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here is the diagram i came up with. the ultimate would be how to take that switch off and use the floor dimmer for the fogs as well, but i'm not sure its possible.

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You can do that if you want an added switch but to have the single headlight switch controlling both, here is a quick schematic of what I would do --- provided the HL switch has two independent outputs at pos 3 and 4 and 3 stays on when pos 4 is selected. You would have to verify that is the way it works for this schematic to work.

The existing headlights would be fed from position 3 of HL switch by removing the jumper or whatever connection you made between position 3 and 4. All of the remaining headlight wiring would stay as is so headlights are turned on and off by HL switch. The dimmer sw would still work as original.

Relays to control fog lights would be added. Two of the relays would switch the filaments by connecting to the dimmer sw or junction block and feeding their coils with the existing high and low beam outputs from the dimmer switch. The third relay would be operated by the headlight switch position 4.

When the headlight sw was pulled to pos 3, only the headlights would light because the relay in the feed wire is not active yet. The filament control relays would still activate but with no power to the fog lights nothing would happen. When HL switch is pulled to pos 4 the headlights would stay on and the third relay would come in so fog lights will light. Dimmer switch then controls both sets of lights.

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I did not add a jumper wire between 3 and 4. it is an internal connection within the switch, so i can't remove it. something to do with how the 37 switch controled high beam on only one headlight vs both. country vs city lights...something like that. nothing I can do about that jumper internally.

so i think my only option is to do as i have wired it up.

thinking about it, since i haven't used the headlights much yet, I think I was pulling the headlight switch all the way out to 4 anyways instead of trying to find number 3 position. it was easier to just pull till it stopped. come to think of it...i dont think i even tried using number 2 position just for parking lights. it was either headlights on or nothing. just pull the switch knob out till it stopped and i was done.

i do agree and can see how your wiring would work with no jumper between 3 and 4.

so with that in mind. it would be easier to add the toggle low/off/high switch for the fogs under the dash. this way i could again do it like a modern car that has a seperate switch for turning on the fogs, just i'm adding low and high capability to the fogs intead of just on and off.

pull to number 4 on the headlight switch. use the dimmer on the floor for low/high on headlights. leave the fog toggle off until needed and toggle to whichever beam i need at the time to see better past the normal high beam headlights. i can even aim the fogs to cover more surface area in front of the car that the normal headlights don't cover.

these lights will be used very rarely anyways and mostly in low beam i'm sure. just fun to have the option. They are more for additional lighting in very dark areas vs a normal "fog light". since foglights usually can operate seperately from the headlights and can come on with the running lights only. these wont be like that, but more to help me see at night in very dark areas. for fog...i'll end up just using the normal running or headlights and like rain...i hope this car sees very little fog.


i only ever used the added lights on my truck when it was a really dark country road or i was trying to read some street sign ahead. (dont see too well at night since lasik surgery)

another DMV...DOT thing. i have E-code beams anyways, so i'm already not correct. that being the case...these e-code lights are insane, especially with this new wiring harness. i think i posted a picture of the headlights on low and high somewhere on here.

It could be that the slide doesn't make the circuit in position 3 so just check the terminal for position 4. Looking at the schematic there is one more terminal on those headlight switches than later switches had. If that extra terminal is hot with position 3 then the schematic won't work but if it doesn't come on until 4 is selected then you could use the headlight sw for both lights.

You do bring up a point though. If you have to be careful not to overshoot then you could run the fog lights by accidentally pulling out too far. In that case a separate on off switch might be desirable -- or at least an indicator light that would let you know fogs were on.

I faintly remember testing the headlamp switch and i thought i picked a terminal on it to power the headlights that would have power in position 3. this way it was like a modern headlight switch...off/running/headlights and 4 would be ignored. but it ended up that position 4 still energizes the headlights and all, i just got lucky. I ended up liking it that way becuase then i didn't have to fight to find position 3, i could just pull the switch all the way out. but i do know the way i have it wired, i do get power to the headlights in 3 or 4, i just prefer 4 for obvious reasons.

I'd just have to get under there with a test lamp and check it out as you suggest and you are probably right as there are many terminals left over that i did not use. maybe one of them has power only in one postion and not both. or maybe 3 and 4 dont energize at the same time like i think they do.

my brain is already hurting though...so i think i'm just going to wire it up the way I drew it out. There really isn't any point to making them work in only one of the headlight switch positions as they are not really for fog and i'm going to want to keep pulling the switch out to 4 instead of hunting for 3. pulling the switch to 4 for headlights is great now and adding a switch for adding additional lighitng appeals to me.

as for knowing if the "fogs" are on...I should beable to tell just by the sheer brightening it provides infront of the car. that should tell me if i left the switch on on accident. or like you said i could buy a switch that has a light on it, but i'm partial to the solid metal toggle switches and the indicator light would be facing the floor anyways.

the turn signal switch i put in doesn't warm me either...and i'm still going to have to get used to remembering i turned it on and then need to turn it off after turning. i have little time behind the wheel so far and i will learn over time.

BIG thank you for helping me process all of this!!

i'm sure you guys are getting tired of seeing this blog in the recent forum topics list, but here is the latest.

new spark plug wires came yesterday. i had to assemble them on the car. i cut them one at a time to the same size as what was on the car already. then I hooked them onto the spark plugs and fed the unfinished end through all of the brackets. I had to lift the top left side of the braket to fit the last wire in. these are 8mm vs 7mm that was on the car. you can't really tell the bracket is lifted unless you get right on it. oh well, i'd rather have the 8mm wires. I like that they say Made in USA on them.

then i assembled the wire ends one at a time and connected to the dizzy. i call the result the Octopus. not the prettiest, because the wires came with 90 degrees on the dizzy end.

fired the car up and man what a difference! much smoother! i was even able to get the carb tuned better. got it down to 750rpm and leaned the richness out a bit. Still sitting pretty at 2 graduations on the flywheel. the timing light was not freaking out either. Since these wires filter out RFI i was able to angle the timing light better as they didn't wipe out the LCD display like the old wires did.

when i would rev to about 1300 rpm i was getting 7 degrees of advance. i was also getting 30 degrees of dwell.

I think getting the carb done and new exhaust will fix the rest of the issues. (exhaust experienced a hell of a backfire when i had the dizzy 180 out, which i think did something to the muffler.)

I dont know if the gauge on the dash is reading right though. pegged at 212 while it was running. i cant really see this thing getting that hot after all the work i did. i plugged the electric fan in and ran it and the temps started to come down. i have a replacement gauge coming for that triple pod i mounted, so i guess i'll find out the accuracy of the old gauge soon. i'm no expert on mechanical temp gauges...so what do i know. is it possible for a mechanical temp gauge to go wacky?

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Yes. The mechanical gauge is a Bourdon tube which is a flattened tube with one end sealed but free to move and the other end fixed to the gauge. It is formed to a shape looking like approx 3/4 of a circle. The sensor bulb is connected to the fixed end so when the heat causes the ether to expand the tube sees more pressure and tries to straighten out. Higher temp = higher pressure = straighter tube. The free end of the tube is connected to the needle via linkage and as the tube straightens it pulls the needle.

If the engine has overheated the pressure could have been high enough to permanently deform the tube and cause the needle to read high. Usually if that has happened the needle also reads wrong at the other end and permanently sits somewhere above the low mark. Conversely, if any of the ether has leaked out there will never be enough pressure to straighten the tube to the calibrated point and the gauge will read low.

thanks, that is a very good explaination! its nice learning new stuff! i will have too look and see where the needle sits when it is cold.

well I went out when it was cold and the needle was sitting at 180, few taps on the glass and it went down a bit to the right of the 100 mark. gauge is not right at all.

took the car out tonight to go to the muffler shop. it went to 180 and stopped, but when I tapped on the glass it went up higher. now that the car is cold its back at 180. its sticking and inaccurate.

I got the replacement modern gauge in today and stuck it in the top of the radiator and ran the motor. not 100% the best way to get a reading, but the coolant comes straight out of the head into the top tank so I figured it must be somewhat close. it stayed between 170 and 180 in the garage. that is with a 160 thermostat.

I still think I have a miss even though these new wires sure made it run much better. is there any way a cruddy carb or crapped out muffler could mimic a miss?

I don't smell gas or any richness out the back, just that weird exhaust sound. no smoke, nothing. maybe its just the muffler since I did have a back fire out of it when I had the dizzy stabbed 180 out. maybe getting some weird back pressure or something.

I guess we will see tomorrow when we get exhaust done. I told them quiet and he said he could get a quiet muffler. I guess we will see what he comes up with.

after the exhaust is done, I will be sending out the carb. after that...if it still sounds like it is missing....i'll have to look at the dizzy and spark plugs. pretty sure I got the gap right on the points and the spark plugs. the points, rotor, and cap are what came off the motor before I rebuilt it. they all looked good.

or just have someone with a trained ear at Kerrville listen in on it.

I went by my cousins repair shop tonight and he listened to small ticking I still have on the lifters. he said get a few miles on it and see what happens. then adjust them again if it doesn't go away. it doesn't always tick...which makes me think I have one that isn't spinning like it should be or something. even he admitted he has never had to mess with solid lifters. He is in his 50s. His dad, who owned the shop before would have been the one to ask.


anyways....just rambling and putting my thoughts to text.

I think I would just use the aftermarket gauge for now and plan a future repair for the temp gauge at Wolf's or one of the other places.

With your idle speed being fast like mine, if your dist has centrifugal advance I wonder if the same problem could be affecting the timing adjustment. I am pretty sure it is on mine and not being able to get down to 500 or less rpm I am fairly sure mine is wrong.