51 Ford Rewire and 12v conversion

R

Rollingmenace

Member
Well due to my recent generator failure and the fact I already had this in the plan, plus I have gathered most of the parts.. It's time to start my conversion and rewire of the 51....
the overall plan is bubbas electronic dizzy. ( which is a very nice piece btw).. GM single wire alternator 105amp.. EZ Wiring 12 circuit kit.. Headlights will be on separate 40amp relays one for hi beams one for low..
Red dot tri bar headlights.. New front running light assemblies.. and all new bulbs throughout...

Heres a few interior pics not super great quality but from camera phone
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So

So far I got the seats out and interior apart where I needed to to access wiring... I have the dash gutted and all old wiring free... It looks like I'll be able to hitch a ride on the old harness through the headliner area to rear of the car since old harness is free and without having to pull much of headliner... So far everything is going smooth but I'm sure I'll have some questions as I move forward... Especially when I go to start hooking it all back up.. The EZ wiring kit seems pretty good but the instructions are among some of the most generic and vague I've seen...
 
RollingMenace, sounds like a good plan. Thanks for posting the pictures, they really help us to see what your are describing. I converted my 38 Pickup to 12 volts and wonder why I never did it sooner. Many on this site love the 6 volt system and will keep it forever. Good for them, as for me I love the 12 volt system it makes everything better in my opinion. My pickup starts if I Just look at the starter button.:D

Keep us informed about your progress...
 
when I removed the harness I took my time and carefully disconnected everything the only wires I clipped were the ones going to all the illumination bulb sockets.. I then moved on to the engine compartment.. removed battery tray, removed headlight assy. removed marker assy.. disconnected all engine wiring pulled regulator and horn relay.. removed generator and cooling fan... all the wiring was free so then removed entire harness from car
 
thanks john^^^^ ive made quite a bit more progress just not updated here yet.. I decided the old wiring was really bad in places hacked up and brittle .. it was either rewire car and redo 6v or step out of the past and upgrade to 12.. I decided 12 merely because of the avalibility of parts I want to run a modern stereo (hidden of coarse) my iPad ect. plus brighter headlights and taillights ect ect.. some purists may frown but to each his own it is what I wanted.. plus as hacked as the wiring was I was afraid of sitting along side the road and watching my car burn to the ground... this way I know its all done right
 
Are you going to be using the stock gauges? I see a set of 3 gauges under the dash but cannot tell what they are for. Last year I finished rewiring my 48 F1 that is now 12V and negative ground and everything came out well. If stock gauges are to be used don't forget to install a voltage drop. Just take your time. When you are in doubt post another message or wait and the answer will be there. Sometimes you just have to step back for awhile.
 
I'm c onsidering the same thing on my '51. Other than vague directions,how do you like the E-Z wire kit? Is it from China? Thanks.....Mark
 
chuck^^^^^ the gauges were installed by the guy who originally rescued the car. they had temp and oil pressure readings im going to ditch them. I plan on testing the gauges in the speedo cluster and using them with factory senders at least that's the plan ive already installed a new fuel sender and I know that and amp meter are good.... I plan on running a ford voltage reducer to power the gauges .. if I have gauge issues may run a aftermarket set but they will be in the glovebox along with the stereo..

Mark^^^ so far other than vague directions I have no complaints everything is looking good so far.. I know the company is in florida i don't know where they make the kits up at.. although i have heard they have really good tech support if you get stumped...
 
here is a pic of the fuse panel mounted.. Its just directly above the column and maybe just a little right.. i opted to turn the panel sideways so that the wires came out near where they go through the firewall . I used all stainless 1/4-20 hardware bolted through firewall with nylocks

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heres another pic of the fuse panel with the wires routed similar to how they will be when the project is finished..
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Ok now time to start pulling wire...... now i started with the rear harness like the instructions stated.. with a little help i taped the new wires to the old rear harness under the dash and fished them into the trunk........ NOW I HATE TO ADMIT.. But one of the instructions said to pull harness apart and go through the wires and separate and check to make sure you have everything needed before you pull>>>> NOW i got the wires to the trunk and started to try and locate the fuel pump wire and dome light wires guess what no wires they weren't in the bundle and needed to be added..
So i fished the wires back to dash added a wire for fuel pump and dome light then i re-fished them to the trunk... Whew i thought it was over but upon further inspection i routed the wires under the cable for the air vent and they really needed routed above the cable so out they came for the third and final time... fished em back in the trunk.. Good to go now lol..
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Then i started on the front and engine bay wiring... this time i took the harness apart like the instructions stated :) i separated out the marker light wires and bundled them together... then the headlight wires separated and bundled.. finally i did the same for the engine wireing i separated out some of the wires i am not using and bundled them under the dash out of the way then i took the marker bundle and passed them through the firewall one wire at a time as per instructions then hung them over the core support and bundled them together again... then on to the headlights same way one at a time through the firewall and bundled together on top of core support.. then the motor wires one at a time and bundled together on top of the carb....
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Thanks for the info! The trunk of that thing is in good shape. I'll be keeping an eye on your thread......Mark
 
thanks mark its not bad considering it is an ohio car.. there is a little rust around the cab mount bolts right at the wheel well but otherwise its solid
 
No Pictures to post but the trunk is 99% done all wiring ran tucked away and trimmed up with the exception of liscense plate light, fuel sender, and optional 3rd brake light.. ill post some pics when it gets light out.. now to head back out and install and wire the front markers .. and clean up the headlight buckets before supercross comes on.... pics will follow tomorrow
 
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heres a quick pic of the trunk.. I finished up the wiring for the front headlights as well as the markers today including the headlight relays .. I installed the new headlights and marker light assemblies .. weat shrung everything and got all the wiring tied down in place
 
Small progress report ... Took diner switch into work and cleaned it up .. Dimmer switch is now in and wired up to harness .. Went through and found wires for ignition switch. After a little deciphering I found how they should all hook into the switch..... I will wire and install ignition switch tonight.. Also had a little speedo noise and needle jumping around last time I drove car . I searched around and found out that is common but a sign that speedo could use a little oiling.. I put some ATF in the oiling hole and been working the speedo.. The tight spot is now gone and it spins freely hope that takes care of that issue..
 
Ok all the dash is wired up with the exception of the speedo cluster... I have it ready to go I just had to go pick up a voltage reducer ... Picked up the reducer and new bat cables will get the battery tomorrow... Then it's just hooking up engine wiring... I ended up pulling a few wires out of the harness that I am not using... And re routing some wires in the harness but so far so good this thing is pretty self explanitory...

I do have a few questions.. Has anybody else used this brand of harness before...
As per the instructions the harness has a 10ga main power wire ... It says use a fuseable link, it was included In the kit but it just looks like a short piece of like 18ga wire with a ring terminal.. Do I just crimp it on the end of the 10ga wire and connect to bat side of solenoid

Secondly I'm running a single wire gm alt that's 105amp in the instructions it says to use a bypass wire from alt to bat side of solenoid... What do I do with the alt power wire I'm thinking of hooking it to bat side of solenoid as well... Any Thoughts????
 
I also ran a new 12V EZ wire harness kit from Florida in my 50 Ford coupe this past summer, it was quite the task but got her done.. I see you have the same interior I installed, fits nice...
 
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