flowower
New Member
I’m looking to do the MADD Bypass and replace my ammeter with a voltmeter. My under-dash harness had a meltdown a few days ago and I have been replacing wires due to it, but getting a little confused imagining how it should be put back together given how it looks today.
It’s a 65 Barracuda 273 V8. The alternator was upgraded to what I think is a 10SI Delco-Remy with the external voltage regulator removed. The wiring harness was replaced 20-30 years ago by a previous owner and is a universal kit from It’s a Snap - can’t find instructions for that anywhere. My alternator wire is not spliced under the dash. It’s a single 10 gauge wire that goes straight to the ammeter and nowhere else. The RED terminal on the ammeter is a wire labeled “Ignition Switch” and is spliced to the fuse box and to ignition switch BAT. The fuse box has another wire labeled “MAIN POWER” going from (or maybe to?) fuse box to starter relay BATT.
I'm adding a picture of how it looks today - by the way, no fusible links, circuit breakers, etc as far as the eye can see..
To do the bypass - Do I tie in the alternator wire to the spliced “Ignition Switch” wire? Put it directly on the starter relay and cap off the “MAIN POWER” wire which might no longer be necessary? I feel like I'm missing a piece of the puzzle.
In case you’re wondering why my under-dash wires melted in the first place, your guess is as good as mine. Many wires lead to nowhere or were cut and left behind. I was trying to get my fuel and gas gauges to work so was also digging around and changing things. I upgraded the voltage limiter to the IVR4 from Real Time Engineering, and also added a ground to the instrument panel. The ground I added melted to bits along with the starter relay to battery wire. Figured I would start here with the wire replacement because now it’s necessary.
It’s a 65 Barracuda 273 V8. The alternator was upgraded to what I think is a 10SI Delco-Remy with the external voltage regulator removed. The wiring harness was replaced 20-30 years ago by a previous owner and is a universal kit from It’s a Snap - can’t find instructions for that anywhere. My alternator wire is not spliced under the dash. It’s a single 10 gauge wire that goes straight to the ammeter and nowhere else. The RED terminal on the ammeter is a wire labeled “Ignition Switch” and is spliced to the fuse box and to ignition switch BAT. The fuse box has another wire labeled “MAIN POWER” going from (or maybe to?) fuse box to starter relay BATT.
I'm adding a picture of how it looks today - by the way, no fusible links, circuit breakers, etc as far as the eye can see..
To do the bypass - Do I tie in the alternator wire to the spliced “Ignition Switch” wire? Put it directly on the starter relay and cap off the “MAIN POWER” wire which might no longer be necessary? I feel like I'm missing a piece of the puzzle.
In case you’re wondering why my under-dash wires melted in the first place, your guess is as good as mine. Many wires lead to nowhere or were cut and left behind. I was trying to get my fuel and gas gauges to work so was also digging around and changing things. I upgraded the voltage limiter to the IVR4 from Real Time Engineering, and also added a ground to the instrument panel. The ground I added melted to bits along with the starter relay to battery wire. Figured I would start here with the wire replacement because now it’s necessary.
