Q: I followed Paul Shinn’s suggestions for changing out incandescent lights to LEDs for running lights and turn signals. Now, the (new) flasher only flashes intermittently. How do I solve this issue? -Bill
A: You have discovered the issue we find when using LED lights and old fashioned relay-style flasher units. The LED’s don’t draw enough current to pull through the coil and activate the flashing function. I admit that I switched back to incandescent bulbs only for the turn signals, but kept LEDs for the “running lights”. There is someone making an electronic flasher unit that supposedly does not rely on current drawn through it for timing, but the one unit I tried did not work. I don’t trust them. The other option is to add a load resistor to the LED bulbs or the sockets to draw some current and make the flasher work. That’s what we did on Tina’s roadster. -Paul Shinn
Q: I recently converted a 12-volt negative ground Alternator to a 6-Volt positive ground. My problem is it doesn’t start charging unless I manually excite it every time I start the car. Should I run a wire from the key switch to the alternator? -Don
A: Once the engine is running, the alternator will usually begin to charge once the engine RPM is up over 1,000 RPM for a few seconds (“blip” the throttle). It relies on residual magnetism in the core of the alternator to kick off. Once it has started charging, it should keep charging at lower RPM; But it won’t start charging at idle RPM.
So, if you are not seeing the alternator charge at all, even after you hold the engine RPM up over 1,000 RPM for 10 or 20 seconds, you may have a problem. -Jim Cannon
Q: I highly suspect I may have a bent frame on the driver side of my 1930 Tudor. My local club is solving it by just shimming the body. I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter.
This is how I believe my frame is bent… I haven’t investigated cracks yet but plan to do so. My access to the front crank hole on the radiator shroud is siliconed shut. I suspect the motor is tipped, thus not allowing the crank to line up. My front left fender well is 1″ lower than the right. My left side hood has a 1″ gap at the bottom, although I can force it to lock down. The driver side door paint trim is about 1/2″ lower at the door handle edge, from the body paint trim. The hood on the right side is gapped about 1/4″ at the bottom, but the body line to door at the handle side is dead on. -Tom
A: My opinion: The only “true” way to tell if the frame is bent, or warped, and how badly: is with the body lifted off of it. However, based on the symptoms you shared, it sounds as though you may be correct. One way you could tell is to put the car up on blocks with the blocks (all the same height) under the frame at the 4 corners near the shock mounting holes. See if it” rocks”. If the frame is bent, it will rock like a potato chip on a flat table. -Paul Shinn
