Mad

70NPORT

Old Man with a Hat
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MAD CONVERSION>#10awg lead (w/ a fusible link) from batt term on alternator to SR on the firewall (bypassed/disco'd the amp gauge, I have a voltmeter to work in place of the factory amp gauge). Question is now the oem lead that was originally on the alternator can be removed/disco'd at the firewall connector? since the new #10awg lead on that alternator batt term is all that is required, which is directly connected to the battery thru the SR). Just trying to get ahead of any potential amp gauge fires since according to MAD and Allpar it is a potential hazard. I want to make sure I've got this setup correctly. Make sure I did not make any mistakes.
 
Not sure on the 70's but my FSM ('67) shows the first stop from the alt is the light switch then to ammeter. Might disable headlights? Though I don't know for sure as I've already done their headlight relay mod. Works a treat.


You could run from alt to battery, then pull from battery into the old circuit and bypass the ammeter.


Sorry I skimmed right over this; "Question is now the oem lead that was originally on the alternator can be removed/disco'd at the firewall connector?".
Yes.
 
Not sure on the 70's but my FSM ('67) shows the first stop from the alt is the light switch then to ammeter. Might disable headlights? Though I don't know for sure as I've already done their headlight relay mod. Works a treat.


You could run from alt to battery, then pull from battery into the old circuit and bypass the ammeter.


Sorry I skimmed right over this; "Question is now the oem lead that was originally on the alternator can be removed/disco'd at the firewall connector?".
Yes.
Hey thanks. Fantastic just wanted a second opinion. I see all kinds of iterations of this conversion on the net, last craziest mod was at the slant 6 forum. Yea I know I don't have a slant six, but they are still mopar over there and sometimes there are interesting topics discussed.
 
You need it to power the interior electrical items...

I raqn my feed from the starter relay back into the firewall block to power the electrical circuit

Nice and tidy and short.

Some ofthe mods show a long extra wire from the alt into the firewall block which is not needed.

Make sure to have good groiunds inside and out!
 
After looking at the MAD mod and the FSM, I'm editing my response.

Yes, you can remove the wire. I thought you would need it, but I was wrong.

However, it does no harm by being there and I would leave it in place as it just runs parallel with the power wire.

The rest of my comment I leave unedited.

The idea is to not have as much current flowing through the ammeter and firewall connector. As I understand it, the ammeter will still work, but because there isn't the amount of current flowing through it, the meter needle won't deflect as much.

If you are really worried about the ammeter, you could make a small jumper across the terminals to bypass the ammeter.

I wouldn't sweat it myself and IMHO, while I think this is a good mod, the fire threat at the ammeter is BS.
 
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Fellas, He's already done the conversion with the new wire and is simply asking if he can remove the old wire.
 
It's cool. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to respond. Yea, I already made the conversion but I started to think I read it differently after reading posts at another mopar site. I completed disconnected the ammeter. I have a voltmeter instead now.
 
I'm running a voltmeter-only on my '66 Coronet, since one of the ammeter posts was actually BROKEN! I simply stuck a bolt and nut through the two ammeter connectors and taped them up. No other mods. HUGE difference in how the car operates now. I no longer have 17.7VDC worth of charge; it's back to 14.2VDC at cruise speed.
 
It's cool. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to respond.

X2 on that one.

I have yet to do this conversion, heard about it years ago, but I'm lazy by nature. My gauge bounces around for the first few miles, then settles down to the middle of the gauge, so I haven't been too concerned.

Tell me one thing, do the strobe dash lights go away? That is simply annoying, and would make the switch worthwhile.

Scott
 
X2 on that one.

I have yet to do this conversion, heard about it years ago, but I'm lazy by nature. My gauge bounces around for the first few miles, then settles down to the middle of the gauge, so I haven't been too concerned.

Tell me one thing, do the strobe dash lights go away? That is simply annoying, and would make the switch worthwhile.

Scott

I did this upgrade and still had the strobe effect with my lights. My voltage fluctuated pretty heavily (+/- 1 volt) at speed. The higher the revs the faster the flicker. Folks on here suggested the Voltage Regulator and that solved any strobe effect issues with my lights.
 
MAD CONVERSION>#10awg lead (w/ a fusible link) from batt term on alternator to SR on the firewall (bypassed/disco'd the amp gauge, I have a voltmeter to work in place of the factory amp gauge). Question is now the oem lead that was originally on the alternator can be removed/disco'd at the firewall connector? since the new #10awg lead on that alternator batt term is all that is required, which is directly connected to the battery thru the SR). Just trying to get ahead of any potential amp gauge fires since according to MAD and Allpar it is a potential hazard. I want to make sure I've got this setup correctly. Make sure I did not make any mistakes.

I did the simple version and added a 10 gauge wire with 14 gauge fusible link from the alternator to the starter relay power block on the wheel well (Not sure of technical term). I have noticed no changes in behavior since doing this I simply didn't want to burn up the firewall harness again after having replaced it due to melting, which came from the PO and I only assume occurred because he upgraded the alternator.
 
My opinion on it would be, if you are having electrical issues like battery not fully charging, lights too dim and/or flickering, hot electrical or plastic smell when driving, ect., or if your Bulkhead Connector looks bad, then do the Mad conversion. Also, if you're running, or plan on running, more than a 40 Amp alternator and especially if you will also be running high power audio and/or Halogen lighting upgrades, then do the Mad conversion.

In my case, I haven't done it, although I have kicked the idea around. I don't have a radio in my car at present, so, I'm able to reach through the hole and touch the wires on the back of the Ammeter while driving. I found that even with the headlights on and 55W halogen driving lights turned on, both connectors at the Ammeter are cold, not even warm, even after 20-30 minutes of driving. I've checked and bulkhead connector looks good too. However, just because I'm not having problems now doesn't guarantee that I will never have them and just because I'm not having problems doesn't mean that someone else won't have problems with their electrical system if they leave it stock.

The only electrical problems that I've ever had with this car were a burned out headlight switch, which happened when I installed halogen sealed beams and a melted connector at the floor mounted dimmer switch, also caused by the halogen sealed beams. I also had to replace my alternator once, many years ago. I don't know what alternator I have now. It's probably one of the lowest amperage units, but it seems to get the job done. :)
 
I did the MAD conversion to try and stay ahead of the game. I kept reading horror stories on the mopar forums so I went ahead and did it. I wasn't having any flickering lights or burning smells or burnt/melted firewall connectors. None of that was happening. I had a problem with a connector under the steering column that was keeping the car from starting. I fixed that and the problem went away.
 
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