Re: Where's The Stop Light Switch On My 56 Executive?

Posted by BH On 2010/9/5 9:00:51

So, to summarize, we have a choice of three alternatives to the OE switch:

1) a three-prong VW hydraulic switch and adapt from VW's blade to Packard's bullet terminals

2) a two-prong hydraulic switch with relay added to emulate the OE third prong function for the T-L compensator

3) a mechanical brake pedal switch, as used on GM vehicles

Yet, I've often wondered why no one has ever had a new run of the OE three-prong hydraulic switch made. I suspect the effect of DOT5 on the three-prong switch has more to do with tired old stock and a diaphragm that was never tested for use with that fluid. Surely, a more modern and compatible material could replace that in new production.

Several past sources for the three-prong switch have been mentioned, but inspection of more than one factory-installed switch that I've removed showed evidence of the true manufacturers logo, obscured by the crowded layout of the three prongs. If you check an OE two-prong switch, you'll see the full logo, which reads as "FASCO". I believe that was the former F.A. Smith Co., of Rochester, NY, but the only FASCO I can find these days makes electric motors - no switches.

As commonly used as the two-prong hydraulic switch once was and as widely available as it remains to this day, it's hard to believe that suppliers/vendors are working off of decades old stock.

I've often wondered if the old tooling for the three-prong terminal board and diaphragm still survives, somewhere. Heck, with three T-L cars, I'd buy a half dozen or more if such a new switch was available, provided the price wasn't outrageous.