Topic: Adding NOS trunk light to my 66' coupe

[Hipo giddyup]

  I have an NOS trunk/hood light (over the counter), but cannot locate the directions sheet. I was wondering which wire I would use to tie this light into the rear wiring harness??? Attached is a pic of the NOS light, just like I have but mine is without directions.   Thanks!

[67gta289]

FYI the light you have is a generic Ford service part, and is not "factory correct".  That said, I don't know if there was a factory option for 66 like there was in 67 and later years.  I'm not a 65-66 MCA judge so can't say how that would be handled, if that matters to you.

[Hipo giddyup]

 I understand your response but no, this car will not be 100% concourse. I have had this NOS light and decided now that I want to use it.     I am driving the car as often as I can to enjoy it and have seen the need to have a lighted trunk, lol. Thought it would be neat to add it, like others had done with the dash compass, tissue box accessory, etc...  that were bought over-the-counter as well. I figured someone on the site has added this and can explain how to wire it. Thanks for the reply

[CharlesTurner]

The light requires drilling a hole to attach.

You'd most likely need to run a wire from the dash to the back for power. 

[midlife]

The light requires drilling a hole to attach.

You'd most likely need to run a wire from the dash to the back for power.

Furthermore, you'll need to tap into a green/yellow wire (fused BAT power).  There's a female bullet for the glove box, another for the console.  Otherwise, you'll need to add a female bullet to accept one of the door jamb switch plugs along with a male bullet for the door jamb switch itself like they did on the 67/68's.  Or...splice (gasp!) into a green/yellow wire.

[ChrisV289]

I have one of these as well but never added to the car for the reason I don't want to drill a hold in the trunk lid.  The light is activated by a mercury switch I believe.  Could the wire be spliced into the wire for the courtesy lights that runs along the top of the trunk area of fastbacks?

[midlife]

I have one of these as well but never added to the car for the reason I don't want to drill a hold in the trunk lid.  The light is activated by a mercury switch I believe.  Could the wire be spliced into the wire for the courtesy lights that runs along the top of the trunk area of fastbacks?

No.  The courtesy lights will only be powered when either front door is open or the headlight switch is rotated to power the courtesy lights.  That's not what you want for a power source.  You want to light up the trunk whenever the trunk lid is open: hence the mercury switch and fused battery power (green/yellow wire).

[Hipo giddyup]

Thanks Midlife ( I was hoping you would chime in  ) . At least I know which wire to get the power from. I'll figure a way not to destroy what wiring is there to make this work, likely tapping into the female plug for the console hookup. I'm not too worried about drilling the hole as the trunk lid has already had rust repaired on one corner and the date stamp is wrong for the car's production date anyway.  I forgot to mention this is for a 66' coupe.

[jwc66k]

You need to bite the bullet and run a continuous wire from the trunk light to the LH side of the instrument panel. That end can pick up fused, constant hot power from a green-yellow tracer circuit used for courtesy lights. To do this requires a male bullet and female bullet connector to make a "Y" jumper. Picture at the top of the "Y", a male bullet on one leg, and a female bullet in the other leg (the base of the "Y" goes to the trunk). The jumper part is about two inches long. It allows you to unplug the existing green-yellow lead, plug in your new lead and reconnect the green-yellow lead to your jumper. This "Y" jumper technique is used on the Rally Pac and other light circuits. The easiest point to get this power is the green-yellow feed for the console. You can also get this circuit at the courtesy light switch at the door. The bullet connectors you need are a 0.187 inch dia type, a Ford standard. Two female, one male are required. Removal of the LH door sill, LH rear quarter panel and LH front quarter panel are required to properly route the wire. I strongly recommend you hook up the trunk light FIRST before finding power. That method keeps the fuses "intact".
Resist splicing. (I do not believe in splices, and I avoid them.)
Jim

[midlife]

By left side of the instrument panel, that is incorrect unless you mean the door jamb switch.  The console female bullet with two green/yellow wires is just short of the engine gauge feed connector that feeds through the firewall approximately on the right side if the instrument panel near the center hump.

[jwc66k]

By left side of the instrument panel, that is incorrect unless you mean the door jamb switch.  The console female bullet with two green/yellow wires is just short of the engine gauge feed connector that feeds through the firewall approximately on the right side if the instrument panel near the center hump.

Always leave them guessing. It adds excitement and provides a challenge.
Jim

[NEFaurora]

These should help a bit..  Some "Suggested" Areas...and the Original Ford Instructions Sheet...

)

Tony K.

[67gta289]

I understand your response but no, this car will not be 100% concourse.

Ok - it was not meant to be aggressive - I just wanted those just watching, perhaps in the future, to not assume that these are factory correct.

As far as not wanting to drill a hole (comment by someone else), these are pretty light weight fixtures, so an option then would be to use double sided tape, or taped Velcro.  Run a second wire back connected to the housing back to a good body ground.  Relatively easy for someone to remove some day down the line...

[midlife]

The Ford instructions say to tap into the wire in the tail harness.  Our first generation (64.5-66) Mustangs do not have that wire in the tail harness.  In fact, none of the vintage Mustang tail harnesses had this green/yellow wire as a standard, except the bizarre very early 71's which mimicked the 70 connectors for only a couple of months.  Some years did have it as an option, though; I'd say about 10% of all tails have this wire based upon what I've seen over the past 10 years.

[jwc66k]

The Ford instructions say to tap into the wire in the tail harness.  Our first generation (64.5-66) Mustangs do not have that wire in the tail harness. 

I had a 66 GT Fastback (SJ, Feb, "A" code) that had the remnants of splices in the cigarette lighter wire. I say "remnants" - plural - as there were several cuts thru the insulation to get to the wire, a hot lead all the time. I assume that there was an aftermarket radio in the car at one time (glove box mounted? - I did replace the glove box, it was a mess) and possibly something else.
I detest splices (a repeated philosophy).
Jim