51 Merc Wiring kit

hoffernsp

hoffernsp

Member
Thanks for all the charging system inputs, generator and fan are in. Is there a good wiring kit available for the orig 6v standard positive ground system?
Also would the pos ground kit convert over to neg 12v ground in the future without major headaches? I know there are split opinions but, I want to get the car running with the existing 6v system before the "Reaper wants to ride shot gun"
 
Most of my wiring I have bought through Joe's antique which is from various sources that most of our vendors sell for.

As far as 6-12V I have learned a lot for Ron Francis, his catalog alone could be used in an automotive electrical course.

Books equal knowledge, my three:
Thunder road electrical guide, Bill Sinclarir
The official 12volt conversion guide, Randy Rundle
How to wire your street rod from start to finish, Jack Sweden

Get the 51 Merc book that includes your model for the proper original wiring diagrams. The 6v wiring will be fine for a future 12v conversion, Good luck and let us know how you make out.
 
YandZ in Redlands, CA makes an excellent stock wire loom. Pricey but a direct bolt in so to speak and you can't beat the quality. Also Sacramento Vintage Ford has a good rep when it comes to wiring products.
 
Check with Tyree Harris. [804]556-5200. I bought an original harness for my 49 Ford from him several years ago. Easy to read diagrams and he also drew a diagram showing me what i had to do to switch to 12 volt.
 
About 10 years ago, I bought a replacement harness through Macs. It took about 5 weeks to be delivered but it was an exact OEM replacement with correct colors and terminals.
 
I purchased all the Macs harnesses some years back. They sell the different harnesses separately like most of them do. The company that made them for Macs is out of Oregon but doesn't sell to the public. Each harness assembly comes with a separate wiring diagram just fo that harness. The dash harness and main engine compartment harness are the big ones but you still need all the little ones applicable to your car. There is a front cross over harness, a rear tail harness. tail light cross over harness. There is a separate harness for the dome light, the steering column, and overdrive plus the heater and any other accessories the car may have. It will wear you down just finding which harnesses you need.

Some may sell a complete kit but that may not have accessory harnesses so it just depend on who you purchase them from. Rhode Island Wire lacquer coats there wire strands so that they will last longer but their prices reflect the quality.

The next one I do, I swear I'm going to just use aircraft wire and mark the ends for ID. Aircraft wire will outlast all that old cloth covered stuff by 50-years or better.
 
The dash harness from MACs extends into the engine compartment to the lighting junction, ignition, starter, fan blower, regulator and generator. There is little left for a separate engine compartment harness so I got by with a little cleanup wiring there.
 
rotorwrench said:
I purchased all the Macs harnesses some years back. They sell the different harnesses separately like most of them do. The company that made them for Macs is out of Oregon but doesn't sell to the public. Each harness assembly comes with a separate wiring diagram just fo that harness. The dash harness and main engine compartment harness are the big ones but you still need all the little ones applicable to your car. There is a front cross over harness, a rear tail harness. tail light cross over harness. There is a separate harness for the dome light, the steering column, and overdrive plus the heater and any other accessories the car may have. It will wear you down just finding which harnesses you need.

Some may sell a complete kit but that may not have accessory harnesses so it just depend on who you purchase them from. Rhode Island Wire lacquer coats there wire strands so that they will last longer but their prices reflect the quality.

The next one I do, I swear I'm going to just use aircraft wire and mark the ends for ID. Aircraft wire will outlast all that old cloth covered stuff by 50-years or better.
Click to expand...

My late father in law was the main mech on the Enola Gay and 40 years with NW air and he also swore using aircraft wiring for his own use on cars and motorcycles. Can one still get ahold of aircraft wires? I remember some were both copper and aluminum strands?
 
hoffernsp said:
Thanks for all the charging system inputs, generator and fan are in. Is there a good wiring kit available for the orig 6v standard positive ground system?
Also would the pos ground kit convert over to neg 12v ground in the future without major headaches? I know there are split opinions but, I want to get the car running with the existing 6v system before the "Reaper wants to ride shot gun"
Click to expand...


Didn't see an answer to your question about a later conversion to 12 volts. I'm pretty sure your new 6 volt wiring system will be more than enough to handle the voltage increase....believe the 6 volt wire gauge is larger, i.e. the diameter of the wire is larger.
 
I agree on # 9. Where 6-volt uses 16 gauge wire for light duty amp circuits, 12-volt uses 18-gauge. Smaller fuses can be used but the fuses can not be larger than what is intended for the gauge of wire. Circuit protection is for the wire and wires are sized for the intended amperage load application.

On post #8, aircraft wire has changed quite a bit after the TWA flight 800 fuel tank explosion. There are still quite a few different wire configurations and materials available by the specification numbers. I use wire with PTFE insulation outer covering and the copper strands are silver plated. The only bad thing about it is that it is mostly only available in white. The manufacturers run each wire through a marking machine that prints a wire number code every six inches for identification in bundles but that's not practical for automotive use. I would just mark it at each terminal connection for my purposes. Much of the wire available these days is some pretty cheaply made bare copper strand wire and the vinyl outer covering isn't very sturdy. If you strip off the cloth covered stuff, it has vinyl insulation underneath and it's kind of large in cross sectional diameter when compared to the original stuff. It doesn't fit well in tight spaces.
 
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