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#1
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1963 Headlight revisited
Here’s a not so techy tech tip. I did my research into headlight switches on the Forum and found that my 63 has a one year only headlight switch, maybe maybe not I’m not sure. Anyway I found that Pontiac used headlight switches from 59 to 68, give or take, that used the same headlight switch plug. The switches themselves might have been different in some way or the plug wired differently or a combination of both. Let me qualify the following with what I’ve been doing. I went to do my weekly startup and smoke came out of the dash, the 57 year old wiring had given up. All the brittle insulation and splices and butchery had taken their toll.
So I got a Painless wiring kit and went to work rewiring from headlights to tail lights and everything in between. First casualty was the wiper switch, got an NOS 2 speed switch for a replacement, second was the headlight switch. Tail lights on all the time, no parking lights and no dash lights. I took the switch apart and it was dust. I had rewired the headlight plug according to Painless (Painless what joke) and went on the assumption I had done the job correctly. So I ordered this inexpensive switch set supposedly for a 63 Tempest. Under $45 for headlight, wiper, ignition and dimmer switches. The thing I was looking for was the 2 and 3 poles being tied together and I would rewire the plug from there. My new switch does not tie those poles together my old switch did. First lets see what works so I plugged the new switch up with no modifications and everything worked. Parking lights good, Headlights good high and low beam, Interior lights work with rheostat and on and off. Brake lights good and turn signals good and all combinations of the above worked. Not much else to say, could have made a long story shorter but hey I’m telling it. The original nut that holds the switch in the dash fit fine and the original switch rod works in the new switch as well. So at least the chinese switch can’t be seen. This is not an option if you want NOS original parts for your restoration, but for my driver Tempest perfect so far and I have a spare ignition switch, a dimmer switch and a wiper switch. Hope this helps someone Mike |
#2
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Interesting...Let's see how that HL switch holds up.
__________________
"At no time did we exceed 175 mph.” Dan Gurney's truthful response to his and Brock Yate's winning of the first ever Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining Sea... Still have my 1st Firebird 7th Firebird 57 Starchief |
#3
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switch supplier?
Where did you get the switch and from what supplier? Tempest owners are always looking for part sources.
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#4
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Sorry, that was pretty stupid not adding that.
*bay naturally (https://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-Type-Swi...cAAOSwhiJc7ZTq) Probably have it on Amazon as well |
#5
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Yeah but how much will it get used even if it was a daily driver?
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#6
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Something is better than nothing if you need one
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