Driving at night?

[lloyd3]

I'm mostly a daylight guy anymore.  Old cars and good visibility go hand-in-hand by my estimation, so my little excursions are almost exclusively by day. Tonight was different though. My boy is in Boy Scouts (and is the assistant patrol leader these days).  The Scouts are working on a new automobile merit badge and my son suggested (strongly!) that we take the old car so the basic automotive systems could be easily seen and explained (no plastic covers need to be removed on an old 60's Dodge).  I considered his request and then pulled the cover off of the car.  It was surprisingly buggy tonight (mosquitoes are rare here normally) and the boys had yet to have been initially-educated on the subject matter, so... it was arguably a wasted trip. A few parents were interested however, which was fun, and the Scoutmaster regaled me with a few war-stories. So all good, right? The drive home was in the dark, however, and our roads are loaded with deer anymore (pestilential numbers in my neighborhood these days). It's been quite a while since I've done this, and I even made my boy bring a good flashlight just to make sure we had options in case of any equipment failures (always carried a good flashlight in my muscle cars in the "old days" for just such a reason). A few dim and burned-out dash-lights, one maladjusted low beam, and the weak glow of non-halogen headlamps were my only real challenges... thankfully.  It was fun to go down the road again on a warm and breezy late-summer night, on wooded and uncrowded back-roads with the windows down, listening to the all-too-familiar sounds of a big-block echoing off of the landscape. Really brought back lots of great memories. I know my 14-year old got a kick out of it too.

[grdprx]

Thanks for sharing!      

[Nacho-RT74]

Fix and upgrade ( if needed ) the car like you were to drive it anytime, anywhere and any weather like a daily driver car and will be comfortably with it.

Glad you enjoined the trip!

[bakerhillpins]

    I laughed out loud when you talked about bringing a flashlight, not because of the action but because I do as well, however, it's the one on my phone! Don't know why that caught me as funny, probably the old school mixing with the new for me. Anyway, I drive the old car a lot at night, mostly because the late evening is about the only time I have to myself these days. And you're right, the experience is unique in the evening with the old cars and sounds and dim lighting.

[303 Mopar]

I sometimes get caught out after sunset and drive home in the dark. I take extra caution because there are a lot of deer my me too.  I really need to do a headlight conversion but two things are stopping me. One is I hate wiring, and the other is I'm not a fan of how new headlights look on our classics. But with the hideaways it is not as big of a deal, so I'm back to the wiring issue.

[Dino]

When I first got the Charger I found that the headlights were better than I expected, but still quite dim. I too live out in the sticks where deer likely outnumber people. So I did the headlight relay mod which made a world of difference. A few years ago I rewired the headlights so all 4 are low and high beam, but I haven't had the car out since to test it. Should be nice!

[JR]

Doing the h4 bulb mod and relay upgrade took all my anxiety about driving at night away.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Coming from am eagle- convert to led if you dont have a 100 pt show car. Some modifying of the headlight buckets and on the new bulb housing required with the ones i used, but at 30 bucks a pop they are brighter then the h4, and draw less current.

https://youtu.be/ZRKjt_Xj6w4
https://youtu.be/ggVCxK-xZTU

[cazzz]

Octane lighting has a Led convertion  just plug and play. it just plugs right into your High and low beam wire harness.  and wow its like night and day no pun intended

[Charger_Fan]

As a fellow traveler on the roadways, I must say that I hate those aftermarket LED headlights! They aren't aimed like a conventional halogen or HID headlight, where they won't blind oncoming motorists...instead, it's like they are on full high beam at all times! There is no low beam really, so as a vehicle is coming at me, it's like I'm looking directly at the light from an arc welder. I hate them, I tell ya! Some of the worst offenders are the Harleys that have been converted over.

[bakerhillpins]

When I first got the Charger I found that the headlights were better than I expected, but still quite dim. I too live out in the sticks where deer likely outnumber people. So I did the headlight relay mod which made a world of difference. A few years ago I rewired the headlights so all 4 are low and high beam, but I haven't had the car out since to test it. Should be nice!

I'd be interested in how that mod was implemented, specifically, if the supply side wiring loom was replaced to handle the 2x load?  Have a link to that Dino?

[Dino]

When I first got the Charger I found that the headlights were better than I expected, but still quite dim. I too live out in the sticks where deer likely outnumber people. So I did the headlight relay mod which made a world of difference. A few years ago I rewired the headlights so all 4 are low and high beam, but I haven't had the car out since to test it. Should be nice!

I'd be interested in how that mod was implemented, specifically, if the supply side wiring loom was replaced to handle the 2x load?  Have a link to that Dino?

No linkie, but I can tell you what I did! I replaced the high beams and buckets with high/low beams and their respective buckets. All you have to do then is add an additional wire from one headlight to the other. I have a relay feeding each side so in case one goes poof, I'll still have light on one side to get home safely.

[bakerhillpins]

No linkie, but I can tell you what I did! I replaced the high beams and buckets with high/low beams and their respective buckets. All you have to do then is add an additional wire from one headlight to the other. I have a relay feeding each side so in case one goes poof, I'll still have light on one side to get home safely.

Ok.  My suggestion to you is that you review your supply side wiring for current capacity since you have possibly doubled the load. If you overload the wire it will get warm enough to melt the insulation (older dry stuff will go faster) and could result in a short and a fire.  Even just running brighter bulbs can be an issue on these old rigs.

[Dino]

No linkie, but I can tell you what I did! I replaced the high beams and buckets with high/low beams and their respective buckets. All you have to do then is add an additional wire from one headlight to the other. I have a relay feeding each side so in case one goes poof, I'll still have light on one side to get home safely.

Ok.  My suggestion to you is that you review your supply side wiring for current capacity since you have possibly doubled the load. If you overload the wire it will get warm enough to melt the insulation (older dry stuff will go faster) and could result in a short and a fire.  Even just running brighter bulbs can be an issue on these old rigs.

I'll have to look up the wiring diagram on my old laptop. I have a circuit breaker between the supply side and the relays but I can't remember how everything runs. I'm pretty sure I posted about it here and pretty much was told how to run everything, but it's been too long.

[bakerhillpins]

I'll have to look up the wiring diagram on my old laptop. I have a circuit breaker between the supply side and the relays but I can't remember how everything runs. I'm pretty sure I posted about it here and pretty much was told how to run everything, but it's been too long.

If you went down this path at that time then nothing to worry about. I've seen too many folks just double down on the electrical system and then get into trouble so that's why I posed the question. 

[Dino]

I'll have to look up the wiring diagram on my old laptop. I have a circuit breaker between the supply side and the relays but I can't remember how everything runs. I'm pretty sure I posted about it here and pretty much was told how to run everything, but it's been too long.

If you went down this path at that time then nothing to worry about. I've seen too many folks just double down on the electrical system and then get into trouble so that's why I posed the question. 

Good man!

The entire charging system was changed a few years ago, I have circuit breakers and mega fuses under the hood keeping things safe. The power going into the cabin is no longer going through the bulkhead connector nor is there an ammeter to light things on fire. Original alternator wiring was replaced with a 6 ga cable. I can look up the schematics.

[bakerhillpins]

Good man!

The entire charging system was changed a few years ago, I have circuit breakers and mega fuses under the hood keeping things safe. The power going into the cabin is no longer going through the bulkhead connector nor is there an ammeter to light things on fire. Original alternator wiring was replaced with a 6 ga cable. I can look up the schematics.

HA! sounds like you have it under control.

[John_Kunkel]

A few dim and burned-out dash-lights, one maladjusted low beam, and the weak glow of non-halogen headlamps were my only real challenges... thankfully.

My first car was a 6-volt '51 Olds, these were notorious for slow/none cranking when warm. So, to increase the cranking power I installed an 8-volt battery which necessitated upping the charging voltage to 9.4 volts. Well, 9.4 was a little much for the 6-volt headlamps, went through a gazillion sealed beams, so I installed 12-volt bulbs....you talk about DIM, good thing my eyes were better then.

[orange383]

I'll have to look up the wiring diagram on my old laptop. I have a circuit breaker between the supply side and the relays but I can't remember how everything runs. I'm pretty sure I posted about it here and pretty much was told how to run everything, but it's been too long.

If you went down this path at that time then nothing to worry about. I've seen too many folks just double down on the electrical system and then get into trouble so that's why I posed the question. 

Good man!

The entire charging system was changed a few years ago, I have circuit breakers and mega fuses under the hood keeping things safe. The power going into the cabin is no longer going through the bulkhead connector nor is there an ammeter to light things on fire. Original alternator wiring was replaced with a 6 ga cable. I can look up the schematics.

I'd be interested in seeing those schematics and how you updated your electrical system. I'm looking to update they wiring on my charger as part of the restoration! 

[Dino]

I'd be interested in seeing those schematics and how you updated your electrical system. I'm looking to update they wiring on my charger as part of the restoration! 

Sorry orange, I forgot to reply!

I started with removing the ammeter. You don't have to do so, but I would recommend getting a repro ammeter that's rated a bit higher than the old ones, and beefing up the wiring. I got a volt meter instead.

I got rid of the fusible link and the wiring going to the ammeter altogether. The black power wire behind the instrument cluster is now fed by an 8 ga wire protected by a 50A maxi fuse mounted above the bulkhead connector. The fuse is fed by the starter relay.

The alternator has been upgraded and I ran a 6 ga wire from it to the starter relay. Another 6 ga wire goes from the relay to the battery by way of a 90A ANL fuse under the battery. That one also feeds the relays and circuit breaker for the headlight upgrade.

I am also adding an alarm system, remote starter, power windows, and other goodies so I'll have another 50A maxi fuse coming off the battery and into a fuse box to feed all that stuff.

In short, none of the old wiring is carrying any load because it would burn that sucker to the ground!

[Back N Black]

Dino, you engine is looking really good. 

[Dino]

Dino, you engine is looking really good. 

Thanks! Let's hope it works! 

Ignore the cheapo valve covers. I've got black MP covers on it now.   

[Back N Black]

Dino, you engine is looking really good. 

Thanks! Let's hope it works! 

Ignore the cheapo valve covers. I've got black MP covers on it now.   

I meant to say your engine bay is looking really good, engine included, very clean.