Assembly of lighting switch on a '37

S

storyteller

Member
I am having a devil of a time assembling the wiring switch on my '37. I cannot get the prongs to go into the slots on the rotating disc. I have a NOS wiring harness but it so tight down at the end of the steering column. I even tried to remove the drip pan under the steering gear but could not remove it with other things in the way. I did gain some space to get my hands around the switch. Any tips on how to assemble this bugger?
 
O Boy, sounds like you're trying to get a diaper on a baby before he's born!

OK, The "drip pan" as you call it has a wire bale holding it on. Push that bale over the side, the pan will drop down. The horn/light rod has a spring loaded keeper on it. Remove the keeper and the baby is born!
 
It sounds like the "drip pan" is the left side engine splash pan and not the bottom cover of the switch. Assembling the switch with the front fender in place without removing the engine splash pan to gain access to the switch from the bottom is a tall order requiring long arms, a lot of patience, and probably a mirror.
 
ford38v8 said:
OK, The "drip pan" as you call it has a wire bale holding it on. Push that bale over the side, the pan will drop down. The horn/light rod has a spring loaded keeper on it. Remove the keeper and the baby is born!
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like he's referring to the engine "splash pan" under the steering box. Click the link below and see nospartsman's post #6 to explain a fairly easy method to remove that "drip pan" without cutting. DD

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93293&highlight=1937+engine+pans
 
Hi there, Have someone sit in the drivers seat and slowly rotate the light switch a little left and right while you hold the switch in position down below. Make sure you have the switch located into the slot in the bottom column sleeve and push it up while the switch control on the steering wheel is being rotated. Ive done a lot of these and have had no problems. Is the switch housing the original one that was on the car to start with ? Regards, Kevin.
 
Thanks for the tips so far. Yes, the drip pan I was referring to is actually the engine splash pan. I was successful today to get the wiring switch in place and add the bale. The prongs did go into the switch OK by wiggling the switch at the steering wheel. Now I seem to have another problem. The parking lights stay on all the time. I of course, unhook the battery to shut them off. The car does have a replacement NOS Ford wiring harness. I can reach the lighting switch OK now as the splash pan has dropped down an inch or so and I have not installed the front fenders as yet.

Is it possible that the prongs are in the wrong slots on the lighting switch? It seems to me that could be possible if the V8 on the horn button was upside down. This might not be possible as I did have the notch lined up on the bottom side.
 
All the upper piece should be doing is making the connections between the three groups of three connectors (shown on the diagrams as a triangle). I would think there would have to be some type of wiring issue to keep the parking lights on, unless the upper piece was on going to the resting (off) position. If that was the case you should also have tail lights and instruments lights on along with the parking lights.
 

Attachments

  • 37 Lighting Control Switch Diagram.jpg
    37 Lighting Control Switch Diagram.jpg
    11.3 KB · Views: 14
Hi there, The only way the parking lights could stay on all the time regardless of which position the light switch is at is if the park light wires inside the switch are connected on to the battery power terminals. The park light wires should be on their own separate single terminal on the switch plate. Park light wires are coloured black with a yellow tracer. You will have to pull the switch off again and separate the metal halves and push the Bakelite switch plate out and check the terminals on the back. During 1938 the switch plate was changed and the headlight dipper switch was mounted on the floor and not switched at the steering wheel, so hope you have the correct switch and wiring harness for your 37 Ford. Regards, Kevin.
 
Just thought of another possibility depending on the construction of the wiring harness. There may be a bunch of bullet connectors up the front drivers side where the lights and possibly the horns connect. Make sure the park lights wires are not connected into the power feed for the horns. This may not be possible, just depends how the harness with the horn wires are configured. Do your horns work ? Regards, Kevin.
 
Aword of caution, if the wires are not aoldered to the terminals on your contact disk, they should be and will come loose or make bad connections.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top