Where to route power for accessories on my '38?

[Guest Tishabet]

Hi Guys,

I've bought an after market turn signal unit for my 38 Special. The wiring itself is straightforward, but one part of the wiring diagram has me scratching my head... I need to route some power to the unit itself.

One of the spots that seems like an ideal power takeoff point would be from the horn relay, since it's conveniently located near the wiring entry point in the firewall and the positive power wire itself is fairly substantial (and can handle some amperage).

For the time being the only thing I plan to power is the turn signal unit, but I suppose there's the possibility of some other accessories in the future. I'm also thinking of installing a fuse block on the firewall, for what it's worth.

So... where did you guys pick up the power for your after market accessories?

[Mark Shaw]

Grant,

I recently had the misfortune to have my ignition coil come loose. It slid down into the clamp, shorted out, and fried my ignition switch contacts. When I pulled the ignition switch I found no less than four wires connected to the (very crowded) hot side of my ignition switch. One was for the acessory heater and another was for the aftermarket turn signals.

The alarming part of this is that all these wires were on the hot side of the switch within 1/8" of the steering column. I fixed the ignition switch (a marvelously simple and reparable device) and moved the hot side of the switch to the other side. Now there is only one wire on the steering column side where it cannot short out as easily.

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Der Tishabet:

Here's a different suggestion for you. I faced the same question for a set of Trippe lights on my 1939 Roadmaster. My solution was a wire directly from the top of the generator to a small fuse block hidden in an little metal box made from a old Succrets throat lozenges box painted black (lid snaps open and closed), suitably modified to allow the wires to enter and exit and mounted on the inside fender panel. A standard headlamp relay is mounted next to it. A wire from the control of the relay to underneath the left end of the dashboard, a heater switch there that's grounded when it's "ON" . Looks right, made from materials that were available in 1938-9, no juice under the dash or thru the main switch and draws nothing if the engine's not running. Also aids in controlling voltage when engine is running!! Full generator power up to 30 amps for the Trippes.

Regards, Dave Corbin

[Guest Tishabet]

Mark and Dave,

Thanks for the responses! I've purchased a small fuse block and will likely tackle this project next weekend, I like the idea of wiring to the generator so that the system is only hot when the engine is running... cool solution!

[chstickl]

Grant,

there is one aspect where you might want to have the turn signal going without the engine running: when you need the turn signal as hazard lights (all 4 flashing) in case of a break-down. Most after market turn signal switches can do that and in modern cars this would be a hard requirement.

Independantly I think, it is a good precaution to have that - just in case.

For that reason, I routed power from the hot side of the ignition switch, but I installed a fuse panel behind the speaker screen under the dash board with just one wire going from the ignition swithch to there. From there I distributed power to all other users through a fuse.

Christian