Continuation of my previous thread regarding the rebuilding of the headlight switch.
Upon opening the switch there was major corrosion and actual contacts which had become disconnected from their copper straps and were thus totally inoperative. Along with this, the dimmer for the dashboard was in the same shape. I soldered the connections in the switch, bridging the gap between the strap and the contact. Also cleaned it up with electrical corrosion remover. I also reworked the dimmer with limited improvement: Dash lights are either on or off, which is better than the way they were, which was off all the time!
I was pretty sure that this would either work or I would tear it apart again and replace the switch with something else. Well, I have parking lights and side markers with the headlights on, and parking lights, too, but without tail lights.
Unless there's a '68 headlight out there somewhere, I'm afraid mine just became art.
Thanks to Dave I managed to remove my 68's dash panel and revealed to me was the scourge of the ages:
1. Water damage to the Headlight Switch: I will attempt to disassemble and rejuvenate this
2. Water damage to Dashboard light dimmer: Same as above.
These will involve drilling out the stamping and probably watching a bunch of springs leaping into my face never to be reassembled again. I will fill you in on this operation as it happens. Hoping that this will be the remedy for non-operative parking lights and dash lights.
Next, I encountered the source of a strange and erie sound that comes from the dash area when the car is running. I wasn't sure if it was the Speedo cable or the vacuum for the parking break. Instead, it is the vacuum switch which controls the rear window defogger or the rear seat heat. The switch is white plastic and has several nipples, about 3/8" long, maybe 1/8" diameter, arranged on the rear of the body. They, in turn, fit into a female socket made of rubber. The problem: One of the nipples is inside the socket, broken off from the back of the switch, and at least one of the nipples, still on the switch, is cracked and about to come off. Air is being sucked into the cracked and broken nipples and that is making the sound I'm hearing.
Is there a way to glue these back on and strengthen the cracked one? I'm sure there's no replacement for this part. I wouldn't even ask. It has a 58024 and a Pentastar stamped into the plastic.
I have uploaded pictures of the operation: Two corroded switches and the back of the plastic vacuum switches to the following URL:
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