55 Ford ranch wagon/ Electrical wiring question?

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poolplayer1

Senior Member
I still have all the original wiring in my 55.This past weekend I was working under the dash and saw some wires in which the insulation has come off and I can see the bare wires. I have converted to a 12 volt system. I looked around different places for a wiring kit but they are all asking how many circuits do i need of wiring. Can anyone here tell me how many wire circuits are on this 55 ford wagon? I would like to get a complete wiring harness to replace all my circuits in this wagon.I would apreciate any places that you can recommend to buy the wire. Also,I saw 2 wire connecting blocks that look pretty bad.I would like to replace those too.I call them blocks cause I don't know the correct name but this are black blocks in which wires come in to both sides of the block to interconnect. Thanks for all your help in advance.
 
Getting ready to rewire my '54 Ranch Wagon to 12 volts. Going to use a Rebel 9+3 kit. Only thing not stock is a/c and a 12 volt am/fm radio. No power windows, seats, etc.
 
poolplayer1 said:
I still have all the original wiring in my 55.This past weekend I was working under the dash and saw some wires in which the insulation has come off and I can see the bare wires.
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I'll assume you already disconnect a main battery cable anytime you walk away from the car and may have a battery terminal disconnect. Both are recommended.
Also, keep a 5 lb. fire extinguisher in the car where it's very easy to reach.

Junction blocks. There may be three (or more?) on your car. Three, because the internal connections are different.
One each on the inner fenders just behind each headlight and another under the dash in the wires for the turn signal switch.

Examples of each at these links. There should be several suppliers of them.
https://www.classictbird.com/Juncti...-55_56-RH-Apron-1-Per-car/productinfo/14448A/

https://www.classictbird.com/Junction-Block-Dbl-Stack-55_57-LH-Apron-1-Per-car/productinfo/14448B/

https://www.classictbird.com/Junction-Block-Dbl-Stack-55_57-Under-Dash-1-Per-car/productinfo/14448C/
 

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Thanks to both for your replys.I will take a look at Rebels wire and see what they have for my wagon. dmsfrr, what you show here is what I need to connect the wires.I like the battery cable disconnect that you show here too. Will check into all this.
 
poolplayer1 said:
Thanks to both for your replys.I will take a look at Rebels wire and see what they have for my wagon. dmsfrr, what you show here is what I need to connect the wires.I like the battery cable disconnect that you show here too. Will check into all this.
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If you replace the original wiring harness with a generic replacement-style version, it may or may not call for the oem style junction blocks in it. (I've never installed one) But you do need to cut-to-length and make up all the connections at the far ends of the wires.
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I did my 12v 55 bird with a kit from Centech because I liked the fuse panel. Its disadvantage is you terminate each wire at the fuse panel, but to me that was an advantage.

They made up the wires for my application, marked every 6" or so. I retained (replaced) the under hood blocks shown above. But I was on my own for the bullet connectors.

https://www.centechwire.com/main.sc

I've also done 3 cars with American Auto wire kits. They come with a really wide variety of terminals and excellent instructions. They also can provide add on harnesses for future systems. A/C, electric fans, power seats or windows, fuel pumps, etc. If those are not in the future, no need to buy them.

https://www.americanautowire.com/

Both of these are probably more money than Rebel, but Rebel is well spoken of too.

A good set of strippers and a good crimping tool are a necessity. Some places heat shrink is a good idea. I like to bundle everything up with blue painters tape till I'm sure it's right. Saves a lot of money cutting ty wraps off when I forget something.
 
You can buy new reproduction wire harnesses with duplicate of original color-code from many of the resto parts suppliers, but they are not cheap. And since you have converted to 12-volts, you could order one for a '56 wagon. They also offer the black junction blocks and accessory wiring separately.
 
Junction block is the correct name. These blocks on an early Ford use a special size Ford bullet connector that is bigger than what you find in the stores and aftermarket wiring kits (kits that are not reproductions). .The Ford bullets are available from the suppliers. The non-reproduction harnesses available are not made to use the blocks.


You would have to cut the wires and install the Ford connectors to use the blocks. I have done this on my cars





poolplayer1 said:
I still have all the original wiring in my 55.This past weekend I was working under the dash and saw some wires in which the insulation has come off and I can see the bare wires. I have converted to a 12 volt system. I looked around different places for a wiring kit but they are all asking how many circuits do i need of wiring. Can anyone here tell me how many wire circuits are on this 55 ford wagon? I would like to get a complete wiring harness to replace all my circuits in this wagon.I would apreciate any places that you can recommend to buy the wire. Also,I saw 2 wire connecting blocks that look pretty bad.I would like to replace those too.I call them blocks cause I don't know the correct name but this are black blocks in which wires come in to both sides of the block to interconnect. Thanks for all your help in advance.
Click to expand...
 
The 16 AWG wire will work just fine for 12-volts. I'm not sure when they changed from cloth covered resin insulated wire to a more modern vinyl insulation. I know it was in the mid 50s. The old cloth covered stuff disintegrates after 15 to 20-years. If it was vinyl then the modern replacements could be better than OEM. The modern cloth covered reproduction wire is slightly larger in diameter than the old OEM stuff which can be a problem when threading wire though a steering column for the horn & turn signal switch. I found this out on my 51 Mercs.

There is a trick to removing the bullet connectors from those old terminal blocks. I have a tool that I can work into the gap in those sockets that will allow the bullet to come out. They don't come out easy without that tool. The original bullet connectors were very good terminals but some of the modern bullets are crap.
 
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If you're using an aftermarket harness as I did on my '38 Ford pickup and plan to do on my '55 Ford, get a kit with more circuits than you think you'll need. It costs very little additional to get extra circuits, and the extra unused circuits make it easier if you or another owner down the road decides to add power windows or something.
 
Thanks to all. This is all very good info that I can use while replacing the old wiring in my wagon. Will be checking to see which harness works best for my project and than order what I need.
 
paul2748 said:
These blocks on an early Ford use a special size Ford bullet connector that is bigger than what you find in the stores and aftermarket wiring kits.
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Bullet connectors for the 6-volt cars (pre 1956) are a little larger than the 56 and later 12-volt bullet connectors. Same goes for their corresponding in-line rubber-coated female connectors.
You can find the large size bullet connectors still in some chain hardware stores. I think they are made by Dorman. These are crimp-on type with blue insulation on the end.
But if you buy a duplicate of original repro wiring harness, it will have all the bullet connectors already on it.
Watch out if you are switching to a 12-volt harness because any existing 6-volt wiring or components you are keeping will not connect with the 12-volt bullet connectors.
 
[FONT=&quot]I put a Ron Francis rewire system on my '54 Ranch Wagon. It has worked well, but with one caveat:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]-It was a universal basic kit (6 volt), and universal kits require a little more brain work and research since you have to adapt a few things because the kit isn't made for your specific vehicle. A complete original style wiring replacement harness that's made specifically for your car will be an easier drop-in installation... more like replacing any other worn out component in your car. As Dave said, however, they aren't cheap. the one I priced about a dozen years ago was in the $800 plus range. For comparison, the Ron Francis universal unit I bought a couple of years ago was $299, though I spent more than that when - in addition to the wiring - I replaced all the other electrical components.[/FONT]
 
My only experience with a replacement harness was one someone brought to me to complete a 57 Chevy pickup. Was universal and most universal kits are biased towards GM. Other than the printing every 6 inches on each wire to where it was intended to go it was a total pita. Nothing matched the original switches or sending units, turn signals was a whole different ball of wax. If you are starting from scratch and don't care universal may be ok, but if trying to keep original maybe investigate some place like RI or other first. This is just a personal opinion.
 
i have replaced the harness in all my cars as stated above get more circuits then needed i just used the rebel 9-3 on a 37 ford firetruck worked out great
 
I didn't care for the Rebel instructions, I went Kwik Wire for my car and the instructions were great. I could see them online before I made the purchase. I did a 14-circuit on my car and it went very smoothly.
 
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