The Ford Barn

Mort · 02-13-2011, 07:13 PM

I have a 31 coupe and have some questions about the instrument panel light.
I installed one a while ago and one day it got very, very hot and popped the bulb - ouch! I have since gotten another from a reputable dealer and installed it. It has not gotten as hot as before but it still gets hot. I have run the armor shielded cable down through the little cutout on the upper left side of the instrument panel over and hooked it to the "charge'' side of the ammeter. this looks rather dangerous. If that cable should come in contact with the terminals on the ignition switch watch out. Am I missing something? Any advice on hooking this up properly would be great.
Thanks.
(I have my cutoff switch off at all times I am not with the car

Tom Wesenberg · 02-13-2011, 11:57 PM

An original popout switch couldn't short out from the armoured cable, but a repro might be able to. You could slip some heat shrink tubing over the portion of cable behind the panel.

Mort · 02-14-2011, 11:22 AM

Right, I have not had a popout switch and the car was designed for that. The heat shrink sounds like the solution. I could not figure out why Ford would do something so bad!
Thanks

Doug in NJ · 02-14-2011, 01:14 PM

You might check that the insulation holding the center contact of the socket is intact, and there is no possibility of the bulb causing a short between the center contact and the surrounding metal.

In any case, electrical connectors and wiring have evolved a lot since 1930!

Doug

Joop · 02-14-2011, 01:39 PM

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Also when installing the armored cable it could have been pinched were it comes out of the dash.

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02-13-2011, 07:13 PM	#1
Mort Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Torrington, CT Posts: 121	Instrument panel light I have a 31 coupe and have some questions about the instrument panel light. I installed one a while ago and one day it got very, very hot and popped the bulb - ouch! I have since gotten another from a reputable dealer and installed it. It has not gotten as hot as before but it still gets hot. I have run the armor shielded cable down through the little cutout on the upper left side of the instrument panel over and hooked it to the "charge'' side of the ammeter. this looks rather dangerous. If that cable should come in contact with the terminals on the ignition switch watch out. Am I missing something? Any advice on hooking this up properly would be great. Thanks. (I have my cutoff switch off at all times I am not with the car

02-13-2011, 11:57 PM	#2
Tom Wesenberg Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mpls, MN Posts: 27,582	Re: Instrument panel light An original popout switch couldn't short out from the armoured cable, but a repro might be able to. You could slip some heat shrink tubing over the portion of cable behind the panel.

02-14-2011, 11:22 AM	#3
Mort Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Torrington, CT Posts: 121	Re: Instrument panel light Right, I have not had a popout switch and the car was designed for that. The heat shrink sounds like the solution. I could not figure out why Ford would do something so bad! Thanks

02-14-2011, 01:14 PM	#4
Doug in NJ Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Princeton, NJ Posts: 966	Re: Instrument panel light You might check that the insulation holding the center contact of the socket is intact, and there is no possibility of the bulb causing a short between the center contact and the surrounding metal. In any case, electrical connectors and wiring have evolved a lot since 1930! Doug __________________ My '31 S/W sedan project:http://31ford.dougbraun.com My restoration diary: http://dougbraun.com/blog

02-14-2011, 01:39 PM	#5
Joop Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Glendale, AZ Posts: 3,021	Re: Instrument panel light Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Also when installing the armored cable it could have been pinched were it comes out of the dash. ..