Headlight switch 1937 Hudson Terraplane

Hudsonrules

For some reason, this '37 Terraplane costantly blows a fuse and the low beam bulb on the right headlight. I did rewire the headlights using 12 and 14 gauge wire. I will take them apart again, perhaps a wire touching something. I also installed a new headlight relay. High beams work fine. I was wondering if anyone has used a headlight switch from a step dow that has the circut breaker in it. fuses are expensive and are getting harder to come by. Any help or ideas? Thanks. Arnie in Nevada.

Jon B

Don't understand your first sentence.  It blows a fuse,  "and the low beam bulb on the right headlight."  So, it blows a fuse and the low beam bulb filament burns out?  Please explain.

The new relay should take all the stress off your headlight switch (if it's correctly wired) because all the headlight switch does, is sends a signal to the relay to handle the big amperage.  Fix the short circuit and you shouldn't have to worry about blowing any more fuses.  You should be able to use a continuity tester to check the wiring to the headlight sockets (since you seem to suspect the wiring that leads to them).  Isolate the wiring from the terminal block (if you have installed one) to the light socket, then start checking to see if (and where) the wiring shorts.

By the way, I would advise soldering a ground wire to each of the sockets and running it down to a connection on the car's frame.  That way you are sure of a good circuit.

Jay_G

If you have not put a relay into the circuit you should consider that.  They still have NOS 6v dual headlights relays on eBay.  I have one in my 37 inline near the battery.  works great, takes the load off the switch and no one does not think it was original.  I also agree with the ground to the headlight bucket. I don't know about a stepdown switch but I bet the shaft is slightly bigger and the plastic knob may not fit.

Jay