My '53 was a 6 volt but I'm changing it over to 12 volt. On the dash guages - the original dash panel will not be reused, I've got a nicer one that I prefer. The "new" one looks the same from the sterring wheel side, but on the back of it is a "wing" that is screwed on and has what look like resistors that plug into holes on the wing. The resistors are strapped in parallel.

Are these dropping resistors so I can use 12 volt to the input side of the "wing" and run the guages off the output side of the wing? Do I need to do anything else to convert the guages from 6V to 12V?

Wiring this weekend. Oh boy! Last exhaust part came in and it's all ready to bolt in. Will I get a chance to fire up the 255 flattie this weekend? Stay tuned and see!

-Scott

p.s. I bought a stock exhaust system from a vendor at a car show. He charged me $200 for the system (I thought that was very reasonable) and $40 for shipping. I just got the last part yesterday and there was an additional charge of $58 for additional shipping costs. The da** tailpipe was so much oversize that it cost $83 to ship from Michigan to North Carolina. The other parts were not a problem. Watch out for those tailpipes and oversize shipping costs. Parts looked very good (NOS crossover pipe) though, nice welding on the Y pipe. Any thoughts on treating/painting the pipes before installation to prolong their life?

 

Scott, it's tough to say what the resistors are for without knowing the brand of the dash insert. It does seem logical that they would be dropping resistors for the gages, but I would imagine you'd need different resistors for the different gages. You might have to measure the resistors to see if they are all the same. That's about all I can suggest without more information.

 

I think those are circuit breakers. Look for a number like 20 or 30 stamped on them, they come in different ratings. One is used for the lights, the other one is for the rest of the accessories. If tripped, they reset themselves when they cool off. ...Terry