The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Mounting AAW Fuse Block in TF Truck

I just opened my new wiring harness kit for my '56 3100 from AAW and I see they want us to mount the fuse block off of the hood mounting bolts. My hood has captured nuts welded to the inside of the fire wall making it easy to remove/adjust the hood hinges. If I replace the hinge bolts with longer bolts to act as studs for the fuse block to hang from any future action with the hinge will be a pain to do. I'm thinking about drilling the fire wall and installing new bolts/studs...what have you guy's done? Am I over thinking this?

Thanks,

Mike B

How often do you figure you'll need to remove hood hinge bolts?

And if you did how much time will it take to remove 2 nuts before you remove the bolts?

I'd say you are over thinking this.

On my '64, AAW gave me standard 3/8 bolts to go through the 3/8 weld nuts. Well, that doesn't work unless you find long enough 3/8 bolts with full threads along the length, so I just slipped 5/16 bolts through the weld nuts and bolted up the fuse block with them. I contacted AAW about it, but they don't seem to care.

Thanks Cletis...I do over think things all the time!

Woods, my kit came with standard 3/8 bolts as well, I'll just swap them out with full thread bolts. How do you like the kit? Did you buy the special wire crimper needed to fasten the terminal ends, or did you just flatten them over and solder?

Mike B

Hi,Mike! I just got mine finished. I installed using full-thread bolts,too. when it comes time to install your dimmer,it mounts on the floorboard,inside the cab. AAW doesn't supply the hdwe. for that,either. I bought a good set of crimpers at Harbor freight,along with the kind of stripper/cutter AAW recommended. I still soldered and heat shrunk all connections. If I had it to do over again,I would've gone through the wiring,and eliminate the ones that I wasn't going to use.I.E.,I have the purple and white wires,(for the coil),terminated in the loom,in case i install a tach.,or the stock distributor at a later date. The orange and white wires in the rear chassis kit,are for your L.H. courtesy light,inside the cab,but they're long enough to reach the rear bumper! On my '55 T.F. 6500 2-ton,I installed these in my under-bed tool boxes,to shed light where I'd need it most. i also installed cargo lights,and another set of stop/turn/ tail lights on my "headache rack". I installed a voltmeter,since an ammeter doesn't support the added current,unless you install a shunt.Their tech support is great! if you have any questions,ask for Aaron. Hope this helps. http://s1181.photobucket.com/user/willybickey/media/7-8-2014/MOV00324-1.mp4.html?

Mike B., I bought a good set of crimpers for F type as well as a set for insulated from Del City. I had a problem because the AAW supplied open barrel F type terminals were misshaped. I bought additional ones that were also wrong. I had a lot of trouble getting good crimps. The terminals, as received, are flat on the bottom and tend to form into a triangle instead of folding around the wire. I ended up using a combination of crimpers and pliers.

The mechanic at my rod shop was asking about my new crimpers (whether they would do 10 Ga.), so I brought them over, and he had terminals that were shaped in a "U" (not flat bottomed). They crimped beautifully.

I removed the extra wires from my harness to keep things neater. Still ended up with a bird's nest behind the dash due to the stereo, power windows with lots of relays, and some extra switches.

I used a AAW kit on TF with no problems. Learned how to crimp with tools I had. I adjust hood first then fasten with the long full threaded bolts. You don't want smaller bolts thru the hood threads, will eventually shift. I take the hood off the hinges and leave the hinges on firewall if I need to remove hood. You drill two spread 1/8 holes in each side before unbolting and use the drill bits as pins so as to return to adjusted position.

A 5/16 bolt through a 3/8 nut isn't going to move far, especially after it's tightened. Proper crimping tools with proper terminals are a pleasure to use...they do both crimps on the F type at the same time, quick and easy. They ratchet and release when the crimp is done.

Can move as much as 1/16, too much for me. It is possible that with two clearance holes instead of one, it could loosen and rattle. It's not that hard to do it right. That crimp tool seems reasonably priced. The crimp tools I have worked with a little ingenuity. It's totally up to the poster, just my opinion. The proper way is to install long bolt, then a nut inside which acts as a spacer (and locks the bolt further) then the plate...etc.

OK Mr. Design Engineer; It is not 1/16". It's a 5/16 major diameter inside a 3/8 minor diameter for about .017" average difference, or 1/64"!

I did it the way Bartamos suggested,and it didn't take long at all. Install the long bolt,nut as a spacer,...etc. this is the procedure suggested by A.A.W,THE Design Engineers! Bartamos gave me several helpful tips along the way,and it's MUCH APPRECIATED!! THANKS!!

Glad you got it installed OK. Good job. When you are wiring all various components, I.E. switches, gauge panel, connectors for lights, etc., be sure to provide a "service loop",(extra wire bundle length) so that these items can be brought out from dash or pulled out from body to inspect/repair. At least be able to unplug if they are connectorized. If you have wired before, you know all that. I think it looks nice to dress it with small zip ties (tails cut off) every 2" and leave it that way or put plastic or cloth loom over it, especially under hood.

Bad math on my part. The Nominal Minor of the 3/8 is .314 and the Nominal Major of the 5/16 is .307, a difference of .007 (nominal clearance)....and a possible interference if bolt goes big and threads go small, tolerance wise. Using 18P and class 2....but you did not do it that way so it's moot.

Thanks,again,Bartamos!! The last truck i completely re-wired was a '67 1100 I.H.C. heavy 1/2-ton. took a harness out of a '69,and had to replace all of the connectors and grommets. Not cheap,even back in "pre-Navistar" days! No schematics to go by,and every wire on those I.H.C's,were green,white,or black! It took a while,but everything worked except for the right rear flasher. I pinched a wire between the frame,and the 4X4 flatbed frame,(I built/installed at the same time). I made sure I didn't pinch any wires this time. That A.A.W. kit was much easier to install,for sure!!

Thanks for all of the responses to my question...now I need to get an F Crimper...any thoughts on who sells the correct one needed?

Mike B

Bought mine at DelCity.net.

http://www.delcity.net/store/Open-Barrel-Terminal-Ratchet-Crimp-Tool/p_714008

In spite of description, it does go to 10 GA wire. This is the one that my mechanic ended up buying too. It also has an adjustment screw on it for tweaking the crimp.

I also bought http://www.delcity.net/store/Double-Insulated-Terminal-Crimp-Tool/p_665741 for insulated terminals. I used the heat seal insulated terminals when needed, but if you crimp that type of terminal, you use the crimper for one size larger wire to accommodate the thick insulation.

Thanks Woods, that what I needed...I'll get one ordered.

Mike B