Author Topic: Now it's the turn signals on the '53 J  (Read 1988 times)

bearman

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Now it's the turn signals on the '53 J
« on: September 23, 2012, 04:50:11 PM »
I'm at wit's end here.  First of all, my J only has two posts on the headlamp block--is that a problem?  THe headlights and parking lights work fine as do the brake lights.  But I'm nowhere with the AUtolamp 9000 turn signals.  I have a new flasher, BTW.  I have a red wire and a green wire going to the round lights on the trunk deck, not the brake lights.  I have a red wire and a green wire coming forward.  I am happy to "lose" the parking lights and just have turn signals.  Sorry to be so stupid, but can anyone tell me how and WHERE on the headlamp block to connect the red wire and the green wire.  BTW, the brown wire on the turn signal unit IS connected to the ignition switch and the wire is fine.  A test of the unit (flasher removed) shows power in the X, L, and P slots.

Fid

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Re: Now it's the turn signals on the '53 J
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2012, 08:44:50 PM »
Hi bearman, I'm a little confused here. You mentioned "the round lights on the trunk deck." If the car is a 1953, then any lights on the trunk deck would be aftermarket units as the signal lights on the J used the standard tail lights as the signal lights. Do you have a picture? That might help.
Next there are three terminals on the front terminal block:

The left most wire (heavy red one) in the photo goes to the high beam filaments on the head lights (three wires connect to the terminal, one from the dimmer switch and one out to each headlight). The middle one with the thinner black wire goes to the low beam filaments (again 3 wires, one to the dimmer switch and one to each light). The thinner yellow one on the far right is for the parking lights, also with three wires, one to the headlight switch and one to each parking light. Because signal lights were/are add-ons, they do not connect at the terminal block and because they are low current light bulbs, they can and do use bullet connectors. The wires are routed behind the grill work to conceal them.
Also, the wires on your car/terminal block may not be in the same order as the ones on my '52 Vagabond have the parking lights on the far left instead so the order could be different but the connections are the same.
You are correct, if the car has the original sockets in the parking light fixtures, they are single terminal and you'd  have to sacrifice your parking lights if you want signal lights (does anyone ever use parking lights?). My '53 J was like that for  years till I found the '52-'53 Kaiser dual-terminal sockets will fit the 1952-54 Henry J (except Vagabond). I pulled a set out of a '53 Kaiser parts car and soldered new wires onto them. I installed the round terminal connectors for the parking light wire to the terminal block and used bullet connectors which, as mentioned, are neatly concealed underneath/behind the terminal block and now my car has both parking and signal lights for the first time in almost 60 years. Hope this helps.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2012, 10:56:22 AM by Fid »
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bearman

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Turn signals light up but don't blink
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2012, 06:11:18 PM »
Thanks, Fid.  I've got everything wired, bulbs are fine, achieved the needed ground in the left rear turn signal light (yep, the deck-mounted one), and when I turn the turn signal either left or right, the appropriate lights go ON but do not BLINK.  I installed a new flasher, "535 6-volt, 32CP - MAX 6, Heavy Duty Flasher, fuse input lead."  Napa Auto Parts checked their book and said this is the right flasher for "vintage cars that are 6-volt."  But I'm wondering if that's true.  Rudy Phillips sells a flasher for $25, part #215800; do I need THAT one?  Any ideas on what could keep the turn signals from blinking correctly?  BTW, my car is now set up with a Negative ground.  If the turn signals pre-date the conversion from positive ground (quite likely), could this have a bearing on the flasher or the turn signal mechanism?