A few weeks ago I went to dinner in the Imperial. It was dark by the time we left, making this the first time to drive the car after dark. To my surprise I had no dash lights! Making matters worse the headlights were aimed sharply down, giving me about five feet of visibility (slight exaggeration). Good thing that it was a fairly short drive home on roads I knew well!
When the instrument panel was rebuilt the dash lights worked fine, so this was completely unexpected. I hadn’t done anything to the instrument panel!
Or had I…
When working on the HVAC controls I had discovered that the lighting panel was unplugged. So I plugged it in and it glowed. One problem solved! Or was it “one problem solved?”?
The most common failure mode on electroluminescent lighting is for the power pack to get weak, causing the dash lights to get dimmer and dimmer. The power pack produces 200 volts of alternating current. The capacitors in these power packs dry out over time, and the driver transistor can fail. The extra load of the HVAC panel could be enough to kill the lights.
Fortunately there are companies who rebuild the lighting power packs. Unfortunately this is fairly expensive and takes months. Even worse is the difficulty getting to the power pack: it is mounted high up on on the drivers side sidewall behind the kick panel. It is completely buried behind wiring, control cables, the emergency brake assembly, and the huge brake pedal bracket. It is a major effort to contort yourself under the dash to be able to even see part of it – I have no idea how to actually get it out! And back in… I suspect that this power pack was the very first thing installed inside the car and everything else was built around it.
There are some people making new replacement power packs – compatible modules made with new technology. These cost about half as much as a rebuilt original module and claim to work better. So I took a chance and ordered one from Ebay. If this didn’t work I could always pull the original power pack and have it rebuilt. Assuming I could figure out how to remove and re-install the old one…
When the new module showed up the first step was to test it. I unplugged the wiring from the old power pack and plugged it into the new module – fortunately the wiring was relatively accessible. Time to double check connections, turn off workshop lights, and turn on the headlights.
The instrument panel remained dark.
Not unexpected, so turn the dimmer control. And there was light! The instrument cluster illuminated just as it was supposed to. “And there was much rejoicing”.
With the new module working it was time to mount it. The new module is much smaller than the original, so there was no point in trying to mount it in the same place. There was plenty of space on the side panel for the new module, so it was simply a matter of choosing a location and drilling a hole for the mounting screws.
Hmm, while in there I might as well add some soundproofing. I had saved the larger scraps of Noico sound deadening material and used these to cover most of the sidewall. After this it was simply a matter of installing the new driver module, connecting it, checking that the instrument panel lights still worked, and re-installing the kick panel. One task down!
The headlight problem was simple. I had replaced original rear springs with heavy duty springs which raised the rear end. Raising the rear end makes the headlights point down. Fortunately headlights are adjustable: remove three screws in the headlight trim ring, turn the vertical adjustment screw until they are the proper height, and then reinstall the trim ring.
Now I just need to get out at night and check everything out!
Update
I got out at night and everything worked. Not quite as bright as I would like but usable.
After (finally!) getting the alternator and voltage regulator straightened out in Electrical 10: 2 Bad let’s look at some of the tools and techniques used.
My approach to making electrical connections has evolved significantly. This will be familiar to many people – most of them will know more about wiring than I do!
The early days
For many years these were my preferred tools.
Stripper/Crimper, cheap terminals, primary wire and lamp cord/zip cord
The only wire I knew was primary wire or hookup wire, purchased at a high price in short rolls from big box stores, or lamp cord. A cheap pair of pliers style tools served to both strip wire and crimp connectors. And the connectors were purchased in convenient cheap assortments.
The wiring pliers were a nuisance for stripping wire – it was far more difficult to get a good strip than it should have been. Also, it was difficult to get good crimps with them. The cheap crimp connectors were light weight and in many cases marginal. The plastic was badly crushed getting a crimp – and you couldn’t tell if you got a good crimp. And they simply looked cheap! Just looking at wiring done with these tools made you think it was a hack job. Often because it was a hack job!
Insulated Butt Connector
Despite all this, these were my tools for forty years.
The Transition
The combination of the Imperial restoration and a dedicated workshop has lead to a dramatic upgrade in my tools. It has also lead me to learn more about what tools and techniques are available, resulting in significant improvements in my knowledge and skill in many areas. I’m not going to claim to be good, but I will claim to be less bad!
One of the first things electrical I learned about was heat shrink connectors. The cheap connectors I was familiar with did a poor job of sealing, and the only thing holding the connection together was the (often poor) mechanical crimp. The heat shrink connectors were more expensive, but provided a much better seal, a better mechanical connection, and a more professional appearance. But you were still crushing the plastic to make a crimp.
Heat Shrink Butt Connector, as crimped and shrunk
Revelation
The real revelation came when I read the Bodenzord blog series of articles on DIY Bussmann RTMR Fuse Block. This introduced me to a new world of parts, tools, techniques, and sources for materials: GXL automotive wire, Weatherpack and Metri-Pack sealed connectors, Bussmann fuse blocks, real crimpers and automatic wire strippers. The credit card came out and I’ve never looked back!
Terminals
I’ve spent a lot of time talking about corrosion in automotive wiring. The car companies addressed this 30 years ago with sealed connectors which dramatically improved electrical reliability. These connectors have water tight male and female housings, rubber gaskets between the male and female housings, and rubber seals where the wires go into the housings. If water can’t get in it won’t corrode! The connectors crimp both to the bare end of the wire as well as to the insulation, providing a more secure connection.
There are many different styles, but the Bodenzord article recommended the Weatherpack and Metri-Pack connectors which have been widely used on many US cars and which are available at “reasonable” cost. You can get them online from industrial distributors such as Waytek, from Amazon, and from Ebay. You have to be careful with Amazon and Ebay as they are filled with cheap knockoffs, so I mainly use Waytek.
The Metri-Pack 280 series is especially versatile as the female connectors can be directly used with mini-ATA fuses and micro relays. Among other applications, the Bussmann 15XXX series fuse blocks are directly wired with Metri-Pack 280 connectors. This makes it easy to build complex electrical systems. Metri-Pack 280 can handle up to 30 amps of power.
Metri-Pack 280 requires many components: both male and female terminals for various gauges of wire as well as male and female shells and retainer clips for different numbers of terminals. One, two, three, and four terminal shells will cover most uses. You will also need sealing rings for various gauges of wire.
Metri-Pack 280 connectors, 1-4 terminal. Terminal pins and seals at bottom.
Metri-Pack can quickly get expensive. I decided to build out a custom kit using parts from Waytek as they have some of the best prices for quantity purchases. Waytek has minimum quantities for many of their parts; this can make life a bit complicated when putting together an order. For some parts, like Female Tangless Terminals for 12-14ga wire (used in mass quantities with Bussmann fuse blocks) you really want to order 100-200 at a time. Wiring a single Bussmann fuse box will use 40+ connectors – plus the number consumed for changes and mistakes… Since you will generally have a connector on each end of each wire the numbers quickly add up.
For other parts, like 4 terminal shells, it is difficult to justify ordering 25 at a time. In any case, when assembling a custom kit for working with Metri-Pack 280 it is more cost effective to order what you need than to buy one of the pre-packaged kits.
Wire
With connectors chosen, what wire to use with them? Car companies specify GXL and TXL wire because the insulation handles high heat, is oil resistant, and resists mechanical abrasion. TXL has thinner insulation and is more flexible while GXL is tougher. I’ve standardized on GXL.
GXL is hard to find and expensive – unless you go online. Even then you are often looking at 500’ or 1,000’ rolls – this gets expensive really fast when you want to put together a foundation of colors and wire size. For working on automotive electrical harnesses in is reasonable to have 6-10 colors of wire in multiple gauges. Do the math and you are quickly looking at 30+ rolls of wire!
Fortunately there is Wire Barn who offer packages of 25’ rolls of GXL wire in 6, 8, 10, or 11 different colors and in sizes ranging from 8ga to 20ga. Multi packs in 12ga, 14ga, and 16ga provide a great starting point for repair work and building wire harnesses. As you use them up you can either replace the colors you use or just buy another multi pack. Add some 100’ rolls in red and black in 10ga, 12ga, and 14ga and you are ready for just about anything.
Wire Box: GXL wire in 18GA to 10GA
Wiring Tools
I bought a pair of Klein automatic wire strippers to try out. Ten minutes into my first wiring project using these I was asking “why didn’t I get these 30 years ago?!?” Stick the wire in the tool, squeeze, and you have a perfect strip every time. Strongly recommended!
Automatic Wire Strippers
Looking into better crimpers I discovered ratchet crimpers. These do a better job of crimping and are more reliable and consistent than pliers style crimpers. Ratchet crimpers are available as frames which hold a variety of crimping dies – which means that you actually have the proper tool for each type of terminal you are crimping! Many different models are available at different price points.
Ratchet Crimper with dies, Automatic Wire Stripper, and WeatherPack Crimper
Multimeter
You absolutely have to have a multimeter for working on cars. After years with cheap multimeters I finally treated myself to a decent automotive meter – an Actron CP7677. In addition to the usual volts, resistance, and current, this meter also measures RPM and dwell angle.
The best addition to a multimeter is a good assortment of Test Leads -or perhaps an assortment of good test leads – with probes, clamps, extensions, and alligator clips. Also valuable are jumpers and extensions which allow you to temporarily connect circuits.
Multimeter with test leadsAssorted test leads and jumpers
Non-Insulated Connectors
At this point I was happy with the Weatherpack and Metri-Pack terminals but still didn’t like the insulated butt connectors and ring connectors – not even the heat shrink versions. I had read recommendations for non-insulated connectors so I decided to try them.
Non-Insulated Butt Connectors for different gauges of wire
Non insulated connectors crimp better than insulated – with no chance of damaging the insulation – so this is a good starting point. After crimping you cover them with heat shrink tubing. Even better, cover them with marine heat shrink tubing, which is lined with an adhesive that melts and bonds to the wire for a water-tight seal. Marine heat shrink tubing is available in different colors, allowing you to match it to the wire. The end result is less bulky than insulated connectors and has a more professional look.
After using them for a while I’m sold on non-insulated connectors. About the only place I’m now using insulated connectors is for quick and dirty temporary jobs like building a test harness. You will be totally shocked that the best place I’ve found for high quality non-insulated connectors in reasonable quantities is Waytek…
Crimp Connectors
Top: Insulated butt connector and insulated spade connector.
Middle (red): from left: insulated heat shrink connector, non-insulated butt connector with red marine heat shrink tubing, and non-insulated ring connector with red marine heat shrink tubing.
Middle (black): Metri-Pack 280 female connector with ring seal.
Bottom: heat shrink label.
Final Thoughts
While it has involved an investment it tools, connectors, and wire, I’m much happier with the results of my current wiring efforts. Using these tools and techniques produces wiring that is more reliable, has higher capacity, and is easier to work on than what shipped from the factory 60 years ago. In the past I was actually somewhat embarrassed about how my wiring jobs looked. Now I’m rather proud of how the Imperial is turning out. Even better, I’m no longer afraid to tackle new wiring or to troubleshoot electrical problems!
With First Cruise Night! under my belt it was time for the next adventure. One of the classic excuses for driving a classic car is to go get ice cream.
Saturday (yesterday) was a beautiful day so she who must be obeyed and I headed out in the Imperial for some dairy ecstasy.
We have a great local ice cream shop – Kimball Farm – who make their own incredible ice cream. They also have a Grill Shack that does a great job with fried clams, fried shrimp, onion rings and lobster rolls.
Kimball Farm in Lancaster, MA
A 15 mile drive on back roads through some small New England towns and we were at the Site of Happiness. We had to wait in line about 20 minutes – not surprising for Labor Day weekend. I had a Kiddie Cup (what most places call a large serving…) of coconut almond chocolate chip.
Great weather, a nice drive, and fantastic ice cream – definitely the makings of a good day!
This wasn’t our first trip to Kimball Farm – by far! – but was the first in the Imperial.
Despite some of the issues covered in the previous article Electrical 10: 2 Bad the Imperial was drivable – so time to drive it!
One of the reasons for getting the Imperial was to participate in car related events like Cruise Nights. With the Imperial running the first planned event was the local Thursday Night Cruzzin’ at Hebert’s Candy Mansion. I’ve been trying to do this since May – but every Thursday either we were traveling, it was raining, or I had started another project on the Imperial and was waiting for parts and couldn’t drive it. It seems like it has rained every Thursday night this entire summer.
Today it finally happened.
Thursday Night Cruizzin’ at Heberts Candy Mansion in Shrewsbury, MA
It wasn’t raining, so they didn’t cancel the event. The alternator still isn’t straightened out, but a short drive won’t hurt anything. The temperature was 93 degrees, so pack a bottle of water. I’m going!
15-20 cars showed up, ranging from new sports cars to 1920’s-1930’s cars – mostly 1960’s and 1970’s cars. I’m in the right demographic – many of the people there were even older than me. There were several families with kids, which is always good to see.
I had the chance to talk to several people, including some who were very knowledgeable about Mopar’s. I spent at least a half hour talking to a father and son who own a restoration shop specializing in Forward Look Chryslers – a range of Chryslers from the mid 50’s to mid 60’s. In fact they have restored a number of Imperials like mine! They have a high end restoration shop, with some of their recent projects costing over $600,000. I’m probably not taking my car there…
But I did get some good insights from them, especially around paint and chrome. Tom suggested that painting the hood and trunk lid and giving the car a good buff and polish would make it presentable.
All in all a fun evening!
And, of course, the weather forecast for next Thursday is rain…
In the last article Electrical 9: Up Gauging we largely finished upgrading the Imperial wiring. But the story wasn’t done. Bypassing the ammeter leaves no way to know the state of the charging system, so I planned to add a voltmeter.
This led to buying a <$20 multifunction digital gauge that included a clock, inside and outside temperature, and a voltmeter. Trying this out on a test drive produced immediate concern – the voltmeter said 12.3V when the system should have been over 13 volts. This indicated that the system isn’t charging, and driving the car would just run down the battery. A deeper dive was clearly called for.
Time to grab the good multimeter and connect it to the battery. This showed 12.7V, a reasonable value. The cheap, straight from the Far East multifunction device was inaccurate – shocking! The next step was to fire up the engine. If the charging system was working the voltage at the battery should jump to 13.2-13.4V. With the engine running the voltage stayed absolutely flat – no change at all. Krud. The charging system was actually bad.
Three things could be bad: the voltage regulator, the alternator, or the wiring. And they were all new. In fact, the voltage regulator was an upgraded solid state regulator that should work better than the old electro-mechanical regulator.
Still, the symptoms looked like a voltage regulator. The fastest way to get a new one was through Amazon, so an order was placed. I still needed a voltmeter, so I also ordered a dual USB with voltmeter that plugs into the cigar lighter. The new regulator arrived, was installed, and no change. The new voltmeter seemed accurate when compared to the digital multimeter.
Again, krud. OK, check the alternator wiring against the service manual again. There are only three wires and it is straightforward; everything looks correct. OK, that leaves the alternator. While getting ready to order another new alternator (the alternator was replaced during the rebuild) I remembered that I had saved the old alternator. I was even able to find it. OK, install the old 35 amp alternator, verify that it works, and then order another 65 amp alternator.
Fire up the engine – and no change. Still no charging. Krud. The possibilities are two bad voltage regulators, two bad alternators, or bad wiring. I spent a couple of days checking everything – tracing the wiring, checking the wiring, jumpering around the wiring with direct connections, running various tests, and in general pounding my head against a brick wall.
While reading up on charging system tests for the 87th time I realized that I had done an alternator test wrong. The test is to connect the FLD (Field) terminal on the alternator directly to the positive post of the battery. If the alternator is good it will over-charge the battery, producing over 14V. You don’t want to do this for long, as it will destroy the battery and the alternator.
When I performed this test the first time I had left the wiring harness connected. This acted like a dead short, producing sparks and instantly heating my test wire. Thinking about it, this shouldn’t have happened. This time I disconnected the wiring harness from the alternator, connected a test wire, and started the engine.
With considerable fear I touched the test wire to the positive post of the battery – and nothing dramatic happened! OK, a good sign. Hold the test wire on the battery terminal and the voltage reading starts going up, quickly exceeding 13.6V and clearly charging the battery. Now this is a very good sign! It shows that the alternator is good, strongly suggests that the wiring is correct, and points a finger at the voltage regulator.
Next question: is the new 60 amp alternator also good? Time to re-install the new alternator and re-run the test. With the new more powerful alternator the voltage quickly exceeded 14V. With the alternator good and the wiring good, pretty much the only thing left is the voltage regulator.
Two bad voltage regulators? Shouldn’t happen. For the third voltage regulator I ordered a premium regulator from RockAuto. More expensive, but hopefully better quality.
When the third voltage regulator arrived I bench tested it with a regulated power supply. Unlike the other two voltage regulators, this one showed 12V on the output FLD terminal; the others showed 0V in this test. An encouraging sign, so time to install this regulator.
With the third voltage regulator installed I once again fired up the engine – and watched the digital multimeter rise to 13.3V! The charging system is working. And the USB/voltmeter in the cigar lighter is also showing 13.3V.
The only thing left was to confirm these results. The voltmeter showed a consistent 13.3-13.4V during a test drive, exactly what it should be.
This one had me tearing my hair out. I don’t expect to get two bad parts in a row – I don’t “expect” to get one bad part in a row! I learned more about testing alternators and voltage regulators, so should be able to figure out something like this much faster in the future. Another lesson is to order parts from reputable sources.
With the charging system working I can call the electrical upgrades done.
Update 1:
The next morning I headed out on a longer test drive. Immediately after starting the voltage went to 15.3V and the voltmeter started saying “tilt”. Not good – this looks like the voltage regulator is shorted out. Pulled the car back into the garage, hooked up the good multimeter, and it was reading 15.6V at idle. Since this will fry the battery, the alternator, and what is left of the voltage regulator I started troubleshooting the charging system (again).
The voltage then went to battery voltage, like it was before I installed this new regulator. I checked across the IGN and FLD terminals and it showed an open circuit. The regulator is dead.
What is going on here??? Three bad voltage regulators? Mentally going through everything I had done I began to question how I tested this regulator. I had hooked it up to a bench power supply which could have put up to 10 amps through the regulator. In fact, this was likely – one of the resistors on the voltage regulator got so hot from the test that I burned my hand when I picked it up. Could I have almost burned out the regulator, leaving it good enough to work initially but damaged enough to quickly die? Unfortunately this seems like a distinct possibility… It looks like the only thing to do is try another regulator.
Update 2:
The fourth voltage regulator arrived and I installed it. It looked perfect while running the engine briefly. So far so good… It is really hot this afternoon so I don’t feel like a longer test drive. Will try to get out tomorrow for a good run.
Update 3:
On the test drive the next day the voltage went back above 15V again. Krud.
Time for more research. A recommended upgrade is to go to a later model electronic voltage regulator which Chrysler used in the 1970’s-1990’s. This later model regulator works with the new style alternator I had purchased, so I went ahead and ordered one.
Update 4:
The new(est) voltage regulator arrived. It is wired differently than the older style voltage regulators, so I made a temporary test harness with the new wiring connections that would let me try it without making permanent changes to the existing wiring harness. With the test harness ready, I installed the new alternator and the new voltage regulator, connecting them with the test harness. After a careful review of the wiring I started the engine.
And watched the voltage immediately go to 17V-18V. Not Good! Quickly turn off the engine.
This is getting ridiculous! I’m getting frustrated and out of ideas. Back to the Internet for more research.
I found some articles that suggested this behavior could be caused by a short in the alternator field windings that control the output voltage. This can be tested by checking the resistance between the field terminals and the case of the alternator – this should be an open circuit with infinite resistance.
Get the alternator on the bench, dig out the multimeter, and start checking. Hmm, Field Terminal 1 to case is measuring 4 ohms. Field Terminal 2 to case is measuring 0.3 ohms. Could this be the problem all along – the new alternator is bad???
Time to order another new alternator. Might as well order another new voltage regulator while I’m at it. Just in case the alternator problem managed to fry the voltage regulator. Stay tuned for the next update!
Update 5:
I ordered the new alternator and voltage regulator on Wednesday; supposed to arrive next Tuesday. Then got the order confirmation with new shipping information – now next Friday. Bummer, I didn’t want to wait that long. Thursday (yesterday) I got a package delivery email – and the new parts were on my doorstep! One day shipping as a (pleasant) surprise.
There are some indications that I might have originally received a new style alternator that was internally configured for the old style voltage regulators. Chrysler alternators were mechanically compatible over about a 30 year period – they all just bolt in. The switch to new style voltage regulator occurred in 1970. To make sure everything was new style I ordered an alternator and voltage regulator for a 1972 Imperial.
Time to repeat this familiar drill: pull out the old alternator, install the new alternator. Pull out the old voltage regulator, install the new regulator. Connect the wiring, including the test harness for the new style voltage regulator. Double check the wiring. Hook up the multimeter to check voltage. Check the wiring again. Start the engine…
And the voltage looked good. Encouraging, but we’ve been here before. Back the car out of the shop and head out on a test drive. This time the voltage stayed rock steady on 14.5 volts! This is at the high end of the normal range, but it is within the normal range and is expected at startup. Over a 30 mile test drive the voltage dropped to 14.4 volts and stayed there. When idling it would drop to 14.2-14.3 volts.
Things are looking good – this is exactly where the voltage should be. The next step is to do a permanent mount for the new voltage regulator and then replace the test harness with permanent wiring. Followed by another test run! Not that I’m paranoid or anything… Actually, at this point, I AM paranoid about the alternator and voltage regulator!
It looks like the underlying problem was a bad 60 amp alternator. This might have killed the voltage regulators, or it could have been something I did.
The engine is hot after the test drive so I will just put this job off until Monday.
Update 6: Success!
The final step was to install the voltage regulator in its final position and replace the test harness with production wiring.
As seen in this picture there is little room for the voltage regulator and poor access. Despite this I was able to locate it and drill new mounting holes. I really need to get a right angle drill. And smaller hands…
New voltage regulator – the silver box
The new voltage regulator requires two wires. I really didn’t want to run another wire – adding wires to a sleeved harness is a lot of work. The new voltage regulator doesn’t have the dedicated ground wire that the old one does – so why not repurpose the old ground wire as the new field wire? This simply required putting new terminals on each end of the wire – along with updating the labels on the wire so I won’t confuse myself in the future.
To ensure that the voltage regulator is well grounded I added a new ground wire from the updated chassis ground system to the case of the voltage regulator – this is the same ground that the headlights are using. I checked the grounding of the alternator to chassis ground and it was good, around 0.3 ohms.
With everything connected and the wiring double checked it was time for the first moment of truth. Fire up the engine and check the voltage. 14.5V-14.6V – just a touch high, but within specs.
I’ve been here before, so on to the real test – the test drive! After a good test drive, including Interstate driving, the voltage registered a steady 14.4V-14.5V. Again, on the high side but within specs.
I’m declaring success and moving on to the next project.
In Electrical 8: RTFL I fixed a stupid mistake in connecting the new wiring harness, allowing me to get back to things that actually improve the car. I’ve described how much of the original factory wiring is too small and what the new wire harness does to include heavier wire – for example, replacing a single 14GA wire for all four headlights with a separate 12GA wire for each of the four headlights.
Most of the wiring so far has involved 16GA, 14GA, 12GA, or 10GA wire. This wire is available in multi-color bundles from places like Wire Barn. Electrical fittings, terminals and connectors are readily available, as are crimping tools.
Wire heaver than 10GA gets expensive, requires special tools for crimping, and is harder to work with in general. It is needed in fewer places, making it less attractive to keep a stock of heavy gauge wire. The easiest way out is to order finished individual wires from places that specialize in this.
I’ve had good lock with Genuine Dealz, so I figured out what wires I needed and placed an order. I have no idea where the name comes from, but they have a good reputation for building high quality cables. They utilize marine grade wire, which is solid copper wire with the individual strands coated with tin – this makes the wire much more corrosion resistant than uncoated wire. It is also more expensive, but “buy once, cry once” applies. They can crimp a variety of connectors on the wire and cover then ends with marine grade heat shrink tubing – this is heat shrink tubing that has an adhesive lining which makes the connections water tight.
Genuine Dealz has a very nice web ordering system: you specify the gauge of the wire, the color, and length. You then specify what fittings you want on each end and whether or not you want heat shrink tubing on each end. The system interactively calculates the price at each step along the way. Prices are quite reasonable for what you get.
Alternator and Battery Wiring
The alternator got a major upgrade: The original alternator wiring consisted of a 12GA wire going to the ammeter in the dash, and another 12GA wiring going from the other side of the ammeter to the battery. With the new wiring harness this was temporarily changed to a 10GA wiring going directly to the battery. This was probably adequate, but it is being replaced with 6GA (the green wire in the picture above).
An interesting aspect of alternator wires is that they include a fusible link. This is basically a fuse built into the wire. It is needed because a failure mode of alternators can cause them to start producing several hundred amps of power. Another failure mode causes a direct short to the battery, with all the power the battery can produce flowing through the alternator wire. Either way you are looking at the potential for considerable damage to the electrical system and a likely fire. Instead of this happening the fusible link will burn out like a fuse and protect the rest of the system.
As an alternative to a fusible link you can add an actual fuse to the alternator circuit – typically an 80 amp or 100 amp fuse for a 60 amp alternator. Or you can add a circuit breaker, which is what I did. An 80 amp marine circuit breaker is water proof and can be reset if there is a problem.
After placing the order I got a call from Genuine Dealz: it appears that they are having trouble getting wire in all colors. I wanted orange for the alternator wire but they didn’t have that. So I ordered green and then covered it with the black woven sheathing I’ve been using for the rest of the harness.
The next step was to replace the 10GA wire from the battery to the Fuse/Relay box with, you guessed it, a 6GA wire. The power bus in the Fuse/Relay box is rated for 80 amps, which would be a bit much for the 10GA.
The 10GA wire from the negative battery terminal to the chassis frame ground was also replaced with 6GA.
This took care of the light wiring. The factory 4GA cables for the starter motor were upgraded to 1/0. Between these very heavy 1/0 cables and a battery capable of putting out over 1,000 amps I don’t expect to have problems starting the 413, even when it is hot!
The last touch was the actual battery terminals. Standard battery terminals don’t work well when adding more wires to them and tend to be weak – I actually broke the old positive terminal clamp from the multiple connect/disconnect cycles during this wiring upgrade.
Military battery terminals are made for just this use case. They are much heavier than standard terminals and have separate heavy 3/8″ bolt for connecting multiple cables to a single terminal. They were an obvious upgrade for the battery connections to support the new heavy duty wiring.
With all the upgraded wires installed it was time to connect the military terminals to the battery and see if things worked. After double checking the new wires – it would “embarrassing” to find out how the new 6GA cables hold up to the 1,000 amp battery… Nope, no ground wires were connected to the hot side of the battery.
Almost everything worked… Everything but the headlight HI beams. LO headlights worked fine but high beams were dead. Sigh. OK, dig out the voltmeter and start trouble shooting.
Bad relay? Swapping relays didn’t do anything. OK, pull the HI beam relay and check voltages. Supply voltage was good – but no voltage on the signal line from the HI/LO switch. Hmm, this was odd… I hadn’t touched anything that would produce these symptoms.
Or had I? I had removed the 22 pin main bulkhead connector to get extra slack on the wiring when working on the fuse/relay box. After pulling the bulkhead connector back off I noticed that the pin for the HI beam looked odd. Like it had been crushed…
Apparently I wasn’t careful enough with the bulkhead connector. Pull the HI beam pin out, replace it, and put the bulkhead connector back together. Carefully re-install the bulkhead connector and then check the headlights. LO beams – still good. HI beams – all four headlights now working. And there was much rejoicing!
Time for a test drive. All the gauges are working and the rest of the electrical system checked out. Check off another project completed!
After finishing the headlights in Electrical 7: Headlights it was time to track down why the heater blower motor wasn’t working. The symptom was a blown fuse as soon as I pressed any of the heater buttons. No power means the motor doesn’t work.
After changing several fuses I confirmed that the problem was in the blower circuit. It looked like something was creating a dead short. This could be from the new wiring harness, or I could have pinched something when re-installing the heater plenum.
The speed control for the blower motor goes through a big resistor mounted on the firewall in the engine bay. I started the underhood troubleshooting by unplugging one of the wires from the resistor.
Umm, why does this wire say NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH???
Krud. In the new wiring harness both of the wires for the blower resistor plus the wire for the neutral safety switch are all brown and come out of the wiring harness at the same location and have the same connectors on the end.
This is why it is critical to READ THE FREAKING LABEL (RTFL) when you are connecting devices!
Yup, the wire connected to the neutral safety switch says HEATER BLOWER MOTOR.
Connect the wire labeled NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH to the neutral safety switch. Now plug the wire labeled blower motor into the blower resistor. Hmm, its a bit too short. OK, wire up an extension with a new plug and plug it it.
Now to check the blower motor: No blown fuse! And the heater blower runs at low, medium, and high speeds. There wasn’t any rejoicing this time – I was too annoyed with myself for making such a stupid mistake.
The last thing was to try to start the car and make sure the neutral safety switch still worked. The Imperial fired up immediately, so that part is still good.
All that work labeling all the wires and then I don’t pay enough attention when actually hooking everything up. At least the problem was obvious when I finally looked. Grumble.
On a side note: If you are going to be doing a lot of electrical work it is a good idea to buy fuses in bulk. The retail price of automotive fuses can be over $1.00 each. Or you can get them for less than a dime by ordering 50 or a hundred at a time – for example, 20 amp mini fuses for eight cents apiece. Since it is easy to go through several fuses when tracking down a problem (at least for me…) it is good to have a box full of fuses available.
The next job is to figure out why the alternator isn’t charging.
After much discussion the time came to properly heat and cool the workshop. I’ve spent the last couple of years researching the options and concluded that the best solution was a mini split heat pump.
Mini Split Inside Unit
Mini splits are known for air conditioning. They also serve as heat pumps, down to ~30 degrees. There are models of mini splits that function as effective heat pumps down to 0 degrees – some even work as low as -15 degrees! These special mini splits are known as hyper heat, which was the name Mitsubishi applied to their pioneering low temperature units a number of years ago.
So we asked for a quote from Northboro Oil. We’ve been doing business with them for over 30 years, always receiving excellent service. We had them install our central AC 12 years ago, and our only complaint there is that we didn’t do it 25 years ago!
Paul came out, checked the workshop, and listened to what we wanted. We received a quote which was, as expected, expensive. My research showed that the vast majority of problems with mini splits were installation related. Our experience with Northboro Oil is that they do good work and don’t cut corners, which is what we wanted.
The quote was for a Fujitsu Halcyon AOUG15LZAH outdoor unit and ASUG15LZAH indoor unit. This is rated to heat down to -15 outdoor temperature, which should be fine since our area very rarely goes below 0 and is usually 10-30 degrees in the winter. Fujitsu is one of the top three makers of mini splits, so the quality and longevity of this unit should be good.
At 15,000 BTU cooling this unit is smaller than I expected – I had been looking at either an 18,000 or a 24,000 BTU unit. Actual heat calculations showed a cooling requirement of 8,000 BTU based on the design and insulation of the workshop. The biggest concern was whether or not the 15,000 BTU unit could ramp down enough for effective de-humidification. Not the outcome I expected!
There were some concerns about heating capacity, as this unit looked marginal. This was based on keeping an indoor temperature of 70 degrees on a 2 degree day. My needs are closer to an indoor temp of 60 on a 10 degree day, which produces an answer of “OK, its fine then.” The old electric heater is still hanging from the ceiling as backup/booster; it might as well stay there until I need 220V service in that corner of the workshop.
I called them on Monday to accept the quote and see about scheduling installation. The date was set for two weeks out. This was a pleasant surprise – I had been hoping for a month and wouldn’t have been surprised at 2-3 months. Things were looking good!
The next morning I got an 8:00am call from Northboro Oil: “A job we had scheduled for today isn’t ready. Can we install your mini split starting at 9:00am today?”
Umm, yes?
The crew showed up at 9:00 am and had most of the work done by 5:00pm. They came back Wednesday morning and had all of the mechanical work finished by noon. This included leak test by pressurizing the system to 400 psi with nitrogen and waiting an hour to see if the pressure dropped. This was followed by a vacuum pump to remove all air and moisture from the lines and then waiting another hour to see if the system held vacuum. Both of these were successful, so the valves on the indoor and outdoor units were opened allowing the Freon to flow through the system. Well, it is actually R410A, not Freon, but you get the idea. The only thing standing in the way of cool air was electrical power!
The electrician came by in the afternoon to scope out the electrical work.
The electricians showed up at 9:00am Thursday and left by 9:45. This included time spent discussing the Imperial and the workshop…
I had done all of the rough wiring for the AC before insulation and sheetrock. This included the 220V AC Disconnect and the required 120V service outlet on the outside back wall of the shop. All the electricians had to do was run a waterproof whip from the AC Disconnect to the mini split, swap out the 30 amp breaker for a 20 amp breaker, and connect the 4 wire control cable between the indoor and outdoor units of the mini split. The electricians were quite happy with me, saying “you did all the hard work for us!”
I thought about doing the electrical myself, but ultimately decided to have them do it. If there are any problems they own the whole thing and there aren’t any questions.
Mini Split Outside Unit. The stand keeps it out of the snow in winter.
Of course we are now having mild weather, with temperatures in the mid 70’s, making it difficult to really try out the AC. The inside temperature of the workshop is 75 and the Imperial, fresh from a 70 mile run, is parked inside with the 413 radiating heat. The thermostat is turned down to 68 and the temperature is dropping.
Both the indoor and outdoor units are virtually silent – to the point that I can’t tell if they are running unless I walk up to them. I think I’m going to like this setup!
Update:
Day 2 of a heatwave. 95 degrees outside, 71 degrees inside. I can live with this!
When we last saw the Imperial it was running great on a short test drive. It was now time for a serious drive!
I started out slowly, driving around the block while watching the gauges and paying close attention to any possible signs of problems. So far everything was going great…
Next step was to drive some back roads. Still the same, everything was working great. OK, time to live dangerously, so I headed for the Interstate.
This time the Imperial pulled onto the Interstate with plenty of smooth power – no signs of hesitation or loss of power. This car likes the Interstate. I ended up putting 70 miles on the car today, mostly cruising at 65-75 mph keeping up with traffic.
The car rides smoothly and tracks straight. It is fairly quite, with most of the noise coming from wind. This was expected, as it needs new door gaskets and window gaskets. New gaskets will be installed after bodywork is done and it is painted.
Even better, the gas gauge works! It started on full, and then went down at what looked like a reasonable rate. On the way back home the gauge was showing just under 3/4 of a tank when I stopped for gas. Filling the tank took 8 gallons. With a 23 gallon tank, just under 3/4 of a tank should be 7 gallons if the tank and gauge worked perfectly. Considering that a fillup may fill the tank over its rated capacity, this is a near perfect result. I still want to check calibration at a half tank and quarter tank, but things are looking good!
Even better – gas mileage was 11.1 mpg! After a 1,000 mile break in period I will probably be getting around 12 mpg on the highway. While horrible by any sane standard this is still good gas mileage for this kind of car.
The test drive wasn’t perfect. The alternator may not be charging correctly; I need to look into that. The temperature gauge is still reading warm, not hot, but warm. This also needs more research.
Electrical 6: I Need Power! described the installation of the new fuse/relay box and rough wiring. The next step was to complete the headlight wiring by installing a Weather Pack 4 pin connector on the new wiring harness.
I may have slightly overstated the status of the headlight wiring… While the new wiring is indeed 12ga, it doesn’t run all the way to the headlights. There is a separate run of wire from the main harness to the headlights. Recall that one of the defining features of 1961-1963 Imperials is the podded headlights.
1963 Imperial Headlights1963 Imperial Headlights side view
The wiring runs up from the bottom of the headlight through the base, into the pod, and then through a connecting bar between the two pods. There is minimal space for the wiring – getting four 12ga wires in here will be a real challenge. So I decided to punt on this for the moment by re-using the existing headlight wiring and building an adapter between the new wiring harness and the existing headlight wiring. The headlight wiring will be updated when I have the headlights out for painting or when I send them out to be re-chromed.
While re-using the existing 16ga three wire setup isn’t ideal, the remaining 16ga wire is short and the upgrades to the rest of the system help a lot.
The existing headlight connector is a 3 pin Packard 56 connector. Of course I have 1 and 2 pin Packard 56 connectors, but no 3 pin. Not a problem – cut the existing connectors off of the old wiring harness leaving a 3″ pigtail. Then crimp Weather Pack connectors onto the ends of the old wires and install in the mating shell for the new wiring harness. As long as everything is opened up, go ahead and spray the old connectors with contact cleaner. Viola, or maybe even voila, and the headlights are plugged in and working.
Headlight connector (bottom connector)
In this picture you can see the four 12ga wires of the new harness going into the sealed Weather Pack connector, the three 16ga wires from the original harness, the the three wires going to the headlight. Also shown are the green and yellow wires to the parking and turn signal lights.
The headlights are now substantially brighter than they were before. Thanks to the relays and new wiring I no longer have to worry about the old wiring or the old headlight and dimmer switches. The headlights had already been upgraded from the really old incandescent bulbs to the somewhat less old sealed beam halogens. A planned upgrade is to replace these with modern H1/H4 lights – this will probably be done when the headlight pods are rewired.
A couple of other notes on the headlight wiring: 35 amp relays were used; this makes sure that the relay is not the weak point of the system. Even using 65 watt bulbs, the four high beam headlights will only be pulling a total of 20 amps. 100 watt HI beams could be a problem, but even then they could be split across two relays. And 100 watt bulbs would probably melt the pods!
This particular Bussmann fuse/relay box was chosen because it supports circuit breakers as well as fuses. The headlights will use these automatic resetting circuit breakers for maximum reliability and safety.
Next: is the Imperial ready for the road? Find out in Cruisin’!
Introducing the Imperial Deathstar, a black 1963 Chrysler Imperial. This is one of the largest production sedans ever built, and arguably the best luxury car of its day.
Join me what will probably be a never-ending saga of grease, aching muscles, and an empty wallet as I work to restore this over 50 year old survivor to a reliable cruiser.
