Hi all,

I'm elbow deep in a total re-wire of my 1957 444. It was converted at some point in its life to 12V, probably at the same time that the B16 was replaced with a B18. So far (knock on wood) the wiring project has gone well: all old wire out, all new wire cut to approximate length and sheathed. I'll be installing relays for the headlights, starter etc. as well as re-locating a new fuse block (with 4 spare circuits for extra goodies) to the driver's kick panel to keep everything out of the elements.

Yesterday I encountered my first dilemma and am hoping that someone out there can help me out. My turn signal switch has only 4 terminals whereas the original 444 switches had 6. I'm assuming that the switch was replaced at some point as well. A 4-terminal switch would be fine IF I had 544 2-bulb taillight housings. With only 1 element of the single bulb in the 444 taillights to perform 2 functions (brake and turn...parking lights use the smaller 5-watt element of the bulb), the original wiper switch was responsible for both turn signal activation and brake light cancellation. When the turn signal arm is applied, say for a left hand turn, when the brakes are also applied, the switch cancelled the left brake light circuit and switched to accept the voltage from the flasher relay thus flashing the element at the left tailight. I hope this is making sense.

The crux of my question is this: without replacing the original 444 tailights and (preferably) without spending A BUNCH of money locating a new/used 444 wiper switch, how should I wire this circuit? I need (obviously) brake lights, and turn signals to one side of the bulb and park lights to the other. I could purchase an aftermarket switch from JC Whi*ney that has 7 terminals on it. It looks pretty clunky though and I'd like to keep a clean 444 interior. I could also get some kind of aftermarket turn signals, but again I'd like to keep the rear end looking relatively stock.

Any thoughts? Thanks for all replies!

Aiden
Boulder, CO

'57 444