1968 charger starting problem smoke under dash

[flathead1946]

parked my car, 1968 charger 440 stock restored, was running fine last month. went to start it today had a dead so I charged it up. turned the key and the car would fire with the ignition on but die once the key was released, then  smoke rolled out from under the dash. tried again and the same thing happened. crawled up the dash saw that the blue wire with white stripe? was fried on the back of the ignition switch. I followed the wire to under the hood and it appears to me to go to the ignition side of the voltage regulator. Its a stock looking electronic voltage regulator. the wire under the is not burned or damaged. the dash harness was restored (cost a bunch) to factory condition everything had been running fine for two years. what do you think? once the problem is found any ideas on how to replace that burned wire? buy a new harness? thanks is advance

[A383Wing]

I had the same issue with my 66 years ago...the regulator shorted to ground internally.....fried the entire wire from ignition switch to the regulator.....I had spare 66 harness's here, so I took out the fried wire that was in the car and replaced it with a good wire(s) from a used harness.

I also put an inline fuse at the regulator so it won't do this again.....that wire has no protection in there from the factory

You will need to buy a new regulator before you start the car again after wire repair

Bryan

[Highbanked Hauler]

    Bryan, is that fuse something you made or can it be bought ?

[A383Wing]

   Bryan, is that fuse something you made or can it be bought ?

I made it...just an in-line fuse holder and a couple of 1/4" wire terminals....and a 10 amp fuse inside

(easily removed for those who have their cars judged)