Ammeter for VL Instrument Dash

[wideglide38]

I am assembling my VL instrument panel/dash. Before I button it up; I wanted to confirm that the negative post of the ammeter is grounded to the dash base and not isolated like the positive post?
Thanks, William

[Guest]

Yup, that’s correct. The problem is that the ground terminal on one type of gauge is opposite on the other type of gauge. The way I understand it is the Weston has the left side grounded to the dash base while the later Delcos ground the right side terminal. You can also run an additional ground wire from your ammeter ground to the frame.

[Guest]

You haven’t got an extra chrome dash light cover do you? Part #4566-29, I need one to finish my dash.

[wideglide38]

Thanks Dusty. I have a Weston meter, a wiring diagram showing the Delco meter and what I assume a dash base setup for the Delco meter polarity arrangement. I connected a load then a charge to confirm my polarity. Sorry, I do not have an extra chrome light cover. Check with Tom at Replicant Metals for a chrome cover.

http://www.replicantmetals.com/slide...-29/index.html

[Steve Slocombe]

Yup, the white face ammeter is upside down compared with the Weston, so the ground terminal is on the right rather than the left. The problem is that Harley doctored up the earlier dash wiring diagram for the 1934-36 owners handbook without making this change, so the wiring diagram is incorrect. Shop Dope reports blown headlamp bulbs in early 1935, so I suspect the bikes were maybe leaving the factory incorrectly wired. The advice was to run an extra ground wire from the ammeter to the frame (under the 3344-25 timer coil clip) and to retrofit this for earlier models, which is still good advice.

[wideglide38]

Thanks Steve. Makes sense with frame grounding is through the neck bearings.