Only slow cars need excuses.

BULKHEADS (SUCK!)

Let's face it - while Ma Mopar built some great runners, she was not known for her electrical prowess. Actually, credit mother with inventing the damned alternator! But after that, they kind of let a good thing fly instead of improving. I can't blame them though, they spent all that electrical R&D time and money on making horsepower (Where everyone else failed).

I guess nothing is 100% perfect. I do know that there are a few sites that are dedicated to bolting in a Chevy Alternator and system - that's not what I plan on doing. I am more interested in showing how you can drive your car with the existing system and not catch on fire like I did.

First, let's examine a few of the design's weaknesses. The bulkhead was inplemented for manufacturing purposes and made it easy for workers to link the engine harness with the necessary connections inside. The problem is that pesky ammeter: big power is sent from the alternator, through the bulkhead, and to the battery. Translation: a huge amount of current is going into the cabin and back out. The reason this system fails is as time ticks on and atmospheric moisture creeps into the terminals, they corrode and jack up impedance (resistance) big time. Coincedentally, your toaster is also a huge resistor, and when big power is forced through a small area, heat is generated in a big way.

Some people, for some reason, get flipped out about the fact that so much power is going into the cabin. You know what? It's worked fine for 30+ years, and will continue to work forever if you provide a little preventative maintenance. So, grab your long-nose pliers, a screwdriver, some sandpaper, some Di-electric grease, and get under your hood!

Step 1:

Disconnect the battery.

Figure 1 - Ears out

Step 2:

WARNING: OLD PLASTIC IS BRITTLE.

Figure 2 - Gasket out

Step 3:

There will be a rectangular. 1/8" thick rubberish gasket at the bottom. Pull it out carefully. If it rips, oh well, it's 30 years old, and blank gaskets are pennies on the dollar.

Figure 3 - Terminals out

Step 4:

To save sanity, I only pull out one terminal at a time. In Figure 3 above, you will see the top view. Notice at the bottom (blown-up view) that there is a skinny side and a thick side. The difference is much more subtle when the connectors are in the housing, so look carefully. If you torque the thick side, nothing will really happen.....so torque the skinny side and then *PUSH* out after you've done the torque-ing. The tang pushes through the hole and out. If you mess up and snap one, don't worry - NAPA makes excellent repros. But we're doing this on the cheap, and you don't want to have to go ALL the way to NAPA to get a little box of them. So be gentle and patient - there's a lotta crud keeping the housing and the connector married.

Step 5:

Get some fine sandpaper (120 or above works). See that green crap growing on the terminal? Yeah, that's bad news. Sand both sides and the edges until you can see your reflection in them.

Step 6:

When it looks good, put it right back in the hole it came out of. This way, your terminals stay in the right spot and your wipers doesn't start wiping when you go to start your car.

Step 7:

Repeat steps 4-6 until all the terminals are done. Put the gasket back in, or make your own. Here is the secret - Go buy a tube of dielectric grease and dump a liberal amount of on all the terminals. Make sure they are all well coated. This will keep the mirror finish on your terminals, because atmosphere and moisture can't get at them now! Goodbye, green oxide!

Step 8:

#784491: 5 pack of female terminals
#784490: 5 pack of male terminals

Everybody thank Eugene Paulin (sp?) for these numbers! Okay, so as I was saying, get psyched to spend about an hour under the dash cutting the old ones out and crimping the new ones on. This job is only really half ass unless you do the females along with the males.

Step 9:

Put the three connectors back in, and you are set to go! No more fires!