I'm on vacation and thought I would tackle rewiring my 60 with the Lectric Limited wiring harness purchased from Vettegal.

On the interior wiring harness there are two grey wires probably about 20 gauge in diameter. Both have plastic female connectors on them. One is light grey the other is dark. I can not find these on Don Olsen's wiring diagram. I believe they maybe for the light bulbs for the clock and the tach but was wondering if someone could confirm this....

Also where is a good place to ground the dash warness? I see three ground cables. One is black with white stripe and about 14 gauge (grounded to engine). The other two are solid black wires one being a little thicker then the other...

TIA

Kenmo

 

I believe those 2 grey wires are for your clock and cigar lighter bulbs. The 2 black wires to each side of the instrument panel.

 

Another question... My 60 is using a Stewart Warner Volt gauge and not the stock Ammeter gauge. Looking at the SW Voltmeter gauge there are two connector posts. One is labled postive the other negative.

Do I wire this the same as the stock Ammeter looking at Don Olsen's diagram? Three red wires going to the positive side and the black wire goes to the negative? But looking at Olsen's wiring diagram the black wire is connected to the starter motor which in turn is connected to the positive side of the battery....

So I'm really confused on this...

Presently there are only two wires to the SW Volt guage. A red to the positive and a black to the negative. Again the wiring harness on this car is a mess and is one of the reasons I'm replacing it...

Any insight is muchly appreciated...

Cheers

Ken

 

First things first. A volt meter and an ammeter are two completely different gauges. The volt meter measures volts. The ammeter measures amperes, or amps.


An ammeter does not have positive and negative terminals. If you hook it up wrong it will simply read in reverse. Positive voltage comes from the battery, thru the ammeter, and carries on to the rest of the positive circuit.

A volt meter has positive and negative terminals. Positive to battery, negative to ground.


You cannot replace your ammeter with a voltmeter using the existing wiring. It sounds as if you want to remove the ammeter completely and just use the voltmeter. If that is the case you will have to join the red and black wires together. You can use the black wire to feed the positive side of your new voltmeter. Then run a new wire from the voltmeter negative terminal to a suitable ground.

 

Thanks for the reply...so you are suggesting I connect the three red ammeter wires to the black ammeter and then connect these 4 wires to the positive side of the voltmeter?

I was considering on purchasing a new Autometer ammeter but I read on the Summitracing site only to use a ammeter if your alternator puts out less then 60 amps ...

I've also heard ammeters can be very dangerous (potential fire hazard) and when they fail you are stranded with a car with no electricity...

Any other thoughts Ammeter vs Voltmeter?

TIA

Kenmo

 

Congradulations, installing a new harness, in your "pride and joy" is cheap insurance! However there is a discrepancy in the assembly manual ( at least on the "61 ) between the wiring diagram, and the close-up of the instrument panel wiring. If memory serves me, the close-up is in err. Lar

 

If your car has a voltmeter, the wiring for power distribution (which is the other function the ammeter served) has been messed with somehow; possibly the black power feed from the starter has just been tied directly to all the red load wires, bypassing the ammeter completely. I wouldn't do ANYTHING to the wiring until I understood exactly what's been messed with and how the power circuits have been wired.

 

John... I'm tossing out the old Bubba harness for a new Lectric Limited harness. However the Lectric harness calls for an ammeter and I would prefer to use a voltmeter. I've heard bad stuff about ammeters...

So I gather from responses, I tie the black ammeter wire to the three red ammeter wires and run a new wire from these wires to the voltmeter + side and a new ground to thevoltmeter - side... Correct???

TIA

 

I would suggest that you could place all 4 wires on the positive terminal of the voltmeter, then run a new wire for the voltmeter ground.

But ...I would also suggest that you get a second or third opinion. I've been wrong before.

 

2nd Opinion confirmed. Just makes the most sense.

Put all 4 "hot" (positive 12 volt) wires on the positive terminal of the voltmeter, and run a new (recommend black insulated for consistency) wire to a good ground connection to connect to the negative voltmeter terminal. This ground wire will not be carrying any substantial current, so an 18 or 20 gauge will be quite sufficient (could be a lot smaller gauge, but I hate using any wire too small in an auto for longivity and handling purposes).

Plasticman

 

So consensus is to stay with the voltmeter over an ammeter?

 

Both have their good points. An ammeter will tell you in an instant if the system is charging or not. A voltmeter will also, but not the actual amount of charge/discharge. A voltmeter will give a better indication of the battery condition when the key is on and the engine is off.

As you have heard, if the ammeter fails, then you loose electrical power, since it is reading the current in series with the electrical system (all the current must flow through the ammeter to get a reading). Note that there are shunt type Ammeters which have only a portion of the current actualling going through the Ammeter, but that is not what we have on our early Vettes. Ammeter failures (in my experience) are very rare, unless too much current is put through them, or they are subject to water/moisture.

A Voltmeter will not do that, since it is reading across the electrical system. So it is a "safer" system, and if fails, only a lack of a reading will result (unless it develops a "short", in which you have a potential cause for a fire/burned wires, or at least a blown fuse - but again, that is rare).

But I still have my original Ammeter, and see no need to change it. If it ever did fail (while on the road), a simple jumper across the 2 terminals would be all that is needed to get moving again (or just take off all the wires on one side, and put them all together on the opposite terminal with the other wires).

Good luck,
Plasticman