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I'm torn...I'm more of a purist, but when it comes to wiring, I'm not so sure. The wiring in my '51 200 is terrible. When I first got the car, I was able to get most of the electrical items to work (radio, heater fan, tail lights, etc). Now a lot of things are no longer working. I have a feeling it is the wiring. Under the hood, I have been replacing wires with thick gauge modern wire, but I don't like the look of it. I saw recommendations for Rhode Island wiring and others, but reproduction harnesses are very expensive.

I do not want to convert to 12v.

Any suggestions where I can find cheap wire harnesses, reproduction wire only (replace on my existing harness where needed) or other suggestions? I may have to just stick with the thick modern if there are no cheaper alternatives. Problem is my hardware store only has so many colors so it might get confusing as to where the wires go.

Any suggestions?

Rhode Islandriwire.com/ sells wire by the foot--both the proper cloth and modern plastic in many combinations (click on supplies). Prices don't look too outrageous ordering that way so maybe repair as needed with proper wire would be something in the middle to consider.

There are also several modern wiring harnesses that the guys have used. Here's a couplekayjayco.com/techKits.htm

painlessperformance.com/

Thanks for the tip! I didn't think to look at supplies after getting "sticker shock" on the full harnesses. A 10' minimum per color isn't too bad. Do you or anyone else know which tracer pattern is correct for a '51?

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I don't recall seeing a wire color chart for 51 but for 52 models, in Service counselor Vol 25 #13 pg 58packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL25NO13.pdf there is one. Since the harnesses are so similar, and even identical in places, I think it would be safe to use that as a reference. It does give the colors but not necessarily the tracer patterns so that would have to be determined by looking at your original. Is there an undamaged portion of the wires needing replacement you could look at and try to match?

I think there might be a wire diagram in the '51-'54 service manual I have. I believe all four years had the same colors. Unfortunately, the wire is all pretty much black. Hard to see any tracers. Maybe if I crawl under the dash there will be some good wire. Definitely not in the engine compartment.

You're right. I did remember and was going back to edit but you beat me to it.

Trying to rack my one or two functioning brain cells, but I believe the key to the chart is look at the color for tracers.

We'll take number 10 which is a 16 Ga black with 2 red tracers. That would be 2 red hashmarks in the black wire. Wire 27 would be a white wire but would have 2 red stripes that are crossed over or in an X and so on.

If you can see a good sample somewhere, or if someone else knows for sure, it would be a good idea to check my memory before ordering.