Re: Saving the original paintwork and trunk emblem - 1951 200 barn findand

Posted by HH56 On 2019/6/17 17:22:16

Good they are tight. Twisting the knob has essentially three active positions and only one relies on the wiper landing on an actual rivet. Detents for the positions are probably worn and barely felt but are done by small notches on the protect plate located on the side of the ceramic opposite the coiled wire.

The first position is all the way to the left and is the contact for the courtesy light which is a rivet on the side opposite the coiled wire and located in a notch on a protect plate. It is connected to ground for the courtesy light to go on. All the dash lights are off.

The second position is all off. The wiper lines up but does not touch any rivets on the rheostat side and the other wiper end is riding on the protect plate so everything is off.

The third starts the wiper on the rivet which holds the coiled wire. That coil of nichrome wire is the rheostat. Lights start bright but then get dimmer as it moves along the coiled wire.. The range is fairly small -- maybe a third of the knob twist available. The wiper on the courtesy light side stays on the protect plate so nothing happens there.