51/52 6v to 12v conversion fix/wire replace
Made some good progress today, got the turn signal made up with a 6 pin connector, it works, got the tail lights harness fixed too.
Bought 2 trailer harness 2 wire plugs and used them for an unplug-gable harness for the tail lights.
Actually got the truck to start and ran her a bit, she's been sitting since late December/January when I started this project.
One issue I discovered, the emergency flashers, the kwik-wire turn signal I got mentioned to leave the supplied emergency flasher power wire out of the hookup.
So right now, only have emerg flashers when key is on.
The turn signal has a glowing red light on it too (when key is on) I asked kwik wire and they confirmed that's correct.
If I want to get "key off" emerg flashers, I'd have to rig up a 2nd switch for the emerg flash power wire, that would only be turned on if the key start switch was off.
I tested this and it does work, not sure I want to do this yet... Simple add on for later I suppose.
I still need to tidy up the slack in the engine bay, that's next on the list, and I think I'll make it so I can add the Halogen headlight harness later
unless I get itchy and do it.
The next main attack is going to be the dash, gauges, heater, radio, wwipers.
I have no idea if my heater motor or wiper motor works, never seen them work when Dad bought the truck either.
The only issue I seem to be having (as this is my first time really doing a harness in this depth) is gauging how much slack to leave myself for future repairs/problems/changes.
Some of my runs may be a tad bit long but I'm learning how to ballpark it.
Now that I'm not as reluctant to cut anything...

Till next time!
T
PS: Albuq; I hear ya about going back and doing a cleanup, I have found that once I usually do a job that's a bit of a pain in the azz, I never seem to want to go back! LOL
I'm getting very itchy to drive this Truck now that the weathers getting nice but I'm trying to keep my patience...... aint easy!
T
Actually it's causing me a bit of a headache on yet another decision,
Keep my original gauges
or
Buy something like these:
Early Ford 37-39 51-52 F1
The "rub" here is two things,
1:the price obviously these gauges are expensive, but very nice!
2:if I (stick with the orig gauges) is pulling the Alt wire back in the cab to run thru the old gauges loop for inductance powered volt/amp gauge.
and, having other external gauges on the dash: I have 2 capillary tube water temp gauges and 1 capillary tube oil pressure gauge already.
And with that, if I add the manual switch for using emerg flashers in (key off condition) I think I can run a ext volt gauge with this same wire.
Thus skipping the pullback of the alternator wire.
The switch I have is a (on/off/on) type.
So one side could be Volt gauge / the other could be Emerg flashers.
It's simple enough to do, and remove if I ever change anything.
I plan to work on it tomorrow, we'll see how this goes.
T
I took your advice there, was thinking I could use that switch to do 2 things but being It was intended for the emerg flasher fix, I left it at that.
So now, in a "key off situation" for emerg flashers I just flip another switch that puts power to the turn signal switch.
And Wired the volt guage (aftermarket one) to the ACC post.
if you had details on how to wire the 1 wire alt to the orig volt guage i'd love to see them.
The only way I could figure was to pull the wire back in the dash, run it thru the guage and back to the alternator, but that's too much work
and if I ever had to pull the guage again I'd have to redo all that or cut the wire, was trying to avoid cut's in new wires if possible.
Other news, I got my searchlight working and ran more loom for the engine bay wire run, shortened all those connections (coil, alt, tach, 50amp maxi-fuse mount).
Note to others:

So far the 1/2 inch split braid wire loom has been my main "go to".
I did use all the 10ft of the 1/4 inch I got, I may need more of that, prob could have ordered 20ft of the 1/4.
The last long run for that much wire loom is going to be the fuse-panel to the gas tank & cabin light ballpark about 12ft guess.
have not yet used the 3/4 inch braid but maybe after I'm done I'll use some of it under the dash.
until next weekend!

T
Hey Albuq, I've got a 51 but it seems it's a 51/52 mutt (has a bit of both years).
And, with this Kwikwire harness, I wont be using ANY of the old wiring or circuit breakers, so not sure how id' do this right now.....
But, if I understand what you're explaining here, I do have some 12v circuit breakers I could use....hmmm
But, It may not matter, the wife says she'd buy me some new gauges if I want, (upcoming birthday) just need to decide on which set i'd prefer.
I wasn't using the original oil, water-temp gauges before (have under-dash gauges for that: 2 water, 1 oil press capillary tube type gauges).
Also, I had a spare volt gauge, so I've added that as well for now.
But thanks for the info, i'm still curious if I could get that gauge to work but those "new vintage" gauges do look very nice...
T
Ford Trucks for Ford Truck Enthusiasts
just a status update, had a few Saturdays I got side tracked.
Got the halogen headlight harness wired in,
got the cab light /gas guage / 3rd brake light wires run over the passenger
door, wired up the cab light.
tested the reverse light feed. Figured i'd use this since it was there.
looking at some small white led bolt type lites for that....
anyways, next up is to get my old guage pods working and work on mounting an electric fan and get the fan relay kit wired in.
THAT stuf should finish off the project. (I hope)
T
well, it's finally happened, after doing some test driving It's finally decided to smoke the wires on me.
This truck's been "converted" from 6 to 12v by a previous hack job.
Everything pretty much was working till now. In doing some testing, I
Noticed I had 12v to ground, I traced a few wires back to the voltage regulator and the left terminal is melted off, it smells burnt and seems to be the source of my short prob where the smoke screen came from.
I will try a replacement voltage regulator before I start ripping wires.
Anyways, did some searching around found a link to a site with some wire diagrams that may help me "fix" my current wires (I hope).
http://www.clubfte.com/users/earl/Re..._Material.html
What I'd like to know your suggestions on is these items:
1: any other good books/sources of wiring diagrams for a 51/52 ford v8?
2: if replacing the wiring, should I go Stock wire (like from LMC or Mac's)
or go with a other brand like (ex: Painless wiring)?
3: Should I add a fuse block to this vehicle?
4: wire it myself? I've read others have done this, as this truck is VERY similar to my 66 Mustang, which I suppose I could use as a reference for testing. Seems easy enough to trace wires and remove and replace with new as long as I know they are going back in the right places.
5: any good resources on how to convert from 6 to 12volt? Maybe I can redo this thing and fix it correctly.
With the fact this trucks' been altered to 12 v with an Alternator, the stock wiring would steer it back to a generator configuration, I'd have to fix that again and it would not include a fuse block.
The (painless) idea would give me new everything, with a new fuse block for safety, but I've never used their products or any others, only wiring I've ever replaced on the 66 Stang was reproduction "stock" wiring.
Ive decided to stay with 12 volts on this truck, 6volts, although I know it works fine I would rather go 12volt and do it right. (undo the hack job).
Would anyone have some suggestions/comments on what they did on their trucks 6 to 12 convert/wireing replacement??
This will be a bit of a project, I'd really like to do it right and once, this ol' Trucks trying to get back on the road again from sitting for 20yrs, I'd hate to disapoint it by parking it again...
Thank you all for your time & suggestions.
T
sorry it's been a while for any updates. My internet has been jacked up at home and I cant post any photos from work!

Anyways, I'm getting close to done. I did some checking online about a 12v to 6volt adaptor, I didn't really want to just use a big resistor either.
Found this link below and actually built the circuit and it works!
12 to 6 Volt Regulator
My heater fan worked and the wipers worked! WHOO-HOO!

Although the heater fan sounds like it needs some oil, I may have to pull it out and give it some attention.
I will try to post a photo of the contraption I built following the instructions on the above links site. I left out the diode he mentioned and my output is 7.43 volts.
The author of the instructions says it should handle 10amps, he used too small a heat sink in my opinion, but I went with the 'bit larger voltage output thinking it should run the wipers and heater fan together.
I have not tried to run both at the same time yet, I just actually finished the thing last night.
built a safty cover for it as one of the transistors (the canister one) it's case is 12v hot so wanted some sort of protection.
I got my gas gauge working (used a mustang gauge volt reducer for that)
right now it's the only gauge I'm using (of the original pod).
As far as the electric fan, that free one I got works but is out of balance.
Still need to run 1 wire and install the relay and a new fan.
I'm going to run it with a manual switch for now. No room in engine for a temp probe at the moment.
Also, Hooked up some reverse lights (on a manual switch) and even wired in a under hood light.
I've defiantly been making progress, actually i'm glad I didn't rush this as it's given me time to think how I want to do certain parts of the project. but i'm am getting tired of working on it EVERY SATURDAY!
I've never done a rewire job like this before so it's been a learning experience for sure.
Anyways, I'm taking photos, hopefully I can get some posted soon.
Yall be good!
T
Wish I would have seen this regulator build before I bought one. I have a stock Ford gauge cluster regulator and got the large one mainly for my wipers. I have a 12 volt motor I can put in my heater box.
I agree with you about not rushing your wiring. You can surely do a nice job rather quickly but, may later wish you had done something differently.
Enjoy the process and YOUR well thought out design when it's done. It's better than going back and doing things over.
Scott
Wish I would have seen this regulator build before I bought one. I have a stock Ford gauge cluster regulator and got the large one mainly for my wipers. I have a 12 volt motor I can put in my heater box.
I agree with you about not rushing your wiring. You can surely do a nice job rather quickly but, may later wish you had done something differently.
Enjoy the process and YOUR well thought out design when it's done. It's better than going back and doing things over.
Scott
Hey Scott,
will do!
I must say too that now i'm on new wires the truck feels different.
I think that the buggard wire harness always made me not trust it but so much, now with that old stuff gone, it feels different, better different.
Almost like I have a new old truck I guess.
Seems to start much better too and the Headlights work now!
All they did before was blink cause it was tripping the old 6v circuit protector. Never could drive it at night.
I swear after removing the old wires, it appeared that most of the wires had been replaced at some time, there were only a few of the old cloth/rubber type wires left that when touched went "dust in the wind" in 2.5 seconds!
The rest had a splice about every 2 feet it appeared. Some were nut and bolt connected (and taped), I was amazed it worked in the first place, no wonder my dad had such a time with it in the beginning.
I'll keep pluggin along, once I get my photos in order I'll do a post or two with some progressions. Honestly looking a pictures of wires didn't seem to be very interesting.
T
A pic saying "here's my new wiring" probably is boring. Showing a better way of doing it, solving a problem or a how to is what we all look for on this forum.
FYI I managed to get in a amp test tonight.
Looks like the contraption I built works best for 1 device only as in
either the Heater fan OR the wipers.
Not both at same time.
Actually on the heater fan I got a max of : 9.51A for a brief second, it settled to about 7.80 amps on hi.
On low it bounced around 5.80 to 5.10 Amps down to about 3.80 on low.
Wipers on by themselves , low speed was in a range of about
8.29 amps to 6.26 amps.
Hi speed: 11.76 amps to 9.51amps.
The circuit in my above couple of posts from the Studebaker site the author did mention it was only supposed to be rated at about 10amps max.
Well, so much for this being "the fix". But I had no idea how much amps these devices pulled until tonight as I'd never seen them work before I guessed 10amps would be enough, I guess incorrectly.
I do have enough parts to build a 2nd one, may do that for now.
But I also am looking at a replacement ww motor contraption, Mac's has a few for sale.
And it figures, today I was on Mac's Auto parts (the place that sells Ford truck stuff) looking at wiper blades and dernd if they don't sell a device that does what this one I built does!

but it's rated for 25 amps!
Nothing ventured, nothing gained I suppose.

Ford - Voltage Reducer With Wiring, Magnum, 12 To 6 Volt, 25 Amp - Macs Auto Parts
T










