Gauge of wires

[Quadromaniac]

I am having some issues with some of the wiring on my 53 Allstate. Can I go bigger, because I have two spools of bigger wire, on the tail and brake light wires. The book calls for 16 and I have 10 and 12. Can that hurt anything? The insulation on the old wires have several bare spots from rot.

[Fid]

If you go with larger wire it won't cause any problems as the fuse on the light switch is still 30 amps and that's the limiting component in the circuit. You may find that your lights are even brighter as a result. One problem with the tail lights on the '53 Js and Allstates is that the tail light bodies have a very poor ground as there is little surface for them to contact and most of it is usually corroded due to the rear tires slopping water up into it. The fact that there's a rubber gasket between the tail light body and the fender mount doesn't help either. Make sure the surfaces and speed nuts which the four mounting screws go into are clean and corrosion free. As an added precaution, I ran a wire from one of the mounting screws down to the frame on mine.