67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

[Ray G.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

Hello Kirk;
Is it possible the "Air Vent Control Cable" AIM location was cancelled 8/22/66 due to the new location of '67 vent/cable control ?
Possibly a newer AIM page or bulletin follows at a later date.
Just wondering.
Ray

[Loren L.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

The switch was moved - by necessity - in 1963 when A/C became available, around 12-13000 VIN. It is also the reason why earlier '63s receive a deduction if the second slot is present - it's an indicator that the cluster panel has been changed.

[Stephen G.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

I know this is an old discussion but I just encountered this today. My 67 BB A/C car (early 67 built 12/66) had been worked on by the prior owner. When he had it flight judged at a Chapter event he was dinged for having the switch in the "normal" posistion.

I attempted to re-install the switch in the inboard position. After working on it for 3 hours I gave up and put in back in the outboard position. In my humble opinion it's impossible to install there. The main problem is an interference issue with the trip odometer bracket. Also you would need to remove the wiper switch to help make some room. I did remove the wiper switch and it made it look like it might be possible. Still no joy.

The other thing already mentioned is that the AIM A/C section that supports this move was canceled.

Any help or additional insight would be appreciated.

[Nick C.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

"In my humble opinion it's impossible to install there."

See post 9. It is obviously possible and has been done on 1967 factory C60 installations.

[Scott S.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

I know this is an old discussion but I just encountered this today. My 67 BB A/C car (early 67 built 12/66) had been worked on by the prior owner. When he had it flight judged at a Chapter event he was dinged for having the switch in the "normal" posistion.

I attempted to re-install the switch in the inboard position. After working on it for 3 hours I gave up and put in back in the outboard position. In my humble opinion it's impossible to install there. The main problem is an interference issue with the trip odometer bracket. Also you would need to remove the wiper switch to help make some room. I did remove the wiper switch and it made it look like it might be possible. Still no joy.

The other thing already mentioned is that the AIM A/C section that supports this move was canceled.

Any help or additional insight would be appreciated.

Steve,

The picture below is from my '67 L79 with C60. Are you able to post a picture of your dash cluster from the same perspective for comparison? I have seen another very early (early Sept. 66 built) '67 that still had the "tab" in the inboard opening (ref. post 13 above) where the headlamp switch is to be re-located with C60.

[Stephen G.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

Scott

I'll see if I can get a picture. Saw the notes about the tab but did not figure out what was what. No problem installing the switch if the cluster was out. In fact I considered removing all the cluster screws and pulling it forward a bit to gain some additional clearance.

Steve

[Harry S.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

I can't recall if a 67 is that much different under the dash than my 63, but there is no way I could mount the switch in the normal position for a non-AC 63 car. There is absolutely no clearance with the duct work, so my switch is installed as per the AIM, to the right with the tabs under the cluser housing.

[Stephen G.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

Harry

In my 67 there is plenty of room to mount the switch in the normal posistion.

Steve

[Nick C.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

Stephen,

Are your cluster, switches, and dash harness unmolested original factory examples?

[Brian M.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

I am not the orig owner of my Jan built 67 the H/L R/O switch is outboard.

[Stephen G.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

Everything in my car seems to be unmolested BUT the headlight bucket switch had some repairs done to the connect at the back of the switch.

[Neal K.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

Steve,
As has been noted the mounting location of the headlamp motor switch in the picture of Scott's cluster(post #20) is in the inboard position. To the right of the switch, in Scott's picture of his cluster, there is also an existing opening for the switch if it were to have been mounted in the outboard position. I believe that when the switch was mounted by the factory in a non A/C equipped car it was mounted in the outboard position and the inboard location area remained filled with a metal tab(really part of the cluster's cast metal frame) which would have to be removed in order to mount the switch in the inboard location for an A/C equipped car.
When you attempted to mount your switch in the inboard location did you encounter this metal tab and did you remove it? The inside of the cluster, where the inboard tab is located, is scored to facilitate the removal of the metal tab. If your cluster already had the tab removed from the inboard location area then that might be an indication that the switch in your car had been, or was intended to be, mounted in that location.
In my opinion, from a functional stand point, when the switch is mounted in the outboard location on an A/C equipped car the switch, which is almost hitting the drivers' side A/C deflector, is more difficult to operate and is directly exposed to the condensation which tends to build up in the area of the A/C deflector causing corrosion inside the switch. I can see why moving the switch to the inboard location on an A/C equipped car could make functional sense. Also, what other use could be made of the inboard location if not but to accomodate the switch in an A/C equipped car. Were there other options available in 67 or prior years that made use of the inboard location?
I think that sometimes, in our pursuit of perfection, we tend to overlook the possibility that the assembly of our cars was less than that. One size may just not fit all! Just maybe some A/C cars had the switch originally installed in the outboard location and some in the inboard location.
Just one persons opinion.
Neal

[Brian M.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

I was unaware of this Tab, anyone have a picture of a cluster housing with the Tab in place?

[Jim S.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

Here are pics of both .

Jim

[Daniel Y.]

Re: 67 Headlight Bucket Switch in AC Cars

I agree Neal,
just because it's shown in the AIM doesn't mean that's what happened in the factory. Even when it was cancelled. That's why we judge to the "Typical Factory Production". I personally will start looking at original cars (including treads on outboard location) going forward. However, from my judging experience most have been inboard. If we find enough examples of ORIGINAL cars mounted outboard, we will intertain changing with 67 Team leader approval (Nick Culkowski currently). However, this process could take several years.