I have been into the belly of the Beast!

[powerwagontim]

This afternoon I had an hour to kill, didnt feel like getting into something messy and then my eyes fell on the dreaded light switch. You know the one, 3 levers and really cool, the one everyone says DONT TAKE THAT APART!!! Yeah, that one. So, the screw that holds one of the shafts on had come off, you could slide the shaft right out, and could hear the screw rattling around inside. Well, nothing ventured nothing gained. I Took screwdriver in hand, held my tongue just right and went on in. Well, not quite, I removed the screws and nothing happened. You can see where the front and back come together there is about a 3/8" thick spacer, with gaskets on both sides. Both were holding fast. A couple of light raps, nothing. A couple of not so light raps, still nothing. I got a putty knife and sharpened the edge really sharp and tried inserting it into the outer gasket. Still no joy. Now a sharp putty knife AND a hammer gets results! I gently opened it up and caught 3 springs and 3 contacts in my hand. So far so good! I also found the loose screw and re-attached the shaft. Cool, progress! On the front of the switch was a black bakelite (or plastic) cup that fitted over a brass piece. As I looked closer, it looked like it was broken off something. I looked at the other half and sure enough, there was the other half, going into the other, unexplored half. Again, setting my tongue just right I attacked the second gasket. It yielded, and as I gently opened it up it looked like a nest of snakes, small ones but snakes nonetheless. Let me tell you, they sure can fit a lot of wires into that case! Stiff wires at that. I was able to get it open enough to see that the piece that was broken was held in place with a really, really small Jesus clip. I went out to the parts rack and got a couple of other switches. One looked nothing like the original one, the second did. So, I took the donor switch apart, more confidently now, and lucky me, this one had the part I needed intact! After dicking around with the clip, I got the part out. It took several attempts to get the new one together, holding a spring and a washer compressed over a shaft a bit smaller than a pencil, then trying to get the clip back on. All in the space a 4 year old would feel cramped in. Finally got the clip on and got that half of the assembly put together. Now back to those 3 springs and contacts. The springs were about the size of a ballpoint pen spring, back when ballpoint pens had springs! They fit into individual holes, then the contacts fit into the holes and the spring pushes on the contact and gives, well, good contact! Now these rascally springs sit about flush with the top of the hole. The contacts will not slip into the hole without compressing the spring. Its kind of like a miniture game of whack-a-mole. I had read somewhere that someone thought a piece of plastic would press the 3 contacts down while the halves were brought together. I looked through my wallet and found a plastic rewards card that I dont use. I cut it down to clear some obstruction and gave it a try. BOING. Nope that didnt work, Tried it again, BOING. OK, the plastic is too flexible. I found a piece of thin sheet metal and cut a piece. BOING, nope. Bend the metal a bit, BOING, bend it a bit more. finally togetherness! I kept the metal strip in as I tightened down the screws. When i was as close as it could be with the metal in, I gently slid the metal out and finished tightening up the screws. Whew, tenth time is a charm! The 3 knobs all feel right, there is nothing rattling around inside, by golly I think Ive got it!
Now the main reason I wanted to use this switch is because there is the large Canon plug for the wiring harness, but there is also a smallr 6 pin connector on the side, with a cap on it. Checking the wiring diagram, I am able to tell that this smaller plug is for turn signals.
So, here is the question, has anyone got a wiring diagram that shows turn signals but not the turn signal relay box? My truck is a 52, so this must be how it was done on the early trucks.
Thanks,
Tim