The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I am now going through the electrical system in the major restoration project I am currently undertaking. The plane is a 52 model ser. # 25287. It has the original electrical system. What upgrades will be the most important for safety? Do I have to change to circuit breakers? Master avionics switch? I will only have 1 com, 1 transponder, whelen wingtip strobes, intercom and the usual items. I do only vfr flights. I am also changing all the wires to new ones. Thanks.

FWIW,I removed an avionics master switch a previous owner installed--just one more thing to fail. I felt it was unnecesary with only a navcom,txp,intercom,and gps. If & when I have a $20K radio stack I'll probably reinstall the av master.
Circuit breakers are a nice upgrade from fuses. I like the "pull-off" type such as the Potter & Brunfield W23 series. They're in the $15-20 range,about double the non pull-off P&B W58 series prices. Klixon CB's are good stuff I guess but pretty spendy,according to my Spruce catalog.
The pull-off or click-off types are real nice if you have an electrical emergency,you can more easily isolate the problem(s) using both switches & CB's.
Good luck with your electrical project. Let us know how it turns out and if you come up with any good tips for the rest of us.

Eric

Alvin, my set up uses the rot.bcn switch location for wingtip strobes. The orginal, unused cabin heater switch location was used for "Radios" for a master.
Everything is protected by CB's in the former fuse locations. Since my airplane was undergoing complete restoration, the switch label panels/CB panels were remanufactured so that the switch/CB functions appear as if they were originally such.
What Eric said about possible failure of a master switch has merit. Cessna thought they had the solution (later airplanes) in using a master relay that latched when the avionics master was engaged, and would not unlatch until the Aircraft Master was dis-engaged. I always thought that was the dumbest thing I'd ever seen. (Their intent was good. It was their results that stank. The plan was that a power failure to the avionics master would keep the avionics alive regardless. The problem was that avionics couldn't be switched off except individually.)
I'm not too concerned with the pull-type switches reliability. They're dirt simple and reliable. (I once had a landing light sw. get a little contrary, but pulling on it firmly put it back in action. Disassembly showed how really simple the switch design is. Needle-nose pliers can bend the tabs and open the switch up. It works by using a sliding set of contacts against a phenolic-mounted set of stationary contacts. Cleaning them up with emery paper and applying a bit of lithium grease, and 5 years later it still works fine.) If the master switch does fail, I guarantee it's cheaper to replace than any of the individual avionics power switches that can be worn out from extra use due to no avionics master. Carry a hand-held for a backup if you're worried about total system failures, gets my vote.