I got contacted about some wiring issues on this 37 Packard. Went to go see Mark’s Packard and started looking at the issues he had. Found someone had done a make shift wire harness that was quite the mess. Discussion was to look for a new harness and do it properly. I left it with Mark to see what he could find.
Mark found someone that reproduces factory wire harnesses (Harness Unlimited in Wayne PA) for his car. Once he had the harness, he called me to arrange getting the Packard to my shop. Got it in the shop, up on Jack stands for easy access under the car.
Day 1 – 5 hrs.
Tried to see what every thing did but most switches and lights were not working. Found Turn signals working but on the rear only the left turn signal worked BUT it worked for both left and right turn signal. HHHMM Odd!! Found out they used a Trailer wire harness for rear lighting. Tried tracing wiring but it was so bad with colors changing along the way and rear harness run down the Passenger side which should be along the Drivers side. Finally came to the decision to just remove the harness. Ended up loosening the front set assembly and moving it back to provide more room under the dash. Tried to remove center part of the dash for better access and found Cigarette lighter was held in with a Hose Clamp. This will be the hardest part of the process (Even says this in the instructions – yes I do read instructions when doing this kind of stuff). Got most of the harness out today and now to sit back and go through instruction sheet to see best plan of attack.
- Before
Day 2 – 3 hrs.
Short day but lots of looking under the dash to see how everything works. Took the main harness and routed it inside the cab area and routed rear harness to the back. Had to loosen column to get enough room to slide the harness through by the steering column. Removed dimmer switch and connected new harness to it and reinstalled (not an easy task due to location).
Day 3 – 3 hrs.
Decided to tackle the front lighting wire harness today. Main harness has 2 sub-harnesses add to it. One for the left side and one for the right side. The were connected with bullet style connectors and due to unequal length wires, this caused the wires to separate as the cables were straightened out. Decided to use seamless butt connectors with heat shrink. Would not be visible when taped and provides a way better water tight connection. Routed wires and then connected Healights, turn signal and park light connection on both left and right. Cleaned up connections and secured them neatly in place. Also checked amperage on Alternator and it is rated at 65 Amps. Will have to check ammeter on rating. May have to make some changes.
- Before Main harness
- After Main Harness
- Before - Right Side
- After - Right Side
- After Left side
- GM 65 Amp Alternator
Day 4 and 5 – 5 hrs.
Worked on the tail light section and Factory harness has a Park light Circuit, Stop Lamp Circuit and Brake light Circuit. This was a little confusing as there is only a 2 circuit bulb in the socket. Did some research and found out the 37 Packard does not have Turn signals. The Packards with turn signals had 2 bulbs in the Tail Lights. Small one for Park Lights, then Dimmer filament for Brakes and bright filament for turn signals. Who ever did the previous poorly installed harness, added the Turn Signal switch. Put my brain to use and with the Turn signal switch it puts Brake and Turn Signal on one circuit. This car also has a Backup Light which the harness package gives you a long black with to connect to the Reverse light and run to the front to a switch to turn it on. Since the Brake light circuit was useless now, I changed it to the reverse light circuit since it was in the rear harness already. Save the need to run another wire. Got the circuits connected in the Tail Light housings, I just need to connect wires under the car. Next Time !! Also connected wires to the Turn Signal Switch.
- Factory Tail light for Packard with Turn Signal Lights
- Small bulb on top to light up Licence plate
Day 5 – 3.5 Hrs.
Day 5 involved a little bit of back tracking. Sure like to find the person that wired this before. Anyways I decided to use my Power Probe to test thelamp circuits. I am very fussy connecting the wires so testing one side it should be same on the other. Assume got me !! Feed power to the Park lamp circuit for the front – All worked. Feed the Front right and left and found a short on left turn circuit. Weird. When I was wiring the front lights, started on Right side and blue ground and green turn signal. Well found left Blue was turn and green was ground. All fixed !! NOW the Rear I fed the Park lights and Left Turn/Brake came on. Fed Left turn and park lights came on and nothing from right. Fed right turn and had a short. Tear things apart and found the bulb on the right side was installed wrong and shorting out circuits. Installed properly and doing testing I got things to work as designed. Go to test the Backup light and found it would not work. Lamp is mounted to a bracket that is bolted directly to bumper bracket which I assumed would be a good ground. OOPPSS – Wrong !! I had to supply a separate ground to the light. Reconnected everything and tests as designed. Not may pictures but a few videos.
Day 6 – 4 hrs.
wired up the Fog Lights and Fuel tanks sending unit. This completed everything underneath and therefore I could drop the car back onto the ground. Now the hard part starts. Some people tackle the hard part first and others do it last. I decided to do it this way due to the terrible wiring discovered at the beginning. It was also a mess under dash.
I first connected the Alternator and tied back the other wires that would normally go to the Generator as this Alternator has a built in Regulator. Connected the Starter Relay and the main power for inside at the Starter Battery Terminal. There were about 4 wires left over that would normally go to the Regulator/Voltage limiter.
Now to the dash. Tried to figure out what all the add-on switches were for. Discovered the Map light switch, there was a switch to turn on the power to the heater and a rheostat to control the speed (attached to this was some convoluted wiring with two relays connected). There was a Fog Light switch with a blown fuse in it. One was for the horn and one did nothing. Tried to trace the wiring but after discovering one wire with 5 Tee Taps and the power wire (I think) that had about 8 splices, it was wise to just pull everything out and start fresh. Removed the headlight switch and just cut the wires to get it out. Removed wires to the Ignition switch. Discovered a lose wire at the Ammeter (This is a No No). Got it down to a clean slate. Marked wiring once I knew what it was for so I can reference during assembly. Decided to stop here and scour over wiring diagrams.
- Headlight switch
- Horn switch wire coming through steering box
Day 7 – 2.5 hrs.
Short day but I am looking at the Stock wiring and realize it will need some adapting due some parts missing when it was converted to a 12 Volt system. I identified all the wires and found the one from the Factory Voltage regulator closes when the ignition switch is turned on and feeds the main power for accessories. I will have to scour the wiring diagrams to make sure I am accomplishing the correct result. I am sure this can be done with a relay inserted into the harness. I realized before that I will need to add a small fused box into the harness just to protect some of the circuits as a precaution (Backup, Fog lights, Dome and Horn to name a few).
Looked at the heater wiring and it was a disaster. Some how they had two relays wired into the circuit. Not sure why. Did a test by feeding power to the 12 volts and control the ground with the heater switch. Switch in full close position, fan goes full speed. Turn the switch and NOTHING. Test and found the switch was burnt (therefore open). Switch is No Good. Looked closer at the switch and this was not designed to operate the fan Motor. Will find the proper switch for the application.
Day 8 – 4.5 hrs.
I had thought about this and I could not leave the switch bracket that came with the car. Just a piece of aluminum Angle with all the wires exposed. Decided to throw something together that looks like it would fit the Packard. Took a couple of hours but result was way better than what was there. See progress pictures.
I then decided to finish the engine area for Power feeds and wired up the Ballast resistor and Coil. I mounted the Ballast resister properly as opposed to just having it thrown loose behind the starter. When I went to tighten the Battery wires onto the starter solenoid, found another issue. They had removed the locking bolt from the mounting stud. AARRGHH !! Wires would not tighten up on stud. Remove wires install a locking nut to the stud, then install power wires and secure properly. I hope the starter still works !! Will test later. Added a mounting bracket for the relay/fuse box under the dash. This will add a fused protection to the added circuits.
Now I went on tackle the headlight switch. Removing the existing wires was difficult and the concern area was the fuse connections as it is pretty fragile. Connected wires as supplied by Wire harness manufacturer. Fed power via Power Probe and found a short in Left front headlight circuit. Trace problem to Dimmer switch contact shorting out to body frame. Switch was installed as removed. To solve the problem, I spun the switch 180 degree. Problem solved. Connected the rest of the wires and wanted to test the switch for operation and touched the feed wire to the positive on the battery and it arced badly. Seems like a short. Looks like tomorrows job to trace issue.
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- Headlight switch
Day 9 – 1.5 Hr.
Really short day today and I thought I had a short in the headlight wiring BUT further testing traced problem to the Starter Solenoid contact. Remember I thought I hoped the starter would work due to jam nut missing. Well removed the starter and found the isolator washer inside the starter solenoid broke. Took starter in to cooper Bros. in Edmonton and they will repair and recondition starter.
Then I went on to test headlight switch. Connected everything as per instructions and they obviously had different headlight regulations back in 1937. The switch – First position Park lights – Check !! Second position it CITY Lights – headlights only work on Low Beam. Dimmer switch has NO affect. Third position is Hwy lights. Took a while to wrap my head around this but I added the wire harness diagram to confirm. In this position the Right Head light is High Beam Only. Left Headlight will go high beam or low beam with the dimmer switch. Wiring diagram show both the wires for the right headlight go directly to the switch. The dimmer switch is ONLY for the left headlight.
Day 10 – 4.5 Hrs.
I got the New heater switch and tested it to make sure it would work for this application. This switch as Off – High – Medium and Low settings. That is perfect as it will eliminate one of the switches previously installed. I looked at where the switch was placed before and where the original switch was. Looking at the dash they had removed the original switch which left an ugly hole in the dash. See image. I decided to make a plate to cover this hole and then mounted the heater switch there. Should make a big improvement visually.
Now looking at the switches that I need and one for Backup Lights, one for Low/High fog lights and one for Map Light. Therefore a total of three. May have to re-think the Switch bracket. Also looked and will need to find a Cigarette lighter socket.
Finished wiring the High/Low fog lights and the horn. Now to figure out the power for the dash and accessories. Owner also requested a Battery shut off that is accessible without having to lift the seat to access the battery connections.
Day 11 and 12 – 4 hrs.
Not much time spent either day. Few projects on the go. Owner stopped by to see progress and bring me another part of the puzzle. More on that later. Mounted the heater switch. Spent some time identifying and tagging wires to make sure I add in the auxiliary fuse/relay box in correctly. Routes wires under the dash to see layout and mounted the headlight switch as this will control where everything goes. Installed a connector to the Turn signal switch as this was in the way when I was trying to install the wire harness under the dash. Looking at pictures it looks like a mess BUT it is really organized chaos.
Day 13 and 14 – 6 Hrs.
Mounted the auxiliary Fuse/Relay box and started wiring the dash. I had to do some wire rerouting which will mean I will have to add an amendment to the Wiring instruction along with a more detailed Fuse panel diagram. Took my time figuring out the wires to make everything work. The key is supplied with constant power but when the key is turned on, it closes the relays and supplies power to all accessories. The only other power the key supplies is the Starter Button. Everything else is run through the relays. Wired up the Backup Lamp Switch, the High/Low Foglight switch and the Map Lamp switch. Since I decided not to use the Ammeter (due to Alternator upgrade was 65 Amps). The power that should have gone to the Ammeter was used for Blower Motor power through one relay. The other relay comes from the Main power supply that would have fed the accessories. I used the fuses to divide up the power to the accessories (Brake lamps, Backup Lamp, Turn Signals, Headlamps, Fog Lamps and Dome).
I am still waiting for the starter to come back, so I figured out a way to connect the battery positive cable and isolate the cable to prevent shorting out. I connected the power (No Sparks so I was good) and then went inside to start testing the circuits. Found the headlamp switch fuse blew when I turned the key on. Turn key off to shut the power off and did some testing. Due to all the wires going to the headlight switch, the main power wire was touching something under the dash. Looked to see how I can isolate this and found I had to turn the switch to move wires to a more open area. Problem solved !! Started testing the circuits one at a time. Backup Lamp – Yes, Map lamp – Yes, Fog lamps High and Low – Yes, Brake Lights – Yes, Dome lamp – Yes, Turn Signals – Yes, Emergency flashers – Yes. All good so far. Now to the headlamps – Park lights – Yes, City Lights (Low Beam) – Yes, Highway Lights (High beam right side – Yes) Left side Head lamp – high and low beam via Dimmer switch – yes, Dash lights – Yes. One final test – Blower Motor – Off – High – Medium – Low – Yes. Everything tests as designed. Ya Hoo !!
Mounted the switch panel and place the switches in order of importance. First switch nearest driver – Backup lamp, next switch is the Fog Lamps – Up is High and down is Low. Last switch is the Map light switch. I added a Voltmeter gauge to the side of the panel so it was not too obvious but still visible to the driver. I left room on the Panel just in case something else is added to the vehicle.
Installed the items removed (speaker panels in Kick Panels). Quick clean up and then mounted the seat. Done for today !!! Very satisfied with results.
Day 14 – 4 hrs.
Client dropped by to look at the progress as I am waiting for the starter to get repaired. He also brought me a little surprise to see if this was something I could solve and repair. I did notice that the right side hood latch was missing and this is what he brought to me as the clip that holds the rod which latches the hood rod was broken. Now the way it is designed from the factory, the rod slips through the clip and then the rod assembly is riveted to the hood and then painted. Therefore to replicate the factory, the rivets would need to be drilled out to remove rod assembly. This would then require the hood to be repainted after repair. Therefore this is not going to happen.
Gave it some thought but I think I over thought it !! I thought I could make it with some aluminum as I needed something that I could attach to the latch but still slip over the rod. Though was to add a screw to prevent it form coming off the rod from the hood. Lots of grinding, drilling and more grinding, I almost had something that would work. However looking at it, I knew it would fail eventually. You have to remember this piece is approximately half inch by half inch.
Back to the drawing board. Then I looked at it differently and determined I really did not need to have the extra loop (Pictures will show more). Cut a strip of metal, drilled one hole, determined where the second hole needed to be then drilled that hole. Now the challenge was to bend the part to provide room for the rod and have the holes line up. A little tap tap tap and some alignment in the vise, I eventually got what I needed. I was going to drill the end of the latch pin but due to the size, the drill would need to be too small. Next solution was to tap the end of the pin and add a nut to secure the clip.
Now I was able to slide the clip over the rod, push the latch pin through the clip, secure the latch assemble to the Latch handle then put the locking nut on the pin. This all needed to be done by feel as I could not pull the hood out to have easy access and visibility. Tried it and it was successful. Very happy with the results.
First four pictures are the original latch mechanism and clip. The rest of the pictures are my attempt and successful clip for the right side latch. Not perfect but it is functional and should last for a long time.
- First Attempt - I can see failure
- Second attempt - success
Day 15 and 16 – 5.5 Hrs.
Well Starter came back from getting rebuilt. They had to use a different starter solenoid as the original style is no loner available. This required a few changes as previously the coil was mounted to the top of the starter. This solenoid would not allow this. Installed the starter to see what would be the best options. Looks like the best position was to mount coil to the inner fender skirt. Ended up being mounted right beside the Ballast resister. Wired everything up. Rerouted the Coil wire and shortened it. Then I wired in a Battery shut off as the battery is mounted under the seat making it a real pain just to disconnect battery for storage.
Everything wired up. Connected the Battery and NO Sparks flying so should be good. Turned the Ignition switch on, all good. Hit the Starter button and the engine turned. Cranked for a while, pumped throttle, engine fired BUT very poorly. You could smell the OLD fuel and it would not really run unless throttle put right to the floor. Required the fuel to be drained from the tank. Good thing the fuel tank had a drain plug. Pulled the plug and bad smelling fuel started coming out. Little did I realize the tank was full. Swapped drain bucket after drain bucket until it stopped. Ya the shop smells bad. Cleaned up and ran a fan for an hour to help get rid of the smell.
Nest day brought in 20L of Premium fuel and added it to the fuel tank. Well let’s see what this does. Again hard starting and there was still fuel in the carb and lines. Finally it started to run better and better and better. Once it warmed up and was running decent, I made some carb adjustments and now it is running good. It will need a good run to clear everything out.
ALL DONE !!!
- OFF
- ON
- DONE !!
