VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1930 Chevy - ALMOST THERE!!

With a single element bulb it will work except it will be difficult to do so and have both turn signals and park lights work at the same time. but there is a way. hooked up the same fashion as the rear stop and turn signals, except subsitute the feed from the taillight switch to the same place the stop light switch hooks up, on a seperate wafer. I am trying to think of a turn light switch that you could use, They will have to have stacked wafers for the front and rear lights so that when the right turn signal needs to be on, the left turn will cancel and the left tail light will have steady power, etc. Check out the circuits for the turn signal switch in the 1949 thru 1954 shop manual.
I can't see doing the hook up without having two complete turn signal switches useing one common lever. Maybe some of the Electrical and electronic gurus here have a better idea.

Sure, it can be done, but you will need a double filament bulb in the cowl lights.

Heck JYD that is the easy way....you will also need a dual element pigtail socket. One for each cowl lamp that is! (auto parts store here I come)

Yep, and that information is straight from the planet DAH! ha ha!

You are right - there is a way! I found an old corroded case aftermarket turn signal assembly under the seat in the back corner with 7 wires that were cloth covered and severely frayed. I spent the last two days taking the thing apart and re-furbishing it. The nice thing with this switch is that there is a rubber wheel which rolls against the steering wheel and gives you automatic signal cancelling when the wheel turns back from a turn. This feature made me decide to re-furbish the unit. I took the two case halfs and took everything off them. and soaked them in CLR - you know - that stuff that takes off rust and calcium deposits on tubs and taps etc. and is available at Walmart?? After 15 minutes the cases were corrosion free but dull. I then took NeverDull wadding metal polish and buffed like crazy - I now have a real nice shiny nickel like finish on the case. I had to throw out the frayed wires and decided to take the switch apart seeing that I had no wiring diagram for it and all the frayed wires were the same color so that I could figure out the switching connections to wire it in. After prying the 4 tabs open I found that one spring for the brass wiper on one side was missing - someone had this switch apart and didn't know how to put it together again. I went to my junk bin and found a toggle switch - took it apart and the spring in it was the same size needed for this switch. after cleaning the old grease and dirt out of the switch I re-lubed it and put it back together. What is neat on this switch is that the two wipers (one for left and one for right) are triangular in shape. When the switch is at rest - the outermost contacts on the switch make contact with the 2nd outermost contacts via the bottom of the triangular wiper. When you move the switch to put the turn signal on - the one wiper moves in on one side only as both triangular wipers have their own bakelite block with a another spring between them. That way the side you are pushing the switch towards still has the bottom of that trianular wiper contacting the outermost 2 contacts on that side while the side you are pushing the switch from - the triangular wiper moves in so that the outermost contact for that side is now with no connection and the 2nd and 3rd contact on that side are now shorted through the bottom of the triangular wiper. A new 4th contact at the top of the triangular wiper is also connected so that 2nd 3rd and 4th contact are all shorted together through the triangular wiper. It sounds confusing - but if you follow it through and make a little drawing as you read - it really is quite simple. If you put 6 volts to the outermost contact - when the switch is at rest the power will go through the triangular contact pad to the 2nd outermost contact which is hooked up to the cowl light for that side of the car. Now when you put the turn signal on - The triangular wiper moves to the 2nd 3rd and 4th contacts and shorts them together. Since the 2nd one is hooked up to the cowl light, the 3rd gets hooked up to the rear turn light for that side and the forth gets the 6 volts through the flasher which makes them flash. When the turn signal is off - the 3rd contact to rear light is now open circuit as is the power from the 4th from the flasher. While the cowl light now acts as a running light as it gets power from the outermost contact. Simple but will work without having to make a socket change in your cowl lights and using a doublefilament bulb and prevent you from modifying them from original. If anyone can't follow the above but wants to do it - email me - I'll walk you through. I have the feeling that most of the old turn signal assemblies use this style of switch. Forget the wiring diagram they give you. Take the cover off the turn signal so you can access the switch contacts and using an ohnmeter check the continuity of the contacts while the switch is at rest and while it is left and then right turn position. A friend gave me some NOS cloth wire which i used to complete the re-furbishing of the turn signal assembly - sure looks purdy now :cool2:
BTW - JYD - while I was looking under the seat I noticed a shaft in the middle front bottom of the seat with a bunch of grooves on the front tip of it - looks like a handle of some sort went on it - tell me that the front seat is adjustable with this as I am 6' 2" and could use the extra leg room!!! :confused:

Maurice, did you take some photos of the turn signal switch? If so would you email some to:
mrmackc@msn.com
Thanks, That seems to be a better switch than the one I had on my 51, it is an original GM Guide I think.
Thanks.

Yes, the front seat on a 1930 coupe is adjustable. In the bottom, front center there is a "Tee" handle, and it is on sort of a worm drive. You turn the handle and the seat will either go back for forward depending upon which way you turn the handle.

MrMack - Give me a day or two - I just got a digital camera - I will email pix to you. Take a look at your switch inside the turn signal - if there are 5 contacts in one row and two in the other in the center top or bottom of the switch - chances are it will work the same way. I can tell you how to test it.

JYD - Thank You - any ideas where to locate the T handle?? I don't think I have ever seen one advertised.

Yep! Join the VCCA and get the Generator & Distributor magazine. I've seen used seat adjusters advertised for sale in the classified section in the past.

Damn - Christmas has to come early this year!! Have to put a stronger bug in my wife's ear!!

Maurice -

Well, like the Sports Illustrated TV ads say during the holiday season, "Why wait? Get a gift for yourself now!" The G&D is a great resource to understand these old cars and have access to services and parts.

On top of that, you get to see the wrecks that the Junkyard Dog and his puppies sometimes poke about in, and you automatically feel better about what you got to work with...!

Maurice, I have checked out my "original?" switch, , it does not have the triangular type wiper, the one you describe sounds better engineered than the one I have Thanks I will look forward to pics.