Information regarding "Safeguard Sentinel" system for 68 Chryslers

[EurekaSevven]

So, I was watching this old vender video about the '68 Chrysler lineup, and noticed this part at 6:50:

I have been considering off and on down the road of modding in a auto-dimmer setup for my car (just because it'd be easier than manually pressing the floor button, luxury and all that), but what was interesting to me was upon googling, the actual autronic eye was practically impossible to find, at least a Chrysler period-spec model. Until I noticed this eBay listing that had this:

So my question is, did Chrysler just outright buy the parts from Ford? I know that's not exactly unheard of from car companies to sometimes buy parts from other car companies (I know AMC did it with their transmissions, they're just GM units), but I find it interesting they did it with this year in particular, from the looks of it. Especially since Chrysler already had auto-dimming on their earlier years.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

It's actually a General Motors unit, more specifically it's made by Guide, GM's lighting division at the time. All the auto dimming units were GM, going back into the 50's.

The Twilight Sentinel was also manufactured by Guide, though the Chrysler units were modified to turn on the reverse lamps when the delay was activated.

Jeff

 

[EurekaSevven]

It's actually a General Motors unit, more specifically it's made by Guide, GM's lighting division at the time. All the auto dimming units were GM, going back into the 50's.

The Twilight Sentinel was also manufactured by Guide, though the Chrysler units were modified to turn on the reverse lamps when the delay was activated.

Jeff

Just took a look online and yup. Seems to match up perfectly. Saw this listing, also on eBay:

Interesting they decided to outsource that instead of doing it in-house. Would the Chrysler reverse-light modification be in this autronic eye, or in the actual relay/hardware that the autronic eye wires into? I'm not actually sure if my manual has a section for this (it might, it has the other options in detail), so I'll have to take a look.

Edit: Also, that listing explains the Ford packaging, as they were sometimes used on Lincolns as well, evidently.

 

[78Brougham]

Not to bust your bubble but I've had a couple cars with these and they never really worked that well. Couldn't trust them.
I don't know how much they want for it, but pushing the floor button would be a lot more prudent than drilling holes in your cowl or dash just to find out it doesn't work that good. Not to mention having your foot hovering over the floor button just in case.
Just sayin'

 

[Mr C]

The Imperial one is very hard to find as it has a unique pedestal. Not looking forward to digging into the lights as nothing work on my car.

Chrysler also out-sourced other items...this isn't the only one...their tilt/tele steering columns from GM, power vent gears from a Caddy fit a mopar, etc.

 

[cbarge]

I had a 68 NYer for 10 years and it had the sentinel system that never worked properly.
The photcell turned to powder inside to the point the headlughts came on as soon as I turned on the key.
The autronic eye thought daylight was an oncoming car so no high beams.
The system overides the headlight switch and foot switch.
The foot switch is also different and a common el cheapo parts jobber unit will not work with the system.

You really do not want this option.

 

[Big_John]

So my question is, did Chrysler just outright buy the parts from Ford? I know that's not exactly unheard of from car companies to sometimes buy parts from other car companies (I know AMC did it with their transmissions, they're just GM units)

Car companies actually make very few parts. They design a lot and contract others to make them, and sometimes one of the other company's divisions would be contracted to build parts. A very good example is when Chrysler owned New Process Gear. NPG built 4WD transfer cases that would be found in Chevy and Ford trucks, just as they would be found in the Dodges.

The smaller the company, the more you would see parts built by competitors. For example, I had a AMC Jeep Cherokee SJ with a Chevy V6 engine. Also had a Grand Waggoneer with a Chrysler Torqueflite, NPG transfer case, Ford ignition and brakes, GM steering and who knows what else.

In our cars, the signal seeking radios are GM/Delco pieces as are any of the Saginaw steering pumps and tilt columns. Power vents are Delco pieces and are interchangeable with Caddy pieces. Power window motors share some of the same pieces with Fords, as do power antennas, which leads me to believe they used the same vendor.

Go back in history and you'll find that the Dodge brothers got their start making parts for Ford.

A little interesting tidbit of info that might make you the life of the party... Henry Ford spec'd that certain parts would be crated in wooden boxes of a specified dimension. When those parts came in, the parts went into one pile and the crates went into another... to be used as the wooden floors in Model T Fords! The scrap wood went over to another plant he owned, Kingsford, to be turned into Charcoal.

 

[detmatt]

I would like to get the Sentinal working in my silver car. I recently picked up another control box, hopefully it’s a working one.

 

[Imperialist67]

It can be easy to confuse "twilight sentinel" with "auto-dimmer." They're separate unit/options.

Sentinal turns on your headlights with a sensor, and with a delayed effect, turns them off. A small knob enables you (if it works) to adjust the delay. Another one on top of the dash has a late/early adjustment. I have this on both my 67's, both of which are sensitive, and will pretty much turn headlights on any time.

Auto-dimmer is I THINK the same as the original "Autronic Eye" GM invented in the early 50's, and switches brights on/off. Up until '67 it sits on top of the dash, for '68 (and forward?) the unit is external, not sure exactly where. Mine works, but is REAL sensitive. Adjusting it all the way back keeps it in control. Nice to have if driving at night where there aren't streetlights, otherwise it will drive you nuts.

 

[CBODY67]

Newer vehicles have "sun load sensors" (to automatically raise the a/c fan speed when needed) and "ambient light sensors" to turn on the headlights and modulate the instrument panel illumination in response to daylight and darkness. Perhaps some of these modern sensors might be used to upgrade the old systems and sensors?

Or perhaps the old systems relied upon an absence of ambient light at night to work well? Which WILL be a problem in modern times, especially in more populated areas with many street lights?

By observation, a current issue is the oncoming headlights in what I term "high contrast lighting situations". Where the brighter/whiter color of the headlights, combined with their smaller and more intense beam, can be worse than high-beams of old, by observation. Even if the vehicle being met has only low-beams operating.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[cbarge]

can be easy to confuse "twilight sentinel" with "auto-dimmer." They're separate unit/options.

Yes they are but in 68 you got both and they do work with (supposedly...anyways...) together. Unlike 67 they could be seperate.
I messed around the whole time i owned my old 68 NYER and disabled the system when I sold the car.

 

[tallhair]

Great info in this thread.

I think AMC andJensen used 727s at one point too.

Jensen interceptors had Mopar 440s also.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

I had Twilight Sentinel in my '66 New Yorker and beam changer in my '66 Imperial and they both worked, but that was 35 years ago.

In my earlier post, I said that the Chrysler unit was modified to turn on the reverse lamps during delay, but I think I was wrong about that. It may have been that Chrysler just had the reverse lamp circuit on a separate connector.

The amplifier in my '66 New Yorker was likely repaired or modified by the previous owner, as now that I think about it, I remember a few pages of hand drawn circuit diagrams for the Twilight Sentinel that were inside the service manual that came with the car.

When I added the modified dash to my '72 Fury wagon, I installed a complete Sentinel system that I pulled from a '69 Imperial in a junkyard, and it didn't work. I never had time to go through it and try to find the trouble, but it's likely the amplifier was bad. I don't know if a re-cap would get one going again, or if they might have some germanium transistors that are known to fail over time.

This '65-'66 Cadillac Sentinel amplifier looks identical to the Chrysler unit, except the case is transparent instead of black, and I think the purple wire has a separate connector on Chrysler.

Jeff

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

FWIW, my Sentinel on the 66 T&C works flawlessly, and I love it. There is an article in the WPC Website where a guy details how to rebuild the photocell stuff with Radio Shack parts.

I've got lots of spares, and intend on "retrofitting" the system into my Monaco at some point.

 

[EurekaSevven]

FWIW, my Sentinel on the 66 T&C works flawlessly, and I love it. There is an article in the WPC Website where a guy details how to rebuild the photocell stuff with Radio Shack parts.

I've got lots of spares, and intend on "retrofitting" the system into my Monaco at some point.

You mind finding the article? CBODY67's post about potentially retrofitting a system gained my interest, as I imagine it's very doable, and potentially with far better parts than what they had in the 60's, just because of how our manufacture process has progressed since those times. Only possible concern would be making sure the sensitivity isn't as aggressive than with OEM hardware, as seems to be a fairly prevailing theme, according to others in this thread.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Go here and scroll down to Headlights...
Radio and Accessory Repair Information for Chrysler Imperials and Imperials

I don't see the in-depth article that was there before... you can find information here: repairing headlight sentinel - Google Search

 

[DocGonzo]

I know this is a old post but I have rebuilt a lot of those sentinel systems. The common thing that goes bad on them is capacitors in the box which are junk to begin with that need replacing and the photo electric eye which you can get from digi key or mouser electronics. Other than that they are very robust units

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Can you make a components list of what's required for rebuilding them?

While the one in my 66 T&C still works flawlessly to this day, I am waiting for it to give up the ghost, and I have another amplifier I expect will need recapping etc.

I and others here will appreciate it.