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Topic Summary

Posted by: Lewis
« on: September 01, 2018, 11:41:42 PM »

Well, nothing caught on fire. New starter cranked great, no leaks in the fuel lines or oil from the new fuel pump and carb. Pan gasket seeped a little and I torqued it down a bit.

But a few problems:

1. Ammeter shows a big draw while running. I wired it just like my diagram (the diagram is looking at the ammeter face - battery/starter on side with the negative.) Is this backwards?

2. Dummy light doesn�t come on at all - running or not. I used a liscence plate light from Napa. Is it too big or something?

3. Horn just kinda �eeeks�. I think it may be the horn it�s self but who knows.

4. Lights worked then stopped. Fuse looks ok. I used a generic light switch from Napa so who knows if it�s wired right. I�ll have to experiment a bit.

5. Fuel gauge doesn�t work but it�s probably the sender.

6. Temp gauge isn�t working I don�t think. It�s brand new from Kaiser. How the heck could I screw that up? I put in a 165 thermostat and it doesn�t look like it opened after 5 minutes of idle because the water level was the same after a full drain, but it should have at least registered some temp. That ones frustrating.

Anyways, just glad it ran after all of the stuff I could have screwed up. New carb, fuel pump, thermostat, hoses, plugs and wires, coil, key start, starter, light switch, horn switch, and seat belts (wife demanded them for my kid).

I�ll attach a pic of the ammeter and my fuel pump. My question on the fuel pump was if the fuel level looks right. I haven�t had one with a glass bowl before.
Posted by: Lewis
« on: September 01, 2018, 10:21:27 PM »

Thanks all for your help

Having a smoke before I hook up the battery...

I�m scared  :o
Posted by: aboyandhisdog
« on: August 25, 2018, 10:14:20 PM »

More $ but this coil has worked great in my 3a: 

https://smile.amazon.com/PerTronix-40611-Flame-Thrower-Volt-Coil/dp/B000N2XOYE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535249473&sr=8-1&keywords=pertronix+40511+flame-thrower+40%2C000+volt+3.0+ohm+coil
Posted by: specialty
« on: August 25, 2018, 06:37:00 PM »

I would do away with the external ballast. Just get a coil with internal resistor and eliminate that problem. A early 70's model chevrolet coil will have a internal resistor and cost about $20 and works great with a 3 wire alternator.
Posted by: Lewis
« on: August 25, 2018, 05:43:13 PM »

Thanks a lot, guys.

I�m not sure about my coil yet. It only says �12V� on it. I�m trying to figure out how to test it. There�s not external resistor right now, but who knows if it�s correct.

Thanks again!
Posted by: aboyandhisdog
« on: August 25, 2018, 02:00:24 PM »

Quote
Hi Lewis,
Nice diagram. I would swap the horn and headlight power side for side. The ammeter is not big enough for the huge current that horns use. The original wiring had the horn power lead directly from the battery side of the ammeter so the ammeter needle would not have to get "pegged" when using the horn. The headlight power should be fine on the "load" side of the ammeter and the needle of the ammeter should handle that power fine.
I see you have a ballast resistor in there....I'm assuming you've got a plain 12V coil that needs it. So it looks good!
Good luck.
Dave


Great info here!  I'd just restate that if your coil has an internal resistor, you don't need the external one on the firewall.  As for the horn, I just got power directly from the battery - it just seemed simple at the time. 8-)
Posted by: squidtone
« on: August 24, 2018, 10:54:46 PM »

Hi Lewis,
Nice diagram. I would swap the horn and headlight power side for side. The ammeter is not big enough for the huge current that horns use. The original wiring had the horn power lead directly from the battery side of the ammeter so the ammeter needle would not have to get "pegged" when using the horn. The headlight power should be fine on the "load" side of the ammeter and the needle of the ammeter should handle that power fine.
I see you have a ballast resistor in there....I'm assuming you've got a plain 12V coil that needs it. So it looks good!
Good luck.
Dave
Posted by: Lewis
« on: August 24, 2018, 05:01:36 PM »

Thanks for the replies. Here�s a picture of what I came up with. Any comments are appreciated.

Posted by: specialty
« on: August 20, 2018, 03:06:10 PM »

I got the little red bulb from Advance Auto designed for about a 3/8 dash hole which I had beside the speedometer for the charge indicator light. I think the hole was originally for the gauge lights, external. Like you said, it lets you know when it's charging. Turn on the key, it's red so you know you have power. Start engine, if charging, goes off. Nice set up.
Posted by: squidtone
« on: August 20, 2018, 01:57:59 PM »

Hey Lewis,

Here's my comment on your questions from your followup post:

1. Will the ammeter indicate correctly if I run the BAT wire directly to the battery?

Yes, that's fundamentally how it should be set up. However, it can get confusing because you could also wire it directly to the "always hot" side of the ford style solenoid, and some folks might even wire to the alternator post. I'd wire your ammeter "BAT" either directly to the postitive terminal of the battery, or to your Ford style solenoid if you have that. By the way, the wire going to your "BAT" side of the ammeter should probably be 8 or 10 gauge.

2. Any idea why it doesn�t have a ballast resistor now? Is it required because of the key start or did whoever converted it to 12V not do it correctly?

Your coil might be of the type that has a built in resistor so you would not need an external ballast resistor. You should check your set up because depending on what you have and how it's set up, you may suffer from reduced point life in the distributor.
If you find a regular coil that says "requires external resistor", you should then install a ballast resistor. A side benefit of running a regular coil with an external ballast resistor is you can get a hot spark during starting from many types of starter solenoids; it's all automatic and easy to rig up. Most cars from the 60's and 70's used this hot spark method.

3.  So there will longer be a wire straight from the alternator to the coil? Only one from the alternator to the key, and one from the key to the coil?

Right, but with more details: As shown in your engine bay picture, #2 terminal of the alternator wire is going to the + terminal of the coil, and #1 terminal is broken. I suppose it's possible it worked, but I submit it was wrong. Instead, do this: Run #2 terminal of the alternator to the "BAT" post of the alternator, or better yet to your "LOAD" side of your ammeter (small gauge wire like 14-16 awg is fine for this).  Run #1 of the alternator all the way to your "ON" of the ignition switch but please note: you should put an "idiot" light in series with this wire. A radio shack weenie 12V indicator bulb will be fine. Some folks use a small resistor in series instead (not sure what resistance). This bulb if mounted in the dash is a great indicator that you're actually charging, and it also prevents other squirelly things from happening like backfeeding the ignition, etc.
Posted by: specialty
« on: August 19, 2018, 09:55:28 PM »

I used this page when I rewired my 3A with a 3 wire alternator.
http://www.how-to-build-hotrods.com/hot-rod-wiring.html
It's simple and easy to understand. give it a look, has various wiring topics including using relays fr headlights, horn, signals and everything you will need.
Posted by: stony
« on: August 19, 2018, 06:08:48 PM »

For example when you start your Jeep in the morning you put a huge drain on the battery, sucking out amps, and dropping the voltage.  Your generator needs to recharge the battery.  With an ammeter you will see an increase in the current flowing to the battery.  You may see +20 amps which will gradually decrease to 3 or 4 once the battery is full again.  With a voltmeter you will see a drop in voltage, maybe down to 11 or 12, then gradually come up to about 14 when you are fully charged and your generator is working.
Posted by: stony
« on: August 19, 2018, 05:59:48 PM »

No, an ammeter reads current, and a voltmeter reads voltage.  An ammeter is wired in SERIES and a voltmeter is wired in PARALLEL the circuit.  The ammeter reads the current  from the generator (alternator) flowing into the battery.  A voltmeter reads the voltage of the battery.  So for a ammeter to work it must be in the line.
Posted by: Lewis
« on: August 19, 2018, 03:37:49 PM »

Thank you very much for the replies.

A couple more questions:

1. Will the ammeter indicate correctly if I run the BAT wire directly to the battery?

2. Any idea why it doesn�t have a ballast resistor now? Is it required because of the key start or did whoever converted it to 12V not do it correctly?

3.� So there will longer be a wire straight from the alternator to the coil? Only one from the alternator to the key, and one from the key to the coil?


Again, thank you very much!
Posted by: athawk11
« on: August 19, 2018, 10:07:59 AM »

I don't know much about alternator wiring, (I'm a generator guy) but I do want to emphasize that you don't want the ammeter or ammeter wiring to ground out in any way on the tub.