The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Rewiring my 1951 Chevy 1/2 ton truck

Along comes one of the hardest stages in a restoration. rewiring. i have all the schematics and even a few people whove rewired these trucks before willing to help however im wondering what is the most original like kit i can get thats 12 volt. i bought a "classic upgrade kit" from classic parts but it has a million extra circuits for things my original doesnt have.. (i.e. power steering power windows power brakes etc...) all ive been able to find are these rat rod wiring kits and im thinking about just doing the wiring from scratch. does anyone have any ideas? ive checked the filling station, classic parts, LMC has a "wiring kit" but they dont carry tail lighting apparently, and just google search. anyone have any ideas?

Not sure how accurate you're trying to be with your restoration, but you might take a look at these harnesses from Classic Parts. They are not accurate reproduction harnesses, but are the most inexpensive option I could find, and since they are individual wires for the most part, you could easily just use what you need.

Classic Parts wiring harnesses (47-54)

1951 Chevrolet 3100 truck? (be sure to always mention year/size of truck).
6v harness wiring will work fine with a 12v conversion (6 uses larger gauge wiring than is needed for 12v).

The most original kits you can get are the cloth-braided kits sold/made by many vendors: $$$

Excellent, much less expensive kits (~$150) are available - Chevrolet changed to plastic in 1953.
Jim Carter, Classic Parts, and Chevs of the 40s sell nice assemblies.

These kits include extra wiring for additional tail lamps and for signals (you would need to buy inexpensive two-filament adapters for the front parking/signal conversion).

If you need links, let us know, after letting us know the style you want.

Mr. Dane,

Both Tim and Greg have offer good advice, along with some good choices for wiring harness vendors. I have to say that I was really happy with YnZ's, in Redlands California. Yes, they are more expensive than some of the other alternatives. But the fit and finish of their product is excellent. Their easy to follow instructions were great. Not to mention, if you did run into something that you needed clarification for, they were available to walk you though it. I even happened to get the owner on the phone. They keep your specific wiring diagrams in their files. So, if you call, they can look at your specific diagram. I had them incorporate a turn signal harness into mine. Just a thought from somebody has been there and done that. You have probably learned, just because it is the least expensive, that doesn't mean that it is necessarily the best deal.

Good luck with your restoration.

Rugo

The low priced harnesses work good for me. Spread the harness out on a big table. Sort out the wires in groups to the location. Underhood, interior, & rear. Cut off the wires to units you are not going to use. Leave a short wire to tie on to if you latter add something on. Install the fuse box & string the wires. Cut off excess & splice the socket or connector to the wire. Solder each connection & use heat shrink tubing. Leave plenty of wire to the instrument panel so you can pull it out to service it.
If you try to build the harness yourself you will need 25-50 spools of assorted colors & size of wire. It will cost much more then a ready made harness.

George

im just looking for a harness without all the aftermarket addon stuff.. the harness i got from classicparts will work but theres going to be a load of wires just dangling at my feet or in the engine bay that serve no purpose. i suppouse i could just cut them out but that might cause issues.. im going to contact classic parts and hear there take on it.

Too late now, but, this harness would have met your need.

You can contact a vendor if you want to but you have much more experience here. Chances are the person you talk to will ad lib. Chances are they have not used a wiring harness. Their kit is outsourced. George has told you the basics. Wiring IS NOT hard for an older truck especially with no extras. It IS NOT one of the hardest stages for an old truck. You have spent the money for a harness. Use it. Don't be intimidated by wiring. No need to keep searching for a harness.

Having extra wires/circuits does not matter. Building you own is not the way to go. Nothing you can buy will make it easier than what you have. You need to define "most original". Folks here think that means "most original wire type", cloth insulation, custom designed, original "no fuse" configuration and original terminals. If that's what you mean, that's big money just to feel good or for a concours car show.

Otherwise ALL the harnesses are sort of generic with various numbers of circuits and extra switches and such. Most harnesses have a prewired fuse panel with wires coming out. I don't know your experience with wiring but sounds like not much. The harness will end up being about three branch harnesses. Two go thru the firewall, one branch goes to front light and engine, the other goes to the rear lighting. The third stays in cab, under the dash for dash components. Not very many wires in all. Mount the fuse panel and route the wires. There may be some other loose wires for inter-dash/ignition related connections. Study the wiring diagram for your truck and the instructions. It's just a from-to exercise. If you get stuck, keep posting.

Please post the part number of the harness you bought so we can look at it. You said Classis Parts and Greg posted a link to Classic parts. Not sure if that is the same company you are speaking of.

I looked at Classic Parts Part number 52-081 and it has flexibility. The extras you are worried about are on a separate connector. The kit is heavily connectorized (Flexible). So just leave the fuse panel end of those connectors tied up under dash. Roll up the wire into a small loop and tie wrap. If you don't like that, disconnect the wires at the fuse panel. Terminals are releaseable with a tiny screw driver.

The words "Classic Update" does not mean much. It's not original, per se, but has "updated" modern wire and connections. It will wire up a "Classic" truck. So will any harness. The 52-081 is a good quality harness. You will not use or wire up, some of it. It will become apparent as you go along. Get your fuse panel sorted on the bench as George says.. The branch harness are already tie wrapped and identified in that 52-081 kit. The artistic part is how nice you route, clamp, tie and loom the wires.

if your kit is not 52-081, most of the above will still apply. Crimping, with the proper tool, and shrink sleeving over the connection is plenty adequate for automotive. Soldering is overkill and you will screw up and melt insulation and get crooked, stiff connections. Unnecessary.

American AutoWire is the premier Kit. The most complete, top of the line, high quality, flexible, beautiful Classic Update kit available, with excellent instructions.

52-081 is the American AutoWire Classic Update Kit for 47-55.

Stock wiring is a very simple in the engine compartment. If everything on the cowl is staying? There is really only 8 wires needed. Left and right turn, high and low beam headlights and parking light. Horn, generator and ign coil. Make it yourself out of the wire kit that you have. I also used cloth friction tape to bundle the wires to get an original factory appearance. The rear lights are even easier, just 3 wires and the chassis as a ground. I purchased 4 wire silicone jacketed extension cord wire and ran it from the cab back utilizing the original wire supports.

Good Luck in your endeavors!
Jim

I purchased a kit from rebel wire. It was extremely easy as all wires were labeled every 12 inches. They also break the wires down to where they go (Ie, front, dash, engine, back of truck, etc.)

Their support was very good as well. The guy making the kits answers the phone!

Chris

ill look into it. sounds like what i need!

ill be sure to look into them more. i did purchase the 52-081 and ill be sure to try it. it should work fine. thanks a bunch!

which kit did you buy? i might just do what you did. also beautiful truck the color is really nice!

i have the kit youre speaking of and considering you have experience with this ill work it out. ive done a whole bunch of rewires on old radios (alot of radios), electrical components around the house, ive done a few utv type vehicles including a old ford tractor as well. what im saying is its not the wiring thats intimidating, but whether or not i have the right kit. according to your word and general common sense the kit should work wonderfully. and here is another reason to save old electrical parts too, ive done so many radios and everyday components that i have a bin of capacitors, resistors, rectifiers, fuses and so on. so i can just pull off what i dont need and make it safe by maybe soldering a fuse to the wire or boosting the flow, whatever need be. anyway ill check out this with a couple friends who have done rewires on 3100 and similar vehicles before, we'll clear everything up and do the final "make sure". youve provided very useful information and im very grateful for that.

Thank you very much -
Dane

Dane,
If you are asking me which kit, I bought mine with a couple of extra circuits in case I need them for the future. I capped them off and rolled them up under the dash. It doesn’t look stock, but it you plan on covering them then it doesn’t matter. I liked the kit and it made wiring easier! Especially when you have zero experience like I did!

Chris

I bought an american autowire kit from another bolter who ended up using a donor harness. I haven't installed it yet but it looks to be of very good quality. Their tech support sent me the install instructions even though it was bought many many years before. I don't like wiring but with planning and patience, it isn't the hardest part of the build.

Keep those extra circuits as has already been mentioned. Just tie em up and tape em off. You never know when you will need to add something. A set of fog lights, a radio, some new technology that hasn't even been dreamed up yet.

I know I need 8 circuits for the stock items, but I know I will be adding a radio, fog lamps, possibly some other little items like an auxiliary port.