The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Rebuilding an AD headlight switch?

The headlight switch in the '50 stopped conducting electricity properly so I removed it and took it apart. The contacts had seen better days and it was clear that it needed a rebuild or a new switch. Well I couldn't find anyone that sells the internal parts or even a reproduction switch so I bought a "replacement". To make a long story short I'm not happy with it. It works fine but it doesn't feel right, it has a light pull and has way too much plastic. I want my old switch back!

So, has anyone rehabbed their original switch? I'm cooking up a plan to try to remake some of the parts but I don't want to reinvent the wheel if I don't have to.

"CAROLINES TRUCK" member on here had a really good write up about the reproduction headlight switches.
The one he bought fell apart while installing it.
If you can find a good original,,use it.

There are two grades of reproduction headlight switches. There is the cheaper one that is made about the same as the one you were talking about and then there is one that is a pretty good reproduction of the original switch. The later one is about your only choice for a replacement and yes, I suppose there might be a lemon in the bunch once in a while but I've heard very little bad feed back about the better reproduction light switch.

As far as rebuilding the original light switch, I've put a lot of time in on that to see if it was practical, it's not. Almost all of them will have to have the phenolic board replaced, which means that new contacts have to be made also and often the screw terminals are bad and need to be reproduced. The light dimmer resistor is very often damaged because they are originally potted in a high temperature ceramic potting compound that has flaked off. The coil is attached with copper rivets that 9 time out of 10 are corroded, which is why the dash lights don't work or flicker or are dim.
You still haven't gotten into the inside yet. The contact block and or springs are often broken and are very time consuming and difficult to recreate, the contacts are usually worn and would need to be remade, which is why your head lights either don't work or are intermittent.
So..........if you have a lot of time on your hands and access to a milling machine, exotic high temp cements, if you can find copper eyelets and the ability to set them with out cracking the ceramic rheostat frame, have some silicon bronze to make contacts with, then go ahead and rebuild your light switch. Or, spend $49.95 on a new switch and be on the road a half hour after UPS delivers it.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Well, sound like a challenge. My switch is just the brass sheet metal piece and the copper rivets so I think I'll start there.

The windshield in my “53 had leaked onto and into my headlight switch for so many years that when I got the truck, the knob would not even pull out. I pulled the switch out and pulled it apart at the kitchen table (that made the wife happy). It was a mess. I gently cleaned everything and applied some dielectric grease. I used a battery powered test light as I reassembled the switch to make sure it was working right. The switch now looks and works like new.

Denny, you mentioned two grades of repro headlight switches. Is there a way to identify them? Different model#? Source for ordering? Noticable price difference?

Looks like you can get them here.
bowtiebits
Classic Parts Of America



Tim

Twotone, I have the light switch out of my '53 that the dimmer switch screw terminal was loose on the phenolic board and not making a connection. What's on the inside of that board and is there a way to tighten that terminal back up? Thanks.

Sorry, I wish I had taken pics. It was about a year ago and I just don't remember.

It should just be a rivet that clamps the terminal to the board and the contact plate slides across to complete the circuit. I would think if it's in good shape you could recrimp it.

If anyone is thinking of restoring one of these, here are some old pictures of the internals of the AD Light Switch that I rebuilt several years ago. I had to make a new terminal board because the old one was warped, made new brass contacts because the old ones were worn, make a new sliding block because the Bakelite was crack, made several new lugs that were broken off or stripped and restored the rheostat which had a broken winding, had lost its ceramic potting material and whose rivets had lost contact because of corrosion. I spent close to a week making new parts to rebuild this switch correctly so it works like a brand new switch. http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/ad_light_switch

This is very typical of the problems that I've found inside the light switches in the handful that I've had apart. Sure seems to make a lot more sense to spend $45 on a new original style switch from one of the vendors.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL