wiring question

[Gallivan]

can someone describe the routing of the taillight wiring harness?
the connectors are behind the dash board, does it pass thru the firewall and run along the inside of the frame?
And which hole on the firewall?

One more question- which hole does the horn wire go thru- the steering jacket rubber boot?

I did take pictures, but not enough, apparently

[Mike Sal]

The rear body wiring usually (in sedans anyway) runs under the carpet to the back & up the drivers side rear wheel well to get into the trunk.
Mike Sal

[pyrodork]

don't take my word on this, but i THINK on my car, the brake/taillight wires run along the frame under the car. i haven't done much research on that. it would be a heck of a lot easier for me if it ran along the floor, though (as i currently don't have any carpeting). on my car, where it passes through the firewall is in the big jumble of wires by the drivers side hood hinge.

i discovered the horn wire at the end of the steering shaft under the hood. it's dark, but the wire goes along the center of the inside of the shaft. i haven't gotten around to replacing mine yet, as i understand you're supposed to feed the new wire through with the old wire, but i don't know how to connect them together yet.

[rkapteyn]

I always pull the old horn wire out the top and tie a string to the bottom end
Replacement plastic wiring with the correct contact and bullet connectors are available from vendors.
these pull in easily with the string.
Robert Kapteyn

[bob1944]

on my 55 coupe the wiring to the rear is outside under the car, the horn wire was easy to pull, I taped the new wire to the old at the streering box and pulled.

[jrlemke]

The rear wiring on my 61 Hawk runs along the floor and over the left rear wheelwell. -Jim

[StudeRich]

1960 and later Studebakers have the rear wire harness routed on the floor as is Jim's '61 Hawk, however 1947 to 1959 harnesses follow the left frame rail and come through the firewall on most models, near the steering Column.

[rockne10]

If your left front cowl brace to frame has a couple of metal tabs in it they are to hold the rear harness and it would come through with the main harness. Later models had the harness laying on the floor under the carpet.

[pyrodork]

I always pull the old horn wire out the top and tie a string to the bottom end
Replacement plastic wiring with the correct contact and bullet connectors are available from vendors.
these pull in easily with the string.
Robert Kapteyn

i couldn't get the string to pass through the column, so i just soldered the new wire in-line with the old wire and pulled. discovered i should have left the wire on the spool (didn't leave as much to work with as i would've liked, but still got it done).

speaking of wiring to the rear end, i will have to replace my wires soon. while i'm doing it, i want to wire up for reverse lights. how do i connect the wire to the reverse gear? i assume i just have to buy bulk wire that has one additional wire to it than what i have now. then run a wire from the first reverse light to the second.

and please see my post, "51 champion wiring" and help me figure out some other issues i'm having. thanks!
spoiler: wiring cigar plug, wiring radio, front turn signals, high beam indicator, mystery wires.

[StudeRich]

Wiring is way too complex to explain in paragraphs of easily misunderstood details. You need to get the Shop manual and follow the wiring diagram.

The back-up light switch for the optional back-up lights was mounted on the steering column, engine side with a small link from the reverse shift lever to the switch, these parts can be found at some of the Studebaker Parts vendors at studebakervendors.com they are not the easiest to find, but are out there, sometimes from parts cars. It was wired through the Headlight switch so you had to have Parking or Headlights on to operate it, just as the trunk light and possibly the underhood light optional accessories were.