LUVTruck.com

I am tired of all the shorts in my original harness and have a used one on the way. So I'll be changing the full harness and adding A/C at the same time. That leaves me with a couple of questions, what are the trouble prone areas I should look at fixing or beefing up before I put the newer harness in? I am also thinking of trying to run the harness through the cowl area to clean up the firewall... any pros and cons there?

Get a better fuse block!!! If you're that deep, you might as well go all the way. The old stick fuse style block has to be the weakest piece of all. With my truck, im thinking of routing new wiring thru the hole where the hydraulic clutch was. But with a stock motor, that's out of the question.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

I kept getting shorts then I added another fuse box that fixed my problems

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If you cant find it grind it

79 4x4 1.8 liter
75 K 10 Lifted with 383 stroker
69 Jeepster comando v6

Upgrading the fuse block would be a good place to start. Totally restored, cleaned, and reconnected the block on my 77 so all the contacts shine. Treated them with a good protective electric contact grease, all new fuses. The result was that the main lighting fuse now lasts 3-4 months before blowing instead of 2 months. It sure is fun when the headlights blink out, usually right when you hit the highbeams and really need them.

The other thing I'd consider is replacing and upgrading the main alternator wire. If there has been any problem with the electrical system before the jacket on that wire is probably cooked pretty crisp and thin in spots. It also puts you in good shape to upgrade to a bigger alt sometime later without worring about the wire not being able to handle it.

you mean theres suposed to be sheathing on thos alternator wires?!

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

thanks fellas... i have a like brand new fuse block so i'll out that in too

My first 79 4x4 suddenly wanted to keep running with the key off. After a week of killing it with the clutch and disconnecting the battery at stops I finally tracked it down. The truck was an electrical nightmare when I bought it, and that main alt wire was cooked. It had melted close, then eventually rubbed into contact with the wire for the power source to the reverse light switch. That back fed the whole keyed on circuit with juice even with the key off. I can only imagine the carnage if it had hooked into other wires. A ground would have been exciting, the radio power might be a little spooky, starter solenoid wire would have been really fun to troubleshoot.