Hello Stovebolt 6,

If your old wiring is still in the car, before disconnecting and removing anything, photos and labeling should be the first start. Lubricate all connections so less chance of breakage happening. Don't throw anything away before rewiring job is complete. Having the wiring diagram on hand is helpful also. You probably know all this already. Anyway, making notes and having patients are also good tools for the job. Harry

@harry-truppner Thanks for the advice. That is the plan. I don’t think it will be too hard. I have just heard horror stories about the ignition wiring. 

I always take lots of pictures and label everything. Despite that I am sure there will be some head scratching before it’s all done. 😁

Hello Stovebolt 6,

I googled: '1929 chevy electrolock wiring diagram'. The response was: Images. Lots of diagrams and discussions below those. Maybe this will be of help. Harry

@harry-truppner Thanks Harry! I googled that’s and it led me to a diagram of the distributor end of the armored cable which is exactly what I needed. It has a list of the different components and a picture of how that go together. I hope between the engines I have I have all the pieces I need to get a spark. I also found some great posts on this site and the old Chevy site that are very helpful. 

@harry-truppner Harry, I finished the rewiring…at least all I can at this point. Anything under the hood is just loose at this point until my engine gets here. It came out good I think. I used modern wire and looms as I am not going for an authentic restore. I want something I can drive that is reliable. 

I can’t really test much until I get an engine and a battery. I am not sure all the switches and gauges work yet. My big question is grounding. Since the car has a lot of wood, grounding seems a challenge. For instance my dome light has a ground wire that was connected under the dash. But the dash as far as I can see is mounted on wood.  

I plan to install new battery cables (the ones I have look way too small) and ground the battery to the frame and the frame to the engine/tranny. Do I need a ground to the body as well? On my 53 I hardwired a ground to each of the lights and other components to avoid electrical issues which has worked out well for the last 20 years or so.

Thoughts?

Rich

Hello Stovebolt 6,

Google '1929 chevy car electrical grounding diagram'.

see 'images' - chevy wiring diagrams - old online chevy manuals

select and visit

see '1929 series ac model' - pdf format or jpg images

Suggest battery ground to frame- then frame to engine/tranny- then frame and engine/tranny to firewall

Do continuity check between the firewall to dashboard- if necessary, run ground wire from firewall to dashboard.

Do use the recommended 6 volt battery cable size and connect to fresh unpainted metal for best possible ground connections, then seal/paint completed connections to prevent corrosion development later. This should be good to go then. Harry

@harry-truppner Thank you. I had to buy a new multitester because my 40 year old one was giving me fits with odd ball readings. I do have continuity to the gauges and dash, I think there was continuity to the dash from the fire wall but I will recheck that. 

With all new wires installed I am checking the system without power to confirm everything is connected properly before attaching a battery. I may just swap the battery cables from my 53. That was a 6V but is not a 12 volt. So it has 6V cables. 

On another note. I am concerned that the headlight switch is bad. There is continuity to the park light wire no matter what position the switch is in. There is no continuity to the headlights no matter when position the switch is in. The dimmer appears to work but no continuity from the headlight switch to the dimmer regardless of switch position. I am going to post this issue in a separate post. I do not relish taking that switch out again. 

Thanks again! 

Rich 

Hello Stovebolt 6,

Google '1929 chevy headlight switch'. You should get VCCA past Chat Posts. Read what folks had to say about removal from the dash and disassembly. There are people who repair headlight switches and may still advertise with VCCA. The old forum allowed everyone and their brother to post questions and suggestions even if not a member, Chevy owners from all over the world. Not any more, members only. Now you don't see all that many posts and question response times  are not fast. My opinion.

Edit: Tiny has set me straight about registrants on VCCA being able to post and not having to be members. Thank You Tiny. Maybe some Chevy owners around the world are not aware of the difference between registering and membership, like me.

@harry-truppner Anyone can register and post. They don't have to be members. New registrants do have some of their site privileges limited for the first 5 posts to keep spammers at bay.

I see quite a few people grounding the battery to the frame and to one of the starter bolts. I have done mine just to the starter bolt and it works fine. I would think the dash is grounded in many ways like the steering column, electroloc cable, speedo cable, belden cables but I could be wrong.

Dave

@david-dunton thanks Dave, I think you are correct. The dash does seem to be grounded by contact. On my 53 I ran a lot of hardwired grounds as I don’t trust the longevity of the contact grounds in things like the headlights and tidal lights. It can’t hurt to have more secure grounds though.