Light / Horn Switch

[dlfrisch]

I have never encountered such an unsolvable problem with my A as this one. I can not install the switch on the steering gear box an have the lights/horn work. The spider is on 12-6 o’clock position. The switch is properly positioned on the gear housing. The wires are all run and terminated all A OK. The proper switch contacts - molded into the plastic insert goes into the switch hosing and the push on rear holding cover installed (in and turn) tought, but on.

The new wiring unit has the insert turning switch with three separate contacts. The old plastic contact insert piece has four contacts, two on each on the turning piece. Of course, it is no longer used.

The only stupid thing I did, because the new switch instructions said too. If the new (switch) is foreign and it may be made to big. They said to file/grind .250? thousands inch down - off. Even so, fitting the new holder can on, it is so tight the turning spider can’t even turn. I pulled the housing out a little, taped it enough to stay and be able to manually turn the sliding switch contacts. After reinstalling, I could get the four space handle to turn the lights worked in sequence but not smooth (high and low beams) were tought. Erratically the hoogha horn would blow. Now, I can’t get any thing to work.
HELP - if any one can.

[Badpuppy]

Seems you're replacing an early 3-position switch (1928) with the later 4-position (TwoLite) replacement, which should work ok. There are also differences in length of the front cover. Your main issue seems to be the tightness of fit and may require more whittling of the contact body. I can't explain the horn blowing, but fitment probably has something to do with it. The horn is activated by switched ground rather than switched battery like the lights.

[Bob C]

Here are the directions from Bratton's and I don't see anything about removing .250" of material, seems like way to much.

[700rpm]

Originally Posted by Bob C

Here are the directions from Bratton's and I don't see anything about removing .250" of material, seems like way to much.

I think Bratton’s meant "taper", not "tapper", which could be misleading. Tapping and tapering are distinctly different operations. Also, was the poor fit solved with retoolong in 2018?

[alexiskai]

Originally Posted by 700rpm

I think Bratton’s meant "taper", not "tapper", which could be misleading. Tapping and tapering are distinctly different operations. Also, was the poor fit solved with retooling in 2018?

That 2018 note has always annoyed me. Snyder's has the same caveats on their light switch body, and their note basically says "stay tuned, we're trying to get it fixed." If no one is advertising that their light switch fits better, I'd assume it never got corrected.

[700rpm]

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Originally Posted by alexiskai

That 2018 note has always annoyed me. Snyder's has the same caveats on their light switch body, and their note basically says "stay tuned, we're trying to get it fixed." If no one is advertising that their light switch fits better, I'd assume it never got corrected.

Three years should be enough time. But there is Covid to contend with.

[Bill Goddard]

I just called Bratton's. It is not fixed.

[alexiskai]

I was inspired by this thread to go back and check out my light switch, because re-doing the light switch and steering column was one of the very first Model A fixes I ever did, and I made a lot of mistakes.

What I found was that I also had the misshapen light switch body. I had worked around it by loosening the bail so that the switch wasn't held so tightly to the steering column. However, this was causing the light switch to rotate with the horn rod, because the key on the bottom wasn't sufficiently engaged with the notch in the end of the steering column. When I re-tightened the bail, I got the same problem as the OP – horn rod too tight to move.

I unpacked the light switch and ground down the back side of the disc. I used a rotary tool with an abrasive stone at a 45° angle to the disc (chamfering, basically). I took a bit off all the way around, then put the switch back together and tested the horn rod.

It still wouldn't move, so I took a bit more off. It started to move more easily. Eventually I got it to move in a reasonably smooth way. I had to take off a lot more than 1/32", though.

[Wick]

Buy a greasy original light switch. Clean it up and use it. Place a yard stick across the steering wheel to hold the horn button down /light switch. Find a original spyder,make sure it goes All the way on.
When done right,you will hear and feel the switch Click when you turn on the lights.
Also it's important to have very good grounds on both headlight housings.

[masipopa]

I spent good number of hours to make the spider switch to work properly. When I turned my steering wheel it would turn the light rod and spider switch and as a result would randomly honked and turn the lights. I could not remove the rod from the column because I have a sport coup and unless I take the whole top off there is not enough room.

At the end I just bypassed the whole darn spider and kept it only for the horn. I installed a 3 way switch and it works perfectly for low/high beams.

[CarlG]

The wiring assembly I bought from Sacramento Vintage Ford worked perfectly straight out of the box.