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Oops! I couldn't tell from the public post made here by Bob that there was private action going on behind the scenes on this.

Yet, I thank MrPushbutton for posting his findings, fixes, and excellent pix. I wouldn't be intimidated one bit about fixing a problem like this myself, but did not know that the contact fingers were available separately.

I can understand that the tangle of wires and all the lines in the schematic is a lot for some people to take in, and I should, thus, advise that Studbeaker published a Service Bulletin in 1957 that provides some of the more common checks and and fixes. Perhaps someday, we'll get a scan of an original to post here.

Now everyone knows why he's called "MR. Pushbutton, Esq." He's da man!

BH--I make the contact fingers myself, I made a tool to bend that special shape, and the tinning that is visable in my picture #6 is vital to a good bond. I make the fingers, Sandy Chirco does as well, but I would not advise attempting installation unless you are a V-8 owner with crackerjack soldering abilities. The dependability of the whole system is dependant on the integrity of those eight joints, especially the outer two, the fingers that go to the relay coils. I tend to get a little single-minded about these things, but the (almost unservicable) location that the actuator goes in demands that everything be right, or you don't have a reliable car, and I am against that!
I'll post more pictures as I go on this job.

MrPushbutton -

Damned fine job on making those contact fingers - you ought to put a set on eBay and see what they bring.

I've soldered everything from plumbing (nothing but copper on the supply side for me) to delicate electronics and even soldered a penny to a gas tank to stop a leak. I'm still using a 27W pencil-tip iron that I got from Radio Shack 35 years ago, plus my dad's old Weller gun for heavier work. Heck, I even have a "soldering copper" that perches on top of a blowtorch (c. 1913), fueled by "white gas". About the only solder job I haven't worked with is autobody filler, but I got a glimpse of the "plastic state" in soldering that penny.

So, no problem there for me.

Having been back in the auto biz for the past several years, let me tell you that it's quite refreshing to see such attention to detail and reliability.

I look forward to hearing more of your work!

Well, I did it--I finally joined the youtube generation and put my first video up. It's a pushbutton actuator I rebuilt for a customer last fall, in final test mode on my test board.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCTxkx93h8c

John, the u tube link shows no video available. Joel.

It works just fine for me.



EDIT:(well, it did earlier, now it doesn't)

I just tried it and it worked

Yup, working for me now too.

MrPushbutton -

Nice test bench you have there.

I've been thinking of building a "training aid", as pictured in the April, 1956 issue (Vol. 30, No. 4) of the Service Counselor, with an eye to using it as a test bench.

I was inspired when I found one of those original boards in a pile of parts in the swap meet field at Fall Hershey - though it was stripped of most of its parts and the "fixture" seemed far too broken and rotten to salvage.