alright guys so I have a 1951 ford f1 and: a new 12v 12circuit wiring harness with horn relay/headlight relay/turn sig flasher/four way flasher/fuse block, a new sbc conversion distributor(bubbas), new 12v coil, ballast resisitor, and a few odds and ends that were actually still on my truck when i got it electronics-wise laying out ready to install, but ive hit a few snags, or rather, im kind of lost on a few items. since im basically wiring the truck from nothing, i need to know what i need in line for it all to work. where and what circuit breakers do i use? etc. etc. i know i need voltage reducers for my gauges, working on building those off a thread i read on here. And last but not least, who knows the best place to get headlight/wiper/heater switches?? ha thanks
if your stock switches are in good shape they will be fine with 12 volts as for circuit breakers , doesn't your new 12 circuit wiring harness have fuses? about the only time i use a circuit breaker is for an electric fan.... i take the power for that right off the battery to the breaker and then a relay that's tripped by a switch
yes it has fuses, so i take it i will not need breakers anywhere then unless i choose to run an electric fan... cool thanks, will i need any other gizmos for anything electrical? like i said this is my first big electrical project so i appreciate it... oh and the switches are in rough shape, going to try and clean em up a bit but i believe a few are actually broken
Get ahold of FLAT TOP BOB on here. Hes had every used part I've needed this far and stuff is priced fair.
You can get a universal headlight switch at any local parts store or on the internet anywhere and they are pretty simple to mount and hook up usually fit in a stock location same with the ignition switch if u dont have one. Also make sure if you plan to run a electric fan or fuel pump you run them on a relay or you could have some melted wiring i have found that speedway motors offers good cheep relay kits that work really well. Last year me and my buddy built a 37 chevy truck and did the 12V converson and we havent had any problems with it at all hope this helps Jeff
I'm in the plans for helping a buddy rewire and convert his 52 F1 to 12v also. Is yours originally positive ground as his is? Throws a little more into the mix. Devin
yeah mine was originally 6v positive ground. got to thinking just now, wont the starter spin the opposite direction now that i will be hooking up a positive wire to where a negative used to go and grounding where the positive used to be?
No, it wont make it spin backwards, in fact, it will give it quite a kick....so use it for short bursts....The issue you WILL have is if you want to use the original starter button which had one wire that grounded the original solenoid. The way around that (other than a late model ignition switch) is to use the one wire starter button to GROUND a 5 pin relay, which in turn will (when hooked up) provide your 12volts to your new 12 volt solenoid. Also, make sure you use a voltage reducer if you're using original gauges. Theres another thread on that somewhere else on the site, but from my experience, all fords from 1956 up into the late 80s had one of those devices behind the dash....
I used a '69 Chevy wiring harness in my F1 but here's a couple tips that might help you. I went 'junkin' looking for the voltage reducer Ford used on gauges up into the 1980's. It works with the stock 6v gauges when converting to 12v negative ground. This 'reducer' actually pulses 12V on/off and averages 6V. *After about 1971-2 the reducer has 'snap' connectors and isn't as friendly for conversion as the 'blade' style connection. You can look online somewhere like Mac's Auto Parts and see or buy the part.* I found a '69 Ford pu with the reducer. The gauge wiring harness looks like it would work on the '48 cluster so I grab it too. Get home and it works perfectly. The little connectors slid right on to the '48 gauge posts. Only had a couple of extra dash lights that needed clipped off. The reducer is the little box, lower left next to the amp gauge with the black and white wire. I got rid of the 48's electrical distribution block and screwed the reducer in it's place. If you have a 6 volt heater you'll need to drop the voltage to that. I've used this method several times. Get a 70's-80's Chevy pickup heater resistor. (I'm sure many cars have variants of this) These are meant for 3 speeds but you'll only use 2. (in the Chevy P.U. this part is located on the heater box, close to the blower motor, in the engine compartment) Mounted it under the dash in my F1. It gets warm when in use so needs a couple inches of isolation from combustibles. You could put it in a metal box with a vent hole if it worries you. I used it with a 2 speed dash switch from a 60's Ford but any switch would work. High speed on the resistor isn't hooked up to the switch since it's straight 12v. On low, heater works like a normal 1 speed 6V blower. On medium, blows harder but not like having 12V hooked to it. Makes the defroster work really good.
As far as the gauges are concerned, you will need to reduce the voltage to them. Polarity does not matter as they are thermally actuated. Are you using all original sending units?
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