I've pretty much stripped out the interior of the Duster for drag use to include the dash/cluster. The wiring actually weighs quite a bit! Now I'm nervous about starting the car with the loose wires hanging around. I want to remove anything not needed for a race only car. I don't need the speedo, light switch, fuel gauge, etc. But I will need an ignition source and what else? I don't want to start cutting up the wiring harness and make a big, unsafe mess, but I want to get rid of as much of this unneeded wire as possible. I stopped short of pulling out the fuse box, but everything else is now just hanging under the dash and doesn't have a nice, neat plug in connector to take loose. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 24 days 'til Bristol.
Rob

Pull it all out and make your own or go with a harness from painless wiring
A drag car must have one working taillight.

Will

The rules require a working tail light. I also like a head lite on a separet switch. Makes it easier for you to be seen going through the pits, and some tracks are illumination challenged in certain areas. Makes it easier to find your way at tracks you are not familiar with.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I was aware of the taillight requirement and the headlight is a good idea. Should I pull the fuse box and the bulkhead in the firewall and everything? My concern right now is hooking the battery back up and starting this thing and frying something because there is a loose hot wire laying around somewhere. If I knew the basic wiring that I have to have to have the car start and run that would help. An ignition On with a start switch is obvious. Don't I have to make sure the amp gauge cirtuit is completed? I remember my '64 Valiant amp gauge went bad and fried an entire length of wire. 23 days 'til Bristol

Here is the electronic ignition wiring:
http://www.slantsix.org/articles/elect_ ... wiring.htm
With this and a starter switch you can get it to run.
DD

Thanks Doc,
It looks like realistically I could remove all of the wiring to include the fuse box and bulk head connectors without cutting anything up. Then just run the three basic wires to the starter switch. I wouldn't necessarily need the ampmeter would I, just the wire to the switch? I could run a quick hot wire with a toggle switch to the tailight to be legal. That should get me ready for Bristol at least. I can refine the design later. Thanks again! Rob

You might want to consider wireing in a charging system, or else bring a battery charger with you to the track. Don't forget, if you relocate the batterey to the trunk, you will need a battery cutoff switch. It is not hard to hook up an alternator. I can't post pictures or wiring diagrams, maybe Doc can post a simple basic one for you.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

You're right. I will need to keep the charging system. I guess I assumed that since the hot wire went to the amp gauge and then to the ignition switch and back to the ballast, etc it effectively completed the circuit and the rest of the under hood wiring for the alternator would stay the same. As you can tell, wiring isn't my strong suit. In fact, it is seeming like I don't have any strong suits lately. I'm going to try to make it over to my friend's shop parking lot to work on it tonight. If I make it there before closing I can plug in an extension cord to use for a drop light out there. Hopefully the rain will let up a little by then
Clarification on the charging system wiring would be greatly appreciated. thanks,
Rob

Rob, The wiring you need to do for a race car, is really quite simple. I have the diagrams here, but unfortunatly, both my scanner and cheap digital camera, are not working. Maybe someone will take pity on you.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I just back from spending some quality time with the Duster. The in-car and rear light harnesses were in good shape, so I removed them both intact in case anyone needs them. The under hood harness was another story. It had it's share of bad repairs over the years. I wound up removing all of the tape so I could trace the wires. It doesn't look too scary to get the charging system to work. It was getting late and the bugs were eating me alive, so I came home before I tried to wire something wrong. I would appreciate it if anyone does have a wiring diagram that I could follow. I'm not sure I trust the way some of these wires are hooked up. All of the wiring for electronic ignition is there and mostly hooked up, but the ECU was not hooked up to the distributor. It is running points instead. The ECU probably went bad and the previous owner just went back to points. Go figure. It's either back to the salvage yard or spend $200 on an MP kit I guess. Anybody have any other less expensive ideas? Can I just get rid of the electronic choke? I'm not sure it's wired right anyway. There were three shady splice jobs in that area alone. Oh yeah, don't I need to keep the neutral safety switch? It's probably a good thing I'm removing and re-doing this stuff anyway I guess. It needs to be done anyway and I get to learn something along the way. I need to start having the youth group kids help me with this stuff, but their parents aren't real hip on them working on this thing from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on a school night. It's late, I'm tired, I'm rambling. Good Night!

Yes, you will need the neutral safety switch. Glad you reminded me, need to fix mine. As for the distributer, get an electronic one. Before going to the junk yard, check a local parts store for a remanufactured one. It might be priced cheap enough.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Thanks Charrlie,
I'll call around locally for a distributor. I'd better get a new ECU too! Now that I've had a couple hours of sleep I will try to head back over there tonight and see if I can put a clearer head to the wiring stuff. I am seeing where most of them go under hood, but once they go into the bulk head I'm not sure. I have a Chilton manual and a FSM for I think 1970. Would the basic wiring (charging system, neutral safety, etc.) have changed significantly from 1970 to 1974?

Okay, I'm wire stupid. I tried to get the Duster started last night. Not even a wimper. Could someone please, please help me out? What am I missing? I obviously want the charging system to work, but if I've removed too much of the harness, etc to get the charging system working, so be it for now. I'll buy a battery charger! I want this car to go to Bristol.
1. Where does the fusible link from the starter solenoid go or can I delete it all together?
2. Where can I run the "Battery" wire from the alternator since everything else is removed?
3. Where does the neutral safety wire need to go to complete the circuit? Solenoid to trans to where?
4. The other wire besides the neutral safety wire coming from the solenoid was disconnected. Is it important and where does it go if so?
5. Can/should I remove the wire going to the choke that is spliced into the blue field wire from the alternator to the voltage regulator?
6. The small ground wire from the battery to the body is missing. Would that cause me to have no juice whatsoever? I thought it would still crank and run without it(?)
7. Right now the three wires from the ECU that go to the distributor and the negative side of the coil are disconnected because it's running points. I will replace the ECU and distributor once I get it running again. It was running this way before I removed the wiring harness, so I want to get it running again first. I've already made too many changes at one time to figure out what I did wrong (right Charrlie?)
8. Anyone please answer any or all that you can. I obviously pulled some wire that is necessary for the car to crank and run. Probably a ground or safety system or something. Thanks! Only 8 days 'til Bristol and most of the weekend is already spoken for

Rob

Rob, Is your car any where near a computer or phone? If you want, when your ready to work on it, call me, and I can walk you thru it, either by phone or IM. It is not hard, but you will need a test light, and a charged up battery. I'll be home every night , working on mine.
You have a PM

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Hey Charrlie,
The car is in a parking lot about 1 1/2 miles from the house, but I'll borrow my wife's cell phone. I have youth group at church tonight. How late is too late to call?
Thanks for the help. I've been studying the wiring diagrams, but there are so many splices to here and there I'm not sure if what I've removed is critical or not.