With the help and patience of Howard Hanson HH56 and Big Kev, I learned about relays and how to wire them to fused distribution boards. Howard had my back through the whole process answering lots of dumb questions thoroughly for which I am very grateful. I have to give him credit. He never screamed at me in CAPITAL LETTERS!
I used 2 relays and 2 distribution boards. All devices would be wired to the terminals of the distribution boards. The distribution boards are like fuse boxes on a modern car. The relay takes the pressure off the wiring that originally went to the light switch and the ignition switch. The power goes straight to the relays from the ammeter for devices Always Powered, which typically have a fuse and a switch, like the radio, or from the ignition switch, for those that are Only Powered if the Ignition is On. Big Kev’s concise explanation is post #1140. Basically, the whole concept made me dizzy.
Two of the essential parts I needed came from the flackmaster, David Flack.
May I say, Thank God, he saves old stuff? 1940 160 Battery Gauge and a 1940 160 Ignition switch .
The gas gauge needle was caught on a little tab outside the gauge window that prevents it from going too far left (and another on the right side from too far right). That was an easy fix.
My battery meter (I was calling it an ammeter, but it doesn’t give readings like an ammeter, just indications of whether the battery is discharging or being charged), on the other hand, was fried. I gently pried apart the gas/battery gauge casing, removed the nuts holding the battery gauge and installed the working one in my case restored by Bruce Abbott Instruments in Tigard, Oregon, then snapped it back together. Voila! A working gauge.
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