And don't use the excuse that I didn't ask.

Seriously, I'm just uping my newbie posts and "bragging" about newbie mistakes....I think.

I received a new temp gauge from E-Bay for my 53' Ford flathead 8. Wanting to see if it worked, I checked continuity with my voltage tester. Got a beep - good thing right? I then retested it and no beep. Suddenly, I remembered my tester runs on a 9 volt battery....

Did I just fry that baby? Arrrgh

When the NOS fuel gauge arrive I kept my grubby paws off it and installed it. It works.

Stupid lesson number five with this truck.

 

If you're just checking continuity with the tester you shouldn't have fried it.

 

I concur! It should be ok.

Take a 1 1/2 volt D cell and a couple of jumper wires and see if the needle moves. It should be parked on "H" with no power on it and will slowly move down to ward "C" when you touch the D-cell battery. How far, I don't know - if it moves at all it's ok.

 

to tell the truth i'm a wiring/electrical techtard and the po of mine had put a gm alternator on it , wired it so it was feeding the entire circuit as i learned , fried part of mine and i tried to wire things up right and fubarred the rest ....... so long story short i bought all new 12 volt gauges and senders from mid fifties so when i rewire it with help form someone to watch over me , and help from julie's diagrams and other stuff i was pointed too or found , it will be modern and not have any reducers , and i had the generator rebuilt to 12 volt . sy even swapped the oe oil gauge for another temp gauge and sender as i run two temp gauges as mine has had on aftermarket oil gauge for better than 30 years in the dash ...... now if i can just locate that oe oil pressure gauge as i can't 'member what i did with it ............ anyway i'd recommend you replace them with twelve volt stuff . in this case modern is better !!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks. I'll check it with a battery. Maybe the senders are bad.

Ultimately, I'll convert to 12 volt but right now just wanna get the baby so I can drive it around which it does but I just have to watch for steam.

Thanks again.

Howie

 

hmmm that sounds like a good idea. Julie mentioned to me that my reducer is overtapped. I think I may buy items that are 12volt and slowly but surely start changing them out.

So does that mean if I buy a 12 volt item I simply bypass the reducer and wire straight to the gauge etc?

 

No it's not quite that easy - but almost. You can wean stuff off the vol-ta-drop slowly but gauges are stuck with 6 volt (unless you want to spend a couple hundred dollars to buy new 12 volt reproductions).

I might be tempted to see if your gauges are not already adapted for 12 volt if you are using the stock dash gauges. If they aren't and you want to use them on the 12 volt system, there are smaller reducers that go on the back of each gauge. Here is a thread about how to do that.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...12-volt-2.html

If you still have vacuum wipers that work, your ok. Otherwise you can buy a 12 volt wiper motor for your truck and also probably a 12 volt heater motor. Buy a 12 volt radio - we have FM stereo now! Everything else should already be 12 volt or will work on the 12 volt system. Oh I am also remembering that Muncie Overdrive transmission you have. That's electric too. But we don't know if the solenoid on it is 6 or 12 volt, and I don't know if you have the relay or not.

They aren't making the Vol-ta-drops any more so HOLD ON TO IT!.

Also, with the 12 volt alternator on the truck, you have to be distributing power out from someplace other than the 2 stock circuit breakers. There's probably a fuse block someplace. It would probably be a good idea to find that. If you don't have one and everything is being split off the battery (like in a GM vehicle), starter solenoid (like in a Ford) or ignition switch (like in a fire trap), it would probably be a good idea to start thinking about fuse blocks for distribution. Take a look at my #4 galler for Electrical wiring diagrams.

 

well julie , all my gauges and 12 volt sending units cost 295 shipping included . considering what some are paying for fancy aftermarket stuff that kinda looks outta place well i thought it was a good deal . seeing as i'm rewiring a fuse block and an under hood breaker /fuse box are on the must have list and i have them both . also i have a 12 volt wiper motor from an 84 1/2 ton , a much smaller more compact unit from the 91 bird i parted , and a 12 volt unit from the 61 1 ton . the two newer ones are obviously intermittent like i want and i have all the bits and peices to make them work . the 84 is a dash mounted intermittent switch so you just put an oe **** on it and no one knows . yes it is gonna require some mods to fit and function properly . my cousin who runs the shop at the local coke plant sniped the wiper off a hhr that was totalled . says it's only about 6 inches long and hooks up like the 53 unit { he has a 53 also } . im working on a 12 volt blower motor on a budget . i.e. i'm trying to get my oe fan off mine and put on the 91 birds motor and put it in my case . i got all the switches from the 87 vic , the 91 bird and the 53 so i'll make it work . just gotta be inventive and i just prefer not to run the volta drops anymore that i have . sounds frankenstein , but i dont care , it'll all work as planned and i'm keeping a master list of what is from what , the color codes etc. for any future repairs . might be easier to buy all aftermarket stuff but he-- i need to learn the wiring and i done it myself on the cheap .

 

That's a good deal and a good investment Kevin. But some folks won't spend near that much for much of anything!