The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Gauge of wires to replace

About to start working on rewiring my '49. It has been converted to 12volt. It still has the original 6v cloth wrapped wires (in poor condition). I intend to replace the fuse box with an ATC box, and add a few extra accessories.

Main question is what gauge of wire should be used to replace the following circuits:

Starter to Coil
Horn Relay
Headlights (will utilize relays)
Front Park/Turn Lights
Rear S/T/T
Dome
Dash Lights/Gauges
Cig Lighter
Alternator
Fog Lights (with relay)
Fuel Sender
Heater Blower Motor
Voltage Regulator
2 channel Amplifier

I want to make sure and not underpower anything, but also not over-wire. I have a chart that maps out the gauge of wire to distance per amps used. Only thing is I have no idea how many amps some of these items would draw. Thanks in advance.

This one must be a scary post. I'm good for ballparks. Attempt the ones that you are confident with. What you used for your rewire. Thanks

ballpark - use the same gauge wires that were original for the 6V, they'll be a size or 2 heavier than needed with the 12V .... and any factory wiring diagram I've seen has the wire sizes shown

Bill

I think you should start with a harnes & add anything not covered by it. Most of those things listed have more then 1 wire & wires of different sizes. It will take hundreds of dollars in wire spools & terms to wire one correctly. If you don't use the correct color it will be hard to trace a problem down the road.

I picked up spools and spools of primary wire in all colors/gauges along with connectors in an auction lot for cheap. So its not going to be any outlay of cash.

I have a copy of a wiring diagram, but did not give any wire gauges. I'll just go with what is listed for the most part, perhaps bumping up to a heavier gauge wire here and there if the situation warrants. Thanks guys.

Read through this manual it list the gauges http://www.painlesswiring.com/Manuals/10101.pdf

Most wires are 6 , 10 , 14 and 16 gauge.

I did the same thing as you, I bought a bunch of spools of wire, all different colors and gauge (10, 12, 14, 16, 18) and a painless wiring fuse block. I followed the diagrams in the painless manual for wire sizes.


This is what they have listed in the manual webstershotrods posted. With this, find a wire gauge chart, estimate the length of the run and match with the amps.
Cigarette Lighter………………………………………………… 20
Headlight Switch………………………………………………… 30
Emergency Flashers……………………………………………. 15
Turn Signals………………………………………………………. 15
Gauges……………………………………………………………… 10
AC/Heat Relay…………………………………………………… 5
Radio (Constant)………………………………………………… 10
Horn………………………………………………………………….. 20
Door Lock………………………………………………………….. 20
Wipers………………………………………………………………. 15
Brake Switch……………………………………………………… 20
Dome/Trunk………………………………………………………. 10
Electric Fan Relay………………………………………………… 5
Power Antenna…………………………………………………… 10
Power Windows………………………………………………….. 20
Electric Fuel Pump………………………………………………. 15
Coil……………………………………………………………………. 30
Radio Ignition (Switched)…………………………………….. 10
Backup/Cruise Control…………………………………………. 10



Starter to Coil - 14
Horn Relay - 18
Headlights (will utilize relays) - 18 from headlight switch to relays, 14 from relays to lights
Front Park/Turn Lights - 14
Rear S/T/T - 14
Dome - 18
Dash Lights/Gauges - 18
Cig Lighter - 14
Alternator - 2 wire internally regulated, 14 for the remote voltage sensing wire, 14 for the exciter wire
Fog Lights (with relay) - 18 front switch to relay, 14/16 to fog lights
Fuel Sender - 18
Heater Blower Motor - 14
Voltage Regulator - I think I listed this with the alternator
2 channel Amplifier - depends on the size of the amp


Those are what I ran in my truck.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/electrical/wiring/index.htm Jon this wiring diagram shows the gauge sizes.

For simplicity, I don't use anything less than 14

Thanks a million as always for all the info. I'm thinking that I may take advantage of this long holiday weekend to start wiring everything before I take it apart and restore/repaint. This way I'll know the wiring will (hopefully) work when I plug it back in after the paint is done.

Have all the wires/fittings/etc. just need a few items that I think I can do without until they get here. But I am really excited about how my 2year old daughter will react to having an oogah horn on the old truck!