Thinking of doing a few luxury upgrades.

Water sensor that'll turn the windscreen wipers on when their is rain.
central locking.
small alarm that goes off when lights are left on in the car when the car is off etc.
Total kill switch
Possibly a remote starter, or similar to new cars you have to have the key ring with the chip before you can start the car etc...?

Question is has anyone done any of this stuff (Apart from the kill switch or central locking), and did it work? any stories or tips etc, or does anyone just want to shut my idea down...?

What year and model of A-body do you have? I dislike chimes/buzzers, but like the idea of a relay (with manual override) that would cut the headlights if the ignition has been off for, say, 2 minutes.

Intermittent wipers would be nice, but really, one that senses rain and turns on? The switch is only inches away....

Ideas should never be shut down though, I say put 'em out there and make your own decision. Keep us posted!

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Never seen a Valiant I didn't like!

Yeah, the rain sensor is getting abit crazy I looked into it more. you can buy a 4x4cm sensor to put on your windscreen on the inside of the car that'll sense the rain, and put the wipers on the the correct setting. But it looks terrible. So I'm going to cancel that.

I'd just like a small beeper maybe? just a gentle reminder to say I've left my lights on. If the car is off and the door is opened etc.

I am really keen on a remote starter though this i think wouldn't be to bad... More or less it would just have to totally bypass the key mechanism and that'd be it. A frequency sent to a receiver that can connect the circuit/s when it gets the right signal. Friends and electrical engineer sure he'll figure something out I hope. Would also like it to be a remote stopper.

Was also told I could easily have a G meter made and installed for very cheap so I knew the G forces I was experiencing. or I could know what angle the car is on in relation to the ground, or sea level etc. though these I think are a little crazy...

In 1970 the auto headlight shut down was a option on the Dart (My Challenger has it too) It was a relay with a built in time delay.
There has been tries at auto wipers (and power tops) that turn on when it rains but they never work well, drizzles confuse them. Last car I had with auto wipers was My Citron SM-worked so-so. Remember : The French copy no one and no one copies the French!

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50 chrysler,54 Plymouth, 64 Valiant conv 4 speed, 66 Valiant V8 wagon, 70 Challenger R/T 440+6 conv 4 speed,80 Colt, 98 Neon ACR,84 Honda V45 Magna
Taking care of 57 300C conv,48 T&C conv. Missing my 67 GTX and 36 Ply coupe

It's possible to add a wiper delay to 2sp and 3sp/variable speed wipers of that time period; I've done it, but it is hard. The difficult part is that you need some kind of sensor to tell you where to stop the blades - I used a Hall Effect sensor - and a big multipole relay (I used 4PDT) to switch the motor on & off. I've the schematics somewhere, and it worked fine, but I just decided it wasn't worth trying to make a production copy.

You could try to adapt a later (>1978?) motor with a position switch in it to the task, but you'd have to find one that was a physical match and you'd still need the relay.

The subject of interval wipers is partly covered in this article in the article section. If you make a search on the theme, I distinctly remember that the topic of interval wipers has been covered in the forum several times before.

I have a kit for a 'lights on' beeper alarm laying around somewhere, got it in an auto shop decades ago, I think such kits are still available.
It is really simple to build yourself with a relay that works in the opposite way; letting current through unless it is triggered. Use a wire from the light circuit to power the relay, and a wire from the ignition 'run' circuit to trigger it to go 'off'. The output goes to the beeper. That way you have a relay that lets through current to the beeper when the lights are switched 'on', unless the ignition key is in the 'run' position.

Good luck, nice if you follow up with the results of your upgrades.

Olaf

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Aspenized

I had a 69 Charger that had the buzzer that reminded you the headlights were on when either door was opened. When I eventually parted the car out, I saved everything associated with it will be transplanting into in my 65 Dart wagon. Also have the Mopar headlight delay set-up and will also be using it in the wagon.

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65 Dart station wagon slant 6 - now under construction
47 Dodge Custom 4 Door sedan
87 D100 Short Bed slant 6

Retired USAF 1966-1986
Retired US Postal Service 2004-2014