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The headlight switches can be rebuilt, as
others have said, but they are not held together with bent over sheet metal
tabs, like those on lesser cars. These are die cast parts that are
riveted together, so the process for getting them apart to rebuild is a little
more difficult. My procedure involved replacing the rivets with a
threaded screw/nut assembly for a permanent repair which can be opened for
further cleaning when needed. I put the procedure I have used on all 4 of
my 67/68s on the IML about 2 years ago – it should still be in the tech
articles somewhere. I hasten to add, however, that these
switches seem to be failing more because of problems with the internal circuit
breaker (also inside the switch assembly), rather than with the switch contacts.
Next time I have to repair one of these, I will eliminate the internal circuit
breaker and install a separate 40 AMP unit outside the switch. Another, probably a little more
involved but probably also a little better solution, is to do as some others
have suggested and add a headlight relay. I would install this in the main feed to
the dimmer switch. This will reduce the current flowing through the
headlight switch and circuit breaker, and if the relay is put in the feed wire
to the dimmer switch, one relay will suffice for all the headlights, both
brights and low beams. The down side is you will hear the “thunk”
when you turn on the headlights. Maybe you can imagine you
have headlight doors like our elegant and stylish 81’s! Dick Benjamin From:
mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Jkelly808@xxxxxxx I'm familiar with the world-renowned glitchiness of the
headlight switch on '67s and '68s. I guess I've been living on borrowed time --
with the exception of a few times when they went out on me I've been able to
get home at night by jiggling the switch and saying my prayers. (The brights
have never worked reliably, despite a new floor switch). But in the past few days the lights go out after a couple of
miles and no amount of switch-jiggling will get them back on. I've kept my eyes open for a replacement switch and even
stopped by Lowell Howe's place when I was in So what do I tell the guy at With aloha, Jim Kelly '68 LeBaron '71 LeBaron |
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