37 Ford build--IE: old Header issues thread /37 Ford/5.0/GT40P heads

[Don Shillady]

I just finished soldering the ground wires for the headlights and the parking lights together so they now have the same ground for sure. However I still do not have parking lights even though the headlights are very bright! On Easter Sunday afternoon my 5 year old grand daughter sat in my car and messed with every knob on the dash. At that time I had the parking lights and the tail lights both connected to the "running lights" terminal and now I see why the parking lights were on (briefly). The TPI tech guy told me some folks run the parking lights together with the headlights so there is a yellow tinge from the yellow LEDs as for a fog light effect but I want the greater contrast from the yellow turn signals against the white headlights rather than against a yellow parking light background. The only good information in this message is that you can hook the parking lights to either the Acc/park terminal OR the Running Lights/Park terminal as you can see from the little chart I gave above. The only requirement is that the tail lights have to be on the Running Lights terminal in either case when using the Speedway 910-64051 switch. However this problem is driving me up the wall! I am now putting the battery on a long trickle charge so I make sure the battery is at full charge. Can any electrical expert on this Forum comment on whether the problem has to do with different voltage/amperage requirements for the yellow LEDs versus the filament headlight bulb?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

[34_40]

35fordcoupe, what Don Shilady and I have, is a switch that shuts off the front "parking/run" lamps when the headlights are turned on. I believe mine is that way and am going to verify that info tonite. Don got his headlight switch from Speedway and I got mine from Ron Francis. If my switch is the way I think it is, I'll post a part number for ya'll... Don has P.N. posted above. That should give you some choices in switches...

[35fordcoupe]

35fordcoupe, what Don Shilady and I have, is a switch that shuts off the front "parking/run" lamps when the headlights are turned on. I believe mine is that way and am going to verify that info tonite. Don got his headlight switch from Speedway and I got mine from Ron Francis. If my switch is the way I think it is, I'll post a part number for ya'll... Don has P.N. posted above. That should give you some choices in switches...

It didn't sound like Don had everything ironed out yet so I don't want to jump on that part number yet. My running lights are used as turn signals too but the turn signal that is on flashes while the other side stays on. Not necessarily a problem I'd just rather have the running lights off. If you could let me know what you find I would appreciate it. Thanks!

[Don Shillady]

I have found you can't debug the circuit while connected so I took the unit completely out and have studied it with an ohm meter. I think I have it figured out now but will confirm as soon as it works.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

[Don Shillady]

Well, I understand the switch now (Speedway 910-64051) but I must have something wrong in the headlight wiring or a lack of ground for the parking lights. I still have headlights and tail lights when the switch is pulled all the way out but nothing when the switch is pulled half way out. Here is what I found with the ohm meter.

Switch Pull......Battery.....Acc/Park.....Running Lights.....Head Lights
.....0...............+12V...........0...................0.......................0
...1/2..............+12V.......+12V.............+12V.....................0
...Full..............+12V...........0...............+12V..................+12V

Based on these readings I think the tail lights should be connected to the Running Light terminal so the tail lights will be ON for both the Park light option and ON with the headlights.

Then the Parking lights should be connected to the Acc/Park terminal so the Parking Lights will only be on when the pull switch is 1/2 out.

Sad to say this does not work on my setup so I must have some other problem and I will need to check the headlight wiring again. On my currect setup a test light does not follow the same pattern as when the switch is disconnected so I must have a ground loop somewhere or a lack of ground for the Parking Lights. This probably means unwrapping all the wires to the headlight units. This is frustrating to say the least!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

[34_40]

Sad to say I didn't get to the shop today, but I'll try and get it done tomorrow.. Life got in the way.. sigh..

[Don Shillady]

lightswitch001.jpgYahoo! There are two blue wires marked PWR in the TPI wiring set. I had the two reversed as to the "Battery" terminal. This was discovered using a test light. Now FINALLY I have hi/lo beam headlights and very nice yellow parking lights! Thanks for putting up with my angst. At Present I have the power to the Parking Lights connected to the Acc/Park terminal and the Tailight and Instrument light wires are attached to the Running Light/Park terminal. The mixup was fixed by putting the hi/lo foot switch to the headlight terminal and the "headlight PWR" wire to the +12V Battery terminal. Now it works! Brian is the Tech at Speedway who suggested the test light check.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

[34_40]

That is good news Don. It is always a good feeling when it all comes together, isn't it!?!?!?!

[Don Shillady]

This Friday I stopped in to a local "Bring-what-you-got" car show at a local Chic-Fil-A just north of Richmond and saw a beautiful '34 Ford coupe with a perfect chop. A slight slide of the hand under a rear fender revealed a fiberglass body to explain what was an amazingly perfect chopped roof. Of interest was the way in which the owner satisfied the Virginia requirement of a front license plate by mounting it to a bumper bolt in what is probably not a legal way since half the plate was hidden by the bumper in front of it. Anyway I have the same problem on my '29 roadster. The correct place for a front license on a Model A is to hang it from the front headlight bar but that really blocks off a large area of the radiator so I did not want to do that. Often restorers who actually drive their Model A to meets swing up the front plate like a knife edge to allow more air to reach the radiator. Anyway this thread is supposed to be about mid-thirties Fords and I have been an interloper made welcome by IC2 who is not here to support me. Thus here is a little bit of '33-'36 Ford equipment adapted to the right front bumper of a 'glass '29 replica. The whole thing ended up costing me about $50 because I tipped a machinist to shear the aluminum plate and I had to pay $15 for a one-time exact fit use of a 9/16" metal bit. The actual bracket is Speedway Part No. 911-30103-SS stainless steel '33-'36 front license plate bracket. Add in postage from Lincoln Neb. and the cost of several stainless bolts and it all adds up but I needed a way to fit a front license plate for Va. Inspection. It does look a bit clunky and the bracket has a built-in angle which is not noticeable unless you take a close look. Well here it is 1/4" Al plate and all. I painted the Al plate with aluminum paint, maybe I should have used black or body color?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

[bluestang67]

Don we too have to run a front plate in Illinois . Yours looks really good and well placed behind the bar tie . I haven't made it to this yet and am sure it won't be as well planned as this . I will have to remember this one so I can get something close when it comes time .

[406Rich]

Don we too have to run a front plate in Illinois . Yours looks really good and well placed behind the bar tie . I haven't made it to this yet and am sure it won't be as well planned as this . I will have to remember this one so I can get something close when it comes time .

We`re supposed to but I haven`y had mine on in the last ten years, reason being now for red light cameras, any ways might go with a electric or vaccum hidden plate in front.

[randyr]

Don we too have to run a front plate in Illinois . Yours looks really good and well placed behind the bar tie . I haven't made it to this yet and am sure it won't be as well planned as this . I will have to remember this one so I can get something close when it comes time .

I got by without running a front plate on my '37 for a few years before starting this rebuild. They seem to be cracking down in Cali these days so I've been thinking about something similar to what Don is showing except I want mine to be easily removable for car shows and stuff. The front of a '37 is too cool to be cluttered up with a stupid ass license plate!!

[35fordcoupe]

Sad to say I didn't get to the shop today, but I'll try and get it done tomorrow.. Life got in the way.. sigh..

No worries..I didn't get to work on the car all weekend . It's looking like this weekend is wide open at the moment though so I'm making a list so I can get some things crossed off!

I did some more research. Advance Auto has two part numbers for this type GM headlight switch - S415 and S415P. I'm not sure yet which one I have, but I'll probably cross my fingers and buy the other one.

[34_40]

No worries..I didn't get to work on the car all weekend . It's looking like this weekend is wide open at the moment though so I'm making a list so I can get some things crossed off!.

Looks like we both had "life influencing" our decisions this past weekend! I'll get it done tho'!

[34_40]

Okay, I got to the shop and verified that the switch is indeed wired to shut off the front running lamps when the headlights are turned on. The switch was part of the package from Ron Francis and the Part Number was HL-03.

The mating connector #'s = Wire Works # HL-03, A-C Delco # D1592, Standard # DS155, or Niehoff DR131K.

I found the installation instructions on the Ron Francis website and will try to post it here, but, it's 1.3 meg and I don't think it'll load. I can send it to you if you'd PM me that you want it or you can go to the Ron Francis website and simply search for HL-03. The instruction sheet clearly states that it's your choice to wire the front running lamps to be off when the headlamps are on...

And the file is indeed to large so if you'd like it, PM me or go to Ron Francis website..