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1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

Electrical swap compatible?

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Old Jul 25, 2015 | 10:33 PM
  #1  
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Electrical swap compatible?

I am strongly considering pulling the fuse box and harness out of the doner truck I bought for the engine. My truck is originally an 82 F100 flairside w/ac (the ac was stripped out by a PO). The doner is an 83 F100 ranger longbed w/o ac.

I have had many minor electrical problems since I bought my truck due to a combination of a corroded fuse box and spliced wires all over. And due to a mistake on reconnecting the alternator I burned up a wire somewhere yet to be determined that controls the cab power as far as I can tell.

The major concern is there are a few less wires in the doner harness. I assume this is because of the lack of ac in the doner.

Will this swap work out well enough? I'm having trouble locating if there is a major difference in the years with accurate diagrams. I've heard the Haynes manual that I have is nor reliable for the wiring differences.

Also does someone have a picture of the alt connections so I can be sure I have it right next time.
 
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Old Jul 26, 2015 | 06:49 AM
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82 and 83 should be close enough to work. The trim level will be the concern though. If one truck was a bare bones Custom trim, and the other was a Lariat or some higher trim level, there will probably be lots of added or missing wires, and the lower level fuse box won't have all the features the other truck's box will have. This would be mainly for interior lighting, power windows and locks, rear cab/bed light and other little features that are added with a higher level truck.
 
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Old Jul 26, 2015 | 11:06 AM
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Most of the higher trim level stuff like the clock, interior lighting, power locks/windows etc are all plug in sub harnesses that hook to a generic main harness. The main harness differs between guage and idiot lights as well as a/c and non a/c.
Where you will run into a problem is the HVAC controls, connector locations, the switch and blower motor plugs and pretty much the entire system are different, provided you are dealing with factory A/C.
 
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Old Jul 26, 2015 | 04:28 PM
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Neither truck seems to have any real trim accessories. My truck had a tach where the doner doesn't but that is the only difference other than ac.

But it seems like it is not compatible from the responses, so I guess I don't have much choice then to try and fight through the problems on my truck.
 
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Old Jul 28, 2015 | 02:28 AM
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If I had the right wiring diagrams for each, I think I am confident enough to mod the diners harness to add the different connections.

My Haynes manual has no differences between the two years, and no separate diagrams for ac vs non-ac or any trim notations.

My truck is an 82 F100 with factory ac. 4.9l I6 2wd Base trim level with tachometr.

The doner is an 83 F100 ranger longbed. No ac. 4.9L I6 2wd Base trim with no tachometer.
 
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Old Jul 28, 2015 | 02:42 PM
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Just take a gander at both fuse boxes. The low level model may have some empty spots in the fuse box and if it does, they won't even have the metal contacts in them(usually). So if the other truck needs those spots you will have to "load" those spots with contacts and wires.
 
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