Electrical Questions

I started this weekend rewiring my '64. This is my first crack at this type of project, although I think I have a basic understanding of things electrical. At least I thought I did. Here's what I've run into so far:

1. Wiper motor. Bought new wiper and headlight switches from Ron Francis wiring. Directions say to run line from fuse box to switch, then from switch to motor. Motor has a three pronged molded plug to spade terminal block (which looks like it may be one connection inside the motor). Also another separate terminal on the motor that I'm guessing is a ground(?). Are any of the three terminals OK for a positive connection?
2. Directions say to run line from fuse box to positive side of gas gauge, but nothing is labeled. Directions seem to indicate left terminal (as you are looking at the back) is positive, but I'm not sure. Sender from tank is on other terminal. Then you're supposed to daisy chain another line from the positive terminal to the postive terminal on the temp gauge (on the left?). Then the remaining terminal goes to the temp sending unit. Sound right?
3. I got religion when I started this project and while trying to remove the gauge cluster decided to just disconnect everything and start from scratch. Not so smart - I should have known better. There are seven bulbs, 5 of which have one wire, the other 2 have two. So, are the two wire bulbs for the directionals or the oil and generator lights?
4. I now have an alternator, so the generator light is useless I guess. I'm also going to add an oil pressure, temp & amp tricluster, so do I really even need to hook up the oil light?
5. The kit references a clutch switch circuit that is of course a safety feature on newer cars. It seems to indicate if this is not hooked up up the truck won't start, but do I need to add this switch on my old vehicle?

Certainly all of these questions can be addressed with Ron Francis, but I thought I'd start with the great minds here first, especially since you all know these vehicles better than anybody. Sorry for all of the questions, but I'm sure I'll have more as I go along. A lot of it has gone pretty well, so I'm not discouraged yet, just anxious to get it completed.

see if you can get your hands on one of those wiring schematics
for our earlies...I'll look later in my 65 and 66 manuals for something.
Jim

hey Southern..
I found the schematics...send them to you tomorrow....
what's your email address.
Jim

Casimier wrote:see if you can get your hands on one of those wiring schematics
for our earlies...I'll look later in my 65 and 66 manuals for something.
Jim

i can sell you a copy of 64 wiring diagram comes from a dealer service manual 1964 ,is yours a generator or a altanator? i have both ! 10.00bucks snale mail - indy

Thanks for the offer - I'll keep it in mind. Two others have sent me a '66 and '63, which seem will help.

I'M am not sure how hard set you are on keeping the stock wiring harness, but I used a EZ and it is wonderfull it has every wire you will ever need and then some. Also the wires are labeled every foot or so and color coded.

EZ wire is the only way to go! Every thing is in them. I used a 12 circuit, but not enough if you have some extras like auxilary lights and other items that should be on thier own circuit. Eighteen circuits sounds like a lot, but you can use most of them. Very easy to install.

as another matter, most all wipers that 'park' have ignition hot and are ground switched!

Hey SM,

Did you get the harness all together and have any tips for the rest of us that use RF? What kit did you get?

Stu,
I got the Express kit and have been slowly working through my issues. Got to a point where I spent a bit of time making sure I knew how I wanted things routed - trying to think twice so I only have to do it once. I want this to be a very neat install when I'm done. (I figured out how to handle the safety switch - easy to bypass.)

All of the wires in this kit are clearly labeled every foot or so and it's easy (for the most part) to see where things go. I'm probably to the point where I could start the truck and start testing the circuits I've completed but I think I want to get more of it in place first.

Oh, and I finally got the balls to just rip out the old wiring and man did that make things easier. No more clutter to work around.

Cool. Thanks for the reply.


That's the one I decided upon. Where did you mount that honking panel?
I'm going to build a floor console to hold the gauges, move the ignition and headlight switches, horn button, and mood lighting switches to it and also hold the stereo and thinking of putting some hinges on it in the bottom that lift up to hold the panel. Did this rewire everything that was stock including all of the switches? I couldn't find a list on RF sight. Some I saw didn't include anything for the heater or wiper switches

with 40+ years of old wires, I'm willing to spend the time and bucks doing this. When I had my 65, I added an amp and a few things and it fried a few wires and thats when the van was only 13 years old.

Are you including any harness connectors? How are you connecting to various things, such as light pigtails, the wiper motor , ignition switch and others that have unique plugs?

Rod,
I replaced my taillights and license plate lights so all those wires and connections are new. Used male and female covered spade terminals there. I'm trying to get fresh wire everywhere possible but I did decide to use the existing wires (only a couple of inches) from the parking lights, headlights and I have yet to sort out the directionals. That may well be my biggest challenge. I'm stripping any old wires clean and mounting new connectors.

The RF inition switch is complete - piece of cake. The wiper connections are still a mystery to me, but I'll get to it eventually. Also trying to be sure all grounds are solid.