I took the radiator core support / grille off this weekend, found the pigtales
from the lights were mismatched in color about 3 times up to the main harness....not sure why but they had been spliced a bunch of times.

Started looking at the gen set wire and it was broken on one lead at the generator....not sure why it worked as well as it did, should have been flakey like a pie crust!

Any recommendations for sources / products to rewire....I would like to stay pretty much stock. I know most of the sources but there seem to be a huge
variation in price, curious about quality and personal experiences.

Really hate to rewire if I don't go frame off, but trying to avoid taking the complete truck apart.....I think there are at least 20 bolts I have not removed yet....just ran out of room to put the parts.....my living room has
a complete front suspension (clean and restored) waiting to go back in....

 

I rewired my 51 from scratch. After I pulled out all the junk wire in there I counted about 200 wire connectors and splices....what a mess.

If you decide to rewire and not buy a stock harness, look in my gallery at the wiring diagrams I made when I did mine. I just went out and bought about 10 different colors of wire (and a couple larger gauges too). I have the drawings in MS Power Point and would be glad to send them to you.

They are fairly generic so I'm sure they would work fine for your truck.

Julie!

 

Hi Julie !
Wiring from scratch was something I considered. I have done it on a boat with dual v8s.....that was a lot of work!

I thought the overall truck wiring was simple and if you break it down to a
few modular components it might be even easier to handle. I'll take a look at your gallery and see about sourcing the parts etc.

Thanks !

 

I did not do it, but the PO totally rewired my truck from scratch. No old wires on there at all that I have ever found.

On a stock old truck...there are not that many wires to run..compared to a modern vehicle with all the electronic mess. I do not even have a fuse panel or anything.

I wish I knew exactly what was involved in the re-wire, but I am also glad someone else did it for me.

 

Yep that's exactly right. I did mine in three bunches: Lights and signals; engine and ignition; and accessories (heater, wipers, radio, etc). It was a snap!

Let me know if I can be of an help!

J!

 

Julie,

Did you use the (stock type) bullet connectors and go for a stock look?
I would think it would make integration with the turn signal switch and other dash components easier.

What about a fuse panel? Did you incorporate that as well?

Thanks!
Bryan

 

I have a 71 f100 and a 56 F500 and a 56 F100 AND a 53 F100 -6 VOLT---AND would pay to have someone wire ALL these trucks . I hate wiring,as I have mentioned before. I am in N.E. Ohio and if anyone wants the job---I only need stock harness or ezwire harness -since they are the cheapest I have seen. ANY TAKERS--Bill-the (wire dummy) LOL

 

Hi Bryan!

Well, I'm not sure I would call it 100% stock since the wire is all plastic insulated and not braded cloth. I have a little trouble figuring out the "real" wire colors on the stock stuff especiall when it ages a little, so I went with "Visable colors" on the wire - lights and darks - nothing in between!

I used the solderless bullet type connectors (you know - the blue ones), not the tab kind, but the round ones. They are the same shape as the stock type, but have the plastic shielding on both male and female connectors. I use those because I find them easier to grip if you want to get them apart. (The stock connectors will fit in them-either male or female if you have some stock ones left on - like the turn signal swith wires).

I always solder my wire ends when I use solderless connectors, before I insert and crimp, to make a good tight connection, and to avoid smashing and cutting the wire when I crimp it on.

I actually used two fuse holders. They are what I called "busses" (for distribution bus) in the photo's. They are 10 fuse panels. I got them at NAPA (part No. BK 7823208). They were a little pricey at $25. But, they are very well made (no sense incorporating weak links into a new rewire).

Also, they are actually split into two separate fuse panels each with separate feeds. So, you can either bridge the lugs and use all ten fuse places with one power feed, or you can use two separate power feeds (one is 7 place the other is 3 place). That is especially helpfull if you are still running some 6 volt stuff on a 12 volt conversion (I ran 12 volt power to a vol-ta-drop then to one side of the fuse block for 6 volt heater and wipers).

Or, if you have very few accessories, you can use that split configuration to run hot items (things that are always on no matter if the key is on - lights, horn, courtesy lights, etc) on one side, or switched items (things that only come on with the ignition switch turned on - ignition, heater, wipers, radio, etc) on the other side.

Hot Bus (fuse block) is powered off the battery, battery lug of the starter solenoid; OR, "BATT" post on your ignition switch - which ever you prefer. Switched Bus is powered off the "IGN" post on the Ignition Switch.

I've got some toys so I actually used TWO full fuse blocks - one hot and one switched. Those are the "12 Volt Hot Bus" and 12 Volt Switched Bus" pictures in the gallery Bus=fuse block. Amp rating on those is the size fuse for the item. I use a separate fuse for each electrical item.

Here's a picture of my fuse panels:





J!

 

If you aren't going for a factory restoration I'd suggest an aftermarket harness. There are several that are opriced right. I bought the EZ Wiring 21 circuit harness for my 49 for $150 off of Ebay (brand new)

What I use to make connections or terminations when doing wiring is the standard crimp connectors. But, I modify them slighlty. I don't like the look of the big colored plastic insulated piece so I push the actuall connector out of the insulator with a small punch and then solder the wire in place (I crimp them just enough to hold the wire in place for soldering and not enough to bend the connector out of shape) and then use heat shrink on it for a nice factory look (don't forget to install the heat shrink BEFORE soldering the connector in place)

Bobby

 

I think a fuse panel makes alot of sense. It doesn't take much to start an electrical fire without one. I can't tell for sure but most of my wiring seems to be original, the headlight and turn signal pigtails had been spliced.
The wiring along the firewall is brittle, the insulation is dry and wires could
be exposed with vibration pretty easily.

I don't mind soldering, but gonna weigh the cost of materials against
the price of an EZ wire harness (under $200).

I'll still have to do some soldering but it should be easier and safer in the long run.

I like the idea of staying pretty close to stock but want the improvement in safety if it can be had for a reasonable price.

 

Thanks Julie !
A picture is truly worth a thousand words!

I agree with you Bobby, the shrink wrap is a bit more work but looks nice and clean in the end.

I will check eBay for some deals. I think I can get by with a 12 circuit system as I don't have much else.

I also have a couple of Blade type fuse panels laying around that I could use if needed. Just need to price out some wire.

I believe the 56 trucks had a plastic wire as stock, rather than tape everything, I could probably just use shrink wrap or flex conduit.

Thanks again for all your insight.

 

I was originally going to build my own harness as I have a complete fuse block and dash harness from a mid 80's Caddy and several engine harness from other cars. I figured I'd have to buy several spools of wire to get the correct colors for the correct circuits. I guess at 10 to 15 different colors and combinations. So, roughly $7 to $10 bucks a spool plus connectors, terminals, etc (etc being a 30 pack or two) it was cheaper and easier for me to just buy the harness.

I went ahead and bought the 21 circuit harness as it was only $10 bucks more and if I decide to add any special goodies later on I already have the wiring in place. I did have to buy some additional stuff, split loom, grommets, zip ties, some black wire for some additional grounds, etc (again with the etc being multiples of a 6 pack).

If you don't have too many circuits you might also check out JC Whitney or maybe some of the dune buggy supply companies. I'd bet someone makes a neat simple harness with a fuse block for a dune buggy for a reasonable price.

There's lots of options. Whichever way you go, take your time. Get it all laid out and routed like you want it before you ever start cutting and soldering and making connections (I installed my harness 3 times before I was happy with the routing). Also, take lots of notes and make yourself a schematic to refer back to later on because you will forget just exactly how you did it (refer back to the 6 packs....lol)

Bobby

 

Unless you are doing a 100 pt. restoration, I'd suggest updating any safety items including the wiring. The EZ Wire kits are well worth the money, if you figure the cost per # of what comes in the box, it's cheaper than hamburger, or the cost of even small spools of the different color and gauge wires you'll need. It'd a likely bet that sometime down the road you'll want to add some electrical/electronic accessories, and the ease of trouble shooting with fuses is so much easier than self resetting circuit breakers. Meanwhile it's not difficult to release the connector along with it's wire from the panel for any circuits you are not using and put them away for the future rather than having a big bundle of unused wires under the dash or cutting them off.
You do not have to remove the cab or bed to do a complete rewiring, all the wires are easily found and replaced. The stock wiring is really very basic, I have a wiring diagram if you want it. If you decide to wire it from scratch I also have some small blade fuse (8 slots I believe) panels I got in a box of misc wiring supplies off ebay a while back. They do not have a common input buss, but it's not hard to just jumper from one to another. I like them a lot better than the glass tube fuses.
As far as bundling the wires, I'd suggest just using a bunch of small 1/8" zip ties rather than taping them together. That way it's easy to find/reroute/branch off wires, and you can even get them in different colors for the different function bundles if you want. Check the low voltage wiring accessories at your local big box DIY store or Radio Sucks. Cut off the tails after tightening for a very neat installation.
Hint: one of the small pocket pencil butane torches with a catalytic hot air attachment like made by Weller used for soldering and shrinking shrink tubing makes wiring a pleasure! No more cords that get twisted around you neck while you are hanging upside down, it's very small, light weight, precise, and heats and cools almost instantly. The hot air attachment works exceptionally well and won't start a fire. On the other hand, avoid the so called "cold soldering" tools like the plague, they are pure junk IMHO.

 

I agree with you regarding the cost of the components AXRacer.
I figure I can get a 21 circuit system for ~$150. I would spend that on wire pretty quick. Plus the time to do it.
If I can remove some circuits, that would be great as it would declutter the wiring, nothing worse than a bunch of wire with nowhere to go!

Please forward any wiring diagram to me via email. Would love to have it as reference.

I found EZwire, EZ2wire and KwikWire as well as Painless.

Gonna talk to Mid50 about their kit as it is supposed to be "stock" with a fuse panel.

Thanks again! Always insightful.
Bryan

 

Painless is pretty pricy IMHO compared to the rest. I used EZ Wire's 21 circuit mini block harness. To remove the extra circuits pull the fuse and use a small tool like an unbent paper clip to release the metal terminal and wire and pull out of the block.
You may want to order a new headlight dimmer switch and possibly ignition, wiper and headlight switches from EZ wire along with the harness, they are ~1/2 the price as others and their harness plugs right into them.
Here's a link to the wiring diagram I have:http://www.classictruckshop.com/images/f-100wd.jpg