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Those dashboards are a pain. The unit was installed as a prewired module. The switch will come apart, although you may end up needing to make a collar to hold it together. After that a 6 volt relay can be used to convert to a non-load bearing switch with the ignition cable wired separately. Or you can set the whole thing aside and use a different switch and tackle that project later. I don't recall if there is anybody repairing those things.

I had them come to me in boxes and was able to get them back together.

Thanks for the tips Tim. I wouldn't mind using a different switch, but I'm not even sure where to look for them.

I was able to get the switch apart tonight. It was a real pain to bend/grind the cast metal away in order to get the rear plate off. Then I had to carefully remove the rest of it, which was mostly brittle plastic.

I attempted to pull the wire out of the inside of the armored cable. It moved about 2 inches, then tore. The rubber and cloth sheathing totally melted and is acting like glue. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get the wire out.

The wire is attached somehow to the switch, but I can't figure out if it was pressed or soldered. I've been trying to drill out the remainder of the wire, with limited success. Separating the rest of the switch may not be possible....there is a smashed pin in the middle, and if I remove that I don't think I will be able to get it to fold over again and retain all the pieces.

At this point, I'm wondering if I can solder a new wire to the contact, and run it sans armored cable to the coil. The armored cable is nice looking, but I'm not worried about theft and I'd rather have the car run at this point than be overly concerned with 100% accuracy. The car has A/C and a '39 block grafted to a '38 crankcase, so accuracy is kind of out the window.

-Kevin

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I’m not sure how it was originally attached but you definitely don’t want to use solder alone. You must always have a mechanical connection (ie: wires twisted together, crimped or whatever) before soldering.

Stranded copper wire and flux paste will hold, but the metal is old and surrounded by Bakelite which has been attacked by ozone for the past 85 years.

How to get the wire out? I would set the cable in vise and laying out straight, and run a good sharp drill in and see if motor heat caused all the problems. If there is rubber in there causing problems try soaking in gasoline or some other chemical that warns against rubber exposure. It will take some time, but you always can use a temporary set up to make the car run. Long drill bits are available from McMaster-Carr, but breaking one creates ever bigger problems.

I was looking at an article about a LaSalle restoration where the guy spent 50 hours each on the hubcaps because new ones are not available and reskinning apparently was a problem. These things can take some time. The place I live in was built with an alarm system that hasn't worked in years and I have been working on a solid state controller that involves a lot of trial and error. Ademco sales people have been here twice and I told them I was going to get this old system working first.

At some point in my 37's past, someone altered my ignition switch to remove the armored cable. It just has a regular wire coming out not. The case has been tack welded back togther where the metal case meets the mounting ears.

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Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice. I'll see if I can get the rest of the wire out of the switch itself and figure out how to mechanically connect a new one + solder.

Does anyone know the correct wire size? 14 gauge? 12 gauge? I have a bunch of 12 stranded sitting around from doing the electrical on the shop.

BigKev, what your switch has is what I will likely do on mine, at least for now. I don't know that I'll be able to get the old wire out of the cable anytime soon.

-Kevin

I'm not sure what the construction looks like inside, but you may be able to replace the coil terminal with something like a terminal from a light bulb socket.

Either way, I think you may have to pull the rest of the switch apart to get at the internals.

Maybe, if there is enough meat left were the coil wire attached to, perhaps it could be drilled and tapped to hold a screw.

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That's a great idea. And I think there is enough to tap. I'll have to go an pick one up and see if I can get it to work.

The solder I have does not stick to the copper/bronze, or whatever the original sleeve is made out of. I works fine with a new wire, but won't stick to the old switch.

-Kevin

What I did on the last one I handled (33 Su8) was with the cable separated from the housing I simply screwed the coil feed onto the main accessory feed and secured the armored cable under the dash. Forget all the fancy stuff. It's a two position switch - on/off. I don't know where it went, but I think that thing originally had a button on the end that was press fit into that divit.

It took me a while and a two mile grocery walk to remember.

That way you can convert the switch to non-load bearing by use of a relay. As well, that cable puts a lot of stress on the housing so once it's apart the cable should be separated to avoid having the thing fail on the road. It seemed everytime I pickup a magazine I saw that 33 in another part of the country.

The work I'm doing with this security system thing has me thinking of making up a six volt solid state relay that would weigh less than an ounce.

Cadillac used a combination ignition switch and transmission lock that was a total nightmare.

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So I could just connect the coil wire directly to the accessory terminal on the ignition switch? That would be so much easier.

I'm pretty sure the car has been converted to 12V, and I believe they installed a fuse panel when the car was rebuilt. I'll have to double check next time I'm with the car. I'm not sure how the whole ignition and accessory circuits are wired, and I'm not sure I'll have much luck finding out. As stated before it is a nightmare of wires, hose ducts, and air handler below that dash.

-Kevin