"New and Improved" attachments under dash for Turn Signal wiring

Vintage Don

Well Oiled
Oct 9, 2017
3,855
Medina, Ohio
First Name
Don
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1948
I decided the '48 Pickup needed turn signals - and a passenger side brake light too - instead of the single brake light it was born with. (Because they give Driver's Licenses to people born in 2004 nowadays. Think about that...)

So this is one of the very, very few places I have deviated from bone stock - and I struggled with that. But concluded it was an essential thing to do.

Some time ago I had ordered the complete wiring harness from Walcks, with the turn signal stub-out wires added in. And I also bought the usual aftermarket switch to mount on the column. Much of the harness has already been installed, in the frame and engine bay areas.

Well, I've been building out the cab interior for the past week or so, mostly wiring things in -

Resized_20201109_172914.jpeg

- and I finally ended up at this damn turn signal wiring situation. The problem I faced is that of course there is no provision for any of this stuff anywhere up under the dash - and you're adding about 7 or 8 new additional wires, and the little flasher unit, with no place to route or secure them.

I hate wiring spaghetti up under a dash... So since my steering column is still out of the way right now - I decided to tackle this and design something that Willys might have done, if they had had all these extra wires to deal with.

First I did a mock-up, got the lights and things all working right, and understanding it all. That was fun...

(these are just long jumpers below, while I figured it all out)

Resized_20201111_180222(1).jpeg

Next I studied the area I had available to work with. (The labeled wires hanging below here are the "harness-end" extensions, which will need to tie-in to the "turn signal switch end" wires.)

Resized_20201117_163507.jpeg

Then the new "switch-end" wires will follow the column down to the firewall, and then they just end... You need to extend the wires that came with the new harness (as above), and hook them all up right. And the flasher unit needs a home, too.

The only existing place I could see to create a junction and bracket for all this new stuff was that existing support bracket above the column. I didn't want to drill new holes in the firewall. So I started trying to design something with my paper.

Resized_20201117_113932.jpeg

Bought a junction block at Home Depot. Then had to paint it gray and "age" it so it would blend in (not shown).

20201116_155135.jpg

And finally came up with an idea where I'd like everything to mount.

20201117_113917.jpg

Lots of things to consider! Keep out of the way of the column, the choke cable path, clear the existing screws coming into the area from the engine side, all that stuff you don't think about until too late...

So I channeled my inner @Gojeep as best as my abilities would let me, and started making a bracket that would do all this!

Resized_20201117_210940.jpeg

Welded in the studs to attach the new junction block piece, and made a place to plug in the flasher - and offset the downward portion of the bracket to allow for the stud heads behind it and still mount flush...

And I think it's gonna work out.

20201117_184155.jpg

I got as far as a first, full-dress mock-up before dinner.

Resized_20201117_174455.jpeg

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get this thing painted and the harness-side wires attached to it. I want to make it look "like it grew there" and blend in. Once that first set of wires is in place, I'll set the column back in there and tie those wires in, too.
 
Last edited:
You have great ideas with the wiring. Mocking up and curing all the ills before the install covers a lot of ground. I hated wiring and laying out in a perfect loom only to find out I had to add a wire or had cut the wires wrong and had to splice, etc. If you do it cleanly, you will eliminate many problems that pop up later.
 
I decided the '48 Pickup needed turn signals - and a passenger side brake light too - instead of the single brake light it was born with. (Because they give Driver's Licenses to people born in 2004 nowadays. Think about that...)

So this is one of the very, very few places I have deviated from bone stock - and I struggled with that. But concluded it was an essential thing to do.

Some time ago I had ordered the complete wiring harness from Walcks, with the turn signal stub-out wires added in. And I also bought the usual aftermarket switch to mount on the column. Much of the harness has already been installed, in the frame and engine bay areas.

Well, I've been building out the cab interior for the past week or so, mostly wiring things in -

View attachment 86898

- and I finally ended up at this damn turn signal wiring situation. The problem I faced is that of course there is no provision for any of this stuff anywhere up under the dash - and you're adding about 7 or 8 new additional wires, and the little flasher unit, with no place to route or secure them.

I hate wiring spaghetti up under a dash... So since my steering column is still out of the way right now - I decided to tackle this and design something that Willys might have done, if they had had all these extra wires to deal with.

First I did a mock-up, got the lights and things all working right, and understanding it all. That was fun...

(these are just long jumpers below, while I figured it all out)

View attachment 86910

Next I studied the area I had available to work with. (The labeled wires hanging below here are the "harness-end" extensions, which will need to tie-in to the "turn signal switch end" wires.)

View attachment 86897

Then the new "switch-end" wires will follow the column down to the firewall, and then they just end... You need to extend the wires that came with the new harness (as above), and hook them all up right. And the flasher unit needs a home, too.

The only existing place I could see to create a junction and bracket for all this new stuff was that existing support bracket above the column. I didn't want to drill new holes in the firewall. So I started trying to design something with my paper.

View attachment 86903

Bought a junction block at Home Depot. Then had to paint it gray and "age" it so it would blend in (not shown).

View attachment 86905

And finally came up with an idea where I'd like everything to mount.

View attachment 86906

Lots of things to consider! Keep out of the way of the column, the choke cable path, clear the existing screws coming into the area from the engine side, all that stuff you don't think about until too late...

So I channeled my inner @Gojeep as best as my abilities would let me, and started making a bracket that would do all this!

View attachment 86907

Welded in the studs to attach the new junction block piece, and made a place to plug in the flasher - and offset the downward portion of the bracket to allow for the stud heads behind it and still mount flush...

And I think it's gonna work out.

View attachment 86908

I got as far as a first, full-dress mock-up before dinner.

View attachment 86909

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get this thing painted and the harness-side wires attached to it. I want to make it look "like it grew there" and blend in. Once that first set of wires is in place, I'll set the column back in there and tie those wires in, too.
[/QUOTEDon,
As usual, you are doing all the “heavy lifting” for issues I will need to resolve on my 48 PU. Mine had turn signals added when I got it, but everything was just hanging or where fastened to anything, Friction Tape! So the one question that comes to mind is where did you source the “Clip” that the flasher unit goes into? Looks like it is something specifically made for that application to be able bite into the sides of the can to ensure positive grounding. But I don’t recall this clip coming w/ replacement Flasher units.
 
As usual, you are doing all the “heavy lifting” for issues I will need to resolve on my 48 PU. Mine had turn signals added when I got it, but everything was just hanging or where fastened to anything, Friction Tape! So the one question that comes to mind is where did you source the “Clip” that the flasher unit goes into? Looks like it is something specifically made for that application to be able bite into the sides of the can to ensure positive grounding. But I don’t recall this clip coming w/ replacement Flasher units.

Mark, when I bought that turn signal switch from Walck's, they included the flasher, and that little clip for the flasher you're talking about, as well as a plug base for it. (But the clip doesn't really serve as a Ground for the Flasher - that housing does not need to be grounded.)

If you are struggling to identify the wires, etc - here is an outstanding post from another place that explains it perfectly -

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/turn-signal-wiring-how-to.869492/
 
Don, your attention to detail and painstaking care gives me the idea that you must have been a NASA engineer in a previous life. I'm planning on getting the Walck's harness for my wagon and making that a winter project. Meanwhile, my turn signals don't work and there are a few stray wires under the dash, I'm going to take that link you posted above and see if I can sort it out. But first, my Carter YF is in 400 pieces on the bench o_O
 
As I dont care much about stock, or a redo back to stock I put the strip on the firewall so it is real easy to get to...Phil
 
I decided to tackle this and design something that Willys might have done
I dunno. I have a 1959 wagon with turn signals, bought new by my parents. I don't remember a time when the turn signal flasher was attached to anything. It always looked to me like Willys just stuffed all the wires behind the dashboard.
 
Got back on this job today... I've gotten from that first mock-up a couple days ago, here -

Resized_20201117_174455(1).jpeg

to here (below), so far. Bracket painted / "aged" and installed, top/harness side wires routed, trimmed, terminal-ed, and installed.

Resized_20201119_144628.jpeg

Time for another test with the switch hooked up now, to make sure everything's still working properly....

@richardhufford I tend to agree. I'm used to seeing 50's vehicles with the flasher unit just kinda "floating" up under there. But mine's getting a home base. Then I'll be able to find it... haha
 
Thanks, Joe.

Now I've got an unexpected problem.

I hooked up the turn signal switch to re-test, as I mentioned above. When I do such a test, I test pretty much everything - every function, and every combination of functions - such as Left, Right, Flasher - with no lights, parking lights, headlights...

But now, this time - I thought the blinkers weren't working when the Headlights were on. Then I realized they were working - just really, really slowly. Hmmm. They were OK previously.

So, how do I diagnose this one? What do we know.. The headlights are a completely different circuit - they and the signal system have absolutely nothing shared, nothing in common, all the way back to the battery.

The flasher unit is naturally suspect. But it's new, and it says 6 Volts on it - it came from Walcks with the re-pop switch - so should be the appropriate rating, etc.

So I thought about are the headlights pulling so much amperage from the battery that it doesn't have enough left to properly power up the blinker? It starts the engine just fine, and I keep it fully charged up.

I got looking at the switch itself. The WIRES it has are very small... Guessing 18 - 22 gauge. EVERYTHING else in the harness is a minimum of 16 gauge. Is this switch maybe designed primarily for 12 volt, and thus uses these lighter duty wires? Could that explain this weird behavior?

Who's an electrical expert?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top