Friday, July 11, 2025

 Boy, did cars have dim lights back in the Forties!


There are three red lamps on the rear end of my Plymouth.

I don't know if it's because the six volt systems couldn't power brighter lights. I remember seeing old VWs with very dim headlamps and tail lamps back in the Day. It wasn't like '50's and '60's American cars were especially bright, but they were adequate for the time.


My '46 Plymouth has only a single brake lamp mounted on the trunk lid above the license plate. It wasn't that bright.




My first attempt at improvement was to check the grounds. I decided to run a separate ground wire from the body to the bulb socket.





I removed the brake light lens and was surprised to see that the bulb merely protruded a short distance past the sheet metal. There was no reflector built into the housing. There was also no room to add any kind of reflector.






I remembered a trick that I used on my old motorcycles, I put some aluminum foil around the bulb to act as a reflector. There wasn't enough room to do anything else. 





There was also no enclosure around the bulb socket. Light could escape into the trunk instead of being reflected out the front. I wrapped the socket in some foil also.









The front parking light/ turn signal housings looked like the more modern type, but again no built in reflector. So I added some more foil. 







The tail lamp/turn signals in the back were just like the brake lamp, a bulb sticking out a bit above the sheet metal. More foil was added.






The turn signal bulb sockets also received a wrapping of foil.

An alternative to foil would be to have used a white surround around the bulbs. My car has glass lenses which never become cloudy due to oxidation. I cleaned them thoroughly while I had them off.

My car had originally been built without turn signals. They had been added when the car was rewired back when the car was restored. 

I am hoping that my additions will result in a worthwhile improvement.

Under the hood I added two additional ground straps. One from the engine head to the firewall. A second runs from the negative battery clamp to the radiator support. There was already a ground point there for the headlamps. 

I am considering adding a couple of more additional brake/tail lights to the rear of my car. I've seen many old cars with these additional lamps bolted on the rear bumper. I would like the lamps to have a vintage appearance. I'm planning on going to a few swap meets and will see what I can find.


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