Re: 55 Electrics

Posted by John On 2008/3/2 14:40:44

PackardV8
(pos. or neg. ground does not effect the starter.)
I'm not positive, but I believe there should be no negative impact on the solenoid, however reversing polarity on the starter may have an impact on the direction it spins.

(What is an "EZ 21" wiring harness????)
As MrPushbutton stated, EZ21 is a universal wiring harness system used mostly by streetrodders. It has the advantage of additional circuits and the newer mini fuses.

(buy some wire and use the old loom as a pattern for the new loom. The only issue is terminals for places like the headlite sw., lighter stoplite sw. etc. I don't know where to get those terminals.)
My first impulse was to build a new harness by hand, since I have done this several times in the past, However, the current value of copper has driven the cost of primary wire up so high, that it is more cost effective to purchase a premade universal harness. Plus, most of the new universal harnesses are made using crosslinked wire which is easier to work with, is higher heat resistant, and lasts much longer.

BH
(Mind you this wrapping tape is for harnesses that had a vinyl covering. Harnesses in vehicles from earlier years used a fabric covering; some even had a fabric loom that was woven around the harness.)
I've been in the same boat with tape wrapped harnesses. My '55 does have the tape wrapped harness, and I would probably either reuse it if it was in better shape, or hand build a new one if copper was cheaper. But as I said earlier, I'm building a driver and want to add more options and reliability. I may use some of the split loom, or a combination of harness tape and heatshrink. One thing I learned is that electrical tape gets sticky really fast. There used to be a fiber based product called "Friction Tape" that relied on stretching the tape to activate a small quantity of adhesive, then wrapping it over itself for adhesion. This worked really well since it would stick to itself, but not to the actual wires. Unfortunately, it's pretty much impossible to find this stuff anymore, and it wouldn't look very good anyway since it was a sickly dark grey color with a matte fabric finish.

HH56
(A lot of cars accidentally had their batteries reversed with no ill effects on anything. The only thing I would think might warrant caution is if something like compensator switch or radio components have been modified or replaced with some of the modern solid state conversions some clubs are offering.)
I was more concerned about the instruments, radio, and torsion control system, and was hoping that someone had already run into the reversed battery issue and had some firsthand knowledge.

Thanks to all for the info, and please keep it coming. Although I've been working on cars since I was a teen, and am 60 now, there are always things to learn.
John