I know how this is supposed to work, but the nob and stem just will not pull out. I depress the little pin on the side of the inner body, and it will not release. I can feel the pin still getting caught by the indent in the stem as I try to withdraw it. Consequently I am stuck here with this project. I am getting ready to take a claw hammer and rip it out, except I don;t want to do damage to the metal dash structure. Is there some trick that will get this guy loose? Can I squeeze the pin in further with pliers? Only prblem is, the spade connections are sticking out on the other side where plier jaws would be squeezing.

Sam

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Fetch a can of spray silicone — pick a good brand such as CRC Heavy Duty Silicone, or if you can't find that, find something labelled as "Food Grade Silicone". The idea is to avoid cheaper silicone sprays that use propellants that'll melt plastic dash parts.

Disconnect the battery, pull the headlamp switch "all the way on", get the spray straw right up against the knob shaft, and give a couple of blasts of silicone spray. Operate the knob on and off a few times.

Tape a penny securely to whichever finger or thumb you'll be using to press the release button (this gives you a lot more leverage) and push/wiggle the button hard while you pull/wiggle/yank the knob hard. It'll eventually release.

(sometimes the penny trick works without the silicone)

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks Dan. I did get it out. It just seemed to pop right out one of the times I was wriggling and pushing and pulling on it. I cannot honestly say what made it release. I was sitting there pressing and pulling and cussing, and fussing, and a miracle happened. I didn't do anything different. It just popped out as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Are the reproduction units any better, or are they, like so much today, actually worse than this old one? If I keep this old switch, and the harness to it, then the dimmer, and dome lights are already wired. So that is my first choice.

Sam

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QUality replacement headlamp switches are still available from the likes of Echlin and Standard, as long as you buy the professional-quality version and not the cheap junk "Tru-Tech", "Mileage Plus", etc.

Installing headlamp relays will take the workload off whatever switch you install and bring full power to the headlamps, think I already showed you the link to my relay discussion page...didn't I? Maybe not. It's here.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

For older cars that don't have the front parking lights on when the headlights are on you may want to consider running a jumper wire on the switch while the switch is out so that the parking lights ARE on while the headlights are on................

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Yep, on pre-'68 cars (except Barracudas, which had the parking lamps on with the headlamps before '68) just run a short 16ga jumper between the "P" and "R" terminals on the headlamp switch body, right down at the base of those terminals. Make sure the ends of the jumper are neatly tucked so they won't touch any adjacent terminals, then push the connector block onto the switch, on top of your new jumper wire.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

This is very interesting. My first choice would be to replace the stock switch with a simple toggle switch on the dash. Maybe put a seperate one on for the dome light, kind of like the courteousy light switch that was on some of the cars. I would, or course lose the variable dimmer for the dash light, but I don'; really care about that. Would I be losing something serious there, or fouling up some other circuit if I did that? I can tell from Dan's post which two wires would be ganged together to keep the running lights coming on with the headlights. I have had the headlights on a relay for years. But since there are two relays; one for high beams and one for low, it might be simpler to tun a direct 12 volt feed to the running lights using the stock wire through the bulkhead connectors. Any thoughts here would be appreciated.

Sam

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This would be more complicated than it might seem. Remember, there are multiple circuits that need to get power simultaneously when you turn on the headlamps:

Headlamps
Parking lamps
Tail lamps
Dash lights

Furthermore, you need to be able to turn the parking + tail lamps on without turning on the headlamps. GM messed with an obnoxious-to-use split-rocker switch on their cars for over a decade to achieve this.
Your car, being a '69, should already be wired such that the parking lamps remain on when the headlamps are on.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

True enough about the running lights, but I was thinking in terms of a toggle switch rewire, and what I would have to hook up to get the running lights to work with a toggle. Your warning is certainly sobering, and makes me rethink that thing. I suspected there had to be real problems with simply turning on the headlights with a toggle switch, since there are so many wires coming out of the stock one. They have to be for something other than to bulk up the wiring harness. Right? If there is no easy way to do the toggle switch thing, I will simply put the stock switch back in, and plug in the harness connector which is still hanging there waiting to be hooked up once again. Thanks for the tip.

Sam

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I think you're on the right track. This is probably one of those times where it's best to keep the interesting mod idea in your head, retain the stock switch, and put your time and energy elsewhere.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks for the good advice. I am such a "Why not?" kind of guy that I need the voice of reason out there sometimes. Thanks again. My leg is feeling enough better that I am not aware of it when I am working on my car, even though there is still pain there when I am not. Isn't that interesting. This hobby is great therapy, is it not?

Sam

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