Technical 1954 Ford Junction Box

I had no power to my headlights, tracked it down to this 'junction box' on the firewall. I don't understand whatever this thing is or does. The terminal that the headlights was hooked up to didn't have power. I changed terminals, I have no idea of the purpose of this box. There is one 15 amp fuse in it. I reattached my headlights to a terminal that is constantly hot.

This was vertical, I repositioned it and have a chrome cover for it

Hmmm....anyone shed some light on this thing for me?

Thanks

 

Do your headlights work now?

 

Buy a Cl***icCarWiring.com schematic for about $20. for your car. It’s laminated and the original colors of your wiring. Makes trouble shooting a lot easier.

 

there are circuit breakers under there usually 15 amp.each pair of wires use a circuit breaker the 15 amp fuse was for interior lighting (missing)do yourself a favour and join the 52-59 ford social group on here there will be a ton of support and info

 

Yep, got lights now. Someone before me did a cobble job on it and put a toggle under the dash. I finally figured out that the headlight switch had two power wires, one for the headlights only. The headlight power went to this junction box and was dead. I put it on another terminal and have headlights through the stock switch again. I probably should locate another box, but I’m not even sure what it’s called.

 

@HOTRODPRIMER can you shed any light on this?

Phil

 

Ford moved the circuit breaker to the engine compartment and above the master cylinder. That's what it is called.

 

Usually in these 50's Fords after 60+ years the old cotton wrapped wiring is shot and guys that do a full rewiring harness eliminate it.

 

The 15 amp fuse you found is probably there to protect the circuit from overload. By repositioning it and covering it with chrome, you might have inadvertently improved its aesthetics, but its functionality remains the same.

 

That 'junction box' on the firewall can be a bit mysterious, can't it? I had a similar head-scratching moment when I was restoring an old truck. Found a similar box tucked away, and after some digging, discovered it was an electrical junction boxes. It basically helps route power to different parts of the vehicle. Changing terminals and repositioning sounds like a solid move. As for the chrome cover, nice touch! It's always satisfying to figure out those little mysteries.

 

My preference is to rewire and eliminate the block, better yet make plans to rewire the entire car, after all the wiring is 70 years old. HRP