One more question, how did you make the panel itself, and what guage metal is it?
Just curious...
Again, nice craftmanship, and way cool truck!

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"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

The panel is a piece of 16 gauge sheet metal 6x18 with a half inch bend on the sides for bolt clearance on the backside. I also added to cross bends in the shape of an X for added strength to the front of the panel. It is mounted directly to the inside firewall using nylon spacers so that it does not bend the flanges.I used quarter inch bolts for the ground locations and grounded everything individualy to the post for easy troubleshooting in the future. For the headlights, turn signals, and parking light connections I used a terminal strip mounted inside the frame with a weatherproof cover that I am still finalizing the design of. All of the wiring is run through the frame so it is not visible from the top looking into the engine bay. this method is extra work, but it gives a very clean look that makes it worth it in my opinion. Have a Great day and feel free to ask any questions I will be happy to assist in any way I can. Jim

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1956 Dodge D100 Pick up
power plant 225 slant six

I'm working on a panel similar to yours, and I have another question:
The ECU is grounded, right? Is the voltage regulator also grounded? How about my ballast resistor (4 pin)?
Thanks...

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"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

Okay, I dug through several pages of old posts here, and it looks like the voltage regulator definately must be grounded.
So, I'll run a wire from the voltage reg to chassis ground, or would it be better to run it to the negative post on the battery? In one of Dan's posts, he talks about running a ground wire from the alternator case to the voltage reg, to the neg battery post.
Thanks!

_________________
"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

Yes they must be grounded if you use a metal panel and bolt directly to it then there is your ground also I added several ground studs for accessorys and ran all the grounds back to the panel for future trouble shooting ease.

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1956 Dodge D100 Pick up
power plant 225 slant six

Thanks!

_________________
"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

Okay, electronics 101 here:
Two accessories can use the same ground, correct? I think that's true, and on your panel, it looks like you have more than one device going to a common ground.
Does your panel have wires on the back of it?
Thanks in advance for letting me know.

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"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

Hey hows it going, yes you can wire all the componets to a single ground although I do not recommend this for troubleshooting purposes. I went with two or three to each ground stud or you can add studs and go single it's your preferance. there are no wires on the back of my panel. My panel is bolted directly to the firewall using spacers to allow for the curve in the firewall be sure and leave some extra wire to allow for panel removal when replacing componets in the future. I have enough to where I can set the panel on the floorboard and work on it without having to crawl under the dash to access the panel. Please feel free to ask any questions, have a Great day!!

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1956 Dodge D100 Pick up
power plant 225 slant six

Once again, thanks!

_________________
"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

Okay, nothing is hooked up yet, but I have my panel secured in place under the dash on the passenger side. The ECU (5-pin), voltage reg, starter relay, and ballast resisitor (4-pin) are all on this panel.
Does the ballast resistor need to be grounded? It wouldn't hurt I guess.
Onward...

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"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

The ballast resistor does not need a sperate ground once it is bolted to the panel. It sounds like your panel is all set!!

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1956 Dodge D100 Pick up
power plant 225 slant six

Okay, I unhooked the connectors from the ballast resistor under the hood, and connected it to the one on my panel. Started her up, ran fine, cool. Voltage reg, same deal. The wiring on these two components is simple, to me, the ECU is gonna take some tracing, untangling, sorting out, etc.
Oh yeah, are you using a 5-pin or 4-pin? Is one better to use than the other?
Later,

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"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

Sounds Great!! I am using 5 pin ECU I do not know why they changed from a four to a five. I just went with what was on the 73 motor that I am running. keep up the good work!

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1956 Dodge D100 Pick up
power plant 225 slant six

Okay, the voltage reg, ballast res, and now the ECU is also hooked up. She still runs! WOOHOO!
I was able to stretch the original wiring enough to hook up the ECU, but I would like to upgrade with new, more efficiently routed wires, but that's for another day.
Something that I've noticed is that while I have the 4-prong ballast resistor, there is another resistor mounted on the fenderwell. A wire goes on one end of this resistor, and the other end has a wire going to one of the coil terminals. I'm wondering if this is original equipment, or if this resistor is part of the "Jacob's ignition" system that I had on my Volare a few years ago. Is this resistor necessary?
????????

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"Ja, Ich fahre ein altes auto."
'78 Volare 225
'67 Charger 318

The only parts on my panel are the voltage regulator, ballast resistor, ECU and fuse box. There was a resistor mounted on my fire wall, but it was for the door/ key in ignition alarm that I eliminated I am not sure what purpose the resistor that you are refereing to is.

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1956 Dodge D100 Pick up
power plant 225 slant six