Re: 1954 Clipper Deluxe Sportster
Posted by HH56 On 2015/9/24 18:48:00
If the wiring is stock the headlight wires will be 3 wires in a short cable going thru a hole in the fender that terminates at a terminal strip on each fender. Two wires are on the strip and the third is ground which is on a terminal strip mounting screw directly into the fender. Just remove the nuts off the studs and also the mounting screw and remove the wires from the cable heading toward the headlight buckets. Keep track of which wire was on which terminal or screw so you can get them back without undue effort. If you are removing the fender then the main wiring loom connected to the terminals and screw will also remove. Mark or note the colors and locations on all wires.
The third terminal on the strip will be for the parking light and that wire is in a 2 wire cable. Remove that wire as well. The other wire from the two wire cable is the turn signal and goes into a plastic connector. There were two types of connectors Packard may have used. If it is round it is a Douglas type connector and should pull out without any big effort. There are several round styles that are called Douglas or bullet type connectors but all work in a similar fashion. If it is rectangular, then most likely it is a Wade connector and those can be a problem.
The Wade connectors have an almost square tab which the wire is crimped onto and slides into the connector. The tabs have a hole in them which a tang on the connector strip inside the plastic drops into. If the wire has never been removed before the tang will be sharp edged and grabs the hole quite hard. You will have to push the wire more into the connector and use a very thin bladed tool at the same time to work both sides of the tab and try and get the tang out of the hole. It takes a bit of finesse, luck and maybe strong language and even then sometimes the plastic housing will break. If the wire has been removed before, someone else has done the hard work and just a bit of wiggling should release the wire. Anything else and someone has changed connectors so you will have to determine the release.
The foglights can be done many ways and in most cases it may be necessary to cut the wires. Typically if the bracket didn't provide the ground internally then the light had two exit wires. One was grounded and the other was used as the supply wire. A wire from each light was run to a convenient or hidden point and spliced together with a single wire continuing on to the switch. You will probably have to find the splice or else a good point to cut and separate the wires.
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The third terminal on the strip will be for the parking light and that wire is in a 2 wire cable. Remove that wire as well. The other wire from the two wire cable is the turn signal and goes into a plastic connector. There were two types of connectors Packard may have used. If it is round it is a Douglas type connector and should pull out without any big effort. There are several round styles that are called Douglas or bullet type connectors but all work in a similar fashion. If it is rectangular, then most likely it is a Wade connector and those can be a problem.
The Wade connectors have an almost square tab which the wire is crimped onto and slides into the connector. The tabs have a hole in them which a tang on the connector strip inside the plastic drops into. If the wire has never been removed before the tang will be sharp edged and grabs the hole quite hard. You will have to push the wire more into the connector and use a very thin bladed tool at the same time to work both sides of the tab and try and get the tang out of the hole. It takes a bit of finesse, luck and maybe strong language and even then sometimes the plastic housing will break. If the wire has been removed before, someone else has done the hard work and just a bit of wiggling should release the wire. Anything else and someone has changed connectors so you will have to determine the release.
The foglights can be done many ways and in most cases it may be necessary to cut the wires. Typically if the bracket didn't provide the ground internally then the light had two exit wires. One was grounded and the other was used as the supply wire. A wire from each light was run to a convenient or hidden point and spliced together with a single wire continuing on to the switch. You will probably have to find the splice or else a good point to cut and separate the wires.
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