53 Hornet dash lights and heater

50SuperFalcon

My 53s dash lights and the heater motor have no power to them now. They worked a week ago but now they don’t , I have some continuous problems at night when I am going at speed the circuit breaker under the dash keeps tripping on and off .
has anyone had this problem or a similar one? 

Thanks !
-Blake (and George)

MikeSheridan

You need new wiring. Your 70 year old cars needs new wiring. High resistance from corrosion causes problems. The light switch may also be bad, but many times they can be taken apart, cleaned up, and come beck to good function.

Lance

Blake & George, Mike is spot on . Get either Y n Z  or Rhode Island wiring to supply you with a new COPPER wired harness. I have also seen the results of when someone didn't rewire a nice 54 Hollywood that needed it. It went up in flames one day and it was totaled. Please replace your wiring. You have bare wiring grounding out and sparking. Not good.

superwasp

I agree. It's time to re-wire. I'd start with the grille area section with the headlights, turns, and ornament light. You could make your own for that area fairly easily and it's probably the section in the worst condition and most likely to have rubbed through somewhere. 
Are you still running sealed beams?

50SuperFalcon

@superwasp yes I’ve got Westinghouse sealed beams in there now. 

@Lance There’s one problem no one makes a 53 hornet harness .
@MikeSheridan I will look into cleaning that switch , I think I’m gonna get the main harness and redo the rest myself . 

Thanks all!

superwasp

Here's what I'd do in general order if I were in your position.
1. Throw a battery cut off switch on it if you haven't already and use it religiously.
2. Get some 6v halogen 'sealed beams'. Napa usually has those in stock believe it or not. (H6006N) These look just like the original sealed beams and greatly improve illumination and have a lower amp draw.
3. Build your own grille area harness. It's not complex and mostly hidden, so you can do modern PVC sheathed wire without it looking out of place.
4. Wire relays in to the headlights to take the strain off the rest of the harness AND your light switch. If you replace the rest of the harness later, the relays won't interfere with that harness and still take strain off your switch. 

50SuperFalcon

@superwasp thank you much!!! I still don’t understand the relays though .
I have a cut off that I use every time I park for more than say 15 min . 

I seem to do alright on the old 6v. I do need to look at the nos 6v Westinghouse lights I bought at a swap meet and see if there halogen.
the harnesses that don’t get seen I will make myself with today’s stuff. Otherwise I’ll go fabric coated.
what does a relay do?

superwasp

I'll PM. I can help you with it. It's much easier than it sounds. It's really nothing more than two relays, one circuit breaker, and some wire.

Rocket

Look in your WTN under parts for sale there is a member who sells the kit for your head lights you should also get relays for your horns.

Toddh

Lance said:

Blake & George, Mike is spot on . Get either Y n Z  or Rhode Island wiring to supply you with a new COPPER wired harness. I have also seen the results of when someone didn't rewire a nice 54 Hollywood that needed it. It went up in flames one day and it was totaled. Please replace your wiring. You have bare wiring grounding out and sparking. Not good.

Is there a supplier not using copper wire? Yikes!

Lance

Toddh said:

Lance said:

Blake & George, Mike is spot on . Get either Y n Z  or Rhode Island wiring to supply you with a new COPPER wired harness. I have also seen the results of when someone didn't rewire a nice 54 Hollywood that needed it. It went up in flames one day and it was totaled. Please replace your wiring. You have bare wiring grounding out and sparking. Not good.

Is there a supplier not using copper wire? Yikes!

Yes Todd OEM Hudson!

Lance

53NamedGeorge said:

@superwasp yes I’ve got Westinghouse sealed beams in there now. 

@Lance There’s one problem no one makes a 53 hornet harness .
@MikeSheridan I will look into cleaning that switch , I think I’m gonna get the main harness and redo the rest myself . 

Thanks all!

George, The 53 Hornet harness is the same as the 52 Hornet harness so yes, it is available from Rhode Island. YnZ has a complete 53 Hudson harness for $1634.    

Glowplug

The use of relays as well as rewiring and sources for harnesses and components is shown on my website.  https://hudsonrestoration1948-54.com/index.html

Select electrical to find in’s the details.  

Toddh

Lance said:

Toddh said:

Lance said:

Blake & George, Mike is spot on . Get either Y n Z  or Rhode Island wiring to supply you with a new COPPER wired harness. I have also seen the results of when someone didn't rewire a nice 54 Hollywood that needed it. It went up in flames one day and it was totaled. Please replace your wiring. You have bare wiring grounding out and sparking. Not good.

Is there a supplier not using copper wire? Yikes!

Yes Todd OEM Hudson!

No they didn’t.  It’s tinned copper strands, Lance

50SuperFalcon

I will look into all that has been mentioned 
Thank you
-Blake

50SuperFalcon

Anybody have any thought on the dash lights? 

I’m not sure if its a fuse or circuit breaker ?
they worked a week or two ago but I will be driving and the lights will dim and come back on to there normal (this is the head lights I speak of) 
thanks 
Blake

Glowplug

Headlight problems can be traced to the dimmer switch and bad wire insulation.  Several of my cars’ dimmer switches overheated because of wiring causing intermittent and immediate loss of the headlights.  I now change the switches and rewrite all the interfaces with new wiring and add headlight relays between the lamps and the main switch.  Problem solved.  The dash lights are controlled through the dimmer rheostat. As they age rheostats mechanically and electrically degrade causing the dash lamps to be dim or not work.  Again the fix includes replacing the rheostat and interfacing wiring.   Good luck!

29sptphaeton

The replacement harness made by both YNZ’s and Rhode Island wiring are made from modern copper wire with the plastic insulation and the covered with the original cloth covering as original.the rheostat dash dimmer switches are available from the Ford parts vendors with either black or white knob. Joe’s Antique Parts in Uxbridge MA has them.