Well here is the problem. I have an 84 Bird with carbed 350. The harness was hacked horribly (by the previous owner) and I am having a severe short now. When the battery is unhooked from the positive lead, it shows 12V. However as soon as I hook up the '+'the reading drops to 6V and nothing works.

Now my question is where could there be such a huge power loss? Any suggestions on how to look for it besides going through the harness inch by inch (spent 2 days on that!)
I pulled all the fuses one by one and the short always stayed.

Thanks,
-Max

 

I am no electrical expert,but I would say head twords the starter, or possibly the solenoid. A burnt soleniod will draw a ton of power.

 

Hook up the battery and then unhook the 2 wire connector that goes to the back of the alternator and see if that changes anything. I've seen internally messed up alternators that create a very nasty battery drain.