Hey guys,

I've got a '74 International Scout that has had a 440 swapped in. Few weeks ago I finished freshening up the motor and got everything back in. Got it started and it ran for a while, all seemed well until the main wire from the alternator burned up (like the alternator was trying to run at full capacity). For testing purposed I unhooked the voltage regulator so I could run the motor without the alternator trying to charge. It would run, but acted like it didn't quite have enough voltage to power the coil, engine would miss and sputter. Changed the coil and it seemed to help, but not quite fix it. Hooked up a battery charger and it would run correctly. The battery is a fully charged Optima Red Top. The amp gauge has never been working in the vehicle, but I've noticed the charging system has had a "surge" for quite some time (the you can see the headlights pulse) this was confirmed with an external amp gauge that showed a jumpy needle.

I replaced the voltage regulator and ran a heavier alternator wire, but it didn't seem to change much. I still have a jumpy amp reading and with no battery charger the motor starts and runs fine until the electric fan kicks on, the voltage draw causes it to miss and sputter.

Any ideas? I've done pretty much everything I can think of. What I can't figure out is I didn't mess with anything electrical when I had to motor out, and besides the "pulse" the charging system had everything was fine.

The Scout has been completely rewired and supports a standard Chrysler voltage regulator and Chrysler electronic ignition. The alternator is the great big 100amp one.

Thanks

first off i recomend replacing the oem amp guage and checking all grounds. and then check all wires for propper connection and routing .

Make sure you have good grounds. Body, motor all need to have good clean grounds. What voltage is alt putting out?

I'm wondering what made the alt main wire burn either a dead short to ground or a very heavy draw somewhere downstream from the alt. I'm assuming the Optima batt was added during the swap? Was it fully charged? Can you right now hook everything up & check voltages at every connection wo it frying anything?