Hi, Brian. Glad to hear bout you...I have a LOT of ideas, some strange,
some not so weird. So I'll give it a go to offer up some ideas of things that
I would like to see.
1) Underhood accent / work lights. What I mean is, a single underhood
light isn't very useful, you can't get much light down by the starter,
suspension, steering box, etc. What I'd like to see is a "set" of lights
that's run around the engine compartment to "light it up" and show off the
engine bay of a restored truck, or a work-horse version for helping work on
"driver" type trucks. They could be run along the frame near the engine
mounts, have some point towards the oil pan, etc. They wouldn't have to be
1,000 watt jobbers, just some nice bright lights to help see all the working
parts. Maybe along the lines of Christmas light string, but with less lights.
But similar, and obviously 12 volt.
2) Electronic LED Voltmeter - I'm an electronic test technician, and used
to subscribe to some of those Electronic hobbiest mags, and they had some
wonderful gadgets to build and experiment with. What I'd like to see is a
small, cheap, durable LED voltmeter that has graduated LEDs that come on when
the voltage gets over 10 volts. Red for 10 and under, yellow for 11 , and
green for 12 to 14, then yellow for 15, and red for 16. I saved a bunch of
LED "strings" off some old scrapped circuit boards from my now-defunct job,
I'd be willing to donate them to you for "research purposes" for this idea.
They are very small ones, about 1/8th inch size or less, use roughly 1. 5 - 2
volts to activate. An expensive voltmeter isn't for everyone, and I and
others could use this as just a quick system checker to verify operation ,
and it could be mounted to use continuously, or plug into a cigarette lighter
for monitoring, etc. Or mounted under the hood near the battery, with the
pretty lights showing what's up with the charging system. :) I also have some
scrapped plastic "boxes" from small electronic items that my company throws
away, they can be used to house the breadboard as well. But this is an
extremely useful tool that could be used by anyone, just plug and play as it
were. No fancy digital or analog readout, just lights as indicators. I've
seen the circuits in the mags, just never got around to acquiring all the
goods to try to build one myself. Oh well.
3) Underdash lights ( same principle as under-hood lights ) - Ever tried
to work on your truck wiring broken down on the road? Never have a flashlight
when ya need one. Need some lights run to shine UP under the dash, run off a
switch, to check the systems up there as well. Could be pivoted to act as
floor lights, and swung up to view underneath as well, so you'd get twice the
value for the cost. Not many of the old trucks have floor lights like modern
cars ( or trucks, either ).
4) Miniature AC generator/alternator - I've seen kits to convert a
standard alternator to tap into the AC potential to run 110 AC devices. I'd
like to know if the current ones on the market are worth buying, and if there
is a better alternative. It would be VERY HANDY to have access to AC for like
a small work light ( those 12-volt work lights arent' always around when you
need them, especially if you break down AWAY from your garage, as your
friends rarely collect such tools which true fanatics of old vehicles do ),
and you could run AC accent lights on your truck with them too. Something
like a small bicycle style generator that produces standard AC power for
small jobs might be interesting. Not sure how it could be mounted.
5) FAR OUT ELECTRONIC GADGET - how about some modern headlights with a
major twist - looks like a standard glass light, but inside it has the
removeable small replacement bulb, and also a COLOR WHEEL you can activate to
turn your headlights different colors at shows ( or surreptiously while
cruisin' ). This would obviously entail some serious engineering effort, as
the lower part of the headlight would have to have a slot cut in it for a
color wheel to protrude into the housing, or totally redesigned. But that
would look AWESOME to see red or green or yellow or blue headlights. Not easy
to do I'd venture, this would take some serious brain-draining work to come
up with a viable solution. But it would be so cool! Or, better yet, how about
a Fiber optic solution to take the light to the reflective housing, and then
you could color the light at the generating end, not in the headlight itself.
THAT might work better, but still alot of work.
6) ANOTHER far-out idea, for exhaust tailpipe outlets - How about
putting some small sealed lights in the exhaust pipe at the rear bumper
exit, so when you're cruising, you can have a red/yellow/white incremental
effect as you increase speed. Might be strobing or flashing, tuned to the RPM
of the engine - would look even better if you have straight-out facing
exhaust pipes. Obviously wouldn't want them TOO bright, or you'd face the
wrath of The Man...but some low-light effect would be just as effective. The
deeper they're in the tailpipe, the better the effect would be. A 2-foot
stainless tailpipe with lights in all the way back would look good. Might
have to make the lights removeable for periodic cleaning. Just snap into
place, facing the rear of the vehicle. Heat would be an issue, but that far
away from the engine , you might make them survive.
7) Heck, I've forgotten more zany ideas than I can remember at the
moment, someone else insert a suggestion here! LOL. Oh, wait a minute...I DO
have one more...a strobe light underhood pointing at the fan and moving
pulleys, pulsed off the coil....might give a neat effect at shows, like a
timing light pointed at the fan blades to show them briefly "stopped" in
action. Haven't seen THIS put into effect yet by those wonderfully creative
Californian citizens. Has anyone else? Ok, I'll leave it alone for now, I've
exhausted myself with this creative burst. Good luck with your R & D, Brian!
Jerry
'55 2nd project Chevy Suburban, still sitting after 10 years... :(
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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