I spent most of this afternoon under the dashboard. My goal was to get the brake lights working, but to do that I had to power up the turn indicator circuits. After spending some time with the wiring diagram, I figured I could power up all the electrical circuits (except the power seats and windows). Prior to powering up the electric dash gauges, I wanted to drop the voltage to them to 6 volts. 6 volt gauges will work with 12 volts, but they last longer and are more accurate if they are supplied the design voltage. In fact, Ford used 6 volt gauges in their 12 volt cars well into the 60's. They used a simple resistor network to drop the voltage, but I purchased a couple of tiny circuit boards with active regulator circuits. These are more consistent, and potentially more reliable. They are so inexpensive that I got one for each gauge (fuel and temp). I'm getting pretty good at removing the dash instrument cluster, which is by far the easiest way to get to the back of these gauges. Here's a shot of one of the gauge regulators installed (circled in red).
After carefully connecting every loose wire in the entire car, I was finally ready to power up the lighting circuits. With a brief prayer and a bit of anxiety, I re-connected the battery. No smoke, no issues. Then I turned the key to run... no smoke, no excitement, and a very minor draw in amperage.
Then I turned on the parking lights... The tail lights worked!
When I stepped on the brake, I could only get one stop light to work. It was pretty late by now, and that troubleshooting will have to wait.
The gas gauge clearly wasn't working... but the electric temperature gauge moved from H (it's normal position when the car is off) to C. This is a good sign.
With the parking lights on, I rotated the light knob to see if the dash lights would come on. Amazingly, they did! This is very encouraging, and very cool! Except for the lack of a clock, this is pretty much what the dash will look like when I drive the car at night!
I didn't achieve my goal, but I am content. Sadly, #1 son has a cold and wasn't able to spend much time with me working on the car today.
Overall, however, it has been a good weekend. I look forward to driving the car on a public road next weekend!
Great job on getting the electrical system installed in the car. I am excited for you (and a little envious) that you are ready to get the car roadworthy. I think I am at least 6 months and probably $10K away from being able to drive mine. You should have an overwhelming sense of accomplishment; what you have done in the last 18 months is outstanding at a minimum!
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