Turn Signals

1931 Buick Installation of Logo Lites^® Model A Turn Signals

Written by Father Mike Herrick

Before Installation

My 1931 Buick is driven and needed the safety of brightly visible turn signals that would be appropriate to its original appearance. I elected not to use the existing lights as turn signals, as the car was manufactured with only one taillight and I would have to search for and add another. Also I would have to make some changes in the original wiring set-up as well, which I did not want to do. A Logo Lites turn signal kit was selected because they have no wiring change requirements, bright LED units, long-lasting bulb life, very low battery drain, overall high quality, and suitability to creative adaptation and installing myself.

Many old Buicks have triple or double-stile bumpers, (including most 1931's). But mine, having been manufactured late in the production year, has 1932-style single-stile bumpers. This differs from the double ones found on the Model A Ford, for which the Logo Lites kit was designed.

Rear View

Rear View Closeup

At a swap meet I was able to locate a pair of tail light bodies appropriate to the appearance and year of my car. Their dimensions permitted installing the Logo Lites turn-signal units inside (see Rear View Closeup). The units just fit inside and, with electrical tape wrapped around the circumference of the base, remained snugly in place when the lens was installed.

For the rear turn signals, the stainless steel mounting plate provided in the Logo Lites kit was removed and a substitute metal strip the same size as the unit's base was made for the LED light strip. I used aluminum flashing which I had in my workshop and which was a satisfactory conductor and could easily be shaped with tin snips for electrically connecting the two machine screws on the back of the base. An insulated ground wire was then attached to one of the machine screws and, together with the unit's power wire, led out the wire hole of the light body. Mounting brackets were made out of flat steel for attaching to the rear bumper bracket bolts, and painted gloss black.. The ground wire of each unit was then attached to one of the bolts that attached the light body to this mounting bracket, making sure of good contact, and utilizing the frame of the car as the ground. Wires under the car were run inside black asphalt fabric loom.

With some creativity in making the interior mounting plates or brackets, the Logo Lite units can be installed inside a variety of light bodies (housings). The bright LED display of a Logo Lites unit is not significantly dimmed by the amber or red lens of the host light fixture, and the amber plastic cover provided in the kit can be left on or removed, as desired.

Front T Bracket

Front T Bracket With Bend

Front, Top View

Front View

I am currently in the process of searching for a pair of (non-sealed beam) small fog lights or other appropriate lights with amber lenses for a similar appropriate permanent installation of the front turn signals. Meanwhile, until they are found, I have installed Logo Lite units just below the front bumper. I mounted them similarly to the way they mount on a Model A, but I did have to make some "T" brackets out of stiff sheet aluminum and mount them on the front bumper mounting-bracket bolts. The wires of these units were also run inside black asphalt fabric loom under the car to the firewall.
The large magnet on the controller is riveted to the back of the box for mounting under the dashboard on the gas tank of a Model A Ford. However, my '31 Buick's gas tank is in the rear, so that the magnet's location only permits mounting the box on the front side of my car's dashboard in full view, which I did not want. While the box is attractive in itself, and the magnet does allow it to be removed, I wanted a more permanent installation, with just the toggle switch and LED's to be in view below the bottom of the dashboard, thus not detracting from the car's original appearance.

Plywood Square

Metal Plate

My solution was to install the controller on the back of the dashboard between the steering column and driver's side door. The bottom of my Buick's dashboard turns under towards the firewall, forming a small lip of somewhat less than one inch. To fit the control box into this location, I epoxied four ½" rare earth magnets, one at each corner, onto the face of a 4" X 4" square of ½" plywood---for attaching to the back of the dashboard (dimensions can vary to suit the particular vehicle). On the other side of this plywood square, I screwed on a 4" X 4" metal plate (cut from an electrical junction box cover from the local hardware store), having first hack-sawed off both corners of one side of the metal plate at an angle and drilling two new mounting holes (since I had just cut off the old ones) for screwing to the plywood (Metal Plate on Plywood Square). This permitted part of the plate to project below the plywood square and thus below the dashboard, thereby providing an extended base for mounting the controller box with comfortable access to the controls when the box is installed (Mounted Controller photo). The part of the altered metal plate that projects below the dashboard was painted black so that it would not be seen. The top two-thirds of the stainless steel controller box face was then thoroughly roughed up with sandpaper and using "J B Weld" three ½" rare earth magnets were epoxied on (Controller Box Magnets). After allowing 24 hours for curing (clamps are not necessary), I attached the front of the controller to the back of the metal plate and let the magnets hold the two solidly together (Controller Box on Metal Plate). Next, I attached the whole thing to the back of the dashboard using the magnets. The large magnet riveted to the controller box is not used. The installation looks very professional, is convenient to use, and does not detract from the original appearance of the car's interior. Additionally, it can simply be detached and moved totally out of sight, if desired. As a side note, the extra toggle switch seen in Controller photo controls a bulb in the bottom of each of the rear turn signal light fixtures which is an unrelated bonus in the particular light units I found, in the form of extra tail lights which can be switched on or off!

Metal Plate on Plywood Square	Controller Box Magnets	Controller Box on Metal Plate
Mounted Controller

The chassis ground wire can be conveniently attached to the steering column bracket or to the dashboard support bracket. The power wire can be connected to the positive terminal of the ammeter, which is conveniently close by in my car. The rest of the clear instructions provided in the Logo Lites kit are easily adapted to the Buick.
While the dimensions will vary, and the methodology undoubtedly need to be adapted with each particular vehicle, it is hoped that my experience with a '31 Buick may be of some value to other antique car owners who are wrestling with the need for turn signals without changing. their car's original wiring or appearance.
Father Mike Herrick
BCA
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Source: http://www.logolites.com/led/turn/signals/31BuickInstall.htm