Muscle Car Electrical Tech Tips - Diagnose Those Musclecar - Electrical Gremlins

Tech Tips
Electrical problems are often very difficult to track down. We've run across many of these that are especially common with muscle cars. One of these might save you a few hours of grief.

If your '60s GM musclecar has a left brake light that seems to have a mind of its own, take a look at the turn-signal switch. A weak turn signal switch will allow the turn signal lever to drop slightly, disabling the left brake-light circuit. The best fix is a new turn-signal switch.<<<<<<<

Rather than plug extra circuits into that original, overloaded fuse box, why not just add a new six-circuit box like this Painless unit? The new box features blade-type fuses and plenty of wire to do almost any job.>>>>>>

Want to convert that GM '60s vintage, external regulator alternator to a more modern 12Si internal-regulated alternator and retain the warning light on the dash? The simplest route is to plug an M&H Electric Fabricators adapter (PN 27555, $19.00) into the four-terminal harness from the regulator. The cheapest route is to make a jumper wire to connect the blue and brown wires at the connector. Then follow the circuit changes on the drawing for the white wire and the No. 2 wire from the field to the BAT terminal and you're good to go.>>>>>>

Those '60s glass tube fuse boxes used bare metal clips that have been slowly corroding for 40 years. When checking for a bad fuse, make sure to place the test light probe on the clip rather than the actual fuse. Oftentimes, the fuse is good, but because the connection is so rusty, no power is available to the circuit. This is a common problem. You can attempt to clean the clips, but the best solution is a new underdash wire harness and fuse box from M&H Electric Fabricators.>>>>>>

When swapping an HEI distributor into a musclecar that was originally equipped with points, be sure to use an actual 12-volt switched power source for the distributor. The original factory wires were resistance wires that reduce the voltage to around 6 volts and may not even allow the HEI to operate. Run a wire from a nonfused, 12-volt source on the fuse box that is controlled by the ignition switch. MAD Enterprises offers a simple kit (PN HEI-1, $18.95) that includes the wire and the special power and tach factory-style connectors.>>>>>>

By Courtesy MAD Enterprises.

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