When I bought my 1940 Chevy 1.5 ton it came with a new harness kit from chevs of the 40s. It did not come with full set of instructions or electrical diagram/schematic.
Part number is ELW 4046. I’ve asked chevs of the 40s for instructions but not heard from them yet. The main question is how to connect all of the spade terminals, I don’t see anywhere to connect them and my old harness isn’t any help because it’s completely disconnected and wires just hanging. The only things connected at this time are the ignition, coil, stomp starter and generator, voltage regulator.
This seems like an older harness/kit as the part number is no longer on their website.
It’s not on the site. One of the bags has the chevs of the 40s on it. I think it’s an older harness that they don’t sell anymore maybe they updated the pet numbers at some point.
Can you be specific on your question. "How to connect the spade terminals?" Connect them to the wires or connect them to a component or connector? We don't know what all you have in the kit. Open it up and spread it out and take some pix for us and show us what you are calling a spade terminal. I know what it is but we always need to be on the same page before starting the help process.
If you are asking how to wire the truck in general, that is no problem. 1. Let us know what motor. 2. Any aftermarket electrical add on or modifications? 3. 6V or 12V? 4. Stomp starter? 5. Do you have any wiring experience? 6. do you just want a wiring diagram for a 40 truck or do you want us to get you wired up. 7. Does the kit have a prewired fuse panel or no fuse panel?
Thislooks like what you have. Scroll down the page for instruction download.
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
Here is a shot of the connections, spade terminals but I don’t see any way to connect them, no terminal block anywhere. Previous owner had disconnected everything but the essentials to run. Pic is of headlight new harness and old harness next to it.
If you are asking how to wire the truck in general, that is no problem. 1. Let us know what motor. 216 2. Any aftermarket electrical add on or modifications? Nope 3. 6V or 12V? 6v 4. Stomp starter? Yes 5. Do you have any wiring experience? TONS of wiring experience on Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion’s. Slchased down thousands of wires but we had amazingly detailed schematics and wiring diagrams.
6. do you just want a wiring diagram for a 40 truck or do you want us to get you wired up.
I can do it myself if I can find a schematic, what is puzzling to me is these connections are the type you’d put on a terminal block but I don’t see one.
7. Does the kit have a prewired fuse panel or no fuse panel? No fuse panel.
If you worked on aircraft/aircraft industry, as I did, you may know this. Those are fork tongue spade crimp terminals. Not allowed on aircraft. Only ring tongue on aircraft and on my trucks. I would never use a fork tongue. They can come off.
Hereis the 1940 wiring diagram. There are terminal blocks, I believe, on the inner fenders for headlight servicing. Of course, the terminals can go on switches, coil, horn, generator, etc.
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
The inner fenders aren’t on at the moment, I have them though, I’ll look and see if there are terminal blocks on them.
My wiring kit has both the forked and ringed tongued. I can understand those type of connections at the gauges, voltage regulator, etc. I’ll probably swap them over to ring connections so they don’t slip off like the others would.
Found it... right on the inner fender, now it makes sense. I’m not going to use a terminal block for headlights and turn signals, I’ll find a better more weatherproof connector
In the later years, they did not use terminal blocks. Not necessary for your truck unless you are a purist. No need for extra connections, extra resistance, voltage drop and corrosion points. I assume they were to service headlights. I don't really know what kind of connection there was for the back of a 1940 headlight. Headlights now are connectorized on the back and are easy to replace. Whatever the reason they did it, it is a bad idea now. They do sell new terminal blocks as original if you want the "look". I recommend just uninterrupted wiring to the front lights with a soldered, sleeved, splice across to the passenger side.
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
Now I’m looking at ordering a painless wiring kit, the one I have is free, came with the truck but no fuses or relays, just a bare bones replacement harness. I’d have to do more modifications to it than I want to and it’s still not gonna have any fuses. Painless generic kit comes with fuse block, relays, etc. just a more modern and safer harness overall.
Yes, I agree. A prewired fuse box kit is the way to go. Generic/hot rod whatever they call it. Our old trucks are pretty simple. Even 12 circuits is enough if it does not have a bunch of add on electronics. I've seen several folks using THIS. Don't see anything wrong with it. Check it out. Price seems pretty low. You can also buy it at Speedway I guess.
Can a 12V harness be used on 6V system???????????? They do sell 6V harnesses. Amps are 2X, so wire needs to be bigger? Many use the rewire as an opportunity to switch to 12V.
When folks switch to 12V using their 6V wiring, it's not a problem.
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
I tell ya, I have yet to buy a wiring kit. Last build, I got a fuse panel made for marine applications. I also used trailer wire (7 wire) to go from the front of my cab to the back. Because there really isn't much back there.
I have used trailer wire. It's good wire and cheaper than buying wire in spools. I never told anyone for fear of loosing my credibility. I do feel better now. Mark has given me the strength to face it. There are no focus groups for using trailer wire.
For most, buying a pre wired fuse box harness is the way to go. Leave the trailer wire thing to the experts.
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
The last panel I bought. Bartamos has it right, if you're not good with wiring, it is better to get a kit. I just really hate paying for kits. I have found most of them have more circuits than I need. I'm weird like that.
