Headlight wiring

M

Marty_in_Mesa

Junior Member
I have a 29 Tudor. I installed a new wiring harness. I got new sockets for the headlight buckets. 2 lamp. What pigtail goes between the 3 pin socket in the head light bucket and the 3 bullet connectors on the wiring harness? The wiring harness itself doesn't seem long enough to make it into the buckets.

Also, does the main wiring harness for the passenger headlight go under the radiator? I don't see where else it could go, and if under the radiator, how is it secured in place?

Thanks in advance.
Marty

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Hey, Marty in Mesa, I just had to reply to your post. The wire from the driver's headlight to the passenger's headlight is held in place by small clips at the bottom of the radiator.
Welcome to Ford Barn.
Marty
 
marty in Ohio said:
Hey, Marty in Mesa, I just had to reply to your post. The wire from the driver's headlight to the passenger's headlight is held in place by small clips at the bottom of the radiator.

Welcome to Ford Barn.

Marty
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response. So it's clipped to the radiator bottom itself?

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Here is a picture of the right headlight wire crossing the radiator, you can
see the tabs holding the wire to the lower tank.


Bob
 

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Marty_in_Mesa said:
I have a 29 Tudor. I installed a new wiring harness. I got new sockets for the headlight buckets. 2 lamp. What pigtail goes between the 3 pin socket in the head light bucket and the 3 bullet connectors on the wiring harness? The wiring harness itself doesn't seem long enough to make it into the buckets.

Also, does the main wiring harness for the passenger headlight go under the radiator? I don't see where else it could go, and if under the radiator, how is it secured in place?
Click to expand...

If your harness has standard bullet connectors at the headlamps, they should be replaced with these - https://www.brattons.com/catalog/headlights/headlight-wire-brass-terminal-ends.html.

You can also grind down the bullets just past the wide part and solder the ends, as I did. Bratton's was out of stock my last order.

The harness should be long enough to slip the ends through the plug, you just need to push the conduits farther through the radiator shell.

Many radiators lack the clips brazed to the lower tank. To remedy this I stretched the harness tight across and secured it with 2 cable ties at the radiator mounts. It clears the fan OK but I check it regularly. I may attach some metal strips to the bottom tank with JB Weld someday if it causes a problem.
 
Badpuppy said:
If your harness has standard bullet connectors at the headlamps, they should be replaced with these - https://www.brattons.com/catalog/headlights/headlight-wire-brass-terminal-ends.html.



You can also grind down the bullets just past the wide part and solder the ends, as I did. Bratton's was out of stock my last order.



The harness should be long enough to slip the ends through the plug, you just need to push the conduits farther through the radiator shell.



Many radiators lack the clips brazed to the lower tank. To remedy this I stretched the harness tight across and secured it with 2 cable ties at the radiator mounts. It clears the fan OK but I check it regularly. I may attach some metal strips to the bottom tank with JB Weld someday if it causes a problem.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I still don't understand how they harness connects with the 3 pin socket in the headlight bucket

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Marty, Check out Bratton's catalog, they have a diagram of the plug setup for the bottom of the headlight bucket.
If you do not have a Bratton's catalog, call and order one, they are handy to have.
Ed
 
Ed Wendell said:
Marty, Check out Bratton's catalog, they have a diagram of the plug setup for the bottom of the headlight bucket.
If you do not have a Bratton's catalog, call and order one, they are handy to have.
Ed
Click to expand...
Will check it out. Thanks Ed
Marty

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Marty_in_Mesa said:
Thanks. I still don't understand how they harness connects with the 3 pin socket in the headlight bucket
Click to expand...

Push the conduit into the radiator shell to expose a couple inches of wire ends. insert the wires into the plug slots per the lettering on their front which corresponds to the appropriate wire color (R/G/Y).

https://www.brattons.com/28-31-headlight-wire-plug.html

Insert the plug into the socket with the key between R and G aligned between the two dimples on the socket. Pull the conduit out and over the wires and connect to the socket, twist to lock. The connection is made by the spring pressure of the socket contacts against the wire ends.

Most repop conduits have crappy ferrules which don't reach far enough into the socket to engage the lock. Check your fit before placing your order, Bratton's sells the ferrules:

https://www.brattons.com/headlight-conduit-ferrule-only.html

After being disgusted with two of the cheap conduits, I finally ordered the expensive ones from Bratton's (~$38) which fit like originals.

Btw, since you have 2-bulb headlights, I'm assuming your '29 is the Twolite variety. The earlier H-type is a whole different animal.
 
Last edited:
If you don't have the tabs on the lower part of the radiator use black cable ties going through the core and fasten on the front side of the radiator.
Sofield
 
Badpuppy said:
Push the conduit into the radiator shell to expose a couple inches of wire ends. insert the wires into the plug slots per the lettering on their front which corresponds to the appropriate wire color (R/G/Y).

https://www.brattons.com/28-31-headlight-wire-plug.html

Insert the plug into the socket with the key between R and G aligned between the two dimples on the socket. Pull the conduit out and over the wires and connect to the socket, twist to lock. The connection is made by the spring pressure of the socket contacts against the wire ends.

Most repop conduits have crappy ferrules which don't reach far enough into the socket to engage the lock. Check your fit before placing your order, Bratton's sells the ferrules:

https://www.brattons.com/headlight-conduit-ferrule-only.html

After being disgusted with two of the cheap conduits, I finally ordered the expensive ones from Bratton's (~$38) which fit like originals.

Btw, since you have 2-bulb headlights, I'm assuming your '29 is the Twolite variety. The earlier H-type is a whole different animal.
Click to expand...

So to be clear, the wiring harness itself is supposed to reach up, through the conduit, and into the head light bucket then the plastic piece holds the wires against the socket with the 3 pins? Does the black plastic piece lock into the socket?

This is the best piece of information yet. Thank you Badpuppy!
Marty
 
Marty_in_Mesa said:
So to be clear, the wiring harness itself is supposed to reach up, through the conduit, and into the head light bucket then the plastic piece holds the wires against the socket with the 3 pins? Does the black plastic piece lock into the socket?

This is the best piece of information yet. Thank you Badpuppy!
Marty
Click to expand...

The plug and wires are held inside the socket by the twist-to-lock ferrule at the conduit end. The contact springs exert a fair pressure, so proper ferrules are essential.
 
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