Trafficator (Post # 123)

The Alfatross' unrestored trafficator box before cleaning.

Inside the box: two solenoid relays and an 
adjustable flash interval timer whachamacallit.
  The "marshmallow" on the right is the 
modern equivalent. 

In 1955 the electronic device used to make turn signal lights flash was sometimes called a trafficator. The Alfatross' is an aluminum box on a bakelite platform about the size of a generous slice of ravioli lasagna. I would say it is an electronic dinosaur except dinosaurs lasted 65 million years and these things only lasted maybe five. The devices that perform the same function today using the same principles are about the size and shape of a marshmallow and last forever. 

I talked about The Alfatross' trafficator a year or two ago in the context of how I was going to try to get it working again. We lost points in the 2016 Arizona Concours d'Elegance because we still had not solved that problem. This post is about the monumental--nay, heroic!--effort that went into getting the damn thing working in the two weeks leading up to the Santa Fe Concorso last August. 

"Printed circuit", 1955 style!

The Carello trafficator box in position on the firewall

connected to all 10 wires.

Little Box of Problems

Ten wires lead into and out of the trafficator. There is a ground of course, and a wire supplying power from the battery circuit. One wire supplies power to the light on the dash that flashes to let the driver know the indicator lights are working. Two wires lead back to the turn signal switch on the steering column that activate the circuits powering the front and rear, left and right signal lights through four more wires. And one wire leads to the switch on the master brake cylinder to activate the rear brake lights. Ten wires: pretty simple, really, and the replica wiring harness connections were numbered to match, but it's easy to get confused because you're lying on your back upside down under the dash with the box mounted vertically so you can't see the embossed numbers telling you which wires go where. Try it some time if you don't think that sounds hard--and be sure to add sleep deprivation, problem-solving fatigue, a high degree of growing frustration--and mistakes in information you assumed was correct! With regard to the latter, here are a couple of examples of the kind of things that can take days to figure out:

Example One: The front signal lights' three female connections are clearly indicated with a ground, a red socket for the brighter signal light filament and a plain socket for the normal running light filament. But the driver's side unit's sockets were reversed at the factory.  Guess what happens when the brighter filament is left on for a few minutes.  It melts the plastic lens!

Example Two: The indicator light wiring harness at one point enters a three-wire connector joining two ground wires for the left and right signal lights and a third wire providing power to the circuit.  The connector in the new harness was defective, creating an intermittent open circuit for the signal lights on the right side, preventing them from performing their signal function. The lesson is don't assume reproduction parts are faultless just because they are new!

Back Story

I took the trafficator apart for the first time probably 30 years ago.  A bent contact strip on top of one of the two electromagnet relays told me it was damaged during a misguided repair attempt made some time before I got the car in 1969.  That was easy to fix. But the unit still didn't work. After surfing the Web for a few hours and finding only one reconditioned example for sale at 1,400 Euros, I became much more interested in repairing mine! As luck would have it Gregory, a neighbor who in a previous life used to make AtoCENSORED at Los Alamos dropped by The Shed looking for a challenge. Already feeling an over-abundance of challenges, I eagerly foisted it off on him.

A few days later he brought it back successfully repaired with a modern $5.00 flasher module grafted on in place of the original. I considered asking for a warranty but thought that might be pushing my luck. Before installing it I decided to wire it up outside the car using all the parking, turn signal, and brake light components hooked up to a 12V motorcycle battery.  I hooked it up, activated the turn signals for the left side and both lights came on . . . but they didn't flash! Then I realized that it takes a few beats for the flasher circuit to warm up. Note to self: flip the turn signal lever well in advance of when you want the lights to come on!

The trafficator connected to all four signal lights, brake lights, and the dash light exactly as they would be in the car.

Now confident that the system was operational I put the lights back on the car, reinstalled and reconnected the trafficator, flipped the turn signal switch . . . and only the signal lights on the left side worked!  Arggggh!  The more I fiddled with it the more erratic it became. !*#X%&!

David's reconditioned trafficator is considerably neater
and more robust than the original while retaining all the
original parts except the flasher interval timer.

Time to implement Plan B: Call David Smith. Turns out David knows a guy in New York who repairs trafficators. It takes a while, but when they come back they are fully functional and bulllet-proof. Given my time constraints David offered to give me one of his that was already repaired . . . or was it a loan? I can't remember.  David, if it was a loan I promise to send it back as soon as I get mine going again.  Really. 

When David's rebuilt trafficator arrived I marveled at how neat the conversion to the more modern heat-controlled flash interval regulator was. But the aluminum cover was unrestorable, necessitating swapping it for The Alfatross' relatively unblemished one. 

 . . . So there The Alfatross and I were one crisp September morning on the lawn at the Santa Fe Concorso with our bright, shiny, better-than-new trafficator in place, waiting to wow the judges. As they poured over the car I eagerly asked one of them if they would like a turn signal demonstration. "This is not that kind of event", he said.

The Right Stuff (Post # 122)

Illustration of the parts of The Alfatross' original exhaust
system. The parts in the upper right corner are the heat shields
that cover the generator, starter, and steering column. Another
heat shield covers the "siamesed" muffler or resonance chamber.
The system is supported by three sets of hangers. 

One of the big surprises in this restoration is how difficult it has been to replicate the exhaust system. Why bother? After all, it's something you can't even see most of the time and not usually judged in car shows. True, but even if exhaust systems aren't readily visible or judged they are an important part of how well the engine performs and how it SOUNDS. A car's exhaust note is its voice and as such, just as much a part of its character as is a person's voice.  

I was able to make a sketch with dimensions of the original exhaust system before it returned to earth and to save what was left of the header flanges. I could not help but marvel at how sophisticated and performance-oriented the surviving parts of the system were: Individual exhaust headers mated to double pipes running the entire length of the car with a siamesed  resonance chamber, a crossover pipe, and two sets of mufflers. 

The exhaust system starts with the beautifully-made 4-into-2 headers. To get a good look at them you have to first remove the aluminum shroud that ducts cool air to the headers when the car is moving.  The next thing you notice is how the steering column passes between the header pipes!  Then you note the aluminum heat shields covering the generator and starter and the asbestos shield wrapped around the steering column. Seems like overkill or even some kind of high-performance affectation. You don't appreciate how absolutely essential they are until you fire the engine up. Those pipes quickly reach 500+ degrees F, even at idle!






Until relatively recently original exhaust systems after the headers were typically made of mild steel with little thought given to corrosion protection, so they didn't last long. They lived out of sight under the car where they got bashed by things you thought you could drive over--but couldn't. The combination of heat, water vapor, and exhaust gasses guaranteed a nasty, brutish, and short life. 

As mentioned earlier in this never-ending blog, part of the Alfatross' exhaust system had already fallen off by the time I bought the car in 1969. I noticed it was unpleasantly LOUD and when I looked underneath, the entire system aft of the second set of mufflers was gone except for the hanger straps dangling forlornly in the breeze. What was left of the exhaust system followed suit during the 47 years The Alfatross patiently waited for its restoration. In 1995 I ordered a custom-made all-stainless exhaust system through Joost and Peter and that is the one now on the car. It looks and works well, but I'm sure it is louder that the original system, perhaps because it lacks the third stage muffler pair aft of the rear axle.

Jeff Robison and I installing the current exhaust system. It works well and is well-made of quality materials, but differs from the original system.

But I wanted something more authentic. Images of the original system, which was quite complex, may be found in period catalogs and I noticed that at least one of The Alfatross' restored siblings, *02056*, has a pretty good replica system. But where did it come from?

An illustration of the exhaust system for Alfa 1900 SS and TI models from a period catalog.

The long-awaited AFRA exhaust system finally arrives more than 9
months after being ordered and paid for.

Naturally, production of exhaust systems for Alfa 1900s ceased decades ago. One of the biggest suppliers of parts for old Alfas in Italy is AFRA, s.a.s. When I noticed that they offer a replica system I ordered one. That was nine months ago. After pestering them for 6 of those 9 months the gestation period finally bore fruit and the system arrived at my front door. Having been warned in advance by Giuseppe Maranghi and David Smith that I should not expect to be impressed, I was not crushingly disappointed when I unwrapped the package.  

Example of sloppy welding and damaged 
muffler neck on the AFRA system.

This is AFRA's idea of how to fabricate an exhaust system.
Each pipe is made up of at least six sections of tubing of
different diameters sloppily welded together--
looks like it has already been crashed! 

Even before trying to match it to The Alfatross I could see that the long wait was a waste of time. The system already on the car was far superior to what now lay before me: low-quality materials, pathetically poor welds, absence of a critical attachment point, flimsy gaskets, and crude bends. Four short sections of pipe were stainless but everything else was cheap mild steel. The system appears to have been fabricated in two different shops. The front half, painted black, is all mild steel. The critical bends between the header flanges and where the pipes straighten out were not created on a mandrel but made up by crudely welding many short sections together. The fabricators did not even attempt to recreate the "siamesed" first stage muffler or resonance chamber. The silver-coated back half consists of two pairs of off-the-shelf steel mufflers joined by stainless pipes. I might actually be able to use parts of the second section, but the first section is worthless! 

So I still don't have the right stuff--but I'm getting closer! I just learned from David Smith that Quicksilver Exhausts (http://www.quicksilverexhausts.com/1900-Ti-and-Super-Sprint---TWIN-Stainless-Steel-Exhaust-(1953-59)_ALFA%20ROMEO_915_productbulletin.htm) makes reproduction systems for the Alfa 1900 SS model and they look pretty good.  It comes in modules, making it easier to install and adjust the fit, is all stainless, costs just over $1,000, and arrives only 2 weeks after the order is placed! David already ordered a set for his car, *01947*.  If he is pleased with the quality of the system I may follow suit.  After all--"Third time's the charm"!