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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 2:05 pm 
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4 BBL ''Hyper-Pak''

Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2014 5:12 pm
Posts: 37
Location: north bergen nj
Car Model: 68 dodge dart 270 2dr
Hello.... Its was pricey to upgrade my drum brakes to disc-BUT- worth every penny! Now i need to upgrade my wiring...ugh...i just dont have alot of confidence driving at night. Can anyone inform me what this procedure will entail-cost etc? What kind of mechanic/shop does this type of work? Where to purchase the harness?
Any info greatly appreciated!
HAPPY MOTORING


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 2:47 pm 
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When you say you don't have a lot of confidence driving at night, that sounds to me like you're wanting better lights, is that right? And/or is there something else making you leery of driving your car at night? What kind(s) of upgrade(s) do you have in mind? With that info you can get good, useful answers.

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 Post subject: Alternator replacement
PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 3:33 pm 
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4 BBL ''Hyper-Pak''

Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2014 5:12 pm
Posts: 37
Location: north bergen nj
Car Model: 68 dodge dart 270 2dr
I was bummed that i simply could not upgrade to a 60 amp alternator -(i wasted that cash...plus the new voltage regulator cost too) Because immediately as i pulled on the head lights...the temp gauge rose-----turn lights off....gauge lowerd to normal. However i blew one original headlight bulb and got a replacement at Advance auto...prob a mistake....actually bought 2 cause the new one was much brighter than the other original.
Sadly my dart came with a 35 amp alternator--this replacement is hard to find! so were using a 45 amp now. i see lots of cars using their cigarette lighter port for charging phones/GPS etc. id never even consider it with my ride.....risk factor. For these reasons i try not to drive at nite. Basically, Thank Goodness, i havent had any electrical issues other than this.


Last edited by suurthing on Mon Aug 08, 2016 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 4:31 pm 
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4 BBL ''Hyper-Pak''

Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2014 5:12 pm
Posts: 37
Location: north bergen nj
Car Model: 68 dodge dart 270 2dr
What replacement headlight bulbs are recommended for my 68 dart and where to buy them?


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 6:09 am 
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GE Nighthawks (H6024NH) are the best off-the-shelf inexpensive upgrades. You can get them online at Amazon or other places, but often they are not stocked in parts stores.

Lou

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 7:37 am 
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Supercharged
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Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:25 pm
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Location: Downeast Maine
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One area to look at:

Could be the old headlight just died of old age, or maybe not. Gages moving up for no reason indicate a voltage surge in harness. The only way to increase harness voltage is having the alternator run away ungoverned or incorrectly governed.

Often poor grounding of voltage regulator's chassis is the cause of high voltage as it can't correctly react to actual harness voltage, reading it as low, then throttling alternator to increase harness voltage. Depending on the voltage difference between harness actual and misread could be one to perhaps six or more additional volts could be piled on to normal harness voltage.

In other words, say the voltage regulator is detecting eleven volts due to poor grounding in harness that is already at normal voltage, say 13.4 volts. Regulator incorrectly governs alternator to crank out an additional 2.6 volts lifting actual harness from 13.4 volts to 16 volts (13.4+2.6= 16)enough to blow bulbs and if left unchecked for very long cook gages.

One solution to poor grounding in charging circuit is to construct a ground loop of #10 or # 12 conductor running from negative battery terminal to voltage regulator, electronic spark controller if equipped, and alternator's chasses or base. This loop will eliminate all voltage drop in these device's ground path.

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82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 11:45 am 
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suurthing wrote:
I was bummed that i simply could not upgrade to a 60 amp alternator -(i wasted that cash...plus the new voltage regulator cost too)


No, you didn't waste that cash (assuming you got a good quality alternator and regulator -- there's a lot of junk on the market). You can upgrade to a 60-amp alternator, it's just there's more to it than bolting on the alternator and driving off. To make this upgrade safely, you have to upgrade the charging circuit wiring as described here.

Quote:
Sadly my dart came with a 35 amp alternator--this replacement is hard to find! so were using a 45 amp now.


45A is probably plenty. Again, what is your overall goal? What issue or problem are you hoping to solve or improve with a 60-amp alternator?

Quote:
i see lots of cars using their cigarette lighter port for charging phones/GPS etc. id never even consider it with my ride.....risk factor.


Charging a phone or running a GPS takes much less current than operating the cigarette lighter itself. There is no such risk factor -- not to the car, anyway; these cars' charging voltage is "dirty" (flickery) enough to pose some risk to the electronic equipment you plug in, though, because they're expecting the much "cleaner" (smoother, better regulated) power that newer cars provide. You can improve your car's charging system to give smoother, better-regulated power.

Headlamps: the only ones that are both cheap and decent are these. They're not the world's greatest headlamps, but they are the ones to get if you need cheap and decent at the same time. To take the workload off the headlamp switch for brighter light and better reliability, do the headlamp relay install as documented on Allpar here and here (the photos of the headlight beams on the road in both articles are very poor, but the text is very descriptive and accurate).

To upgrade the brake lights and reduce the workload on the brake and turn signal switches, first clean the lenses in hot soapy water, swab the reflectors with alcohol, stuff wads of masking tape in the bulb holes (or remove the sockets if they're the removable type), then spray them with readily available "chrome" spray paint, which is practically ideal for the task.

Then put these (specifically) in the brake/tail lights and these (specifically) in the back-up lights. You will need to swap in this turn signal flasher for the new bulbs to work correctly (2-prong like original, attach its ground wire conveniently).

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 6:10 pm 
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TBI Slant 6

Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 1:58 pm
Posts: 149
Location: So Cal
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great thread. I just bought all that stuff . hope it is mostly plug n play on my 66 dart. looking forward to blinding people behind me

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66 dodge dart 270, 225ci, 3.7l, L6


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:44 am 
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Supercharged
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Location: Downeast Maine
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looking forward to blinding people behind me
Quote:

For that task a late model Prius would be the vehicle of choice, they have the nastiest bright multi LED brake lights on the road with Cadillac a close second with their forward running lights.


A word to manufactures; loose the multi pinpoints of bright light, and spread or average out those photons to one large homogenously lit lens, enough with the flaunting of LED technology.

Signed,
Old Eyes



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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.

82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp

07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC



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PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 8:05 pm 
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TBI Slant 6

Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 1:58 pm
Posts: 149
Location: So Cal
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Hey Dan what about these for the front turn indicators?
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... ignal+lamp

they are 1157, so correct form factor. And are Amber, so correct color.

p.s. I want to add, when you do the Chrome paint, you gotta put it on thick, otherwise it doesnt' lay flat and turns into powder.

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66 dodge dart 270, 225ci, 3.7l, L6


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 10:31 am 
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Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2002 5:39 pm
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The bulb you linked is from one of the two (and only two) legitimate LED retrofit bulb families on the market, but in your application and many others they're no good, and here's why: see how that bulb has its LED emitters facing "back" at an angle where their light would hit the reflector? That's great for lamps that use a parabolic reflector behind the bulb and pillow or flute optics in the lens to spread the light, but the '66 Dart (also '65 Dart, '63-'64 Dart, '60-'66 Valiant, and a whole bunch of others) have a different kind. The lens has a bullseye in the middle and concentric round rings surrounding it, all the way out to the edges of the lens. This is called a Fresnel lens (pronounced "freh-NELL"), and it depends on light from a central emitter — originally a filament — radiating forward from the bulb (where "forward" means in the direction away from the bulb base). The bullseye magnifies the filament to provide a bright, concentrated central spot of light, and the rings spread and distribute that forward light to "fill up" the rest of the beam pattern.

The bulb you linked has zero forward light. If you install it in your turn signal, what'll be behind the lens bullseye is the (completely dark) heat sink. Your turn signals will no longer be anywhere near bright enough to give minimally safe performance.

(Please don't post like "Well, what about these ones? How 'bout these other ones I found? What about this one?" Virtually all the "LED bulbs" on the market are illegitimate, unsafe and various illegal junk with no engineering behind them at all. Please see my detailed discussion of the matter here).

There is no safe LED bulb for front park/turn lights that have Fresnel lenses.

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