Wiring.
The fuse block and related electronics were mounted in the new seat pan under the driver’s seat to reduce the “rats nest” under the dash. Of the 60 some wires that leave the fuse block, only those that were needed for the gauges, steering column and the Old Air Products Hurrican airconditioning unit and accessories were brought up behind the firewall insulator. The rest of the wiring goes back to the tail lights and fuel tank, the engine or the headlights.

To make things compact under the drivers seat, we mounted the fuse block, relays and miscelanous compter relays and sensors to a wood base with enough slack in the wire harness umbelical to allow it to slide out for service.

Here is how we “branched” the wiring tree:
The bundle of dash wires comes out of the front of the seat pan box, under the floor pan and up through the original e-brake hole in the driver floor and then up along the toe board and behind the firewall (we cut a “channel” in the firewall insulation to accomodate the wiring.) We will build a foot rest “box” to mount on to the toe board to protect the wiring.

A second branch of wires--headlights, signal lights, brake switch and horn--was routed along the inner front fender to the front of the truck.

From the Caprice computer, a third branch of wires (mainly the composed of the Painless ignition wiring harness) exits the seat pan and crosses over to the passenger side and ties into the engine wiring harness and sensors.

The fourth branch of wires leaves the rear of the seat pan through a small hole and feeds the fuel pump, fuel gauge, and tail lights.

Engine Wiring. For the engine computer we used the Painless TBI wiring harness and for the general body wiring we used a universal street rod wiring harnes that we found on EBay.

HVAC Systems.
The AcoustiTRUCK will be on the road and to make the interior comfortable, we wanted airconditioning. Uncontrolled heat in older cars is always an issue, and factory air conditioning for a truck in 1953 was unheard of. Old Air Products of Fortworth, Texas offered the custom solution with an under-dash unit that is formed to fit the bottom lip of the dash--it looks “factory.”

The 1947-54 Chevy/GMC Truck Hurricane A/C Heat/Defrost System comes with the Deluxe Plenum and Cable Operated controls for Defrost & Heater Functions, and was easy to install. The Hurracane Heat Cool & Defrost Unit attaches to the firewall using original heater mounting holes. A/C and Heater fitting pass through the factory blower motor hole with a custom rubber grommet. The compact design retains cowl vent and a majority of the glove box.

The custom molded plenum fits along bottom edge of the dash for switching and louvers. The plenum can be painted or covered with upholstry to match the interior of the truck.

The condenser assembly includes an aluminum “Super Kool Condenser” receiver/drier, mounting brackets and custom tubes for either driver or passenger side mounted compresor. We adding the optional trinary switch upgrade and additional 14” electric condenser fan to increase airflow across condenser to maximize the A/C system performance.

We worked with the folks at Old Air Products on the radiator needs. We had been looking at rather pricey custom radiator units and when they recommened tht we try a Griffin radiator that came out of a 1969 Mustang. It fit the stock 1953 Chevy/GMC radiator support perfectly with a little vertical room to spare. All we had to do was relocate the mounting holes and make a “U” shaped pipe for the lower radiator hose.

Uniquely GM Parts.
For those special trim parts that are unique to GMC and Chevrolet trucks, we turned to The Filling Station and Steve and Jerry Kassis who we have known for more than 30 years--we were Sacramento neighbors at one point in the mid-1970s when we were just getting started.

We learned rather quickly at the start of this project, that there are times when it is often more economical to replace a part with a quality reporduction than to rebuild or restore it. A visit to your local chrome shop will shock you into reality--expecially when it comes to low grade potmetal parts that need to be refinished. Bumbers were another shocker as well--the cost of new straight bumpers was the same or less than re-chroming and the quality is better.