Turn signals in "A" tail lights

29restorod

29restorod

Senior Member
I am starting on my turn signal installation project. I am using the plans written by George DeAngelis,in the July 1962 MARC News. These are the same plans I followed when I was a teenager. I know George,he lives near me. Any way I want to use these same plans,but the replacement dual contact bulb sockets I ordered from Mac's ,have a very sloppy fit. I just called the Ford dealer,on the off chance that the part number,in the article,was still good. No such luck. I need to add add the dual contact socket to the lower bulb placement. Any one done this mod lately?
 
You are headed in the wrong direction. Your turn signal needs to turn the brake light off and on or you will have a flashing light that is difficult to see because of the brightness of the brake light.

Charlie Stephens
 
When I did mine, the dual contact socket was only used in the cowl lights. The tail lights already have separate sockets for tail / stop-turn.
 
If you are going to drive your car, don't hide the turn signals in the tail lights ... or in the headlights or the cowl lights. Buy the "slim, super bright LED turn signals" that mount between the bumper bars. They are available in 6V or 12V, a much cheaper than a visit to the ER, and REALLY SHOW UP, EVEN AT HIGH NOON!
Sometimes they are called LogoLites.
Of course, this is IMHO.
 
Maybe I should explain,that I am duplicating my old high school car,and want to do exactly what I did in 1962. I don't like the look of modern lights on an "A". I will be using some old bullit marker lights on the front,because 29's did not come with cowl lights. The turn signal in back will be the upper light bulb. Runnig light,and stop light will be the new lower,dual element bulb. At some later date I will convert to LED's.
 
In my old high school car (31 Fordor), people still recognized hand signals, therefore, turn signals were not even considered. In fact, this one little town in SE Arizona that I lived in, hand signals were "required" even if you had lights. (Mid to late 50s)
 
I just did this to mine and had no trouble with putting the 2 wire sockets in, if its a sloppy fit maybe some solder to tighten things up. Good luck
 
The Ford part # listed = OIC-13410-A. It was a repair-replacement socket,with 24" pigtails. Also listed in the article were 49-51 Ford tail light sockets. In 62 I got them from the junk yard. The Ford dealer said no such number was in the system. The Mac sockets are .o40" too small,because they are made with thinner metal(Chinese).
 
Visit a junk yard again, or napa or advance or any other parts house, there are quick fix kits which you should be able to match up for what you want. JMO
Paul in CT
 
How "sloppy" is the fit? There are many materials available today that should be able to lock the socket into the lamp base. That should not be a problem.
 
I may have fixed the problem,but not as well as I would like. I used a pair of side cut pliers and bent the ridge in around the socket. I think it is tight enough to change bulbs. It's just not as tight as Henry made it.
 
I recently added a second repro taillight to my 29 Briggs blindback (right side). (The left one is original and very nice.) I bought dual element socket inserts from napa and put them into the same socket as was in the taillights. It requires drilling a hole into the side of the socket in the right spot so that the tab on the insert is held properly. Make sure to figure that the spring will be depressed when the bulb is in. The new bulbs (napa also) have 2 alignment pins rather than the stock 1 pin bulb so I just touched the one pin with a grinder and removed it. It works very good. The bulb is easy to change out and fits perfectly. Its nice and tight in the socket too. I used the bright element of the bulb for the turn signal and the less bright one for the brake light. It works very well and is nice and bright on even the most sunny day. The bulbs I got at napa were higher CP than stock I think too.... On the front I bought some new "Beehive" lights from Napa and used a set of original license plate to light bar brackets and set them in real close to the headlights, they look good and work awesome, are very bright. I used the original style cloth wire loom from Mac's and ran it into the light grommet on the radiator housing, looks real nice. I couldn't get them in 6 volt so had to replace the bulbs but that was no problem. I was using a toggle switch mounted under the dash but yesterday I was at a fleemarket and bought a vintage turn signal switch and just installed it last night. One thing I also did, as I am prone to forgetting the turn signal on, is put a little piezo buzzer across the flasher terminals so when the signal is in use, I get a pleasant little "beep, beep, beep..." I used 2 diodes in the signal switch to tie in the indicator light. It flashes with either right or left turn. I don't have emergency flasher function on this switch but I don't need it. My A is completely original and I hated to mess with adding this to it but no one knows what a hand signal is anymore! People think you're waving at them and go screaming past you on the left just as you're trying to make a left turn. Its dangerous without signal lights in this day and age.
 
I am using a self centering toggle switch under the dash,same as I had in 62. My "T" has a manual toggle,and like you I forget to turn it off. Still trying to follow my dads rules"don't drill,or cut anything".
 
Parden me I may step on myself here, but if the lite you have is a dual contact dual filiment bulb why do you need to change anything, the signal stat 900 signal unit uses the brake lite as a signal and brake lite so unless you using a very early signal unit that doesn't what am I missing.
 
In my first post I said I was using a set of plans,for turn signals,from a 1962 MARC News. It uses a toggle switch,and a dual contact socket in the lower position,of the tail light. I want to use this system,because it is what I used back in my younger days,and I know the author of that article.
 
I got a Kit from Snyders and installed it. It does just what you want it to do. No socket changing, just follow the directions. I have a dual gauge mounted on my 29 Dash panel on the 2 screws at the bottom, and I mounted the switch between the gauges. It's very easy to reach, cause your shifting and its right there in easy reach. Iceman
 
When I converted to double contacts, I only changed the contact disc - I bought a modern double contact socket, took out the contact disc/pigtail (and threw the rest away), putting it in the original sockets. They've worked perfectly for several years.
 
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