Front Turn signals

[johnrb3b]

Ryan, I believe all the answers you need are scattered through this thread.

1)  Go with one of the 6V Heavy Duty units that Bob found.

2)  Keep your incandescent lamps in the rear. They will be enough load on the flasher to make it work properly.

3)  If you go all LED, then you will need an electronic flasher. Somebody, somewhere probably makes a 6V electronic unit, maybe.

4)  We are all guessing why the LEDs work strangely with your headlight switch. I tend to not think it's current leakage, but it could well be that. Not knowing the internal contact configuration, I can't make any statements about contact sharing and other funky things.

Anybody got an original headlight switch I can take apart to see? I'd be happy to make drawings of the guts for future trouble shooting.

[Ryan_M]

Anybody got an original headlight switch I can take apart to see? I'd be happy to make drawings of the guts for future trouble shooting.

I have ordered the flasher Bob W found and will update again once I have it. For what it's worth, my headlight switch is one I purchased new from Walck's last year.

[garage gnome]

John, I have two that are junk that you can have for the cost of shipping.

[johnrb3b]

I sent you a PM with my address.

[Ryan_M]

The Heavy Duty 6V Flasher has arrived and has been installed. Results are disappointing. Signals with LED's in both front parking light sockets work for the left side but nothing at all for a signal on the right front. I broke one of my four LED's so I couldn't fully test with LED's in the parking light sockets AND both taillight sockets.

At this point I am officially throwing in the towel on the LED effort. In all honesty, I'm bothered by the look of an illuminated LED behind the parking light lens anyways - you can see each individual LED bulb, which just doesn't look right. I'll be better off further modifying the dual filament 1157 bulb and socket to fit behind the parking light lens.

As a side note, the standard 1157 bulbs do not glow as brightly with the HD flasher as the do with the non-HD flasher.

[johnrb3b]

Signals with LED's in both front parking light sockets work for the left side but nothing at all for a signal on the right front.

That says to me, "Wiring problem", Maybe you need to trace out all your wiring again just to verify there are no funky wiring faults.

At this point I am officially throwing in the towel on the LED effort. In all honesty, I'm bothered by the look of an illuminated LED behind the parking light lens anyways - you can see each individual LED bulb, which just doesn't look right.

I'd like to encourage you to not give up yet. Unless you need to finish the project right away.
In a week or two at the most, I'll have pictures of our LED conversion - all four corners with an electronic flasher. I'll especially try to get good pics of how the LEDs look shining out through the original lenses.

As a side note, the standard 1157 bulbs do not glow as brightly with the HD flasher as they do with the non-HD flasher.

Now that is weird. A flasher is just a switch, it shouldn't dim the light - just ON or OFF. Why would a standard flasher pass more current than a HD one?
Makes me wonder, again, if there's something funky in your wiring harness.
Or

[Ryan_M]

Every inch of wiring in the entire Jeep is new with a full harness from Kaiser Willys. It is possible there is something wrong somewhere with the install - I realize it doesn't take much to have a big effect with electrical stuff - both good and bad. I'm stumped and, quite frankly, tired of experimenting with it. I have three LED's and a HD flasher for sale cheap if anyone wants to take over  

[garage gnome]

Thanks for giving it a try Ryan! I still think LEDs do weird things...

[Ryan_M]

I set out this morning with a cardboard template of a parking light shim similar to what Nate has on his 3A. I discovered that my "go-to" guy for aluminum fab has abruptly retired and vanished. The old school guys are dropping off fast these days. Of course, none of the other shops in town could do it.

I shifted search gears and found some generic rubber-coated-metal wheel bearing seals that are a near exact fit for the task at hand.

$6.

Sold.

I drilled a couple holes in each and mounted them up. Since I have black trim throughout the rest of the Jeep they actually don't look too horrible. A trained Willys enthusiast will spot the fraud almost immediately but for now they'll do the job. Better than the bare bulbs I've been rolling around with for the past month.

[garage gnome]

One of these days, I'll make up some spacers out of aluminum on the lathe for mine. Maybe I'll get Carl to start making spacers...

[F Bill]

Nate, how were your present spacers made?  I would have thought they were a lathe product......

[garage gnome]

I cut some shims out on the plasma cam. They work and are not too noticeable. There is just a space between the grille and bezel.

[garage gnome]

See Bill.

Ryan, I made spacers to space out the lenses on my '53. You could make some sort of spacer on a lathe if you have one or know someone with one. That is what I want to do eventually with aluminum.

I made 8 of these on a plasma cam, 4 per side. Each were an 1/8" thick.

[Kenny_Kustom]

Are you guys using white or amber bulbs ?

I did re fit mine, and the lenses do not fit over. Its close, about 1/8"... i have also found short globe 1157 bulbs.

http://waltersworkshop.com/directional-bulbs.html

[garage gnome]

I put amber in mine. People were getting confused with the white ones... �: I wonder how well those shorties would fit?