A fire waiting to happen

[Steve Braverman]

I was replacing the headlight harness on my '32 today to cure non-functioning headlights. The harness came out easily, and didn't look too bad. The problem was the wires inside the headlights themselves. Of course these weren't included in the harness I bought. When I bought this car seven years ago, I drove it 900 miles home. I noticed that the lights weren't great, and there was a big current draw when they were on. Duh.

[PFitz]

Steve,

Good thing you found it before REAL trouble could start!

That looks VERY familiar! Not long ago I had to replace all the wiring in a 30 that was assumed to have had the wiring replaced many years ago when it was restored. Some of the wiring had been replaced, but only what was easy to get to. The hidden stuff remained .....along with it's dangers.

In fact wiring in condition like that is more common than many owners know. "Out of site, out of mind" is usually the course of action until there is a problem. That's why I put battery disconnect switches in all my customer's cars ..... or they're car is not in my shop !

When I opened things up on that 30, the head light harnesses looked identical to yours. That was just the begining. Main power feed wire to the amp gauge had alot of insulation missing where it crossed over the chassis. Why that didn't start welding I'll never know. Good thing this one had a battery switch put in it years ago.

Keep in mind, from 29 on Franklin put too much load on just that one main 20 amp fuse/relay. The 14 gauge wire most of the system uses is only safely rated to 18 amps. What I don't like about it is if that main fuse blows, it by-passes through a resister wire that can still allow enough current flow to cause a fire. Don't know what they were thinking when they designed that.

If your going to keep that fuse/relay for originallity, at least open it up and remove the resister wire. That way you can just use the fuse block part of it.

The biggest amp draw, the lighting switch, should be on a 15 amp fuse MAX! Even the cigar lighters didn't need more than a 15 amp fuse to work.

Also, try to get other circuts off the relay such as the brake lights. Put them on thier own fuse. Safer and if there is a problem, you don't loose all your lights.

You going to have all that ready in time for the Trek?

Paul

[Steve Braverman]

I also insist on a battery disconnect switch. (I've also heard stories of Startix-equipped cars creeping away in the night.)

I've got everything back together except for the headlights themselves. I'll try to get them rewired today.

I'm leaving for the Trek on Saturday morning with my wife and daughter in the car. Should be an interesting ride.

[Steve Braverman]

What's good for polishing reflectors?

[PFitz]

Steve,

I use a solution of 10% car wax, and 90% elbow grease. Warning, the siver plating is VERY thin. I don't recommend using any metal polish because they all have some form of abrasive in them. Cleaned a few times with metal polish and the old silver starts to show brass.

By the way, next town east of Caz, "Peterboro" has a VERY good and reasonable silver plater. Goes by the name "Zophy's". He does plating for churches, collectors and many of the antique dealers in Madison/Bouchville area. Does excellant work.

It truely is amazing how bright those 12 inch Twilites can be when he's done re-silver plating them !!!!! If you don't mind going home without reflectors, I'll give you directions. He's sorta on your way home from Caz.

Paul Fitz.

[Steve Braverman]

The silver plating is actually pretty good, but it's cloudy. Is Nevr-Dull a bad idea?

[PFitz]

I wouldn't. Even in good shape, you'd be suprised how thin the silver is on those reflectors !!!!!!

Light clouding, better known as "haze", should polish off with rubbing hard with just car wax on a cotton rag. Clouding that won't usually means that the silver is, or has in past been tarnished too deep to polish without going through what little silver remains.

Had the same thing on a 32 Speedster here and by the time the clouding was gone, brass patches were showing through the silver. As you can amagine, brass reflects alot less light than cloudy silver !!!!

It's been my experiance with the Twilite relectors that if waxing won't get rid of the clouding, it's about time for re-silvering.

I used to use Neverdull on my drum cymbals. To get that type heavy tarnish off, I'm pretty sure it's got a fine abrasive in it. Works alot like Brasso, which like most metal polishes, has an abrasive mixed in. One of the first things I learned in basic training was how well Brasso will remove the clear laquer that's on new brass insignia.

Start with the method least likely to do damage. Just try plain,car wax on a soft cotton cloth and lots of "umph". If that doesn't remove the cloudy-ness, then ..... out at the rim where the cork seal sits try your Neverdull, or other polishes to see if they remove the clouding without removing the silver too.

Paul Fitz.

[Steve Braverman]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: PFitz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Steve,

What I don't like about it is if that main fuse blows, it by-passes through a resister wire that can still allow enough current flow to cause a fire. Don't know what they were thinking when they designed that.</div></div>

Now I'm baffled. It seems that the fuse has been missing since I've owned the car. Apparently I have been running everything through the resistor until the shorts got bad enough to melt it. What a weird design. What's the point of the fuse, if everything will work without it? I see what you mean. The car needs to be re-designed to be electrically sound.

The local parts store does not have the fuse for this application either. It's a larger than usual fuse. I tried hooking a jumper lead up to see if everything works. They do, but the amperes gauge pegs, so something is wrong.

I'm going to load the car onto the trailer and bring my test light and multi-meter to the Trek. (I decided to trailer after I saw the weather forecast. Scattered showers and 90 degrees.) I always prefer to drive the car, but sometimes I guess it's smarter to use the equipment I have to make life easier and safer.

When I put the carburetor back on (Removing it makes the light switch easier to get to.) I noticed the fuel line leaking. Bruce Lehr soldered it back together for me as I'm a lousy plumber, but when I got it back home and installed it, one of the brass nuts broke! Maybe the heat work-hardened it?

I swear I think the spirits of Doman and Marks are trying to tell me to stay home.