Trafficators or turn signals…or both?
First, let me make it clear that this entire car design and build is almost perfect. As the custodian for this piece of art, I feel my job is to make sure it stays true to the design of everyone involved with the build as well as Bruce Leven’s vision. However, as I’m going to be putting thousands of miles on it over the years, I may make a few small adjustments, most that nobody will notice.
On to the topic - the trafficators installed on the car give it a definite European vibe, which was the plan. When the turn signal lever on the steering column is pushed up or down the trafficator on the correct side of the car opens out and lights up. They automatically go back down once the car is straight again after the turn.
However, as I’m driving all over town, will everyone really know what that orange thing is sticking out of the side of the car? Will they really know I’m about to take a turn or change lanes? Here in the US I’m betting the majority of people will not know. So I decided to add flashers to the car.
The taillights are double filament, allowing the same bulb to be used for both running lights (dim) at night as well as brake lights (bright). As for the front of the car, there are no lights that can be used for directional flashers - only headlights and fog lights.
I actually installed all of this in mid-December 2024 when getting the car running, but just now getting around to writing it up. I wired up some relays and a flasher unit to the wires used to pop up the trafficators. This allowed me to then tap into the existing brake lights on the bright side for the rear flashers. They work perfectly with the driving lights on or off, and also when using the brakes.
As for the front flashers, when I had the cover over the radiator removed to replace the fan belt, I had access behind the grill. I did not want to install something that you would see, and I got a great idea from Steve Strope. I purchased small amber LED strips that are meant for motorcycles, then mounted them to small aluminum brackets that I made. I installed these brackets on existing screws behind the large chrome bars on the grille. The LED strips are facing down in order to reflect off the lower chrome bar. So in use, you see the flashing amber reflection but you don’t see the actual LED lights.
Subtle change for driving safety and is almost impossible to know something was changed on the car.