Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.
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bertie
Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Posts: 73 Location: Coventry, West Midlands.
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Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 10:54 pm Post subject: Betie`s ignition switch. |
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Good evening all. On my last post, I was explaining that there was a dry joint at the back of the ignition switch, and a quick fix didnt work . So I returned to him today to remove the switch and hopefully repair it, a daunting task I thought .I removed the earth lead from the battery of course (always a good idea!) At this point, may I apologise for the poor quality of the photographs, my phone camera lens was inexplicably greasy!
Then, armed with a 3/8" socketed screwdriver, I removed the two switch mounting nuts....and it came away beautifully from behind the dashboard! . I then took stock of how many soldered joints on the wiring there were..err, none. Each and every one was held in place by a sturdy little screw. So much for my dry joint theory! . I was contemplating how to remember where each wire went prior to taking the switch apart, then I noticed that with one simple push and twist, the switch would come apart in two pieces.. . I did just that, and carefully separated the two halves, expecting 52 year old brass contacts,ball bearings, springs and God knows what to fly out at a thousand miles an hour in different directions....no. Yet another nice surprise as it was beautifully simple. This is one half, showing the triangular moving part with damaged contact
This is the other half (the wiring block inner brass contacts) showing another worn contact and tracking marks
Once I had carefully cleaned up all the brass contacts (800 grade wet/dry paper was ideal), and duly cleaned out both halves very carefully, I applied light but long lasting grease to both inner halves, including all brass contacts. I had realised that the said triangular moving piece had three spring loaded "legs" to keep it pressed against the other half, making a good contact, and two of these were seized. Wd/40 followed by more light greasing soon rectified this and all three were then free and springing nicely. This picture shows the impressively simple but effective design of the housing, and how it is held together
The refitting was ridiculously easy and all was back in place within 10 minutes, although my non-contortionist back would take issue with the easy bit! Well, the proof of the pudding etc..I held my breath and turned the key...all lights lit up. I tentatively pulled the start knob....he burst into life like the little beastie he was...previously troublesome indicators and other electrics now worked perfectly and I then checked the alternator (he has had a 12 volt conversion) readout...14.4 volts...perfect! Bertie and I had fallen out over all this, and I had threatened him-Basil Fawlty-like -but I was genuinely surprised at how easily all came apart and how easy it was to rectify...the old ones are the best! So, he and I will go shopping at the weekend, a little late, but it`ll be worth the wait . Again, thank you for your patience in reading this, and maybe-just maybe, I`ll have some pictures of our excursion at the coming weekend! |
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Richard H
Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Posts: 2148 Location: Lincolnshire, UK
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Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 11:56 pm Post subject: |
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Fantastic
Well done on sorting her out, and I await those pictures _________________ Richard Hughes |
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bertie
Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Posts: 73 Location: Coventry, West Midlands.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:24 am Post subject: |
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Thank you, it should be fun- and trouble-free! |
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Rick Site Admin
Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22429 Location: UK
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bertie
Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Posts: 73 Location: Coventry, West Midlands.
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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It certainly is! The further proof that he`s now ok came yesterday when I took him 15 miles round Coventry, and he was perfect.. |
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pryantcc
Joined: 07 Sep 2009 Posts: 88
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:45 am Post subject: |
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Rick wrote: | Nice feeling isn't it when you can actually dismantle something that today would be a sealed unit, fix it, put it back together and it all works once more
R |
I overcame those nasty "sealed unit" boys last night when the brake light switch on my motorbike failed to operate after a winter of inactivity. I drilled out the plastic plugs which were melted as a means of sealing the unit together (would have been screws in the old days), gave the contacts a clean and it's good as new with some araldite to keep it all together!! |
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bertie
Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Posts: 73 Location: Coventry, West Midlands.
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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excellent... |
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