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You might have read my recent posts about a fire in the engine compartment.
I had wires shorting out right behind and beneath the alternator, involving the oil pressure wire, the small gauge wire (for the voltage regulation) to the alternator, and the big B+ alternator output wire, and also involving the alternator's ground wire. The short not only melted their insulations and fused all the wires down to bare copper, but also presumeably cooked the oil pressure sender so much that it started leaking engine oil and then ignited the leaking oil in a small flame! So don't delay.
After taking off the oil filter and the splash pan, I removed the alternator and easily constructed the replacement harness. BTW, it's been working beautifully. There are only three wires that go around the engine under the crank -- the alternator's ground wire stays near the rear of the alternator, from a small stud on the alternator's body to the rear mounting bolt of the alternator's mount to the block.
Since I routinely mess around with boats (a la "Water Rat"), I had a lot of good materials to work with, such as tinned copper, multistrand wire of various gauges (use 18 gauge for the two thin wires and 8 or better 6 gauge for the alternator's output). The only delay I had was to get butt connectors and a crimp tool for the larger wire, since my own crimper was only good to 10 gauge. Good crimping is important -- don't cheap out with poor connections.
Good luck.
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