Headlight Switch Woes

Ian Curtis

Ian Curtis

Senior Member
Recently, my headlights stop working, so I disassembled the switch. It appears that the rotating bit in the top half of the switch has broken, so it's just floating in the switch casing. As such, there is no pressure holding the copper top half it against the copper in the bottom half, so it doesn't work.

I got a second switch from a fellow club member, and the top half does fit with the existing bottom half of the switch I had. But, it has 4 contacts instead of the 3 that are in my old one. I have a '29 with 2 bulb headlights if that is useful.

Does anyone sell just the top half of the switch? I'd rather not rewire the whole car if I don't have to. Thanks!

Top half of my headlight switch (presumed broken)
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Bottom half of my headlight switch
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Inside of replacement top half with four contacts.
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Recently had the same problem on my 28 Tudor. I purchased a replacement switch from Snyders and just used the upper half. It should mate up.
 
A friend just had a problem with his switch. We were out driving in traffic and he turned his lights on. When we got to the destination he tried to turn them off and they smoked some and didn't shut off. the rod would not turn. So he used his main shutoff and later disassembled the switch. The plate with the contact was made of plastic, not bakealight (sp) and it had melted, one of the contacts went deep into the melted plastic and the rotating contact was hung up in the resulting hole. I gave him an old one that I had and the aligning slot was in a different place. He found one of the vendors who gave him one and other than $10.00 shipping he's a happy camper. All this on a new harness from front to back bumpers, and a reputable vendor.
 
Do you have the contact plate to go along with the 4 contact switch?

As Steve said, it's only for the 1928 and early 29 single bulb headlamps, and there are people looking for that part.
 
Here's a picture of the correct contact plate for the fluted single bulb headlamp.
 

Attachments

  • Headlamp Switch Fluted.jpg
    Headlamp Switch Fluted.jpg
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I ended up buying an original switch from Bert's in Colorado. The top half of the new switch mates up just fine with the bottom half of the existing switch, and my headlights work again! Very important when it drizzles 9 out of 12 months of the year. I have also gotten very good at assembling and disassembling them.
 
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