Headlight wiring question

[inairam]

With Jim teaching me more about the parts manual -

I went to tc-37E date 1-30-56 page 71 listed the wire harness part number appropriate for sn 165152 and up as 358 214r94 . There are 3 forward harnesses 1 for relay and 2 for regulators 1 with and 1 without a ground wire. The headlight is listed ast conventional or sealed beam ( the pancakes are sealed beam) Item 39 is cable headlight to ground ( pink). The illustration does show that wire going to the harness.

I think you should have a ground wire or maybe it was a transition period and they we still using the 7 wire harness until they ran out. you are only 900 above the sn. They were making 2000 a month in 53 so 900 is less than 2 weeks parts inventory. Maybe they did expect the pancakes to ground through the mount until they got the 8 wire harness into production. Who knows for sure

If you do not want to change the wire harness which looks not original so there is no issue really I would contact John at Brillman and ask him for 2 lengths of the pink ground wire terminated and terminate connect one end to the light ground and one to the radiator support. If you are careful at baring the metal you can get a good ground through the mount it is just not as reliable as a wire.

[Jim Becker]

It is possible, and I think likely, that serial # 166049 came with pancake style lights. The open question is the ground wire. Your tractor looks pretty convincing as never having the ground wire. Until one of us runs across a parts catalog published around the end of 1953, we won't know. Some more example tractors between 165153 and 185000 would give us some clues.

I'm ready to adjust my answer on the cable routing too. I've now noticed pictures showing the cable running on each side of the generator. So after looking at some of the diagrams, it looks like they intended for them to run on the right side. I would run the left light cable under the radiator tube, like it is in radioguy41's picture.

[Papa's Cub]

inairam, the picture of the headlight wires I posted are somewhat deceiving. The original wires showed some deterioration so I added heat shrink tubing and heat shrink tape as added protection. Also, notice the absence of a ground wire. The pictures of the lights indicate they are grounded to the light housing and mounting bracket ect. to the battery. Thank You for sharing your knowledge. I, too, think the "TearDrop" lights have a more desirable appearance, however, in view of your and Jim's comments I'm inclined to believe the "pancake" lights are original to this cub. Thanks again, Tom. Jim, I discovered an Operators Manual in a box of misc. items that came with this cub. On page 27, Illust. 27 shows the wiring to the right of the generator with a single feed wire to the headlights. And you're right, the left headlight wire does run across the shroud below the radiator tube. Many thanks to you and inairam for the time and research in helping me resolve this issue, Tom.

[inairam]

Since you are doing all of this work and the paint looks nice I would consider a new harness from brillman. It will be technically correct and help make the cub more reliable with solid connections.

[ShawnAgne]

I have the teardrop but one had a bad ground so I just ran a second wire and grounded it on the frame. Then when I switched to LED I ran a second ground wire out on both.

[Jim Becker]

Here are a couple pictures of the tractor I have been working on, a 1959 Lo-Boy. The loom was in bad shape and a PO had wrapped it with electrical tape, including wrapping the battery cable in with the rest. I cut the tape off and replaced it with new plastic loom. The old wires are pretty stiff but seemed OK otherwise. I think the routing is about right but it was somewhat dictated by the stiffness of the wires (actually of the insulation). Note the splice in the loom, as the pieces I had were only 2 feet each. I put zip ties at the splice. I think it will be hidden under the hood. Also, I added a bit of electrical tape near the radiator where the 2 light cables head in different directions. I don't think that was original but the cables seemed to want it.