Cowl lamp question

[millersgarage]

how are they wired?

are they on their own switch, or on with the headlights, or?

1933 if it matters

[DavidG]

Not exactly their own uniqe switch, but rather the parking lamp position of the steering wheel light switch activates the cowl lamps with single bulb, high/low beam head lamps. On the original one-bulb lamp wiring harness there's a black wire with a yellow tracer lead that connects to a separate harness that runs along the inside of the top of the cowl connecting to the cowl lamps.

[millersgarage]

so to clarify, they are on whenever the headlamps are on, or only with park lamps, or?

[deuce lover]

A 34 Vic I restored many yrs ago the cowl lights came on with the head lights.

[DavidG]

Normally they only served as parking lamps and were not on when the head lamps were on. They were the only frontal parking lamps as the head lamps used with cowl lamps only had one bulb, namely low and high beam. In countries were cowl lamps were standard equipment on all models, standard and deluxe, such as Argentina and Brazil, the wiring may have been different as in some local jurisdictions it was illegal to use your head lamps within the city and you drove around only with the cowl lamps/parking lamps lit. That crazy idea finally died in the early seventies, but not before many pedestrians died for want of being seen by motorists or their not seeing oncoming vehicles.

[deuce lover]

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I always thought it was strange and back in the day('70)I used a Wirey Joe loom and didn't bother to trouble shoot the issue and left it that way.

[glennpm]

I noticed this behavior when I first finished my wiring and thought there was something wrong but as David says, its by design.

An easy way to get them to stay on all the time, with minimal change, would be to put a jumper from the dash light wire to the cowl lamp wire. Then any time the dash lights are on the cowl lamps would also be on. This can all be done under the dash and is easily reversed. I have not done it to my car and am undecided on whether I ever will make the change.

Glenn

[DavidG]

During my first assignment with Ford do Brasil in 1972, I naturally drove with my head lights on after dark and was bombarded by flashing head lamps, shaking fists, shouted oaths, and the local version of the middle finger. By the time I returned to the States in 1975 it only occasionally happened and a lot more drivers were using their head lamps instead of their parking lamps to drive by.

[glennpm]

Interesting David!