Alternator / Voltage Regulator

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

Large Arbor Phil before running off crazy, did we check a couple of things,
#1 Main wire coming off the Alt that charging the battery, does it OHM out? Is there a fusible link in the wire? With an 85 amp setup you should have a link. Slo blow of 100 to 125 amps in the power feed to battery.
#2 Volt meter gauge, SW sells one for cobras that matchs the others. You can get one with color also if you want.
#3 Under size pulleys on the motor of Alt? This will cause a charging issue with the car and not recharging the battery. Have you gone to a PEP boys or Autozone and have the Battery tested for Load? What is the CCA on it? how many year is the life? March pulleys cause this problem all the time.
#4 PA performance sell a complete kit for Cobras that bolts on and has a 95A to 120 amp rating. Buy the fusible link for the system. I run the 125 amp.
#5 IMO you are running to much ampage through the Amp gauge. It was never designed to handle this much. I can promise you that the plastic insolators are either melting or cracking from the load(amps) I went through this and almost melted my wiring harness under the dash and had a great weiner roast. Unhook the 2 feeds from the amp gauge and make a small jump line with 10 gauge wire and crimping clips. Cover the connectors with wrap. Need to loosen the steering column and the screws on the dash to get easy access.
#6 Ground wires on the car? You should have 3 wires. 1 to the frame directly and 2 to the motor, One directly from battery and one from frame to motor block
#7 Volt meters and Amp meters. The Orginial cobras ran like a 37A to 42 A alt. Not sure if they even had a generator on them at one time. Volt meters do give you a prewarning over an amp gauge. Amp gauge is in trouble and the wiring harness is starting to cook. We run from 65A to over 100 amps. We need the power for all the electrical things on the cars.
The VR should match the charging system. If you burn out another VR, If the system is charging at 50-60 amps all the time, you could have a failure of an electrical component like fan motors. You might want to check out #4 line for a better fix. The kits looks orginal with just a wire change. You can paint the VR box black if needed. Good luck with the car. Rick L.

Rick, I am confused on what you are saying in #6. Could you possibly break it down so it is less confusing? On my car, from the NEG term on battery, cable goes to frame. From the Pass side aluminum head I have a wire that goes to the metal tube behind the firewall. Also, if I remember correctly, I think I have a braided strap also going from the tranny to the frame.
I was thinking of grounding the drivers side head.

In addition, I plan to run the MSD box POS and NEG wire directly to the battery per the MSD tech department. They do not like those wires running to the frame or to the positive relay on the firewall which is my present setup. What do you or Patrick think of that?
Dave