Wire around steering shaft on JPS coupe

Yes, the resistor is a shunt to ground so it acts like a filament light bulb, just enough to trick the flasher relay into thinking it has real light bulbs out there instead of LEDs.  The flasher (either mechanical or electronic) is using the light circuit as a path to ground and expecting to see enough current flowing to pull in the relay.  When you install LEDs they draw far less current and/or provide less of a path to ground, so the ground signal is less, meaning that the flasher relay doesn’t have enough strength to pull in properly - THAT is why the passenger side, with longer wires, didn’t work right.

The resistors are only used on the directional circuits - they are used only intermittently (flashing) so they only get gently warm to the touch.  If you were to use, say, 20watt resistors with heat sinks they shouldn’t get warm at all.  Mine are screwed into a 2”X2” frame member as a heat sink so they don’t get hot.   Autozone sells them just for this purpose in the light bulb aisle.

The wheels were just the right touch to transform the car. Well done.

Now... Let's tall about those letters on the tires, Lightning McQueen.

Tebs...I appreciate it. The letters are a tribute to my days in the import scene back in the days. I gotta a buddy that works with that Liberty Walk crew overseas and suggested that I give these letters a shot. They’re temporary so if I don’t like em, I can always take them off. When I was applying them my dad said he his friends used to use a stencil and paint GOODYEAR in their generic tires when they use to build rat rods...the true Outlaws!

thats the great thing about these cardboard and the people on this forum. Great comments and open minds. 

Car's looking really good, Sean! It sounds like it's been quite the journey to get things up to a more acceptable level of finish. I looked at 1 pic several times (thinking wtf is that all about???) before I realized the zip ties on the front grilles were there to hold the mesh tight while the glue dried (that is what's going on, right?)- anyway, very innovative. And I like the wheel color, although the straight aluminum finish looks good too. 1 tiny little detail- if you leave the wheels the darker color- the centers of the hubs showing under the axle nuts could be a darker color as well. Al

Al, yeah, the zip ties were used to “pull” the mesh against the horn grill white the epoxy dried. Lol, poor mans engineering. 

I had to use chopsticks and zip ties to span the gaps under the deck lid when I installed the grill on louvered openings. Getting it to adhere was challenging. The mesh grill under the aluminum grill is attached with SS zip ties. Can’t see it unless you’re looking for it. 

As for the center hubs, I was debating on what color to change it to. Black or bronze?  I left it raw as I’m still undecided. I will change it soon, I just got anxious and wanted to get rubber to the ground. 

Either black or darker bronze (especially if there's other color accents on the car) would look good.

As was stated, LED's don't draw like incandescents so the load has to be simulated. By adding a resistor or a flasher that has internal resistance, you make the circuit see the original load. The cost is heat. The resistor gets hot absorbing the juice and maybe the flasher does too. Just keep parts more isolated and insulated and check for heat. If old John did better work, he'd have a system that wanted LED low loads from the beginning. That system would be less of a strain on the battery. But...

Good work fixing John's work. Your ride is nice and will likely get even better.

One end of each resistor attaches to the flasher/directional wire for both lights on one side - the other end of the resistor goes to ground (the car frame).  IIRC, I got them at Autozone and the resistors have an eyelet on each end for a mounting screw to make installation easy.  

On the heat, mine are only connected to the directional/flasher part of the bulbs so they don't get hot - They sound like they're running at a 70% duty cycle, from the clicks of the relay.  I tried running the flashers for a few minutes and at the end of that time the resistors weren't really warm to the touch (but where the are mounted acts like a big heat sink, too).

It's really easiest to change to a solid-state flasher relay DESIGNED for LEDs. 

Why would you possibly want to add more complexity to what could be a very simple fix? Like 4Banger said, design it right from the start.

$6 LED flasher on Amazon. Done. Mike drop.

DannyP posted:

It's really easiest to change to a solid-state flasher relay DESIGNED for LEDs. 

Why would you possibly want to add more complexity to what could be a very simple fix? Like 4Banger said, design it right from the start.

$6 LED flasher on Amazon. Done. Mike drop.

Done. Mike drop.

Poor Mike, I hope he doesn't get hurt.

Mike landed on his feet, he's a cat!

I think it is probably better to use a flasher designed for LED although I am not sure what is happening internally with that. But when we make a CONVERSION from incandescent to LED, we are FOOLING the electric circuit into thinking it is seeing an incandescent load which is much higher a draw than an efficient LED. The amperage that is not needed is routed and absorbed by the resistor. That routing creates HEAT. A little or a lot. So it's like a step-down process and the excess has to go somewhere. Modern cars with LED's are designed from the start with an electric source that is matched to the LED load.

What JPS John does on a lot of his work is like the man said. I did that kind of work...when I was in high school.

If you use an LED flasher from the get go, you don't need to use any bulbs at all. My car is 100% LED, no trouble with anything at all. 

You don't need to do a workaround.

Don't be like JPS John.