hi guys im in australia and have a mild kustom 1955 cranbrook aussie built ! i think its the same as your 53/54 cranbrook .....any way the guy i bought it from hooked up the battery up backwards and couldnt get anything to go anymore !!........i have put in a new battery and shorted out the starter solenoid and it wants to start but wont from the ignition ! there is no lights/horn etc but when tested with a tester from the front i can get all lights and horn to work......it seems dead from the firewall back !! what can it be ,is there a fuseable link somewhere or could it be a dodgy ignition ?? it is righthand drive and is converted to 12 volt aswell and has a alternater not a generater any thoughts where i can start ??
First off, if it's been converted to 12 volts, it would probably now be negative earth (Some early Aussie Chryslers were positive earth). There is usually a wire from the large positve terminal on your starter which goes into the firewall and feeds the rest of the circuits via a fuse box. It sounds like this wire is missing/fried/open circuit. If it is open circuit, check if there is a fusible link in there somewhere.
thanks 36roadster ! where do you think the fuse box could be ! ive had a quick look but ill pull kick panels off tomorrow and have better look ....do you think the ignition could be fried as well or the fact that everything is dead says find that wire/fuseable link ?
It's unlikely that you have cooked any part of the igntion circuit, I would still bet that your feed to your fusebox is open circuit. I wouldn't go pulling the kickpanels off just yet, it's unlikely that the fusebox is back there, unless the car has been rewired and that's where the new fusebox is located now. It was usually that late-model trash that hid things back there. See if you can get your hands on a Dodge Kingsway/Plymouth Belvedere/Desoto diplomat or Chrysler Royal manual, it will have the wiring diagram in there, and that should have "fusible link" marked clearly on there. I have loaned my Chrysler Royal manual to my Bro, otherwise I would look it up for you. Has the car been re-wired, or just 12 volt converted? When you find the fusebox, check all fuses first (with a meter), then try running another fairlythick wire with a 35amp fuse in line straight from the battery positive to the where the fattest wire connects on your fusebox (this will be the positive feed for the box). Double check this first with the manual or wiring diagram.
I just had a look at an early Chrysler Royal, and yes , they were positive earth. If a standard Holden or Falcon alternator has been used, the system would now be negative earth. These cars did not have a fusebox, the only thing I could see on the wiring diagram was a 20Amp circuit breaker, which is connected to the "H" terminal on your light switch. Hopefully that just needs to be reset.
Apparently the later cars had a 12 volt system from factory but still positive earth, do the pedals come through the floor or hang off the firewall?
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