Strange electric box on a 35

Keith True

Keith True

Well-known member
Mounted on the inside of the firewall on my 35 is a little perforated metal box.It is about 3X3,and has a couple of wires that appear to go to the radio.But,two more go to the ignition switch.also,one heavy wire goes into the loom and goes down under the car.I haven't tracked that wire down yet.There is also a fuse holder mounted next to it,and does tie into it too.Right now there is a bolt for a fuse,and it looks like it has been hot a few times.Does that box and fuse holder even belong in the car? I am putting a new dash harness in the car,what's in there now makes a plate of spaghetti look organized.I was asked if I had a 'loop'type amp guage.I don't know how to tell on that car.
 
Sounds like the circuit breakers. Does it looks something like this? If it is it would be from a later model and not original to a 35.
 

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I'm not getting a good picture up under the dash.I just have a plain digital camera,it's not up to the job.I am waiting for my books,I'm kind of lost without books to open with pages to turn and study.I didn't even know those cars had circuit breakers.I should probably just wait until I can study the service bulletins.
 
Post a picture for positive identification, but it sounds like you're describing the ignition resistor and the fuse holder for the lights. With the bolt in there, you have a fire hazard if wires are frayed causing fuses to burn out. Lights being all that fuse is intended to serve, don't connect anything else to that circuit. The resistor is required to lower voltage to your ignition coil by about 2 volts.

Yes, you should have an ammeter gauge, identified by the large power wire that goes through a metal loop on the backside of the gauge, but not otherwise connected to the gauge.

EDIT: If it does look like the picture Seery posted, then your description of a fuse holder with a bolt must be incorrect, that being the ignition resistor itself. The circuit breaker is a later replacement for the fuse, more accurately being described as a thermal switch, cycling on/off to allow the driver some light to get home on rather than to cut off completely.
 
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What I have is exactly like the picture JSeery posted.What was making me think it didn't belong there was the little plastic board it is mounted on.I would bet you are right about what I called the fuse holder.Looking up there with a flashlight tonight I was looking through a maze of wires.I thought it was a bolt in there right off,and laughed because it is the kind of thing I see a lot of.I won't be powering this car up until I put a harness in it.Somebody made a real mess under the dash.Interestingly enough the light harness looks perfect.
 
If you are not picky about being 100% original, the circuit breakers are a big improvement over the single fuse. If you do want it back to original, then there would be a smaller panel with just the ballast resistor and a single fuse (not directly connected to each other).
 
Keith True said:
I'm not getting a good picture up under the dash.I just have a plain digital camera,it's not up to the job.I am waiting for my books,I'm kind of lost without books to open with pages to turn and study.I didn't even know those cars had circuit breakers.I should probably just wait until I can study the service bulletins.
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A digital camera is nice but it sounds like you have a job for a cell phone camera and an LED flashlight.

Charlie Stephens
 
I don't mind it not being that original,I like circuit breakers anyway.I was plowing snow with a B model Mack that had a headlight problem.They would go out about every 20 minutes or so,and the breaker would reset after about two minutes.It got me through the night during a bad storm without burning any wiring.I don't have a phone that takes pictures,it is just a rubber coated thing that I need because I mostly work alone.I am brutal on portable phones,I can't carry anything attached to me.
 
It will be wired slightly different with the circuit breaker(s) you have. The original wiring would have all of the lighting circuits connected to single fuse. The dual CB wiring has the headlights on one CB and the rest of the lighting circuits on the other CB. This is coupled to a lighting control switch located on the dash with two separate "hot" inputs. The original light switch at the bottom of the steering column only has the one "hot" input. You can compare the 35 wiring diagram with the 41 diagram to see the difference.
 
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what brand is the wireless as some where 2 piece units with the main power supply being separate from the dash unit the size you descride sounds about right usualy mounted above the clutch pedal
 
P.S. old Henry was a bit of a tight wad heaters ,wirelesses etc wher considered to be extras so although various brands where endorsed by the factory they where never fitted at factory but sourced and fitted by the dealer hence they dont appear in factory parts lists or in any wiring diaphragms makes for lots of fun but generally someone here has the diagrams
 
My radio is just a big box mounted in the center of the firewall.Remote round dial,with a single cable control,and two wires to the switch.There are no brand marks on the outside of the radio,or on the dial.The wire to feed it does connect to that circuit breaker,on the feed side.Once I chopped out all the extra useless wire I found the wiring the car needed to be sound.I filled a milk crate with junk wire from the signal light setup,and some kind of alarm system.Once I got a look at it I did see what I thought was a fuse holder with a bolt in it really is a resistor.I'm not used to seeing a resistor in a 6 volt system.
 
Yep, the original Ford coils use a ballast resistor. If it has been switched to a remote "can" coil, it most likely does not require the resistor. It all depends on the coil resistance. The resistance in the ignition circuit should be around 1.5 ohms with the 6v remote coil and most of these coil are in that range without a ballast resistor.
 
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