M38Cdn Fender Signal Light Wiring

[David Dunlop]

Peter.

Sorry, not able to post photos, but both fenders were set up in a similar fashion.

Both front signal lights were standard bullet shaped marker lamps with the blackout covers removed and special amber lenses substituted. These lenses were made by Dominion and one other company and are very next to impossible to find these days.

Left front lamp was mounted forward of the blackout driving lamp assembly using a large hole for the marker lamp bolt with a smaller hole immediately in front of it for the locking stud. These holes are close to the front edge of the fender and roughly across from the hood latch The wire on this side came straight back through the blackout lamp guard assembly and was then run parallel to the blackout driving lamp wiring, under the same hold down clip and then a sharp right turn under the hood.

On the right fender the two holes for the marker lamp will also be found near the front edge of the fender, across from the hood latch. The wiring ran straight back to a point roughly equal to the blackout driving light, a wiring clip was added at that point to the fender and the wire did a sharp left turn under the hood. No cutout made for it in the hood at all.

At the back end of the M38, the existing factory left rear lamp was used for signals as it already contained a dual filament Stop/Brake lamp. The right rear lamp assembly had no such lamp, so two things usually took place.

The more common was to add a single large round red commercial lamp (about 4 - 5 inch diameter) directly under the right rear corner of the jeep - fitted into the rear cross member - and this was used for the turn signal function. Alternatively, I has run across several M38's over the years that had the factory original right rear lamp assembly removed and replaced with a left side unit, and it was wired for full brake. stop and turn functions.

Two different mechanical signal switches were used on the steering column. One with the indicator lamp in the main body of the switch. The second with a green indicator lamp on the end of the switch arm. Typically, in military service, the indicator lamp was removed. WAYYY TOOO BRIGHT when it starts to flash!

Hope this helps and perhaps someone can add photos for you as well.


David