Bill,
The heavy paper was on the gauge. It was a reproduction piece from one of the vendors. I suspect I either did something wrong in the installation of the new harness or perhaps I grounded that wire near the back of the gauge panel.
With the key off on the foot stomp type setup the only wire that burned was the direct line from the starter terminal to the ammeter gauge. Somehow , as you said, the power was still getting to the gauge. I m now rethinking the installation of the new harness. I used the detailed and fairly simple directions that matched the numbered wires to the specific application, but obviously something was either wrong or bad.
When I look at the wiring diagram for the 58/59 6 cylinder foot stomp, I see the current goes through the ammeter from the terminal on the foot stomp on one side, and from the ignition switch on the other. Is the feed to the ammeter (blackwire that fried) only hot when the key is on feeding the other terminal (red wire from ignition)? Or is the black wire hot up to the gauge all the time?
If I improperly wired the ignition switch allowing current to the gauge whenever the battery is connected (even with key off) I wonder if tht would cause failure after the truck was off a while?
The fact that the short was from the black wire side of the ammeter only, all the way back to the stomp starter indicates somehow I dead short grounded that wire right at the gauge? Should I be able to see power on the black wire from the stomp to the ammeter WITHOUT the key on? Does the feed go through the key to the ammeter and continue on the black wire over to the stomp switch or the other way around?
One other item I need to look at close is the METAL speedo cable at the back of the gauges. It was not hooked up yet and I justhooked it up to the gearbox after locating the right gear drive. Maybe it was spinning against the gauge terminal or wire? But it seems that the key off 2 hr later smoke and meltdown indicates power was present cuz man was that big copper wire glowing red hot when I jerked the hood open and pulled the power cable from the battery. Lots of melting tape insulation and smoke! Ralph
