Driving Lights and Stuff

 Just Puttering Around 

Well, the good news is that STW seems to be working thru the backlog.  They formed a new group on Facebook that gives production updates to all the registered "owners" of the current production runs. As long as they keep up the flow of information, this will be great.  I am going on two years from getting the initial shipments of kits, and I will be the first to admit that at times I wondered if my "investment" was at risk.  Since seeing the production updates, even those from other models, I have gone from "concerned" to "relaxed". 

I find myself reading over Grier's blog, watching some videos from Jim Trotta and picking up the items they found to be helpful.  I am also building "shopping" lists but waiting for parts to actually show up before pulling the trigger.  

I have also been working on the side driving lots, the tail and stop lights, and license plate lamp as well. 

Side Lamps

When I first signed up for the Lyka with STW, Dean had a pair of Lucas driving lamps on his "used" listing of the website.  We negotiated for these as well as a Carriage Bell and they were included in the initial pallet load.   Now that things are progressing, I have been converting my various lamps to LED in order to lower the current draws and put them under control from my dash switch circuits.  

When I got these, there were still "oil" lamps with wicks/burners included.  I removed the burner assembly and attached a socket in its place.  I used a "soft" adhesive that could be pealed off in the future if someone desired.  

I attached a twin-lead cable to the wires coming off the socket and routed it out the slot in the housing (where the knob for adjusting flame height used to be).  This way everything stays intact. 

Next I mounted the lamps on the upper body frames, right behind the driver's seat.  I used the brake and shifter quadrant as the determining measurement, and matched it on the other side.  

Rear Lamp Wire Harness

During the latest spring snow I took the time to make up a wire harness for the Stop and Tail Lamps.  When I originally started working on the electrical system, I ran the feeder cable for the stop lamps to one side of the chassis (rear end) and the tail lamps went to the other side.  Then I actually picked the lamp units for the tail and I picked some Model A dual lamp tail lights.  This meant that I needed to get the missing leads to the other side of the rear and visa-versa.  

I also had to take into account that there was going to be a burner unit hanging off the end and I imagined that portions of the area inside the rear end (trunk?) might get a little warm.  

So I made up a harness that routed the feeds back and forth, allowed for the connections to the original wired, and also allowed things to be disconnected when needed. 

Here is the result: 

The cable I used is plenum rated, which means it stands up to heat, and then I cased it in the ols-style sleeves to add another layer of protection. 

That just about does it for now.  It snowed again yesterday, so it will be a day or two before the garage warms up for more "puttering time"

Thanks for readings,

Poppapope

Denver, Co USA