The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Headlight Wiring

I am not very electrically minded when it comes to wiring; however, I bought a brand new harness and plan to "attempt" to wire the entire truck over the next couple weeks. It is a 1956 2nd 3100 and the question that I have right now is...I have the original headlights with wiring and they are in excellent shape. There are three wires coming out of the back of each one brown, black, and green. Which one is which?

I'm also interested in any kind of blogs, diagrams, photos, etc of wiring (esp. original ignition switch and headlight switch). I'm learning and I know that I have a learning curve ahead of me.

Thanks, Schwin

I would suggest you purchase a shop manual most of the vendors sell them. It has wiring diagrams for everything you could want , and a lot more info for other things you may want to work on later.

brown =low green=high black= ground + what tommy said

Or just google "1949 Chevrolet truck wiring diagram". I downloaded, blew up to 11x17, and laminated a diagram just this week. Or find the old car manual project. It has a section by section scan of the Factory Service Manual.

Here is a little sheet I made for my 1956 Chevy 3100 It has the wiring colors and gauge. There maybe be some errors I hope not Its what I created after studying the wiring diagram. I also have a PDF file of the wiring diagram just email me and I will send it to you.

Headlamps…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
High Beam 20 Ga. Light Green Light green from “U” on the dimmer floor switch
Low Beam 20 Ga. Tan Tan from “L” on the dimmer floor switch
Ground 20. Ga Black To the ground chassis
Parking/Turning Signal Lights…………………………………………………………………………………...
Park Lamps 20. Ga Violet From the “PK” on light switch
Horn………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Horn 14 Ga. Black From terminal “H” on the horn relay
Lighting Switch Assembly………………………………………………………………………………………...
Terminal “GRD” 20 Ga. White Plain wire to the dome light
Terminal “D” 20 Ga. Orange Ribbed wire to the dome light
Terminal “T” 20 Ga. Black To the tail lamps
Terminal “BAT” 14 Ga. Red From the terminal “BAT” on the ignition switch
Terminal “BAT” 16 Ga. Red To acc. jct. block
Terminal “S” 20 Ga. Orange To the brake petal switch stop lamps
Terminal “PK” 20 Ga. Violet To the parking lamps
Terminal “H” 20 Ga. Light Blue To the floor dimmer switch Headlamps
Terminal “PL” 20 Ga. Gray To the 5 instrument lights (3 in the cluster, 1 in the
ignition, 1 in the heater control panel, & 1 in the
cigarette lighter)
Terminal “PL” 18 Ga. Gray To the acc. jct. block
Brake Petal Switch ………………………………………………………………………………………………
In 20 Ga. Orange From Terminal “S” on light switch assembly
Out 20 Ga. Nat. White To stop lights
Floor Dimmer Switch……………………………………………………………………………………………..
Terminal “BAT” 20 Ga. Light Blue From terminal “H” on the light switch
Terminal “L” 20 Ga. Tan To the low headlight beams
Terminal “U” 20 Ga. Light Green To the high headlight beams
Terminal “U” 18 Ga. Light Green To the high beam indicator light in cluster
Temperature Gauge
In 20 Ga. Pink From terminal “IGN1” to the temperature gauge
Out 16 Ga. Dark Green From the temperature gauge to the sending unit
Gas Gauge Tank Unit…...………………………………………………………………………………………...
Gasoline Meter 20 Ga. Brown Attaches to the bolt on sending unit from the gas meter
Ground 20 Ga. White Attaches to screw on sending unit to the ground chassis
Stop Lights…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
In 20 Ga. Nat. White From the brake petal switch
In 20 Ga. Black From terminal “T” on the light switch assembly
Cigarette Lighter…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
In 16 Ga. Red From the terminal “BAT” on the ignition switch
In 20 Ga. Gray To light
Ignition Switch…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Terminal “BAT” 16 Ga. Red To cigarette lighter
Terminal “BAT” 14 Ga. Red To terminal “BAT” on lighting control assembly
Terminal “IGN2” 20 Ga. Dark Green To the coil and resister on the fire
Terminal “Start” 20 Ga. Violet To the solenoid switch on the starter
Terminal “IGN1” 20 Ga. Brown To the resistor on the fire wall
Terminal “ACC” 20 Ga. Pink To flasher
Terminal “IGN1” 20 Ga. Pink To gasoline gauge
Terminal “ACC” 14 Ga. Pink To the acc. jct. block
Gasoline Meter…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
In 20 Ga. Pink From the terminal “ACC” on ignition switch
Out 20 Ga. Brown To gas sending which attaches to the bolt
Instruments Lights 4 lights in gauge cluster…………………………………………………………………….
20 Ga. Gray From the terminal “PL” on light switch
Acc. Jct. Block…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16 Ga. Red From terminal “BAT” on the lighting switch assembly
14 Ga. Pink To terminal “ACC” on the ignition switch assembly
20 Ga. Gray From the terminal “PL” on the lighting switch assembly
Horn Button……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 20 Ga. Tan From the terminal “S” on the horn relay
Horn Relay…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Terminal “H” 16 Ga. Black To the horn
Terminal “B” 14 Ga. Red From terminal “B” on the voltage regulator
Terminal “S” 20 Ga. Tan To the horn button
Voltage Regulator…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Terminal “B” 14 Ga. Red To terminal “B” on the horn relay
Terminal “B” 12 Ga. Red To ammeter
Terminal “A” 14 Ga. Brown From terminal “A” on generator
Terminal “F” 20 Ga. Dark Blue From terminal “F” on generator
Turning Signal Assembly in Steering Column…………………………………………………………………..
20 Ga. Yellow From the flasher
20 Ga. Dark Blue To the right front turn signal
20 Ga. Dark Blue To the right front turn signal indicator
20 Ga. Light Blue To the left front turn signal
20 Ga. Light Blue To the right front turn signal indicator
20 Ga. Pink To the white stripe wire going to the left stop lamp
20 Ga. Purple To the white strip wire going to the right stop lamp
20 Ga. White To the stop lamp floor petal switch
Flasher……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
20 Ga. Pink From terminal “ACC” on the ignition control switch
20 Ga. Yellow To the turning signal assembly in the steering column
High Beam Indicator light in Instrument Cluster………………………………………………………………
18 Ga. Light Green From the wire attached to “U” on the dimmer switch
Coil…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Positive 20 Ga. Dark Green From Terminal “IGN2” on ignition switch
Negative 20 Ga. White To screw terminal on distributer body
Ammeter…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Positive 12 Ga. Red From terminal “B” on the voltage regulator
12 Ga. Black To the battery terminal on the starter solenoid
Resistor……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
20 Ga. Dark Green To the coil and to the terminal “IGN2” on ignition
20 Ga. Brown From terminal “ACC” on the ignition switch
18 Ga. Brown To the windshield wiper switch
Generator…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Terminal “F” 20 Ga. Dark Blue To terminal “F” on the voltage regulator
Terminal “A” 14 Ga. Brown To terminal “A” on the voltage regulator
Starter……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Solenoid Winding 20 Ga. Violet From terminal “Start” on the ignition switch
Battery Terminal 12 Ga. Black From the ammeter
Battery Terminal 4 Ga. Black From the battery
Starter Body 6 Ga. Copper Strap to chassis
Battery……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Positive 4 Ga. Black From positive side to the battery terminal on the starter
Negative 6 Ga. Copper Strap Negative side of battery to the chassis
Deluxe Heater/Vent/ Blower……………………………………………………………………………………...
Switch Red From acc. jct. block
Switch Brown To blower motor
Windshield Wiper…………………………………………………………………………………………………
18 Ga. Brown From resistor to the windshield wiper motor

Tiny J, excellent wireing key. Thanks for the time and effort involved.

LOVE IT! Can I get this for a 41' half ton?

factory wiring diagrams, most of which have colors and wire sizes shown

Bill

Thanks a lot y'all! I'm just now starting to jump on the wiring. This forum has been the greatest!!!

Now, another question. The truck had an alternator in it when I got it with no wiring. I'm not certain of the make or model but it has a 2-spade plug on the side and a terminal in the back. I'm reading a lot about wiring and diagrams. Do I need a regulator of some sort somewhere?

Schwin

See if the two prong plug is like this (ll, 90% to the pulley) or like this (=, parallel to the pulley).

Ok here is a link to some photos of it. I'm SO lost when it comes to wiring. I have a Hot Rod Wires wiring harness and am trying to figure this thing out. All the wiring diagrams I have are with the generator, not an alternator.

http://s1109.photobucket.com/user/s...roject/IMG_0693.jpg.html?sort=2&o=38

Ok you have a alternator with an internal regulator. There are a few ways to do this, not knowing what your wiring harness is or how it's marked, I'll basic rundown of one way to do it. There will be 3 wires, a big 10 gauge that is red in color from the battery that connects to the back of the alt. on that stud, you can also loop the small red wire from the plug on the alt. to that stud. the white wire will need to go to the ignition switch, this excites the alt. when you startup and disconnects it when you turn engine off. If the white wire is in the wrong place the engine will continue to run when you turn the key off.

The best thing for you to do would be to contact the wireing harness manufacurer and tell them what you want to do, I'm sure they will be able to guide you through this.

Thanks a lot Tommy. That will get me started anyway.