At this point, I've gotten into the advanced stages of the rewiring on the Truckstang. I'm now in the engine bay, where I have to wire up the voltage regulator and the alternator, the Duraspark system, as well as a few other odds and ends that have a connectivity to the rest of the electrical system. I started off with the voltage regulator and the alternator by association. I had to get a schematic for the voltage regulator so I can get the wires right for the four terminals on the regulator itself. For now I'll be using the original 1G (1st gen) charging system until I can upgrade the system to a 3G system, which uses an integrated voltage regulator. Those alternators are typically in middle/late 90's Fords and is the same alternator that's currently on the Rustang.
With the wires all figured out I got the regulator wired up the alternator along with the other wires which were a ground and a power line from the switched 12v side of the circuit. I zip tied everything to neaten the wires up, as usual and even added some wire straps around the fender wall and firewall to route the wires a lot neater than if they were just laid across the engine or in some other shitty manner. The next area to target is the Duraspark system. This system is already partially wired up as far as the module, distributor and coil. I still needed to wire in a ballast resistor and a switched 12v line to the input for the system. The ballast resistor I've always used for a Duraspark conversion was actually a Chrysler ballast resistor as the unit bolts to the firewall and has two male terminals on it that can be plugged into easily. Replacement is simple because of this design. With a schematic in hand to verify where the wires go, I got the system wired up with a power feed going through the firewall and to the fuse box. With the ignition system wired up, I took care of some other small odds and ends, like getting the battery cables in place, getting the main power cable started that will bring power from the battery to the fuse box. I also ran a power line for the starter solenoid going into the dash and fuse box. As a result, I also had to get a universal ignition switch and headlight switch so I can wire in those components and get the electrical system even more completed. I still have to wire in the headlights and front turn signals. Right now, because I ran wires over to the points where the headlight and ignition switches go, I can get those mounted and fully established. With the headlight switch wired up, I moved on to the ignition switch. Now, this switch was made to mimic a regular ignition switch in a car where it has four positions. Because of this, I had to change my original plan on how the fuse box would be wired up. I routed a wire from the battery cable over to the fuse box to feed raw power from the battery for the electrical system. With the ignition switch, I ended up taking the wire from the fuse box that was supposed to go to the switch for the starter solenoid and routed it to the battery terminal on the 4-way switch. The start terminal on the switch went to the solenoid wire going out through the firewall. From here, I connected a wire from the accessory terminal on the 4-way switch and ran it back to the fuse box, connecting it to the input terminals on the fuse box feeding the turn signal and line that'll feed the radio. There will be room for extra loads like an amplifier or CB radio (does anyone still use those?). The ignition terminal on the 4-way switch was routed via wire over to the fuse box to connect to the fuses for the Duraspark system, the wiper and HVAC blower and gauge cluster, which also feeds into the voltage regulator. The ignition terminal is only on when the key is in that position, as well as when the key is in the start position, a requirement for the distributor, which will need power during a start cycle as well as during regular running. Because of this feature in the switch, I can actually disconnect the extra hookup that I added to the ignition system to take into account the idea that I needed to have a separate line that would supply power to the ignition system from the start switch. Another thing I did to accommodate the switch was modify the bushing that was part of the original ignition switch that had the indicators on it. This piece would complete the assembly of the dash where the switch trim pieces would be kept in the original state, even with the universal switches. The same was done with the headlight switch where the trim bushing with the word "lights" is present even with the switch. Of course, cutting into the original piece would be considered a sacrilege to some, but so would installing generic pieces in an iconic car, so whatever. With the switch ready for installation and the loads mapped out on the fuse box, I can start to wrap up the electrical system on the car. I have on order an aftermarket turn signal assembly that clamps to most old car steering columns and has multiple wires for the front and rear lights as well as a switch for a hazard light, all of which is awesome. I'll have to look at how the assembly is made because if this switch is set up to mimic a standard switch assembly, it will possibly mean that it will switch between brake and turn signal lights on the rear just as well, meaning I can do away with the extra light socket and circuit that I ran to separate the two circuits. We'll see when the switch comes. I actually hope this is the case in order to clean up the wiring some.
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