ah cool, well I do have the wiring kit from Rebel wire, just want to make sure I have that crap set up correctly. This old girl is coming together pretty quickly so I want to make sure I get everything right the first time ya know? I am running the same setup 57tailgater, minus your newer switches. Are you running the stock radio? aftermarket? where did you put your speakers?
9+3 wiring kit, talk to glenn33 on here, he will take care of you. 150 to your door step. I am going to get one for my plymouth when I start working on it again.
Sounds like your cookin - keep it up! Having wiring set up right is a good thing to have and puts some peace in your mind too. I'm going to try to adapt a semi-new digital tuning radio with knobs to an original dial and shaft locations. Planning on putting speakers in the back corners of the cab and possibly a subwoofer under the seat and see how that works. Thought once about using an original speaker box and putting some tweeters in it but not too thrilled about putting holes up where there aren't now. Too many things to do!
at least yours is in one piece, mine is in many many pieces and so is my other project... at least you can drive yours... I am itching to go to a car show so badly, but cant do anything about it. Tomorrow is a different day though, I will find out what is what and hopefully be on my way.
Okay, so here is what I've got for the IGN switch for both the push button start switch AND the spring return start switch w/ accessory thanks to Rebel Wire: push button start: BAT - Red wire (IGN SW PWR) Brown to either IGN 1 or IGN 2 (has to be on the opposite the orange and pink) Orange and Pink wires are together on either IGN 1 or IGN 2 (have to be together though and opposite of brown) For starter hook up: Use Neutral Safety Switch wire via same post as Brown wire and run to Neutral Safety Switch Neutral Safety Switch to Start or Solenoid (SOL) <--- on Starter Switch Start or SOL to Starter For Spring Return Start Switch with Accessory option: Batt = IGN SW PWR (red wire) 1st post that lights up on Accessory = Brown Wire (Accesory wire) Hot posts with key turned to ON position = coil (pink) and orange wire together starter (purple wire) to spring start (which ever post lights up (is hot) when the spring start is on) More to come on light switch
Light Switch Wiring: BATT = Power to switch PK = Park Lights T = Tail Lights PL = Dash Lights (stands for panel lights) GRD = Ground H = (Blue Wire) Dimmer Switch Power S-D = Stop Light Switch Power (DO NOT USE IF USING A REBEL WIRING HARNESS) ^^ Wiring is provided for power through the fuse box, this S-D is ueseless unless you need to run power elsewhere. I hope this helps everyone looking to wire a 55-59 chevy truck with a Rebel Wiring Harness
Awesome! Great help for all of us other fella's doing the same thing! Thanks Much for posting this up for us. Cheers, Robert M.
Also, If you are in the market for a light switch for 55 -59 chevy truck, DanChuk has well over 100 switches in Indiana as well as 100+ in Santa Anna, California for 38.95 and they make it so it is made in the USA. As a side note if you are using the rebel wiring harness and have quad headlights you not only need to splice the high beam wiring into the inner light, but the outer light as well. Do not worry about any voltage problems, the wiring should be just fine.
Not a "dumb question" at all. Actually, the alternator only puts out whatever the system is calling for at the moment. If you're driving along during the day, no lights, no air, stereo off, etc. it's probably putting out no more than a few amps, and most of that is going into the battery as a trickle charge. As accessories are turned on, a corresponding drop in voltage occurs at the sensing point, and the alternator increases the output to compensate. The amp rating of the alternator is the max. it can output but most of the time it will be operating well below that level. The ammeter is wired into the system only to show the current into (charging) or out of (dischargine) the battery, and has nothing to do with how many accessories you have. You could have everything turned on for example, lights, stereo, etc. and the alt. may be putting out lets say 60 amps, but the ammeter should only show a slight charge, since that's all that's flowing into the battery. The problem though, with an ammeter that pegs (let's say) at 40 amps, and an alt. that's capable of putting out over 100 amps, occurs right after starting. If you've had to crank the engine for an extended time before it fires up, the battery will be in a somewhat discharged state, and for a few seconds the alt. will put out whatever the battery will take and you could well peg the ammeter and even "fry" it. This problem can be easily overcome with a simple shunt that can be purchased at NAPA or any other parts house. Hope this helps.
That helps a bunch..... Can you expand more on the SHUNT concept? Or if I head into the parts will it be explained in the package with the part? Cheers, Robert M.
The shunt is just a bypass resistor that is connected across the ammeter and "shunts" some of the current around the meter. A guy over on Stovebolt.com built one out of some Radio Shack components, if you go to that site and do a search for shunt you should find it. I've heard the parts houses carry them but I can't verify that for sure. If your car/truck starts up quickly, even if you have a high output alt., you won't need the shunt. It's only needed if the battery is low and the high current only lasts for a few seconds until the battery begins to charge, but that few seconds could pin your ammeter and cause permanent damage.
This is my first post and I hope I'm not hijacking this thread... Lots of discussion on ammeters so I thought I'd ask my question. First, a little background... 1959 Fleetside. Rough, but a good runner. $400 purchase a few years ago and well worth every penny, despite the bailing wire, tape, and paperclip repairs. In my few years with her, I've had virtually no problems as I slowly clean up the carelessness of the repairs done by previous owners. Last week, I was at a stop light and smelled burning. In seconds, the cab filled with smoke. I got to the shoulder, popped the hood and saw my wiring all glowing. I frantically pulled wires to stop the current and operating on adrenaline with no tools, I actually got the battery disconnected. Turns out, a fluke of flukes happened. My speedo cable came off at the instrument cluster. With no rubber grommet in the firewall, it "fell" forward toward the radiator. But the head of the cable landed precisely on my positive output post of my alternator. It immediately welded the cable to the post and shorted out my whole truck. Tons of melted wires. No fun, but glad the whole truck didn't go up. I'm now about 95% of the way through replacing all of the cooked wires. I'm now at the ammeter. My question is, where do the wires come from which attach to the ammeter? My wiring diagram shows a "positive" lead and a "negative" lead attached to the male connector plates on the back of the instrument cluster. The wiring shows one positive and one negative. But my metal male plates on the back of the gauge have two male ends on each - enough for 4 wires (two on the positive side and two on the negative side) It would appear that I had 4 wires going to my ammeter, two positive and two negative, but where do they come from? Positive could be starter solenoid, ignition or? Negative seems it would be any ground, but I'm not sure. If someone can help me, I'd sure appreciate it. Question 1 - how many positive and negative wires attach to the back of the ammeter? Question 2 - where does the positive wire(s) originate and where do the negative wire(s) originate - or are they just grounded anywhere? Sorry for the long post. I've spent hours on line and in my books, but just can't figure this out. I can do anything mechanical and next to nothing electrical. The simplest electronics confuse me. Thank you.
One more quick note... Tracing back my cooked wires which were melted together, I did my best to keep track of their routing. What appears to have been hooked up to my ammeter is not correct, at least I don't think so. POSITIVE SIDE - two tabs. One tab wired to my ignition switch. One tab wired to my alternator hot output. NEGATIVE SIDE - two tabs. One tab wired to ground. (This is where it gets weird) One tab appeared to be wired to the hot side of the starter... this can't be, but it would appear so. I realize it can't be, as I can't have a hot connected to the same metal tab as a ground it connected to. Stumped... Thanks for the help!
yeah that doesn't sound right on the ground unless it is grounding on the solenoid of the coil. Are you sure that it is going to a hot lead? If that were the case you would be running the battery low pretty much immediately and also for starting it would be really hard to start. Did you check continuity at the post to see if what it is hooked to is really the ground?
Thanks for the reply 1959 Apache... I appreciate it. I'll do as you suggested and check the continuity of the wire. It's on the same post as the large red lead from the + side of the battery, so I assumed it was positive/hot but there may be some shielding or something isolating it. Good idea and I'll look into that. I have what looks like a relatively new starter (from previous owner) and it's not the correct one for the truck. I have a push button starter on the dash versus the floor starter. I bring this up, because my connections at the starter solenoid will be a little different than stock. I'll take some pictures... Thanks!
OK, took some photos... Keep in mind when the fire started, I was in a panic to do anything to disconnect wires. I used my "club" steering wheel lock and snagged wires running from the starter up through the firewall. I yanked and broke wires and I also tore what I'll call the "mystery wire" from somewhere behind the dash. It came through the hole in the firewall and is about 4.5' long and still retains it's female connector. It would appear this attached to the ammeter, but that seems impossible as this is a hot wire and it would have connected to the negative side. See photos...
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