Cross country trip

No, I did not take a trip across the country and neither did the car. However, a part of the car did -- the headlight switch stalk. I had sent it all the way to the East Coast to Unobtainium Supply so Verell could fix the cracked pivot. Apparently, the cracking looked worse than it actually was. Verell told me that there is actually a metal plate under that plastic and that it was still structurally sound. Rather than spending the almost $200 to get a new pivot cast, I opted to just use it as is.

Of course, just like the dash, putting together is harder than the taking apart. I reassembled the switch, which required at least four hands to hold all the springs and such. The switch contacts are U shaped pieces of brass, which float on small springs. Putting a stalk back on meant having to hold two piece of brass on the springs, pushing in a ball bearing on another spring and then putting the whole thing on the switch hub without losing any parts. I ended up using some string to hold the brass pieces on while I wrestled with the ball bearing. The switch assembly has three stalks -- headlight, turn signal and wiper. Assembly took me well over an hour.



Finally back together, I bolted the switch assembly back onto the steering column and put the gauge cluster back in. My initial problem with the headlight low beams went away and now everything works.