1956 T Bird re-wire thread. New harness. | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models

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1956 T Bird re-wire thread. New harness.

  • Thread starter Thread starter BarretHC1
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BarretHC1

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Did you use a pre-made wiring 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.
 
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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.

Moderator Note: Purchase this wiring diagram- https://ebay.us/Pzsu2U
 
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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.
 
55birdman said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
RichardF said:
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.
Click to expand...

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
 
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?
 
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
 
rpersing said:
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.
Click to expand...

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
 
rpersing said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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
 
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
 
I have wiring diagram and wiring manual, but they do not help with multiple wires of the same color. You have multiple green and red wires in the forward harness that come out of the firewall. With multiple wires of the same color, you can only strip the tape and follow them from firewall to final destination. Sorry, but I have just been there.
 
From the factory, if the wires were the same color but served another function usually it had a tracer color on it.. Will that help
 
paul5456 said:
From the factory, if the wires were the same color but served another function usually it had a tracer color on it.. Will that help
Click to expand...
Couldn’t see any tracer color. The wiring diagrams indicate that tracer colors exist, but maybe after 65 years they become invisible. I looked carefully, but couldn’t see anything but 4 green wires and 4 red. Got it done now, so things are good.
 
rponfick said:
I have wiring diagram and wiring manual, but they do not help with multiple wires of the same color. You have multiple green and red wires in the forward harness that come out of the firewall. With multiple wires of the same color, you can only strip the tape and follow them from firewall to final destination. Sorry, but I have just been there.
Click to expand...
There is an easier way. Before installing the harness, just ring the wires with a multimeter and put your own labels on each end.
 
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