HOW TO INSTALL CRACKEDBACK'S HEADLIGHT HARNESS

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RustyRatRod

I was born on a Monday. Not last Monday.
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Well here we go. It's not "quite finished, but it;s installed and working. I just need to mount the relays and the little fuse boxes, zip a few zip ties in and done. Here we go. Of course, it goes without saying, doing any type of electrical work, disconnect the ground side of the battery.

First, here is the harness "kinda laid out" how it will install. Then, we have the " before" shot of the headlights. This was taken with the car running on high idle.

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Here I have the headlights out and the fenderwell plugs removed.

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Now, I have done a few of these before, so there ain't no cherry involved here. The first thing I like to do is connect the power feeds to the alternator stud. This give you an "anchor" so that you can stretch the harness out and put all of the plugs, grounds relays and fuses in their approximate places.

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With the fenderwell plugs removed, you can feed the headlight plugs and grounds through the factory holes. I attached the grounds right where the factory did. You also have to slit the headlight harness grommets to remove them and then reinstall them.

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The driver's side OEM headlight plug gets "left out" of this installation. I just tape it up and stick it down behind the radiator support. Will add zip ties tomorrow. I pulled mine up through the grommet into the engine bay. You can barely see it between the battery and radiator support.
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Next I install the driver's side headlight. These headlights are some Hellas I got for the truck a while back. I found a great deal on some sho nuff CIBIE E codes and upgraded the truck and I had these left over.

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Moving on, we come to the male plug on the headlight harness. This is used as the trigger for the system . Plug this into the passenger side OEM headlight plug. I always like to tape them good, because the back side of the plug has the terminals exposed. You don't want them grounding out or coming apart. Just hook the grounds up again where the factory had them. No need to reinvent the wheel here.

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Here is the after shot. I can see a pretty big difference. This was an easy install and I cannot brag on Rob (@crackedback ) enough for the very high quality of the harness and relays. It is a very good deal for the money and I highly recommend it. Took me 45 minutes from get to go and I am slow as hell. At least now I am. lol

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Thank you RRR, this will be a must do for me as well, now would be the time for me to get it dun, I will keep an eye out for a good 65 bumper
 
Thanks for the nice install write up RRR.

You can certainly mount the fuseholders if you like. In most cases, if they are hanging neatly in a location, no need to hard mount them. Dealers choice so to speak on that part of the install.

Thanks again for the purchase!

Rob
 
Thanks for the nice install write up RRR.

You can certainly mount the fuseholders if you like. In most cases, if they are hanging neatly in a location, no need to hard mount them. Dealers choice so to speak on that part of the install.

Thanks again for the purchase!

Rob

My pleasure. I love small business and everything to do with it. It warms my heart to see it thrive.
 
RRR -
I'm looking at upgrading my headlights due to them unexpectedly cutting off on me when I'm running them at night time. Is this a kit you created yourself or is it a kit that can be purchased somewhere? Thanks!
 
....and I forgot to add this.......the biggest thing this kit does is make the headlight switch a low amperage trigger for the headlight circuit. On these older cars, there were no relays in the circuit. That means the headlight switch carries all of the load. They get hot. This conversion not only puts alternator voltage at the headlights, but it requires MUCH less of the headlight switch since the relays are now carrying the high amp end of the load.
 
Nice job documenting this conversion RRR! This should be a sticky!
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Agree, good write up , as with the rest of ur mending the car up .
I rewired my whole car, lights are bright anyway.
HOPE U DONT HAVE TROUBLE DOWN THE ROAD WITH 50 PlUS YRS OLD WIRING !
 
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Agree, good write up , as with the rest of ur mending the car up .
I rewired my whole car, lights are bright anyway.
HOPE U DONT HAVE TROUBLE DOWN THE ROAD WITH 50 PlUS YRS OLD WIRING !

I've inspected it all and it looks fantastic. I am still surprised.
 
Ok cats, here it is all finished up. Everything mounted down and zip tied. This was an easy, fun install and a fantastic upgrade. Rob you should be commended for making such a fine, quality product for the automotive community.

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Just something to add that might help. I installed crackedback's headlight wiring upgrade, plus his heavier alternator wiring kit, when I upgraded to a 100 amp alternator. Because of the heavy wires going to the alternator post, I mounted a marine-grade stud on the fender next to the alternator, ran one heavy wire from the alternator to the stud, and tied in everything else to the stud. Made a little neater connection. Works great so far in my engine test runs.
 
I just ordered a kit from Cracked my main reason was taking a big load off the bulkhead connector running the headlights during daytime use puts more strain on those 50 year old parts and of course for the added light at night .
 
Moving on, we come to the male plug on the headlight harness. This is used as the trigger for the system . Plug this into the passenger side OEM headlight plug. I always like to tape them good, because the back side of the plug has the terminals exposed. You don't want them grounding out or coming apart. Just hook the grounds up again where the factory had them. No need to reinvent the wheel here.

View attachment 1715297003
View attachment 1715297004
I notice you are using the passenger side plug as the trigger plug but in crackedback's post, he says to use the drivers side as the trigger.
[FOR SALE] - Plug and play - Headlight Relay Kits
I'm just getting ready to install mine. No directions came with it, but it looks simple to do, plus I'm reading over posts here first as well.
 
I notice you are using the passenger side plug as the trigger plug but in crackedback's post, he says to use the drivers side as the trigger.
[FOR SALE] - Plug and play - Headlight Relay Kits
I'm just getting ready to install mine. No directions came with it, but it looks simple to do, plus I'm reading over posts here first as well.

Because of where I wanted the relays, the alternator wires were not long enough to put on the same side as the battery.
 
Because of where I wanted the relays, the alternator wires were not long enough to put on the same side as the battery.
Ah, good point. Cracked did ask when I wanted the relays so mine worked out well connecting to the drivers plug.
I just got mine installed. Can't wait to see the difference at night. Already I see they don't oscillate at low idle any more, which is nice.
 
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