How to Build Your Own Passing Lamps
By Ronn Kilby
Here's what I did. From JC Whitney I ordered
(current catalog  84J): 

Page 56 cat#06XC4689P headlight housing (2) @ $21.95 ea. 
Page 56 cat#13XC9081W amber non-fluted sealed beams (2) @ $9.95 ea. (they also have blue!) 
Page 51 cat#02XC1125B side clamps, 7/8" (2) @ $3.29 ea. 
3M connectors (any auto parts store). 

These prices are a little lower on the internet but they don't have a secure server. If you order over the phone but say you saw it on the internet, they'll give you the lower price. 

I had to bend the clamps open with big pliers and a vice to get them over the turn signal mounting bars, then crimp them back down flat before bolting lamp housings to them. Since it's chrome to chrome and a "perfect fit," I put a thickness of that shiney metallic tape (sold with the AC ductwork at hardware store) around the bar first to give it something to grip to. An alternative would be to use the 1" diameter 3-piece clamps on page 56 with a 1"-to-7/8" spacer. At any rate, I used lock washers. I used 3M crimp-type 3-way connectors (they have silicone sealer inside - no corrosion!) and attached to the black wire inside headlight housing. They're on with high or low beams (I think they're supposed ot go off when on hi-beams in California but oh
well) but you can wire 'em up to suit. I may put a switch in the speedo housing opposite the trip reset. pretty simple. 

Forgot to say that (as the closeup pic shows) I added a nut and washer to the housing mounting shaft - the one shown above the clamp - so I could get it to mount flush. I didn't use the curved big washers that came with the housings. 

Also, a better explanation of the wiring: 

The 3M connector has 3 holes. You just jam the wires in and crimp with pliers for a worry-free connection. In this case, I put the two wires coming from the lamps in, then a third piece of wire (zip cord, lamp cord, whatever) about a foot long. I crimped it then hid this whole thing behind the plastic "chrome" cover on the forks, & dressed it up with cable ties. Then I ran that 3rd wire up into the hole in the back of the headlight assembly. Removed the 2 screws holding the bezel on, and used a crimp-type connector to hook up to the black wire. This time, the kind of connector you use to hook up trailer lights. The nice thing about these is you don't have to cut any wires. It opens up like a hotdog bun, the headlight wire goes in like a hotdog, then you jam the wire from the passing lamps into the other hole in the connector, close the connector cover, crimp with pliers and you're done.

Clean and neat - and un-do-able - with no soldering, no wire nuts, no ugly electrical tape or heat-shrink tubing. 
 

 

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