The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Which year wiring harness?

I have a 1950 Chevy 1/2 ton truck, and currently have the front end off, and the engine out getting professionally rebuilt. The cab is in REALLY bad shape in the usual rust spots, and would cost over $450 in patch panels to get make it solid again.

Lucky for me, I have an (almost) rust free 1954 California parts truck that I originally bought for it's 235 engine. I'm in the middle of swapping cabs, since the '54's cab is in great shape and it's a 5-window! I also plan on replacing the wiring harness because the one in there now is pretty well rotted and patched together.

And now the question: I'm looking at Chevy Duty's harnesses. They have different ones for a 1950 and a 1954. Which year wiring harness do I need for my 1950 truck with a 1954 engine and 1954 cab? I plan on putting the 1950 gas tank in the new cab, since I know it's clean, so it will use a 1950 sending unit. What's the difference in the two harnesses anyway?

Carl

Welcome to the 'bolt, Carl. The only difference I can think of between a '50 and '54 harness is turn signals. My Chevy Duty harness came with the wiring for the stock '54 turn signal switch and all four lights (the harness portion to the rear terminates near the toeboard but they provide plenty of wire to get out back). Grab the junction blocks off the inner fenders of the '54, it has one extra lug per side for the front signals.

I'm curious if you plan to title a '54 cab as a '50 (just seems wrong somehow :p ). Would it be easier to build the '54 and harvest the '50 or is this strictly a title issue? Is the '54 driveline still around; and if so, is it open or torque tube? :confused:

Hi Carl! This is a good spot and you'll find a lot answers here for sure. I've learned a lot and forgotten a lot here!
:confused: ungh?

Other than the turn signals, I too am not aware of any significant differences in the two harnesses. The '50 harness is (should be?) cotton braid wrapped wires and the '54 is (should be?) vinyl/plastic wrapped wire. I think Chevy Duty gives you the option of cotton or vinyl wrapped wire harnesses in the earlier wire harnesses anyway. The '54 Chevy oil pressure guage is a full pressure guage to accommodate the 235 versus the 30# low pressure guage on the '50 for the 216, but that is not wiring related.

I can't see any issues with the '54 cab on the '50 and you see this from time to time; single windshield and earlier grille assembly. The guages will obviously now become "one year" guages so that might make repair or replacement a little more of a challenge since there are not as many donors around in a one year cab as with the cabs from '47-53 covering six years.

Lots of good stuff, good pictures, and nice people here all trying to help each other, debate old truck virtues and some occasional political discussions that will surprise even the most seasoned participant.

Welcome to Stovebolt - A good spot for brain exercise and banter.

Thanks for the welcome to the site...I have been lurking on and off for the past year or two actually, but just registered. I thought about fixing the '54 and either selling the '50 and using it for parts, but I already have rebuilt the entire brake system and some other stuff on the '50. Plus, I like the chrome grill on the '50 A LOT better than the painted bull-nose of my '54. :p So, if anyone needs the front sheetmetal for a '54, let me know!

As for titling, I already have it titled as a '50. The original title actually had it as a 1952, although it's clearly a '50. I plan on switching the ID plates so the original plate is on the new cab. I'm also going to put the old doors on the new cab, to keep the 1950 look of the single-piece door windows, and turn-down door handles. The only exterior difference will be the single-piece windshield and the lack of the vent on the driver's side. I'm OK with that, if it will save me $500+ in parts, plus all the time to fix it.

The '54's driveline is the torque-tube type. As I recall, they switched to open in the '55 1st-series.

So the 1950 harness isn't wired for turn signals at all? I have a clamp-on one sitting around here somewhere for it, but it's not installed right now...I could put that in when I install everything else I spose. Are there supposed to be seperate lights for the front turn signals? All I have for front lights are the headlights and the rectangular lights in between the bars in the grill (parklamps?). Are those used for signaling, or would I need to add signal lights to the front?

Thanks for the help guys, and keep it comin'!

Carl

Hey, Carl

If you aren't looking to go stock with everything, you might consider the EZ-Wire kit, like I did ... if you're interested, I put a 10-day photo diary of the rewire job on my 54 at my site (link below my sig) with links to the kit I bought ... it's only $165, too!

There are two ways to make your single-filament park lamps act as runners & turn signals. The easy way is to install a SignalStat load balancer which lets you run two leads into a single-pole socket. The cheap way is to pull the sockets out of the housings and replace them with dual-pole sockets (for 1157 bulbs). Both solutions can be found at NAPA.

Even if the '54 has the stock turn signal assembly on the column, you probably won't be able to use it on the '50 steering column without minor modification. There's a notch and extra holes in the later columns which locks the signal assembly in place and allows you to run the wires inside the column to the underside of the dash. I believe you'll find that the clamp-on aftermarket switches have color-coded wires that match both the stock signal assembly and the later (turn signal equipped) wiring harness.