'47 Car Headlights Won't Come On

[paul2748]

The first thing I would check is power from the light switch to the dimmer switch. If you have power to the dimmer switch then check power going to the lamp themselves.

Wiring for the headlights is pretty simple. Power first goes to the light switch, from there to the dimmer switch and then out to the headlights, so trace the path for power all the way. If you have power all the way then check grounds.

Grounds are just as important as the power supply

[Drbrown]

I have a '47 and have rewired the headlight circuits. It may help you to know more about the 1946 -1948 dash board light switch, which may or may not be the cause of your problem. Certainly checking for proper connections and grounds is a given.

In the '47, inside the engine compartment on each side of the radiator is a small black Bakelite screw terminal board that has headlight and parking light wiring connections .... worth a check.

Behind the dash board, the body of your dash board light switch has five connection terminals hidden on top of it .... three terminals on the drivers/left side and two terminals on the passenger/right side. If stock, each of the five terminals has a wire factory soldered to it and each of those wires are about 5 inches long ending with a bullet snap connector to the under-dash wiring connections. Important: If stock you have a pair of circuit breakers under the dash on the fire wall. One circuit breaker powers the high beams and the other breaker powers the low beams, parking lights, etc. Separate wires run from these two breakers to two terminals on your your dash board switch.

All that said: If the circuit breakers and your parking lights work, but your low beams do not (both are on the same loop), then the focus of the problem most likely is inside your dash board switch, or as others have said here - inside the floor switch. Using a volt meter you can test all these connections to find where the "supply" dies.

If you eventually find that the dash switch is faulty, I have a functional one for you.