RunningMan373

The reason for wanting to change the switch was the dimmer didn't work. Well, that's the wire wound taped res in the front of the switch.
I pulled the old switch today, and on getting home from work took it apart along with the new wells switch.

Here was the problem:



The wells switch is a dead on copy of the GM, however- sans the Vac switch.



It just so happens that the Wells Ceramic front with the Wire wound Res fits the Original GM almost perfectly.





So I swaped the ceramic parts and cleaned up, the copper switch surfaces, spread Electrical grease on the terminals and put it all back together.







The end result is ready to roll, and at 12.99, cheaper then a $60 new switch.

theandies

P/N and place of purchace please

SIXFOOTER

Nicely done, I like doing these sort of fixes myself.

sweethence

I replaced mine earlier with a repop unit from Corvette central, but i kept the original, Dont know how long the repop will last, but i may attempt this myself for a back up


cheers

RunningMan373

Autozone

theandies

Thanks - I'll be making a trip to Autozone Monday! Good job.

theandies

I am heading to my local Autozone today to pickup an SW141. I went to Wells web-site and found that they list this as a replacment headlamp switch for Corvettes (It does say Corvettes without retractable headlight though ).

SW141 Headlight Switch Exc. w/Retractable Headlight Covers

RunningMan373

You'll have to slightly notch the front inside hole to get it to fit the new ceramic piece. ~1mm, each side, can barely see it in the last big top pic, C.

Overlord

My dimmer works fine but the last click for the courtesy lights doesn't. I note the little flurgle in the contact arm. I assume that is what triggers the courtesy light switch on the main body of the switch?

RunningMan373

what happens is the bend on the contact arm is pushed up by a bump on the front plactic barrel of the switch on rotation and makes contact with the top metal housing of the switch, which is grounded. acts like another of the contact switches. It's the far side lug.

theandies

This is one of the best budget fixes for our cars. Thanks!
I put mine together last night. I didn't have to notch the cover as you did though. The only thing I see is different between the two switches is the vacuum port (of course) and the internal contact assembly on the new switch didn't have the slot for the vacuum switch lever to go into. No big deal, I used all of my old switch execpt for the dimmer resister. I owe you a beer with the $50 I saved.

Overlord

Ah, I'm assuming that white plastic piece which appears to have a raised bar on it is the rotating element. Great, thanks! I may get by just playing with the contact arm and making sure the switch is grounded.

Thinpockets

Has anyone who has replaced their headlight switch, either this way or by replacing the entire assembly, noticed brighter dash lights? I did mine a while back and was disappointed by the lack of brightness.

coinwasher

Same here, I have a 69 with the green face, they are not as bright as I would like.

Durango_Boy

The bulbs are probably burning dimmer. It happens as they get older. Replace them with new bulbs...higher watt if you can find them, and you should see brighter results.

John 65

Wish I knew this a month ago. The coil was shot in several spots.I just took mine apart and jumped it with a wire attached to a pair of super fine machine nuts and bolts. They wont dim, only come on and off now when they are in the full bright position as before, but now they do shine brighter.

RunningMan373

well, i hear you can remove the H/L switch through the dash pad, easier then dropping the colum like i did, and the switches are easily available at autozone, part numbers above. have fun!

Thinpockets

I replaced the headlight switch and EVERY bulb in the car and still not very bright. They couldn't possibly have been that dim when the car was new.

Sully1882

this is great info, thanks for the update!!!


Merry Christmas

Sully

RunningMan373

You probably got a bad connector in the chain somewhere. check the one to the gauge board for one.