• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Head light dimmer swich

Share this page

S

Spit_Newbie

Member
Offline
Hello all, I'm working on the final touches on my 74 spitfire and encountered a little confusing issue. I'm sure it is simple but maybe someone can shed some light. My low beam hi beam lever has 3 posissions on the column. When the lever is in the middle posission the hi beam light lights up on the guage so that one is self explanitory. What is the 3rd location for? I'm wiring them up next on the list. Thanks, "spit newbie"
 
Spit_Newbie said:
Hello all, I'm working on the final touches on my 74 spitfire and encountered a little confusing issue. I'm sure it is simple but maybe someone can shed some light. My low beam hi beam lever has 3 posissions on the column. When the lever is in the middle posission the hi beam light lights up on the guage so that one is self explanitory. What is the 3rd location for? I'm wiring them up next on the list. Thanks, "spit newbie"
Click to expand...
Uh, something's wrong here. Assuming this is a US-spec. (FM series) '74 Spitfire, there should only be TWO positions in the up/down plane (not counting the "pull to flash" movement). The lower position is low beam and the upper position high beam. Sounds like some previous owner put the wrong switch in!

Do you have the "main lighting" rocker switch in the center dash section? and how many and what color wires are coming out of that column switch?
 
Should be a 'flash' switch.

If you are referring to the three position column switch, down (farthest away from you) should be high-beam, middle position low-beam, and top position (closest to you) should be a temporary 'flash' high-beam position. This last position is spring loaded, so it should not stay up if you pull it towards you, but should spring back to middle position.
 
Yes, Andy, I was.

Sorry to add to the confusion. I noted the original post where spit_newbie mentions he has '3-positions on the column' and I assumed the later combination switch with 3 positions forward-to-back.

Your post is quite correct, and for '74 I can't see how he would fit anything but the two-position switch. Maybe the third position he's referring to is the pull-to-flash?

Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt on that one.
 
Hi guys, I figured out the 3rd possision. 70Herald was correct. The down possision is low beam, the middle is hi beam , and the up possision is off or running lights only. I still dont quite understand this set up because the main switch on the dash has 3 possisions as well. Any how thanks for the suggestions. S.N.
 
Interesting! Someone managed to get hold of a non-US-spec., EARLIER switch (e.g., from a Spitfire 4 or Mk2, or even a Herald or Vitesse, but to a home market or European spec. regardless), and figure out how to wire it into your car! But if it works ok, I suppose everything is fine! :wink:
 
Back
Top