Kenny,
No worries about questions!!
Consider that new cars no longer use ammeters - they have all gone to voltmeters. I never liked having all the current from the alternator going through the bulkhead connector and then back out just so we can have an ammeter on the dash. If you are keeping track, there are 11 connections in a stock mopar wiring harness between the alternator that generates the current and the battery that stores it.
Voltmeters do a much better job at telling you what is going on with the electrical system. (As a side note, how does an ammeter tell you the battery is drained? It Doesn't! You look at the dim lights to tell!) You can also have a voltmeter on the dash without having to run 60 amps of charging current through the bulkhead connector and the under dash wiring harness. You can also use much smaller gauge wire safely since it is only handling relatively small current loads.
So, when I rewire a mopar, be it a customer's hot rod or my race car I start by bypassing the bulkhead connector, dash wiring and ammeter. Easiest way to do this is what we suggested above - add a wire from the alternator output stud to the battery - an easy connection point is the battery stud on the starter relay. (The only reason we told you earlier to remove the existing alternator output lead is you are adding a switch in the back and want it to function as an engine kill switch - for stock wiring harness cars, you can just add the bypass wire to the stud and leave the factory one as well).
Once the bypass wire is in place, the bulk of the charging current will go directly to the battery. Why? Because electricity wants to flow via the path of least resistance and the bypass wire has 2 connections vs. the stock wiring harness that has 11 connections.
I also add a jumper wire on the back of the ammeter so the current no longer flows through the stock gauge. If you have ever taken a mopar ammeter apart you will see that the studs are held in place by the nuts on the back of the gauge - yup, that's right - they are not soldered in place, they are "swedged" into holes in the gauge and the nuts secure them. Think the vibrations of 40 years of driving might make that connection less than perfect? Me too - So I bypass the gauge to avoid problems.
Now, if you want to keep tabs on the electrical system, add an aftermarket voltmeter gauge. Since a voltmeter gauge draws so little current (less than the clock radio in your new car) you can even hook it up to battery (always on) 12v in the car and have a voltmeter all the time. Then you can tell when your battery is dead (or low) BEFORE you try to start the car or turn on the headlights.
And now, Greg Garner from Real Time Engineering has developed a voltmeter than can be placed in your dash in the location of the original stock ammeter. Pretty cool piece - I saw it at the Nats but it hasn't made the website yet so you will have to call Greg about it - his site is
www.RealTimeEngineering.com. It is a neat piece and he takes an original ammeter, repaints the face to be a period correct "voltmeter" and then mounts an oil pressure gauge behind it with his own custom sending unit. Turns the oil pressure (electrical) gauge into a voltmeter that looks 100% factory - very cool idea!
So Kenny, Hope that didn't bore you to tears - I get long winded about the electrical stuff.
