Fuse Block on 52 Pontiac

[MercMontMars]

Hi there, I’m looking over my wiring on my 52 Pontiac Chieftain. From what I’ve seen, the original wiring under the dash is mostly intact. One goal is to get some life out of the radio without pulling it out.I got the old blower motor going and I don’t expect the clock to work (they never do.. In the attached picture, the 3rd row is connected to my radio with a single wire. There’s some kind of copper pin attached, and there other end of the connection is seemingly missing. What might I be looking at here? Is anything missing or out of place?

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by MercMontMars (see edit history)

[Bloo]

Some of those fuses are probably SFE series and are the wrong length and don't fit right. If the amp ratings are right, there is nothing electrically wrong with it as long as a good connection is made, but mechanically it looks like it might fall apart. SFE series fuses vary in length according to the amp rating. Check the manual, and then get some AGC series fuses in the correct amp ratings. AGC series fuses of various amp ratings will be the same length, and they will be the correct length for those fuseholders.

 

A few of the SFE ones *might* be the right length to fit if they are in the higher current ranges. Match up the amps to whatever the manual says for each particular fuseholder. Get AGC for replacements of any that are burned out or don't mechanically fit.

 

Check continuity with a multimeter on any fuses you plan to put back in. Looking at them to see if the fuse wire is still intact isn't good enough. A peculiarity of glass fuses is that bad connections at the fuseholder can unsolder an end of the fuse wire inside the fuse. They can be bad and still look good.

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Bloo (see edit history)

[Oldtech]

The copper wire is someone's attempt to make a soft or undersized fuse holder connect. That looks like the wrong fuse anyway. I don't think you are missing anything. There is a common wire to 2 fuses on the left.

[Frank DuVal]

I think the copper wire is to tighten the contact to the fuse. Run wire through both holes, twist to bring both sides of clip close together. To think someone laid on their back to drill those two very small holes....  wow!

 

The radio should really be taken out and serviced. Those paper/wax capacitors have been absorbing water for 60+ years. And the buffer capacitor across the vibrator usually shorts, causing the vibrator to fail.

 

Put the proper sized fuse in the radio fuse clips and see, don't be surprised if the fuse blows or makes no noise (signals). Just means it needs servicing.

 

 

[MercMontMars]

@Frank DuVal That’s what confused me the most, the amount of effort it must’ve taken to do that! No way they took the whole block out to drill those, kind of crazy the things people do to these cars. I definitely plan on having it checked out, I just want to see if there’s any life left in it. Just a little hum or click, even a blown fuse would make me happy!

[Bloo]

That is generally a bad policy with tube based equipment. It ain't rocket science. If you turn it on, and there's not a dead short in it the tubes are going to light up. They're like light bulbs. It doesn't tell you anything. The speaker might or might not crackle. That doesn't tell you anything either. The vibrator might hum. A good sign if so, but doesn't necessarily indicate it is good, and vibrators that don't start can sometimes be revived. If the tubes don't light up, it tells you there may be a problem with the switch. A switch failure doesn't really tell you anything about the radio. Capacitors are relatively cheap, and available from electronic parts houses like Mouser, Digi-Key and Newark. On the other hand, burning up expensive hard to find parts (like vibrators and power transformers) is easy and quick to do. At least replace the buffer capacitor. There's no way that could still be any good.

 

[Andy J]

Take the radio out.It's not that hard to do. Get someone to help you take the front seat out and it will be much easier get under the dash. I'm 71 and I have taken mine out,plus everything else under there. Unless you aren't physically able to get under there,pull it out.

[The 55er]

I've got a 1953 Pontiac and I checked the radio fuse in the fuse box under the dash. My fuse box is similar to MercMontMars' 1952 but not quite the same. My radio fuse connection has no copper pin or wiring but the tiny little holes are there just like his on the one radio fuse connector and nowhere else. I've got an SFE 14 radio fuse in mine that's about 1 1/16" long. It's shorter than all the other (mostly SFE 20) fuses but everything works. I don't know what those tiny little holes are for either.

[Frank DuVal]

The same holes! Weird.  Wonder why?🤔

 

RIght, 3AC (AGC) fuses are 1 1/4" long. Same as SFE 20. SFE 14 is shorter by design.