VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Wire gauge for 1927 1 ton truck

Howdy,

Still recovering from eating overload on T-day, but my mind is starting to get clearer and think about upcoming projects. ;-)

One project during the winter is to rewire Lurch (1927 LM one ton truck). What wire sizes should I use for the wiring harness?

Thanks! Dean

You may want to check out this place for a wiring harness for your truck http://www.narragansettreproductions.com/wiring-harness.html . They do good work and from what I have seen, their prices are fair. They can also add to the wiring harness for such things as an added tail/stop light or turn signals.

Depends on what is connected to each circuit but 14 gauge is thick enough to cover most circuits and 16 gauge for light loads like an interior light. Obviously excluding the thick cables to the battery/starter as this has been discussed many times.

I'd examine what you have now if all is working well and match the sizes and lengths. If in doubt go next size smaller (thicker). Are there sizes shown in an schematics within the service manuals? Should be a pretty basic harness so I can see you doing this yourself quite easily.

Dean you can try ynzyesterdaysparts.com. They made my wire harness. They are in east L.A.

I guess a bit of history on the truck is in order.

I pieced Lurch together in 1995 (from three dead trucks) and did a pretty bad job on the wiring. I think most of it is THHN 14 gauge, but a lot of connections are haphazard and it looks like a rat's nest.

The shop manual has a nice wiring diagram, but it does not mention the thickness of the wire.

BTW, Lurch is a minimalist. Starter, generator, head lights, ignition, ammeter, horn, rear light, and separate stop light. That's it. I already have super thick cables on the battery and going to the starter. It is the rest that I'd like to replace and make tidy.

I'm not too worried about being 'correct' for judging (that'll never happen).

Thanks for your thoughts!

Dean

YnZ sells cloth wire by the foot (couple bucks a foot?) so you could rough out lengths just from your description of the circuits above. Order a few different colour cloth wires a few feet longer than each of the described circuits and rewire them one at a time and then yank the current wires, again one at a time. Compare to schematics as you go in case something is really odd.

They also sell period connectors, looms and wraps I think. You just need to smear some grease so they blend in...

Dean,

I bought a defective Ford wiring harness from Sacramento Vintage Ford for my speedster.

They had some wiring harnesses that were made incorrectly. I purchased one, took it apart and ended up with enough cloth covered wires to complete my project.

The harness price was so low it was cheaper than buying a few wires. The harness also had different wire gauges within the harness.

It may be hit or miss if they still have any defective harnesses.

Hope that helps

Good lead, Mike.

Thanks! Dean

I also am in the market for a new harness for my 1928 1-Ton, I notice on YNZ yesteryear they do not list a 1-Ton only the 1/2 Ton.
https://www.ynzyesterdaysparts.com/pdfs/Chevrolet_Truck.pdf

also does anyone know the difference between the 1927 truck harness and the 1928 harness as it looks like a different part number

They do have one ton version you just have to contact them for a quote I did recently they just add more wire to the tail light section so its one complete piece. Give them a email. Says $280 for half ton.

I just checked my email

For my 27 I'm working on. They have to add 8 feet extra when they build the harness which is an extra $26 on top of the $280 for my 27. $306 + tax

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