Turn Signal Kit

[1930 coupe]

...

[Charlie Stephens]

I would want one that uses the brake bulbs for the turn signals by flashing them. If you flash the parking bulb (running light/tail light) with the brake bulb on no one will see it. Maybe you can wire Bratton's that way but you need to ask.

Charlie Stephens

[pat in Santa Cruz]

all the harnesses that incorporate turn signals make for a neater installation. I prefer my turn signals nestled in the bumper bars, or hidden in fog lights. The problem with using the parking lamp in the headlight bucket is that the amber bulb is visible when standing in front of the car when its parked. I just do not like that look. I also think the general public is more accommodated to seeing turn signals in the lower front corners of a car rather than in the headlight or cowl. Using the rear brake lights seems to be a natural location.

[jrelliott]

May be a neater installation to have them in headlights and tail lights, but I installed separate lights in the bumper bars, front(amber) and rear(red) with bright bulbs. They are very visible. Do know that the LED bulbs for the tail lights are very bright and get your attention when following the vehicle. Friend has a set of LEDs on his 30 Pickup and they are great.

[Growley bear]

I bought the logo light kit from Snyder's and I really like them. I especially like that the controller is tucked neatly under the dash rail. Easy to install and operates fine on a six volt system.
You can see them here on the front and rear bumpers.

[modelAtony]

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SINCE 2001 HAVE BEEN RUNNING LOGO LITES. RUN THE third light BRAKE light in rear window of 31 tudor.. I drive at night alot and the logo lites are great in dark, not visible during the day. Use your hand signals. The window brake light is the best money you can spend. I keep putting off buying the bright LED LIGHTS for tail and brake, I really need and want them. have fun modelAtony Lafayette,LA

[Growley bear]

Originally Posted by modelAtony

SINCE 2001 HAVE BEEN RUNNING LOGO LITES. RUN THE third light BRAKE light in rear window of 31 tudor.. I drive at night alot and the logo lites are great in dark, not visible during the day. Use your hand signals. The window brake light is the best money you can spend. I keep putting off buying the bright LED LIGHTS for tail and brake, I really need and want them. have fun modelAtony Lafayette,LA

I was using hand and arm signals until one day while signaling a left turn a guy coming in the opposite direction thought I was flagging him down. We talked about Model A's for a few minutes. That is when I decided to install turn signals.

[Glenn C.]

If I am not mistaken, the Bratton system that you are referring too, has the switch to be located on the gear shift lever, which I now think is more manageable than the Logo Light push button system, that is incorporated into the control box that would be located behind the dash panel. The Logo Light system has one feature that I like, and that is the 4way flasher mode. Separate switch not required. As I get older, and have to adapt to increased traffic conditions, a conventional system with the signal light lever on the column, might be the way to go. My vehicles are not trailer queens. You want them others to see you.

[ford31]

I am getting ready to do my pickup,I'm going with fronts like Growley bear already have the lights,added pass rear like driverside original how did you guys take cable out of inside

[jrelliott]

Ford31 routed the wires behind the driver kick panel. Also went to Radio Shack and purchased a 9 pin connector so could remove the wires from the turn signal to the lights easily. Use an original wiring harness, so the turn signal lights are completely separate. Just added a wire from the brake light switch to the turn signal so when stopping and not turning have four red lights in the rear. Placed black electrical tape around steering column to prevent scratching and ran a good ground from the switch to ground. System works great and can be taken back to original easily.

[Rene R]

I'm a big fan of Logo Lites kit. Bolt-on, easy installation, discreet appearance between bumper bars, yet very bright. I've had them for years.

I also have their rear window STOP light, that one is a real life saver. The single original rear stop light just isn't adequate, but no one can fail to see the bright window light. Unfortunately last time I looked at Logo Lites website they were no longer offering the STOP light. That's a shame.

[59mgaguy]

When I read your question on the turn signal I got a giggle out of it. How many times have any of you guys use your arm for signalling only to have the other person in the on coming car think your waving at them? I laugh ever time this happens.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Just last summer I was signalling a left turn at a 4 way stop. The cop on my right pulled up and asked what I wanted.

He realized his mistake right away and just said nice car and asked the year.

[MikeK]

I have installed two of the complete harness/ Signal stat 900's.
Likes:
a) Clean install, no bundle of harness splices to contend with.
b) Fingertip reach of the lever, like a modern car. Keeps your hand on the wheel.
c) Built-in 4-way flasher feature. Embarrassed, but I used it a few times!
d) Permits use of a lamp monitoring flasher rather than a 'heavy duty' *1(see note)
e) They flash the rear BRAKE lamps, so the signal is visible when brakes are applied.
f) Easy to carry a spare flasher module, simple plug-in.
g) If you have a complete original harness and light switch assembly you can remove and save it rather than cutting it up.

Dislikes:
a) The built-in indicator lamp requires the unit body to electrically ground to the column through the paint. You need to run a separate tiny ground wire if you don't want to scratch your column.
b) Not self-canceling, unless you use a time/acceleration detector flasher.
c) Flasher units not loud enough in an A, the little green indicator windows are difficult to see in daylight.

Install problems:
a) The units come with complete new end-of-column repop switch housings. If you think you can just attach the bottom half to your original upper, they don't fit. You need to remove your original upper switch housing and fight with that #%~+XZ^<!! clip at the bottom of the light switch rod.
b) On one of mine, the bakelite center-switch disc would hang up on the rotating contact assembly. I had to smooth out the transition into the brass detents.
c) Harness eyelets, bullets, connectors were crimped only. I had to go over everything first and solder.
d) The mounting strap is a junky piece of galvanized. I made a SS strap and used a strip of old inner tube against the column so I could get it tight with enough friction to prevent sliding/turning on the column.
e) It is not all straight and neat out-of-the-box. The big knot needs straightening, twisting, and massaging before install. I did find the woven harness cover braid does a much better job of picking up cat hair than a lint roller.

Other:
There are three versions- 1) wires to front bumper 2) wires to park lamp in headlights 3) wires to cowl lamps.
To switch 12V to 6V or back, just change plug-in flasher and indicator lamp.

NOTE 1:
First, there are two general categories of mechanical flashers, Load-Dependent and Heavy-Duty. All OEM passenger car apps (6V and 12V) had the Load-Dependent type, and for good reasons. 1) You could tell if you had a burned out or shorted bulb because the flash rate would change from what was 'normal'. Slow or no flash indicated an open lamp, fast a shorted one. There were many part numbers for different amperage loads. 2) Load-Dependent flashers light the turn signals immediately, permitting you to quickly tap the signal lever and blink the lights without waiting for any time cycle. They only click "off" after a heating cycle on an internal bi-metallic strip.

Many "HD" flashers are OFF 'till a slight delay heats the bi-metallic strip closing heavy, relay type tungsten contacts, capable of 10+ amps. "Heavy Duty" flashers were used by OEM's for truck apps only, where you had many lights, often on a trailer. They lacked those two important safety features, the ability to communicate an open or short condition as described, and the quick-blink ability. In later years (the 12 volt era) the Federal Department of Transportation mandated load-dependent flashers in passengers autos, but that didn't stop the aftermarket from pushing the idea that "HD" must be better, and only stocking those as replacements in parts stores instead of lots and lots of different load-dependent part numbers.

Not all flashers are true to their model number. 535 should be a heavy duty 6V flasher. Unfortunately there are a lot of little "cans" out there that were sold as aftermarket flashers that, although marked 535, are actually not, even before the china syndrome came to plague replacement parts.

Your 535 is not actually that if it flashes at a different (faster) rate when on 4-way. It is actually some type of load-dependent flasher that was falsely marketed as a 535. If you want it to work faster, (this does not work on true HD flashers) put a dummy load (try a 10 ohm 5 watt) on each side, one in the left tail housing, one in the right. You can also tweak the flash rate by opening the can and changing the tension bias on the contacts.

About the "P" terminal- internally, most are junk, bare sheet metal contacts without tungsten or silver alloy points, and no 'wipe' action. They corrode and burn up fast. Some flashers (mostly the HD numbers) have them activated out of phase with the "L" terminal. Thus, when the actual lights are on the indicator is off, and when the flasher clicks the indicator is on, the turn lamps are off.

If you are electrically inclined and handy, you can easily tweak many of the so-called electronic 12V flashers to work on 6V, especially the old "Victor" jobs in transparent plastic where you see a magnet coil inside.

[pooch]

I use Toyota camry side repeater lights and cut the back out of them and glue in 2 lots of 24 LED panels, gives 48 LEDs.

4 used lights cost 5 bucks and each 24 LED costs $2.08.

Cheap and look great and fits between the bars.

[ba49]

I have Logo Lights on both of my As and love them. Very bright and easy install. Alslo the control switch is easy to hide.

[MikeK]

1930 Coupe, There are some knock-offs of the Signal-Stat 900. I haven't bought a switch/harness from Brattons in several years. If you are concerned about quality, call and ask.

I do not know if the park-lamp and cowl lamp versions are set up as you ask. There is a way to internally rewire a signal Stat 900 to interrupt (blink) the front park lamps if it is not. It is pretty simple. You just need to bring out one additional wire. The modification was posted some time ago, here's the LINK. Using a long piece of MIG wire as a fish line, you could probably pull that wire as well as the lacking ground for the indicator lamp inside the woven loom cover for a very neat job. The ground can be a very tiny #24, it only sinks 1/4 amp.

If you have one already set up for dual use of the front park lamps and are adept at neat electrical work (emphasis on neat) you could certainly use it, but you would have quite a few new wires, front/back/brake switch return to lever switch, etc. to run on top of your old harness.

Without knowing your exact lamp load, I cannot spec any specific load-dependent flasher number. A true 535 will work as long as you have incandescent bulbs in either front or rear. The Chinese 535 flashers are trash, you need a half-dozen to make it through a driving season. You can find NOS USA made Ideal, Niehoff, Philco, Tung-Sol, etc. 535's and other numbers if you search.

[Del in NE Ohio]

Snyders has new 6V Positive ground LED amber and red turn signals designed to mount between the bumper bars similar to logo lites. They have a resistor built-in so they work with conventional thermal flasher. Look on their website under new products.

[Doug in NJ]

Originally Posted by 1930 coupe

I have been looking at turn signal kits. Brattons has one #20410 that is a complete wiring harness and turn signal unit, it uses the parking bulbs in the headlights and the tail lights.
Has anyone installed one of these?
Any comments good or bad?

I installed one of these kits about 18 months ago, and I am happy with it.
I use the all-red 6-volt LED taillights, and the flasher works with them.
I mounted the flasher behind the driver's kick panel, but to get the wires to pass into that area, I had to temporarily remove the plastic connector block from the end of the harness. One issue with S/W cars is that there is not enough room on the column to mount the switch above the column mounting bracket. You have to put the switch below that bracket, which means you can't operate it without removing your hand from the steering wheel.

Doug

Doug