What a mess!! need help

roundss

Sharpest Tool
Nov 22, 2009
261
cleaning rust off something
Willys Model
Willys Year:
OK, here goes.
52 wagon, 327, need to know what I need and how to wire an ignition.

I have an ignition switch guessing it works
I have a starter that works (tested at schmuch's)
distributor, not sure it works
coil, not sure it works.

The wiring is a complete cluster. There's wires going to nowhere. I had wres on the "r" side of starter that went to lord knows what. There was a yellow wire on the left side of starter that went to the soloniod.

I need to know how to wire from soup to nuts. I don't know Shit from shineola on how to get this thing so I can try and get it to start. If you have pics or can point me in a direction that would be great.

I'm trying this for the first time so be gentle. Might be stupid newbie stuff but I've got a birdnest of 6v and 12v and plan on starting from scratch with a painless system but since I have the body off I'd like to know a quick and dirty way (to do it right) I can get it wired then I can switch it all over when I put the body back on.

Thank you in advance
Steve
 
Steve,for a simple system start with negative to ground on frame and make sure there is a ground strap from frame to engine,next run a heavy cable from positive terminal to the solenoid,and heavy cable from the opposite side to the starter.On the coil run the small wire from the distributor to the negative pole on thecoil,the positive pole would normally run to the switch to energize the ignition.So.....with a little luck if you run a wire from the positive side of the battery to the "s" terminal on the solenoid the engine should turn over and if yourun a second wire to the positive side of the coil it should run,if it don't check for fire at the plugs and gas,you may have to put a new coil and points and condenser in,thats the way my luck allways goes,good luck,let us know how you make out........Jim
 
Hey Steve
Battling similar demons with the truck I'm working on...

There's some good basic information on all things classic automotive wiring available on the Web site of the American Street Masters Car Club.

Check out this page:
http://www.americanstreetmasters.com/wiring_101.htm
Click on the various page images to enlarge them.

These are images of the pages of an ancient -- well... later part of the 20th century -- streetrod wiring notebook by some dude named Jack Sweeden.

The resolution of the rather nicely rendered hand-drawn pictorial diagrams is kinda low (what a pity), but if you study them carefully you can work it all out. Shades of Forrest Mimms! Terrific stuff.

As a bonus, here's a site I found to be interesting that's primarily focused on charging system considerations:
http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical ... wire.shtml

Hope these help, and good luck!

Joe B
1962 Willys FC-170
Forward Control
 
I also have a rat's nest of wires. Is there a good wiring diagram for the station wagon? I can't seem to find a fuse box in my 59 wagon and I assume they didn't make one. How are the circuits protected without fuses?
 
x3 on the wiring mess. Mine is bad too. Please keep us posted if you go the Painless route, or some other aftermarket. Would be good to get some reviews/opinions on the rewire options.

Good Luck!

Tom
 
I used a 21 Circuit EZ Wiring harness on my Plymouth. The instructions that came with the kit sucked, but other than that, it was great. All of the wires are pre-wired into the fuse block, so all you have to do is mount the fuse block and pull the wires to wherever they need to go. The wires are bundled into major groups like dash, engine, rear, front, etc. And the harnesses are very inexpensive, I think mine was around $140. Way better than trying to sort out decades of previous owners bad connections and cobbled splices...

Pete
 

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