I'm on vacation til August 10th and hope to work on the truck and no honey doo's. I have to make some progress on it. I purchased a wire harness from wire1hotrods. Any tips on how to start the job would be greatly appreciated. Never tried anything this difficult.

 

Have you done a search thru this forum? I recall numerous threads with some great info on your exact question. One thread within the last 2 weeks talked about how to start laying it out on the floor, etc...

Others here have a lot of experience in wiring new aftermarket harnesses and you'll get help as soon as they see this post. For me, I would rather have poked myself in the eye with a stick than tackle a wiring problem 2 years ago. Now, I am a bit more comfortable with electrical stuff, but a new wire harness still seems a bit daunting to me too.

Good Luck..

 

I installed a new harness on my 51F1 while going to 12V, and it was pretty smooth. Go to Walgreens and buy one of those disposable flash cameras. Take pix of the original wiring: Where it goes, how it fastens or plugs into the next set of wires. 'Surprising how you take something apart this evening, and can't figure it out in the AM. Beer never used to cause this amnesia. Or label each wire you loosen, if you don't replace it with the new immediately.
Resist the urge to rip the old out all at once, take one connection apart, and put the new wiring in, go to the next "leg". Get some extra black grommets at the hardware store; The new harnesses don't seem to have enough, after I lose about a dozen. Don't forget to replace all the grounds--use sandpaper to make sure you have bright metal contact.

 

Del -

I found this thread. It has some good suggestions, but is not the one I recalled:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=394125

This is the one I remembered. It has some very good info:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...wiring+harness

Good Luck

 

Here's a great article from the other side of the fence (Chevy) about installing an EZ wiring harness. It is very informative
http://www.alanhorvath.com/54chevy/ezwire_day1.php

Bobby

 

Since I'm not familiar with "wire1hotrods" I don't know if my answer will be of help or not. I recently rewired my 56 using a Ron Francis kit and it has pretty decent instructions. They start with the large wires, battery, solenoid, starter, etc. first and proceed in steps through the engine, headlights, taillights, interior, misc. In the Francis kit you can begin at the fuse panel or the terminal connection to whatever you are hooking up. I found it easier to begin at whatever item I was hooking up and run the wire back to the fuse panel, trying to group the wires and tie them with plastic wire ties every 1". I took my time and it took a few hours but everything worked when I got finished. Good luck.

 

IMO preplanning and preparation is the key. First figure out where and how you are going to mount the fuse panel. It should be out of the way but accessable to check fuses and for future additions. Under the dash is common, but also consider in a kick panel or under/behind the seat, it can get pretty crowded under the dash, and isn't the easiest place to get to unless you like standing on your head. Next decide on your routing to under the hood to the front lights, to rear lights, and to accessories. Do you care if the wires show? If you do, then you'll also have to decide how you plan on hiding them. That should tell you which wires will be run together so now stretch the wires out and divide them into groups by routing and function. If you bought a unit with a lot of accessory circuits that you won't be using, remove them and their fuses from the fuse block by unlocking the fuse connector (usually a straightened paperclip or a miniature screwdriver slid down alongside the connector will release the connector, look for a small locking tab.) DON'T just cut the wires off, you may decide you need them later. Tie the groups together then coil up each group. Drill routing holes and insert rubber grommets into the holes as needed. when you start the actual wiring, uncoil one bundle at a time route and connect that group before opening and attacking the next coil, that makes the job one of smaller subassemblies so you don't get overwhelmed by a rats nest of wires going everywhere. Run the wire bundles smoothly with a small amount of slack at each end to allow for movement, and away from any hot or moving parts Use plenty of clips to hold them in place. I would recommend leaving them all at full length with a temporary connection until you are finished and have tested the circuits, that way you have the option of re-routing a wire without it being too short.
Protect any splices and any any connections exposed to the weather with heat shrink tubing.