ok, so ive got this little stripped down roadster and i want to drive it on the road ASAP...im working on turnsignals...but by god does it look ugly with this big heaping thing hanging off the column any of you guys running without turnsignals? or have a better option then these clip on gadgets for the column just looking for some thoughts also if i do indeed put them on...do the turn signals interrupt the FRONT parking lights or do you put a dual filament bulb in there? thanks zach
Depends on the year of your registration. Even though I have a "homebuilt", the only DMV requirements were brake lights e-brake, safety gl***, horn, hi-lo headlights and seat belts highly recommended as the engine number is a 1931 Ford. So, I don't have turn signals on the roadster, but I did install them on the '29 CCPU. Check state laws....in Colorado, I only had to have the stuff that came on a '31 Ford plus safety gl***. BTW, the car is registered as a 2000 homebuilt.
A couple of horizontally oriented 3PDT toggle switches work very well. Wiring is easy to figure out, just sketch it out on a piece of paper and you'll see where things go. You do need a dual filament bulb up front unless you don't mind your parking lights lighting up when the brake lights are on. The dual filament bit shouldn't be too difficult to do in the original light housing. Buy a couple of dual filament replacement sockets for the old light housing. There are several styles made and you should be able to find what you want. Be sure and use fairly bright pilot lights. After a while shutting the turn signal off manually is second nature, but for the times you forget, the bright pilot light will remind you before too much time goes by. The poor quality pic shows where I hung the turn signal toggles. Just to the right of the column and below the dash as well as inward - toward the front a bit. The toggle switches are on a small 1/8" right angle aluminum piece that's been powdered black and it's mounted on the 1" square cross bar that runs from one side of the cowl to the other. Said bar for steering bracket mount a**** other things. The ****on in the middle of the small black panel is a two terminal Ford style starter ****on and is used for the horn. Fwiw - I searched pretty hard and could find no information about self-cancelling turn signals being required in California. A high beam pilot light is a requirement in California so don't forget that.
I have never ran turn signals. Use hand signails and go on. None of my buddys use them. None of us have ever gotten messed with. With the recent Chopper *** craze, its over looked as long as you use your hand signals. Hell if I have a ridder I tell him to point to the right out the p*** window when we turn right. Anymore, Cell phone talkin office robots will see an arm before a little 34 ford tailight.
I mounted mine under the dash, with just the arm sticking out - flick it right or left, cancel manually. Small lights in dash for indicators. The arm is level, and about the 7 o'clock position on the wheel in this picture. Mutt
i found a neat little turn signal switch on a 60's chevy van, the actual swithc is down low on the column, activated by a cable that runs up the column to the turn signal lever. skip the cheezy aftermarket signals, find the "bell" from a 50's or early 60's car and make it fit your column, or play off c9's idea and mount a regular turn signal switch in the dash, or under the seat to hide the wiring and ugliness. i ride bike with no signals, use the hand, but i would hesitate to use hand signals in a car, not every idiot in an SUV knows what the hell you're doing with your hand out the window, they think you're waving or playing airplane with your hand turn signals are a lot more h***le,clutter on an early bike, but on a car, it's simple to hide them.
Yeah -- the hand signals will get you cleared by the Smokies after the accident, but the last time I drove a stock '49 over to its next garage, the citizens were freaked at the guy pointing to something out of that old blue car. Nobody today knows what the hand signals mean. If you want to relax while turning, I suggest springin' for some blinklies so they'll understand and back off.
Ron Francis wire works make a special toggle switch with the circuts to interrupt the brake light/turn signal in the rear , it is their part @# SS-1 and costs about $25
Since you're from Pennsylvania, these two sites may help you with a lot of questions. Mike's site is excellent and he's don great work for the PA rodders. www.pavehiclenews.com www.pacode.com/secure/data/067/chapter175/chap175toc.html
just a quick question but can you use one single three point switch for the turn signals? 1-----2----3 left--off--right like that? thanx tim
I use a 3 way switch. Wired sepratly from the brake or park lights. I use led's for dash indicators,they last longer than bulbs. mount it on the column. up is right.down for left. and center for off. sparky
UNLESS, you live in the Black Hills next to Sturgis like I do. Funny how a million bikers can train the 100K locals within 2 weeks time what hand signals are for! My T Nor my 54 have signals, I do watch my back and either add a block or slow down to the point a tailgator goes around before I have to turn. It is all about defensive/offensive driving REGARDLESS whether your car has signals or not.
thanks everyone... i'm thinking i might try to put it under the dash...mainly i just think the thing clutters up the column too much...im not against running them just trying to find a discrete way of doing it...and if not....NONE! thanks zach
I love those ugly things as long as they look old and different. The small round one bottom center is unusual. It must have mounted in the dash or in a panel below it. The toggle goes left and right. You could mount one of the ugly chrome universal switches vertically behind the dash so that all that shows is the end of the lever. The wiring would need to be reversed. You could even extend the lever with a 90 deg. bend to stick out some from under the dash like Posey did with some of his automatic shifters. Make it out of 1/4" tubing with the indicator light on the end like "ET's finger"...phone home I'm in the process of putting the beige one on the 34 P/U. The art deco one next to it is on my 32 spt coupe. The top one on the right I used on my old 34 pick up. The top and arm are pot metal and polished up nicely against a black wrinkle painted body. Did I say I like turn signal switches???
On my scooter I only have rear turn signals; that way Johnny won't write me up for that too when I get pulled over. Besides, it's easy enough to cant the bike to one side at an intersection to make my intentions clear. As far as my car goes, though, the miles logged without signals were more stressful than they should have been. It's cheap insurance and easy enough to install. Yeah, the lever may be ugly, but so is my face and I've learned to live with that!
wow tommy, youve been collecting i just acquired a bunch by accident over time i guess i sure wish i had more land and a bulldozer...i'd just build a dirt race track all over the place and not have to deal with all this johnny law ****...build all the cars i want exactly how i want them...and invite my friends over to race around with me.....be like back in time ahh that would be the life!! zach
Yes I have a fetish. To me it's one of the things you really need so the challenge is to make yours cool and different. Back in the 70's or 80's you could get square green push ****ons with L and R on them. When you pushed the ****om, it and the 10 cent bolt on street rod taiwan chrome lights flashed. gawd they made me ill!! I feel nausious just talking about them. Do they make one in billet??
I have "signals" on my roadster.......A 3 position toggle switch. flip it Left actuates left and then right activates right signal- with the center position being off. It is located on the front of seat frame. I have a single stop light [in the center] that is seperate circuit from the tillights/actuated by a hydraulic switch that is plumbed in the brake line......works for now- I am planning on improvements!
I vote for hiding it under the seat or dash. I would use a pilot light though, nothing says cool like cruising around in your hot rod with the turn signal blinking I would be real careful using hand signals, I can see it now, you signal a left turn, some cell phone talking soccer mom looks to see what you're pointing at, and drills you in the *** with her Suburban
The soccer mom's Suburban I saw out in St Paul had a bumper sticker that read,"I bet Jesus would have used His turn signals". I thought that was pretty good comment on the way most of the folks I share the road with drive. Note: idiots are people who blast past me when I'm already 15 over the limit. Fools are those who won't get out of my way and hog the left lane.
i havent had turn signals working on my car for 5 months . in nj its ok if you use hand signals .. but who in nj knows hand signals? i'm lucky i havent been rear ended yet . i say go for the toggel switches
That's what I run in my '47 and it works very well. I have a three guage panel under the dash with an indicator light between the gauges, so I made them the indicators. I changed the front park light sockets to the kind that take a dual element 1157 bulb.
I just saw that Speedway sells a self-cancelling signal setup. It's kinda rodderiffic in that it's not traditional, but it sounds useful. Here's the salespitch from their site... This module eliminates the need for turn signal flashers, hazard flashers and/or a traditional turn signal switch. It measures only 2 1/4" x 1 5/8" x 5/8" and will fit most anywhere. Simply mount two small momentary push ****on switches (available from Radio Shack) anywhere that is convenient, and connect the eight color coded wires into your harness. The flash is consistent whether using incandescent or LED bulbs. 12 volt bulbs up to 6 amps total. Measures 2 1/4" x 1 5/8" x 5/8". Here's how it works: Press the appropriate ****on for 1 second and the turn signal light will flash for 7 seconds, then self cancel. Press for 2 seconds and it will flash for 20 seconds, then self cancel. Press for 4 seconds and it will flash for 75 seconds, then self cancel. Press the same ****on a second time to manually cancel. To activate the hazard flashers, press both ****ons at once. To disengage, press again. (They will flash until disengaged). It doesn't seem to fit well, being that your car is so traditional, but I thought I'd throw it out there as an option.
The Jalopy Journal
