believe, maybe earlier.

If you bypass it, you only measure a voltage and hardly any current passes thru, keeping the bulkhead connector from destroying itself.

If you want pictures of a molten connector, I think I have some in my thread. They're attachments now, though. I need to fix that ...
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Mid to late 70s high output alternators police/taxi package, at the factory they bypassed the red and black through the fire wall directly with rubber grommets to prevent wire chafing and shorting. Their electrical engineers must have had a thing for ammeters i guess. Would have been simpler to use a volt gage in the dash, and run alt output straight from alt to batt. This was a mopar shortcoming. Any old timer i have ever talked to said mopar electrical systems always gave em fits. Even my father in law who was a mechanic himself said he had a 68 charger around 1972. Said he loved the look and the way it drove but the electrical sucked. He sold it after only having it 6 months. Now i am showing him where all the little devils in mopar electrical systems are or were with my cuda.
 
360DartGT66 said:
The entire charging current (30-50 amps?) goes through the bulkhead connector, in and out. Any oxide in those connectors and the whole thing melts. Standard fault on the earlier models. They fixed this sometime around 1970, I believe, maybe earlier.

If you bypass it, you only measure a voltage and hardly any current passes thru, keeping the bulkhead connector from destroying itself.

If you want pictures of a molten connector, I think I have some in my thread. They're attachments now, though. I need to fix that ...
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Anders, you said it way simpler than i could LOL
 
Thanks guys for all that useful information! I'm looking forward to go over everything once the engine is out. Moparmat, I really like that installation. It's all in the little details. Have a great weekend
 
trebor75 said:
Thanks guys for all that useful information! I'm looking forward to go over everything once the engine is out. Moparmat, I really like that installation. It's all in the little details. Have a great weekend
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Thank you sir. Heres something else thats all in the details. If you notice theres someting glued to the back of the gage with a grey adhesive, and red and black wires. Thats a 12V red LED. I drilled a #50 drill (tiny hole) to the left of the discharge side of the gage, and glued the LED from the back. My alternator is a mini denso 50A for small block chevy. I made my own brackets to install it. The denso has a plug on its internal regulator for 2 wires, an ign hot feed to excite it, and a discharge light. So on startup the red light will light up until the engine starts, then go out when alternator starts outputting unless theres a charging fault, then it will light up.

Being LEDs are polarity sensitive, the positive led wire feeds the light from the gage end, and the ground wire goes to the alternator. The v reg in the denso alternator when not outputting or when it fails shunts to ground turning the light on. When its outputting the regulator electrically disconnects the ground for the indicator light to turn it off.
 
It's been a while since my last update. Today I took the old trusty 273 out.
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It was nice to meet you and to see the Duster this Saturday. It sure looks stunning! Keep up the good work!
 
I've had so little time to work on the car the past months I feel like I lost some of my momentum/drive. I know it will come back eventually, but as it is now I don't even feel like going to the garage when I do have some spare time. How do you guys coupe with this?
 
trebor75 said:
I've had so little time to work on the car the past months I feel like I lost some of my momentum/drive. I know it will come back eventually, but as it is now I don't even feel like going to the garage when I do have some spare time. How do you guys coupe with this?
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How far away is the garage from your place? I think earlier in the thread you mentioned your sharing a shop as you live in an apartment? Regardless, having lived in Stockholm (Stocksund) myself for several years, I envy you being able to live in Stockholm; if I could, I would go back in a flash to visit. You’re in a great city with lots of things to do! With the engine out of your car, not being able to drive it is a huge deterrent as more ‘work’ needs to be done before it’s even ready to drive. However, it’s not like you’d be driving the car anyways now given the winters in Stockholm.

Perhaps the travel time to and from your garage cuts is also having you consider ‘is it worth it to work on it for x hrs if it takes me 1hr of travel time?’ Maybe take a break from working on it for a month or so and then get back to it in the new year. If you’re away from it too long, not being able to drive it in the Spring/summer might be even more of a deterrent to work on it in many months time? Also, if your life situation is going to be changing in the near future (ie: marriage/kids) then it would be best get the engine back in the car ASAP as it will be even more difficult to do that after the ‘life’ changes.
 
trebor75 said:
I've had so little time to work on the car the past months I feel like I lost some of my momentum/drive. I know it will come back eventually, but as it is now I don't even feel like going to the garage when I do have some spare time. How do you guys coupe with this?
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You just need a case of those made in the U SA "energy drinks"!!????? ha Red Bull etc
 
trebor75 said:
I've had so little time to work on the car the past months I feel like I lost some of my momentum/drive. I know it will come back eventually, but as it is now I don't even feel like going to the garage when I do have some spare time. How do you guys coupe with this?
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I just let it sit. It'll come back, it usually does for me, anyway.

Maybe visit a fellow car guy?
 
trebor75 said:
I've had so little time to work on the car the past months I feel like I lost some of my momentum/drive. I know it will come back eventually, but as it is now I don't even feel like going to the garage when I do have some spare time. How do you guys coupe with this?
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You are not alone,my junk has been standing rusting away pretty much forever, what holds me back is just the fact that i cant do the type of work i need to do inside the garagespace i have available and it kills my motivation. What i do to cope with it? i try to plan ahead and think thru whatever needs to be done and where im heading with my project.
You will get back into it at some point often times its just a mather of going to the car and start doing something and that usualy gives alot of motivation just the fact that something got done,or just thinking thru different things to do:)
My last trip to the garage gave me a drive to start figure out things i can sell that no longer fits into my plan,and if i get some of those things sold i will have more space available to do things i want to get done:)

BTW what side of town are you living? That Duster looks nice!
 
I go through that a lot actually. It comes from having a family, a house, and a demanding job. I busy myself mostly with collecting up needed parts, and doing small jobs on the car restoring pieces of it when i can get to it. Also doing buying and selling of parts with other enthusiasts keeps my interest. Actually i want to spend my whole life out in the shop but the other issues prevent that. Being on fabo helps keep my interest too. Your in a bit of a funk right now, but it will come back around. I also find that time away from it allows me to figure out better solutions to problems i was working on. Its like the time away allows me to look at things again from a fresh and often better perspective.
 
Just let it sit, I did not touch my duster one time for two years straight right after I got it running.
Then one day I woke up and it was time to work on it again.
 
trebor75 said:
I've had so little time to work on the car the past months I feel like I lost some of my momentum/drive. I know it will come back eventually, but as it is now I don't even feel like going to the garage when I do have some spare time. How do you guys coupe with this?
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I just let the feeling rest. I’ll stay away for a while. Knowing it is t going anywhere, I have time to get to it. Never in a rush. Sometimes you just need the brake.

For a change up, I’ll go to a few friends house and work/watch/help on there cars.

Walking away from your own car is a healthy thing IMO because you need a brake from it from time to time.

When I want to get a little extra juice in my blood for the project, I’ll watch some videos of others builds being done.
 
Wow guys! What great feedback you all came up with! Thanks a lot for that. I have been going around with a bad conscience for not working on it. My stepfather passed away recently, we were very close, my mother passed a few years ago. I miss them both terribly, and I and my brother have been working on taking care of their home, their belongings and all the practical things, which is a lot. I think it took the wind out of me without me realizing. Around this time last year I was working like a maniac on the the Duster but I just dont have that in me at the moment. Today I did go to the garage to change oil and filters on my Volvo V70, I managed to get a little work done on the Duster too. Thanks again guys!
 
trebor75 said:
Wow guys! What great feedback you all came up with! Thanks a lot for that. I have been going around with a bad conscience for not working on it. My stepfather passed away recently, we were very close, my mother passed a few years ago. I miss them both terribly, and I and my brother have been working on taking care of their home, their belongings and all the practical things, which is a lot. I think it took the wind out of me without me realizing. Around this time last year I was working like a maniac on the the Duster but I just dont have that in me at the moment. Today I did go to the garage to change oil and filters on my Volvo V70, I managed to get a little work done on the Duster too. Thanks again guys!
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I'm sorry for your loss, buddy. Remember, the pressure comes from you in this case. Your Duster will wait for you patiently.
 
Sorry for your loss. Anders is right, it will be waiting paitently for you when your ready. Losing a loved one is a hard deal to go through. Take your time, and sort through all your feelings. When the time is right you will know it.
 
Sorry for your loss.
You will get around it eventualy.Just have patience.
 
Wow! Brother! Yea man, take a back seat for a little bit and continue to clear up the issues with your dearly departed family members first. The car will always be there awaiting your return. No worries there.

There have been times where I have taken the entire year off. Busy busy busy times with everything I don’t want to do but I got it done and went most happily into the garage and return to working like a crazed animal on the car. At least a car is t like the wife! Which is a good thing. I leave her for a couple of years and well, single I’d be!!! LMAO!!!
 
Family and spiritual and mental health are top priorities. They provide a foundation to get out and do just about everything. Time is precious for us all. I take breaks and so should everyone else, you included. Sorry for you’re recent losses, reflect on those that have passed, don’t rush there. For me time is important so I often trade my time for stuff that I can buy. I am letting a guy who needs work go after some work on my 72 Duster so I can be at home more. I’ll read back through the thread to see about your drivetrain. You can buy those..
 
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