Greetings, proud new owner of 1953 Dodge pickup

[Wild Jimmy]

First post... proud new owner of this canadian made Dodge pickup! Read a lot of topics on this site and hope to meet some helpful Dodge and Fargo owners.  First thing I'm tidying up the wiring, it has had a 12v conversion and lights wired up, but still most of the original wiring is there and a bit messy. My priority is to make sure it doesn't burn up! One thing I read online is to have a 125 amp fuse between the alternator and battery, I haven't been able to find a good tutorial on how and where to add this. The alternator wire seems to take a long pathway through the dash wiring (amp guage) and ignition, etc. If anyone has experience or has found good info online you can point me to, I would appreciate your help.  Yes, I own a shop manual and have studied the wiring diagram...

1953 DH-1 (cdn version of the B-4-B)

[David A.]

Congratulations! It looks like a nice truck. 

[Los_Control]

I love it the truck looks awesome.

 

Just to put things in perspective, when I was a kid 16-18 years old. There was a few 6 volt vehicles running around as cheap transportation vehicles.

When the charging system started to give problems ..... It was just common to switch it to 12 volt ..... Cheaper, easier, modern technology.

 

In the 1970's you could pick up from the local wrecking yard a used 12 volt battery, alternator, light bulbs .... cheaper then what a new 6 volt battery or a new 6 volt generator cost.

All of this just makes me think of your truck as a survivor of sorts, not a restored truck. So original wiring would fit right in.

 

Original wiring would be cloth covered .... at 70 years old it would be a mess, been several layers of electrical tape to cover it up ..... I would not try to add anything to it.

I would be looking at buying a after market wiring harness that includes a fuse box & a spot for a relay or 2 .... There are many available in different price ranges.

Then I would be asking questions about installing the new harness.  .... There is many people here qualified to answer serious electrical questions, I'm not one of them.

These trucks really need very little wiring to make them work.

 

 

 

[Wild Jimmy]

Los Control,  thank you for the great advice, you are correct, the old wire is taped up cloth wrapped stuff.  I just replaced the main battery cables as the cloth was worn through in a couple spots and bare wire touching the frame.  I love that it is so original and unrestored for the most part and want to keep it that way, but safety and protecting it from burning down my garage is more important to me than being a true original-parts truck in all respects.  I have looked up the kits on DCM website, will do a little more digging for comparison.  Has anyone here a preference for wiring kits and know which type have fuse protection? 

 

This is the fuse I was thinking of that VintageAutoGarage recommends, but no info about how and where to install it

 

https://vintageautogarage.com/alternator-output-wire-fuse-125-amps/

Edited October 15, 2022 by Wild Jimmy

[Bobacuda]

When I rebuilt my B4B, I made my own wiring harnesses. I removed each old harness and mounted it on plywood. I labeled the ends of each wire so I would know where they attached. I used 6V wires, knowing if I switch to 12v, that is not a problem.  I also used the wiring diagrams from this forum.

 

I bought the wires and connectors from Rhode Island Wiring (riwiring.com).  Cost about $250 5 yrs ago. I used uninsulated connectors, crushed on and soldered, insulated with heat shrink.  Took me about a week of after my job work.
 

RIWiring also sell ready made harnesses, but they won’t have every harness for your truck   If you make your own harnesses, make everything behind the dash about a foot longer. It’s a lot easier to pull something than to crawl under the dash (don’t ask how I know). 

Edited October 17, 2022 by Bobacuda
Typo

[1949 Wraith]

 

Welcome and a very nice looking truck.

 

I used this information, when making the wiring looms for my '51 a few years ago. Poster had reversed engineered the original wiring harness with all the  wire gauge and lengths listed. There are some other posts on this flathead site where they put in a fuse box and relays which I added into my wiring as well.

http://dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/wiring_harness/wiring.htm

 

All kinds of usefull information on your truck here along with the Canadian parts list.

 

http://dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/know.htm

Edited October 15, 2022 by 1949 Wraith

[Wild Jimmy]

Thank you guys, I am reading up on all your suggestions.  I appreciate your experience!

[ggdad1951]

Welcome!  If you are lookin for the shortcut, RIWire should have ALL the harnesses for your truck (at least the ones that would be stock), I ordered all mine from there and its plug and play.

[B1B Keven]

https://enginebarn.myshopify.com/