Electrical Help For Ford Carpenter Bus

[Dream Machine]

My bus recently had an electrical fire due to an exposed old wire. Had to disconnect battery and I now need to rewire the bus to ensure everything is done properly. Looking for any help on how to start this momentous event. Already getting a new battery, and most likely a starter.

Currently searching for a service manual and wiring schematic for her 1976 Ford Carpenter Mid Sized bus previously owned by the department of corrections and has the letters CV on the plate for body model.

 

[magnakansas]

rewire jobs

did you loose all the wiring harness? maybe only the engine bay? doing an entire bus is a really big task. You are likely to be able to buy used harness for engine bay, under dash stuff... at least if the connectors are good from salvage then you can use new terminals in old connectors... It is a big task. here in the midwest there are quite a few farm trucks that are going to be similar if the not exactly the same harness for dash and or under the hood....


i expect a f600 to be the same as a b600 f700 same as b700 you get the idea

what parts bit the dust?

william

 

[Dream Machine]

Thank you for the advice with the different truck models I can use ...Ive been wondering if that was real or not for a while.

Attached pictures of the wiring mess.

So the bus was running, I noticed smoke coming from under the hood (driver side) opened it up and the bundle of wires wrapped in black tape was smoking. Had to unhook the battery to stop the spreading electrical fire.
There was an exposed wire laying on top of the metal panel which I suspect was the culprit, it seems to have melted the piece located towards the body of the vehicle which I cannot identify.(red melted cheese sandwich looking thing) Any help with that is greatly appreciated.

Right now my plan of attack on this is
1. obtain a new battery
2. check fuses and starter to make sure nothing is blown
3. figure out how to replace and check the obviously not installed correctly wiring.
4. install the wiring correctly under the dash

I should've prefaced this all by saying ....this is my first bus. We've only been with each other for a few months. She's been running okay, was doing repairs that were more obvious for the last few months and working on a vaccum issue. I did not do this wiring and I had not had time yet to get to it. Thank you to anyone that can help me understand whats going on. I really want to learn. Very grateful.

 

[magnakansas]

From what I see

You don’t need to replace an entire harness. I would, if this was my best friends bus, replace just the damaged wires. I don’t see enough wholesale damage to indicate the need to do an entire harness. Please telephone me if you are interested in discussing ways to do this repair.

I am in Kansas.

William

 

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

shoot me a text when you have time and reference skoolie.
i have some 1976 F series wiring diagrams that might help.
there are alot of red and various color striped wired in the diagrams.
the only straight red wire is from the wiper motor to the wiper switch that i can see.
but i can text you pictures of the diagrams i have.
910-581-7210

 

[Dream Machine]

Thank you again for the help with this issue. I was able to repair the single wire that caused the electrical issues. I repaired that wire and the dream machine is up and running again better than before.