1956 T Bird re-wire thread. New harness.

[BarretHC1]

Hey guys, I'm gonna add some pics however I just re-wired the whole car with a new wiring harness. What a pain in the rear. If anyone has any questions on the process. message me. Having multiple diagrams and patience helps a ton!

 

[55birdman]

Did you use a pre-made harness from one of the suppliers? If so which brand? Where did you locate the “fuse box”? Have you added accessories- A/C, etc? I purchased an American Autowire package that I’ve yet to install.

 

[Douglemmo]

Hi,
I completely rewired my 57, all stock, I got the wiring harnesses (plural) from Hill's. The seat and steering column were removed. I labeled every old wire I took out. The whole job took me 12 hours start to finish. And everything worked.

 

[55birdman]

Probably going to take 12 days! Other than the dash I’ve stripped everything out. I’ll have my work cut out for me!

 

[RichardF]

Did you have a wiring diagram to go by? I have been looking for a diagram for a 56 that I'm starting on and have had no luck finding one. I've rewired several cars front to back and would like to do my own loom using modern connectors, but would like a diagram to work with.

 

[Ward 57]

Only 12 hours? How did you get the wires from one side of the engine compartment to the other behind the grill. Unfortunately the junction blocks and connectors have been painted on my '57 so color coding could be a chore.

 

[BarretHC1]

Did you use a pre-made harness from one of the suppliers? If so which brand? Where did you locate the “fuse box”? Have you added accessories- A/C, etc? I purchased an American Autowire package that I’ve yet to install.

I purchased the harness through Ecklers- I am not sure who their supplier is/was. There is no fuse box. The harness has some inline fuses installed in certain areas. I did not add any accessories except a reverse switch for the hurst manual trans. It wasn't too bad of a job and took me about 20 hours total. I did run into an issue with the light bulb sockets for the dash instrumentation. The contact inside was so large it was grounding out on the side of the metal socket (whether a bulb was in their or not). I ended up splicing in the old sockets for the light bulbs.

 

[BarretHC1]

Did you have a wiring diagram to go by? I have been looking for a diagram for a 56 that I'm starting on and have had no luck finding one. I've rewired several cars front to back and would like to do my own loom using modern connectors, but would like a diagram to work with.

I actually had 2. I got one from Ecklers/MACS, and I purchased a nice color diagram that was laminated on Amazon. I will supply the link.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XQZQ9O/?tag=thunderbirdforum-20

 

[alanc]

Hey guys, I'm gonna add some pics however I just re-wired the whole car with a new wiring harness. What a pain in the rear. If anyone has any questions on the process. message me. Having multiple diagrams and patience helps a ton!

Where did you buy your harness?

 

[55birdman]

I’m also in the process of re-wiring my 55 using an American Autowire 22 kit and have located the fuse panel behind the seats. There will be a console so the wire bundle will be contained there in and there’s ample wire length in this kit. I’ve added A/C, fuel injection, electronic ignition, electric wipers, electronic tach, a new radio and amp and done a 12V conversion. I chose to keep the original ignition Switch and headlight switch so I that could retain the original knobs. Switches were provided In the kit and they were “plug & play” so retaining the originals complicated things - along with other changes I’ve made. I did retain much of the dash wiring, splicing it to the new as indicated. The dash is out of the car which makes access much easier.
If you’re doing a restoration then an OEM style harness would seem the way to go. I would also check Ron Francis Wiring as I believe they will customize a harness for your application.
One problem I’ve encountered is the horn. Having added R & P steering to the original telescopic column has eliminated the possibility of grounding the horn thru the once hollow column. I’ll need to come up with a solution - any suggestions?

 

[tobby]

Probably going to take 12 days! Other than the dash I’ve stripped everything out. I’ll have my work cut out for me!

would you happen to have the old dash harness, if you do i would like to purchase it from you. i need to strip out some wires from it for the proper color code............ thanx in advance tobby ************

 

[HRUVDT564]

There must be something in the air. I am also installing new dash and firewall forward harnesses from Ecklers I have not started it yet.
Dash and windshield are off.

 

[HRUVDT564]

Hello all. I finally started the install of new wiring on my 55. ( 5 harnesses front , cross over, dash, body, and seat harness) I got the front wires in ( dash forward) and the gauges on the dash hooked up while the dash was off. Dash is back on and I brought the front harness through the fire wall to dash. That group of wires do not have connectors and I'm having a hard time linking them to the dash wires ( colors do not seem to match).
Does anyone have any tips that may help connect the wires coming in on drivers side near master cylinder?

Also I know the 55 did not have fuse box but I'd like to add one, has anyone done that?

I'll snap a few pics when I get to shop.

Thanks

 

[paul5456]

Do you have the Electrical Assembly Manual? Best thing when rewiring a TBird. Look on ebay for one or go to the parts suppliers.

 

[BarretHC1]

Hello all. I finally started the install of new wiring on my 55. ( 5 harnesses front , cross over, dash, body, and seat harness) I got the front wires in ( dash forward) and the gauges on the dash hooked up while the dash was off. Dash is back on and I brought the front harness through the fire wall to dash. That group of wires do not have connectors and I'm having a hard time linking them to the dash wires ( colors do not seem to match).
Does anyone have any tips that may help connect the wires coming in on drivers side near master cylinder?

Also I know the 55 did not have fuse box but I'd like to add one, has anyone done that?

I'll snap a few pics when I get to shop.

Thanks

There were some wires on the new harness that were not the same color as the wiring diagram, however I saved them for last. Sorry I don't remember which wires they were. And the could've been strictly with my replacement harness I bought..

 

[HRUVDT564]

There were some wires on the new harness that were not the same color as the wiring diagram, however I saved them for last. Sorry I don't remember which wires they were. And the could've been strictly with my replacement harness I bought..

New wiring harnesses installed

I have the old harnesses if anyone wants them.

 

[biddle]

I am new to this forum and I really do not know how to use it, so I am very sorry to butt in. I have a 1956 T-Bird and I am looking for the engine wiring harness. I have the dash harness, but need the engine side. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I hope I have not offended anyone by jumping in on this post, but I really am struggling with finding parts.

Look at these links on ebay- https://www.ebay.com/sch/?kw=engine+wiring+harness+1956+Thunderbird&campid=5338236430

Also- https://www.ebay.com/itm/1535077403...d=link&campid=5338236430&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

 

[paul5456]

I am new to this forum and I really do not know how to use it, so I am very sorry to butt in. I have a 1956 T-Bird and I am looking for the engine wiring harness. I have the dash harness, but need the engine side. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I hope I have not offended anyone by jumping in on this post, but I really am struggling with finding parts.

CASCO has just the engine compartment harnesses. You will have to splice this harness into your old one as most of the wires for the engine area are a continuation of the under dash harness. If your underdash harness is not that great, then I would suggest getting a new full harness.

Get some catalogs from the TBird Parts Suppliers. CASCO, Hill's, Concour;s Parts, TEE-Bird Products, Larry's to look up parts

Get an Electrical Assembly Manual. They have one just for your 57. I like the one from Jim Osborn Reproductions. Has wire color codes, shows were the wires go and has great illustrations. When I did my 56, I removed the dash and did all the wiring under it with it out.

If your going to wire with the dash in, remove the seat so you have plenty of room.

And if you have the dash out, great time to put in electric wipers

Just a heads up - always start a new post even if there is a similar post. Get a better response as people may not look at old postings.

 

[rponfick]

Just did my firewall forward (they call it a repair harness) on my '57, and I was surprised how many of the wires were not labeled. I have done a Factory Five Cobra kit and every wire was labeled multiple times. Very easy to do.
When I called the supplier about lack of labeling, they indicated to take the black tape off the existing harness and trace all the wires back to the firewall. I had only cut two wires before tracing back, so I had a 50-50 chance of my headlights blinking when I use the turn signals.
I found it not to be a very pleasant experience.
Ralph

 

[paul5456]

You should invest in the Electrical Assembly Manual which shows colors, routing, etc. if you do any electrical work. Back in the day, no wires had any labels. All determined by color