OT - Fuse Panel Mod for '64 Fairlane

[sargentrs]

Thought I'd post this modification I just finished to the fuse panel on my '64 Fairlane. Specific to this car but some of you may find it useful on bumps too. To start with, for those not familiar, the fuse block on the Fairlanes from this generation is physically mounted to the back of the headlight switch. That means, if you blow a fuse, you either have to pull the headlight switch or lay on your back under the steering wheel to replace a fuse. What hair-brained engineer would do something like that! I installed an aftermarket stereo in my Fairlane and had to remove the headlight switch to wire in the radio memory and switched hot. There is already a female spade terminal built into the fuse block for the switched hot radio circuit but nothing for a constant hot. I used a fuse tap in the main 12v to the switch for the radio memory. About a month later a fuse blew. I laid on my back under the steering and 30 mins later crawled out, scratched and sore. About a week later, it blew again. There was no way I was going through that crap again so I decided I needed to modify the headlight switch/fuse panel configuration and relocate the fuse panel to the kick panel for future troubleshooting and repair. To start with, here's a couple of photos of the headlight switch and associated fuse block. The fuse block installs into the headlight switch from the top and is held on my metal clips. The block sticks out past the switch and holds 3 fuses for the switched hot accessories. Altogether the switch/panel is about 2" tall and almost 6" long. In the photo I've already pulled the fuses but you can see the holders where they go. Pull that sucker out from under a dashboard and main wiring harness just to replace a fuse!

[sargentrs]

To begin with, I sourced a 12 circuit fuse block with 2 input leads. Top 6 slots are for constant hot, bottom 6 for switched hot. I used a relay and the first constant hot circuit to power the relay. I removed the headlight switch/fuse block and starting clipping wires, one at a time and adding them to the circuitry. The main 12Ga feed to the headlight switch became the source for the new fuse panel and the 1st constant hot circuit fed back to the headlight switch in it's place. Then the 2nd constant hot circuit became the source for the relay. The switched source to the accessory fuses on the original fuse block became the trigger for the relay to power the 2nd bank of circuits in the new fuse panel as switched 12v circuits. I wired up the new fuse panel and relay so that the original accessory circuits were now fed by the new switched circuits. I then started clipping the wires from the original block and plugged them back into the headlight switch in their associated terminals. All splices and terminations were crimped, soldered and shrink tubed. I improvised a little jig for holding wires while soldering in the car. Clip a set of vice grips on it and it'll be enough weight to hold the wire steady while you solder, on your knees, leaning into the car, under the steering wheel, in the floor board....

[sargentrs]

I cut a 3" x 6" piece of aluminum, from work, drilled and countersunk holes and used it as a mounting plate for my new fuse panel. Added the relay and used a wiring clamp and some braided vinyl wrap to neaten everything up. Now, I can pull the panel into the floor board if I need to change any fuses or wire in any new circuits. Then I stuck a 2"x3" piece of velcro to the back of the mounting plate and pressed into place behind the fresh air vent on the kick panel.

[sargentrs]

The headlight switch was now simple to re-install, without that fuse block on the back of it, and I had room to get my whole hand wrapped around to screw in the bezel and stud. Everything worked as planned and I'm very pleased with the result. I'll be using a similar concept when I get around to wiring up my truck. Hope somebody gets some use out of this if, for no other reason, than to wire in some new circuits in their truck.

[ThinLizzy13]

Awesome write up! The fuse panel in the '63 F100 I just got is loose and makes the lights work half the time (it has the same fuse setup) I've been contemplating on what direction to go with it, and this seems like the direction I'd like to go .
Thanks!

[sargentrs]

I'm very pleased with it. When all said and done I still had 2 constant and 2 switched circuits left over. Look at yours and map it out carefully. When I got the constant hot and dedicated headlight switch circuits hooked up, I ran out of wires to connect and still had terminals available. Upon close inspection of the fuse block I saw that, when you unplug the fuse block from the headlight switch, there are spades on the switch that one or more wires are not connected from the harness. My main input wire was connected to 2 other terminals by fuses. I bought a used switch/fuse block from a member in a Fairlane Forum to test and map out circuits before getting started. Even at that, the last couple of connections were trial and error. I bought the fuse panel on Ebay, for $10, and the relay at my local parts store. The largest expense I had was different colors/gauges of wire.

[Subzero]

That's pretty clean lookin, almost factory if they had a new style fuse block back then . That Fairlane is awesome I bet

[crazyhorse]

Mr Sargentrs, thank you sir for taking your time to show us the good photos and information .

I always need good information/advice.

Good luck with the Fairlane , I like em.

[sargentrs]

Thanks guys! I really love the car.