1966 dash lights and gauges not working

[TK66ragtop]

I have noticed a few posts about 1964 to 1966 Thunderbirds having dash light and gauges issues
I bought this car in 2022 its a 1966 convertible and its been sitting in a garage in California since 1987 (owner past away and it sat in one spot) its rust free and its got 50800 miles on it
Now when I bought it it looked like it had top problems I didnt realize that it had electric issues in the dash lights and gauges
after I got it running after 38 years of sitting (replaced fuel tank and fluids) I noticed the gauges and dash lights dont work.
Now all the headlights and directionals work as they should but no lights in the interior.

Replaced headlight switch and hi beam switch but no luck
Replaced all the dash bulbs
I bought a parts car and when I swapped out the dash I noticed that the 10 gauge black with yellow trace wire had melted along with some damage to the 10 gauge yellow wire on the original dash harness.
I replaced the dash wiring harness from the parts car
and also did a bench test on the gauges before installing the dash in the car and they work fine

I took a meter to the fuse box and no power to the light fuse
Does anyone have an idea where else I can track down the issue to get the dash lights and gauges working????

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[Frankie the Fink]

No power to the instrument panel fuse is the 'smoking gun' for that issue. Possibly a loose or corroded connection on the back of the fuse box. Even though its relatively low mileage, it sat for a LONG time and that's never good

 

[daytonthunderbird]

The hubcaps are from a 64. Is the wiring harness from a 66? The guages from 64-65 are wired differently than the 66, were prone to catching on fire.

 

[TK66ragtop]

Thanks Frankie for the reply
I actually checked fuse box too,
I opened it up and checked inside its in great shape no corrosion
Being from southern California it didn't see a lot of rain with virtually zero rust is the main reason I bought the car
I never owned a car that the nuts and bolts didnt need wd40 or penetrating to get off ,,,the car really is a time capsule but I have to put a lot of time into it to bring it back,,,most of the interior was trashed because of rodents and birds nesting in the car but being that it was a rust free car from california was why I bought it.

When I was checking for power with a meter at the fuse box there was no power to the dash light fuse on feed side and no power out side
so im guessing the issue is before the fuse box from the main feed (possibly a fusible link) ??
I bought the ford manual and I have the colored wiring chart also which helps
I have noticed by reading the forum that the power to the dash lights and or gauges seems to be an issue with the 64 to 66 birds
I was hoping that someone had the same issue and let me know where the issue maybe
Thanks Tim

 

[TK66ragtop]

The hubcaps are from a 64. Is the wiring harness from a 66? The guages from 64-65 are wired differently than the 66, were prone to catching on fire.

Thanks Daytonathunderbird
The car came as you see it in pic1
The previous owner probably changed the hubcaps before 1987
I did buy a great 1966 conv parts car with the correct hubcaps for 66 in great shape too

The interior was original so im sure the wiring was all original but I will say that I didnt catch the burned up wires until I replaced the dash and saw the black tape was melted I then stripped the tape back and realized the Black with yellow wire and yellow wire had overheated and melted
The parts car had a great dash harness so I switched it out when I put the new dash in the car
The gauges are still good though I bench tested them when I had the dash out by giving them a quick tap and then releasing with 12 volts
and they all worked.(learned that trick from Nick on youtube,,thanks Nick)
If you keep 12v on the gauge you will cook the gauge so you just tap it for a second to duplicate the constant voltage reg in the dash that drops
12v to 5v.
As for any old car we really dont know the history of these old cars unless the owners are alive
Unfortunately, the owner of this Tbird died in 1987
The family decided to let it go but they did say that he loved the car
He defiantly had issues with the top because it was stuck in the up mode
But im sure the harnesses were all original
It didnt look like anyone was inside the dash and it looked untouched

Thanks Tim