The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Dome light wiring in '59 Apache

Hello!

I've gotten almost everything in the Apache working except the dome light. I pried the cover off and plulled the mounting plate only to find that there was about 2" of wire, one strand white, the other black with a white stripe, hanging from the socket with two big wads of dried out electrical tape attached. I reached in the hole as far as I could, but I couldn't feel any other wire.

How is the dome light wiring routed from the light switch throught the cab to the inner roof panel at the back of the cab?

The manual shows that a white and orange wire feed the dome light, not a white and black w/white stripe like on my light. Could there have been a change in wire color or ?

Thanks..

Chris

the wires go behind the edge of the inner panel, over the drivers door and down the drivers A pillar to the switch - if you can get past the headliner with a hooked piece of stiff wire you may be able to fish the original wires out ... the white wire goes to the gr(oun)d terminal of the light switch, the orange goes to the D(ome) terminal and is hot all the time, turning the knob gives the ground to the socket, which should be insulated from the cab/light base at the light .... as to the black wire with white runner, the light socket on yours may have been changed at some time as indicated by the splice tape

Bill

Straiten out a clothes hanger (the old kind that a strong wind won't bend over. Put a small loop on one end. You have two areas to pull the wires, from the dash to the top of the window post and from the door post to the dome hole. Good luck and keep the profanities down. nono

bring a snack and a couple of beers - it took me nearly three hours to pull new dome lite wires on my 56...

But a satisfying job, time well spent.

I took the headliner out, it made it easier. But getting that &@^# headliner trim back on was a beach.