[GranTorinoElite]

From years of sitting outside with a leaky roof(before I bought it, it was sitting for 4 years), my 74 Ford Gran Torino Elite has some water damage. Many of the fuse box "tabs" (the steel things that hold in the fuses and make the connection) have rusted out. Due to this, my interior light and hazard lights, do not work.

I can't see any screws or anything holding the fuse box in, so I'm not sure how to take it off. I'll be getting a parts car soon, which I hope has the same fuse box. How do I go about solving this problem? I need the car to be electrically sound to get it certified.

Also, my push button floor switch for the high beams is seized. Is this a common problem for cars with the floor switches? Is fixing as simple as spraying on some WD-40?

Thanks.

[ January 04, 2003: Message edited by: GranTorinoElite ]</p>

[johnnymopar]

GTE

your fuse box should be attached somehow to the car, either with a couple screws or it may just slide onto some tabs or something on the kick panel.

the problem with a lot of factory fuse boxes is that the terminals are usually crimped onto the back of the box and the clips are riveted or pressed-in. this makes it very hard to change out these things. i think it would be very difficult to replace the fuse box without a lot of work. i suggest you find somebody with electrical experience to help you do this. i imagine there is quite a few wires going into the box. you could either cut every wire to the box and then re-crimp every wire on the new box with butt-splice connectors, or you could cut every wire and make a terminal strip to feed the new box from that. either way will be a lot of work and will probably not look that great either, when you're done. one other option is to find a multi-pin connector (male & female) that you could crimp and connect.

hope this helps somewhat.

good luck,

JB

[KULTULZ]

Your fuse box is going to be part of the internal wiring harness. It is going to mate to the exterior wiring harness (2) with a large connector(s) on the firewall at the steering column. These connectors are held together with a large cap screw accessible from the outside.

The fuse box and interior harness will then pull away from the exterior harness and you will see that each wire is pinned into the box. You simply remove the pins and insert them into your replacent box (or you may get lucky and be able to remove just the fuse panel from the retainer-connector assembly).

It is not that difficult and if you need replacement pins for whatever reason, get back to me and I will tell you where to find them.

Practice on the donor car first and don't forget to unhook the battery.