The Ford Barn

alt63bird · 08-08-2012, 10:23 PM

I'm kind of stumped. Have a '55 Victoria that's been modified with a 289/C4 in place of the 272/FOM, and rewired with a custom loom for 12v with alternator that has a later-model blade-style fuse block. The car still uses the original neutral safety switch on the shifter column in the engine bay. Last Saturday I finally had a chance to get it started and let it idle for a while to burn off some older gas. When I went to put it into reverse I goosed the throttle, chirped the tires, then it stalled. Went to hit the ignition switch and - Nothing - no power to solenoid, no power to lights when I pulled on the light switch...nothing. Checked the battery connection (posts/terminals were tight), but no juice. Put the battery into my '63 T-bird and it turned over with no problem. Pushed the car back into the barn and walked away, so I haven't started to trace down what happened and why there's no juice flowing. What did I do to kill the entire electrical system? Is it possible that I fried the ignition switch, or should I be looking for something else?

08-08-2012, 10:23 PM	#1
alt63bird Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: outside Omaha, NE Posts: 276	What Did I Do to Kill My '55 (And What's The Fix?) I'm kind of stumped. Have a '55 Victoria that's been modified with a 289/C4 in place of the 272/FOM, and rewired with a custom loom for 12v with alternator that has a later-model blade-style fuse block. The car still uses the original neutral safety switch on the shifter column in the engine bay. Last Saturday I finally had a chance to get it started and let it idle for a while to burn off some older gas. When I went to put it into reverse I goosed the throttle, chirped the tires, then it stalled. Went to hit the ignition switch and - Nothing - no power to solenoid, no power to lights when I pulled on the light switch...nothing. Checked the battery connection (posts/terminals were tight), but no juice. Put the battery into my '63 T-bird and it turned over with no problem. Pushed the car back into the barn and walked away, so I haven't started to trace down what happened and why there's no juice flowing. What did I do to kill the entire electrical system? Is it possible that I fried the ignition switch, or should I be looking for something else? __________________ Alan H. Tast AIA, LEED AP BD+C Technical Director/Past President-Editor-Publications Director, Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l. (VTCI) http://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.net Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years" 35+ year member, Crown Victoria Ass'n.