In that case,,, I wont even mention what we have done to the stock wiring in my son's 66..........

And yes, I have seen plenty of hack jobs done to wires and,,,, [:@]I agree, it pisses me off too!![:@]

 

Hey Jim, if it gets me any brownie points, I did exactly how you describe to run a few wires through the cowl without drilling or splicing. Since my car now has a manual tranny, I was able to use the leads for the neutral safety switch using bullet connectors as you described.

Seriously, after dealing with the wiring "modifications" in a '65 GT, I can't bring myself to cut any wires.

BTW, I'd suggest anybody touching any wires on your cars invest in a multi-meter! You'll save a lot of fuses that way. Harbor Freight sells them for like $3.99 so there are no excuses.

 

Thanks for all of the "Sound" advice, I will take it all into consideration and attempt to get a proper solution. In the mean time, here is what I've got for the moment.

I was down under the dash and found a loose plug to connect the radio main power lead into. Then I turned on the ignition switch and the radio on-off and voila! Music! Turned off ingnition, Silence. Turned radio back on. Yea.Then I closed the car door and the radio wet OFF.

Can't drive all day with door open, just to listen to music. Then I came up with bright idea to twist the courtesy light switch to On, and that does the trick.

To play music, get in car, close door, turn on courtesy light, turn on engine, turn on radio. Drive, Enjoy. When done, Just be sure to turn off courtesy light so don't drain battery.

Works for the moment, Will try to use all advice given in order to fix it right.

BTW, I haven't cut in or sliced any original wires yet.

I am amused with the cool discussion my little problem has generated. Still open to more suggestions if any more should come.

 

I had a problem in my 65 factory GT (I have the original window sticker) Fastback with the ignition switch. I dropped the Rally Pac and removed the instrument cluster for access. The under dash wiring on a 65 GT is unique and is not reproduced but what I saw took me a month to fix.One of the previous owners added the Rally Pac. Most of the harness wrapping tape was either loose or gone and when I took out the under dash harness to re-wrap it, removed at least two rolls of black tape that went over and over to cover up the mess they left. Many years back, I used my position in the high tech industry to get samples of non adhesive wire wrapping tape and used about half the sample in there-wrap. That Rally Pac was an early aftermarket type and used a wire to the coil for the tach. I had an original Rally Pac (you can tell if it's an original Rally Pac - the clock don't work) I got at a swap meet so I installed it. Fortunately, no wires were cut. The Rally Pac I removed was wired by an ape. I got the replacement wiring from NPD and made it work. The bad news is, it won't work on a Pertronix equipped distributor. All I can say is - I hate amatures.
JIm

 

The courtesy light circuit is unique, (in early Mustangs)the circuit is always "hot" and the light is switched on and off with the ground.

The way I figure it, all of the electricity that the radio uses is going through the dome light bulb, this acts as a resistor, and I imagine that your volume is somewhat limited as it is now. This may not be good for your radio.

We could spend a long time figuring out just what has been done and try to fix it the "right way", or you could just hook the power up for the radio at the accessory terminal on the ignition switch and be done with it.

 

You're not kidding Jim about that factory clock in the Rally-Pac. I had mine repaired in about 1989 and it worked for about a half a year before it pooped out again. IIRC (correct me if I'm wrong), the mechanism was something similar to a 'points' system in a distributor that would spark and knock a mechanism up which would then fall down and keep repeating. I replaced it with an aftermarket quartz movement newly available at the time which worked well but didn't have the 'tick' motion on the second hand like the original did. I hear they are reproduced now to mimic that movement which is good.

My '65 GT wiring was kind of butchered beyond repair which left me with an electrical gremlin that plagued me for as long as I owned it. It is such a refreshing change to work on a vehicle that has never so much as had the dash apart and all the wires are where they should be, cardboard shields are there, etc.

To the original poster, Jim nailed it in the sixth post of this thread. Make sure to disconnect the battery before tapping into the always hot wire as it it easy to arc across to the abundance of metal under there. Also, you can easily tap into a wire without being too destructive using these:

[img]http://www.geekmatica.com/car2pc/ttaps.jpg[/img]

[edit] dang, won't let me hotlink, see if this works:

 

Jeff,
My solution to the clock problem was to braze new contact points using nickel-silver welding rod. I got the idea after adding material to my black powder Colt's sear that I initially ground off too much material. It's a tricky weld but I got it done on the first try - on both items.
Jim

 

I agree, Jim's 66GTKFB post #6 does give real helpful detailed info with products necessary.

Those wire connectors shown by gothand look real nice, I will go find some.

Regarding the Rally Pac story, I don't plan to ever install one, but the remark about Pertronix equipt distributor, my next task is to install that in my distributor. Watch for future post of success on that.

I don't think I have a volume problem running radio on the courtesy light circuit, but only want to do this on a temporary basis. Don't have dome light on convertible, only two bulbs underneath. They are of no use during June in Alaska.

Radio reception seems weak on some stations, maybe poor antenna that did not affect the old AM radio.

Sure nice to tap into pool of expert advice on this forum.

About the car -- It is a 65 convertible. Owned 30 years. I6, 4 spd Daggenham. Manual top. No optional equipment. Poppy red, black interior. Will get a picture with scenic background for future posts.

 

The two wires for the original radio should be a BLACK power wire that goes through the ignition switch and is only on when the key is in the on or accessory position. Did you check for voltage on this wire with the key on? In the original post this was incorrectly called a ground wire. It should be 12 V and should be attached to the RED wire of the new radio.

The other wire should be blue/red and is for the dial light (mentioned above but color wasn't given.) This wire is not used with the new radio.

The black wire on the new radio should be hooked to ground.

In addition to speaker wires, there may be two other wires, one for a power antena lead and the other for remembering your station presets. This one should be hooked to a constant power source. The colors of these wires varies depending on the model Custom Audio Sound radio you have. Check out:
http://www.casmfg.com/Wire_Diagrams.htm

 

When I put my working AM radio in, I took out the glove box and then took out the gauge cluster for a better access to all the wires and the radio. It doesn't take but a few minutes to take it out, and that way you have to stand on your head to get to the ignition switch. Oh, and yes.....the radio grounds through the dash where the ***** hook up.