Ron63TR4

Excellent question Roger, can I get back to you on that one? My goal is to make the car more reliable so I can use it as a daily driver. I want to keep everything original if I can. I also don’t like getting stuck on the side of the road because the ammeter failed. So my car, like many things, is a balance between those two forces. Roger, whose opinion do you value more my priest or my wife?

Wow, I didn’t completely follow the discussion of regulators. But here’s what I’m planning on doing. I’ll assume the ammeter died of old age. In other words, whatever happened probably won’t happen again. I’ll install a 40amp fuse on the battery side of the ammeter to protect the wiring just in case. I’ll take a look at the wiring coming off the solenoid, sounds like I can install the fuse in that area. I’ll put a jumper wire across the ammeter terminals; the gauge will be there just so I don’t have a hole in the instrument cluster. I’ll install a volt meter between the IG

Thanks for the comments and photos. They help me understand how the ammeter works. If I'm understanding it correctly: when current flows through the little copper coil it creates a magnetic field which deflects the needle. Amazingly simple. Also from looking at the wiring schematic all the current (except for the starter motor) flows through the ammeter, so if the ammeter fails none of the electrical circuits will work (except the starter). I put a jumper wire across the ammeter terminals and all the circuits work as they are supposed to. I took the ammeter apart and the little cooper

Thanks Rob. I’ll try taking the ammeter out of the circuit and connecting the two leads together with suitable insulation and see if the ignition system and other circuits work. When connecting the new alternator, I followed instructions in a Moss Motors video. I’ve got the terminals hooked up as shown in the video and insulated. It’s not pretty but I’m certain the terminals are not shorting out. I have removed the old control box.

I was driving my 63 TR4 and everything was going well when the engine and electrical system abruptly stopped. Everything just died, the ignition light did not come on. I’ve got the car home in the garage and I’m trying to figure out what happened. I recently installed an alternator and have run the engine a couple hours since then. The three fuses are good. Using a multimeter I’m getting zero volts at the terminals with brown/blue wires at the ignition switch (I think I’m supposed to have 12 volts on those terminals all the time). The ammeter has voltage on one side and zero volts