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Anyone have a wire size chart for 56 engine bay.Tried Bruce Blevins the packard club, but he couldn’t find the correct drawing I need

I have never seen a wire size chart for 55-6. If you wanted to be in the ballpark, 57 Clippers did have a size chart but the Stude based layout is quite different from Packards. If you just want a basic size guide for most of the runs you could find the similar function and use the size Stude used for the 57 when choosing the size for a 55-6 model.

For almost everything I think 16 ga would work but maybe go a bit larger and use 14 ga if there is a long run or a bit of current draw involved. For main power supply feeds and heavy current motors such as window and seat motors or the TL motor use 12ga.

thank you HH56! I will take a look for that chart in the literature archive?

...and 10ga for any ignition/voltage regulator runs from key to coil, generator etc.
Bob J.

Quote:
Yes, the 57 Clipper diagram is in the archive. Their sizes will work just fine for 55-6 too but there may be some differences. Packard tended to be a bit more conservative and was not quite as prolific with the use of 18ga wire. Some of the places Stude used 18ga was 16ga in the 55-6 models.

Hey guys I'm going to be helping my grandpa get this 1950 "series?" 23 deluxe Eight going. I already downloaded and printed the wire diagram (3 pages from the manual on photo stock then taped together to make a big whole car blueprint measuring 24x10")
I'm not a mechanic but I'm Handy, his memory isn't quite solid anymore at 80 years old. Iv got the motor running and quite a bit of the electrical works, but it's gotten very brittle and needs to be replaced. Im up to the task but I believe in listening to people when they know more than I do about something, so I'm planning on replacing every wire under the hood right up to the fire wall as well as the lines running to the rear of the car. And I mean every single one. The only stuff that won't be done is the stuff under the dash and in the cab, which has all survived the decades well. But I'm talking absolutely everything outside the cab, im thinking 14 gauge wire for pretty much everything right? What lines as per the diagram need to be bigger? Except the battery terminal wires obviously. Any and all help is greatly appreciated and my ignorance apologized for.

I have no idea who originally created or posted this chart but it has wire size and color information for the 22nd series 48 models. While the wire numbers are for the 22nd series factory diagram runs and colors, allowing for possible wire color changes in a specific run, the size information would also be applicable to wires in your 23rd series.

One caution on wires under the dash surviving well. While the wires may look good, there is every chance the old rubber insulation under the fabric on those wires has hardened to the point that any excess movement endured when you splice on new wires will crack and break the insulation. It is not uncommon for those who have needed to remove the instrument cluster or drop the switch bank in order to install or fix a switch to encounter situations where the rubber and fabric wires sort of disintegrate as the loom is manipulated. If you experience a stiff section of loom that suddenly starts feeling very flexible there is a good chance some of the old rubber around the wires has turned to dust and is being held by a hopefully still intact fabric cover. Wires in that condition are no longer able to provide much insulation and if the fabric is rotten and splits will soon short.

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Wire gauges 1948-9 22nd Series.pdf Size: 170.06 KB; Hits: 205

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