voltage regulator

[roguedc72]

hey hope everyone is well during these bizzare times. Since I'm off I had time I finally got my 72 rally model running, i have an aftermarket gauge set under the dash, oil,temp and volts, everything was showing normal till about the fifth start up, then I noticed the volts are 16 to 18 volts depending on engine rpm, it has a new alternator and engine wiring harness but the original voltage regulator, I think I already know what the problem is but I thought I'd get some feedback you guys before I throw parts at it, thanks in advance, stay healthy!

[Bullitt-]

Make sure the voltage regulator has a solid ground & there should be a ground strap from the RH head to the firewall
Another thing to check is the blue power wire to the VR should read very close to battery voltage, a poor connection can fool the VR into overcharging

[Rich G.]

Did they have a ground strap on the firewall from the factory? I know it probably a good idea to have one but I don't remember ever seeing one on unless every cuda I've worked on had it missing.

[Bullitt-]

Did they have a ground strap on the firewall from the factory? I know it probably a good idea to have one but I don't remember ever seeing one on unless every cuda I've worked on had it missing.

This has been discussed here before, I know my '73 had one, there was some speculation this appeared about the time electronic ignition became standard

[roguedc72]

thanks guys, I had this car stripped to a bare unibody and then everything got 1 layer or more of paint, so grounding has an issue in other circuits as well. my instrument cluster is dead even though I installed several new gauges and even tested them before install, I'm thinking grounds there too.

[JS29]

@roguedc72  Grounds 

[roguedc72]

update on the charging system,since the voltage regulator looked like the original and the harness and ground was good, I installed an Echlin unit from napa, charges at 14 V +/- a few tenths,good to go

[JS29]

Glad you found the problem.