The reasons for this upgrade were -
The old fuse box was in a very inaccessible place
It did not cope with the increased current demands of the additional electrical accessories
The wiring needed upgrading to the correct current rating for each load required.
Many joins and additions had been made to the wiring and it was a bit of a "rats nest"
All of these problems meant there was a fire hazard and a new fuse box and wiring was needed.
The old fuse box was in the cab on the left hand side just forward of the left hand door above the parking brake pedal.
It was high and inaccessible. The new fuse box was positioned in the cab, centre firewall area just above the floor.
Here seeing the fuses and access to them is easy. Small blocks of wood were glued to the firewall and the fuse box
was screwed to them. This avoided bolts going through the firewall. See pictures of the best location below.
"Rebel Wire 21 Circuit Wiring Harness
This Rebel Wire 21 Circuit takes the Basic Muscle Car Harness then we added Power Doors, Power Windows, Power Seats,
Cruise and Electric Fan Relay Control wire. Assembled with heavy duty SXL wire labelled every 6" and bundled for easy
installation. Comes with Fusible link, 1 1/4 Rubber grommet for firewall. Instructions and Fuse Label.
KIT COMES WITH HEADLIGHT CONNECTORS, 4 1/4 TURN SIGNAL CONNECTOR AND FLOOR DIMMER CONNECTOR."
Other electrical upgrades planned for 2016. (All completed by 2017 see later site pages.)
The conversion of the gauge cluster is dealt with elsewhere on this site but there were some other improvements worth noting.
The rear lights were upgraded. The brake lights were replaced with the latest LED cluster from Jim Carter truck parts.
The halogen reversing lights were replaced with LEDs. The untidy cables to these lights were replaced with stainless steel
flexible conduit and the lights modified to take stainless steel screw in ends. The filament bulbs in the front side lights
were replaced with LED bulbs.
Many cables under the hood were also covered with stainless steel flexible conduit.
A set of downward facing LED bulbs was fitted below the dash and a switch to turn them on located on the underneath
of the heater controls.
Audible bleepers were connected to the indicator LEDs.
The red bulbs in the end of the bed rolls were finally connected and became extra side lights.
Additional fuses were added inside the battery compartment. A large main fuse supplying all power to the fuse box and
a second large fuse connecting to the alternator.
In October 2016 a motorised radio aerial will be fitted. This will be done without any impact on the truck. No holes
in wings, roof or anywhere visible! See the motorised electrical aerial upgrade page.
Update 2017 All of the upgrades listed above were completed in 2016 apart from the aerial mod,
which was completed in March 2017.
I did talk about "The big push for completion of this whole project in 2015" but this was too optimistic.
The whole truck was painted in April 2016 and the interior was done in July 2016. Therefore it could be
argued that completion was 7 months late.
However, some "fine tuning work" continues with some jobs though the winter of 2016 and early 2017 as
detailed on this site. In addition, after almost a years development work, a hard tonneau cover will be
fitted by the middle of May. 2017. (Completed in 2017 as planned see later pages on this site)
There is also a plan for a couple of jobs in the winter of 2017.
These are -
1. Upgrading the radiator. Must look the same but will be more efficient. Now to be done in 2018
2. New, more attractive compressor and compressor bracket on the front of the engine. Probably 2019
Now detailed on the 2020 engine dress-up Page.
Update 2020
1. The radiator was upgraded in 2019 but not exactly as planned. The original radiator is still in use
but a massive whole truck cooling package has been fitted in 2019
2. A more attractive chrome compressor has been fitted in march 2020 as part of an "engine dress-up" package.
Update 2020 additional -
Not planned in 2016/17 was the massive front end upgrade in 2019 which included a new TCI custom IFS.
Whilst this plan was not mentioned on this site it had been considered for some time. I was never
entirely happy with the Speedway Motors IFS and so probably the best IFS available was
purchased. All of the reasons and notes are detailed on the new TCI custom IFS page.
