4AD Singer ignition switch

[Stephen]

Hi Everyone .. I am after a Singer 4AD ignition switch if anyone can help .. preferably the cream coloured with black writing .. happy to pay for the switch and postage if anyone can help .. would prefer with a key, but I can always get one cut if need be ... Regards Stephen

[Phillip]

Hi Stephen,

Try Bill Haverly, the ASCO Roadster Registrar at spullen3@aol.com. I know he has had good used switches in the past.

Repros are also available. Paul Beck has the PLC5 and PLC6 here:

http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/catego ... -dashboard

Holden Classic Car Spares also stock them at:

http://www.holden.co.uk/displayproducts ... n+Switches

Gregory's Autoparts stocks original and restored switches at:

http://www.gregorysautoparts.co.uk/cata ... ?t=0&c=490

Tim Hodgekiss also sells the switches, but is the only one I know that sells the fascia sticker in either black with white letters or cream with brown letters, which is what many of the 4AD's had, certainly the late ones anyway. It's a bit of a bitch to fit properly, but it can be done.

Check out Tim;s stuff at:

http://www.vintagemotorspares.com/phdi/ ... ent&part=4

Hope that helps!

Happy New Year!

[Stephen]

Hi Philip .. Thank you for the detailed reply with links to the suppliers ... it is a great help and I should be able to get a switch from one of them ... All the best from Down Under (Hope your not too cold up there, we have 38 degrees C, blue skies perfect beach weather down here )

[Phillip]

My pleasure Stephen!

Good luck with sourcing the switch and please post to let us know how you get on.

I'd rather be down your way right now...it's cold and there's a freezing drizzle starting. Definitely NOT Singer motoring weather!

[Stephen]

Hi Philip,.. have emailed Tim at Vintage Motor Spares because he has the coloured outer switch decals I want , .. I contacted Gregorys about a fuel pump,about a month ago, and have not heard anything yet!! ..I will let you know how I get on with Tim;s ... put another wooly jumper on and keep warm .. Stephen

[kabu]

Hi,

As mentioned earlier, Lucas PLC5 and PLC6 switches are easily available as reproductions. However they all seem to be the variant with white letters on black background. I believe that this version also has the switch lever made of black bakelite instead of brown like in Singers. Therefore I decided to restore the original switch which I luckily had in decent condition.

I dismantled the switch and cleaned all the parts and contact surfaces. Opening the switch is a bit tricky since you need to open the small central screw on the back of the switch where the nut has been soldered on the screw. Here is the dismantled switch

http://www.guru-group.fi/kabu/component ... 110959.jpg

I got the correct brown text on cream background sticker from Tim Hodgekiss and attached it on the switch panel. I can imagine that placing the sticker must be a pain and nearly impossible if you do not put the switch to pieces first, as you can see from the picture below

http://www.guru-group.fi/kabu/component ... 825134.jpg

New lock cylinders and keys are easily available if needed

http://www.guru-group.fi/kabu/component ... 686185.jpg

I still decided to use the original lock cylinder and just have new keys made to it sincee the original cylinder has the key code stamped on it, the reproductions do not have the code stamped on them. After a thorough cleaning and lubrication the original lock works perfectly with new keys.

http://www.guru-group.fi/kabu/component ... 893986.jpg

BR/
Pekka

[Stephen]

Hi Pekka .. Thanks for the detailed ignition switch information, I have picked up an original switch, so when my decal arrives I will give it a go .. Regards Stephen

[Stephen]

Hi Philip .. Tim came thru with fast emails and fast delivery on the ignition switch and decals .. I am a little disappointed with the yellow and brown decals, the printing is very thin and not as I believe the originals were .. no fault of Tims, it's what I ordered ... and eventually Gregorys Auto parts returned my email, they had been on extended Xmas leave .. so everything is OK down under, and it's back to work on the 4AD .. Regards Stephen

[mikeyr]

I'd like to know who decided that brown was the color of the lettering ? I have seen LOTS of 4AD's including 2 originals still owned by the original owner and never seen brown. Earl's cars were my pattern in the 1980's for restoring my car as he owned a his-and-hers pair of 4AD's they purchased new, one had white lettering on the switch and the other no lettering on the switch and he swore both came that way new. All the other 4AD's I have seen did not have brown unless they were recent restorations (last 10-15 years).

I think its a case of someone who saw one with brown and now is sure they all came that way, I am not saying brown is wrong, I just don't want people to say that they are 100% dead sure its original, I don't think it is. Kind of like the SINGER logo on the front grill shell, the very large majority are RED, some very few are BLACK.

[Stephen]

Hi Mike .. that's interesting, as a new Singer 4AD owner, & not having the original ignition switch to compare, I can only go on what I see down here, ...we have 2 original Singers in the South Australian Club,.. one local car has the brown and yellow ignition switch decal, ..not sure about the other but will be seeing it tomorrow at our annual "Breakfast " get together so will check it out ,.. but your right even this does not prove anything, it just means that these two came out in brown and yellow .. My personal thoughts are that they should be brown and yellow to match the speedo and gauge cluster ???? maybe the Clubs Historian can shed some light on the subject .. Regards Stephen

[Stephen]

Our Singer Club Big Breakfast went well under blue skies with 36 degrees C weather,..... and the original Singer that was there had no decal on it .. it was that original that 60 years of use had worn everything off !!!... so I am none the wiser, but will go with the brown & cream as it suits the gauges ... Stephen

[kabu]

Hi,

Because there are no driveable Singer Roadsters neither in original or restored condition here in Finland (only one other basket case in addition to my project) I have seen very few Roadsters. I have however tried to collect information from pictures and atricles (preferably pictures from the 50's of course) . This forum has also been an invaluable information source.

As Mike pointed out, I have also learned that with Singers you can never be sure what is an original and correct configuration for a specific car since the factory seems to change configurations quite flexibly, probably based on parts availability.

Mike, when you say that you have seen apparently original switches with a black bezel, has the bezel been all black or with a chrome surround? How about the one with no lettering at all, was the bezel black, chrome or some other color? My switch had a clear chrome bezel when I started the restoration. I based my assumption on the cream bezel with brown lettering on various pictures I have collected from different Roadsters that are either old pictures from the 50' or show the switch in an seemingly unrestored state and I have found several pictures showing a light switch with a light bezel and none with a black bezel. I added a couple pictures below and made a web page showing a few more pictures. (http://www.guru-group.fi/kabu/index.php ... &Itemid=91 )

A detail from a period brochure picture.

PIcture showing a brown/cream switch in seemingly unrestored condition

BR/
Pekka

[mikeyr]

the one with no lettering was chrome and Earl swore he got it that way from the dealer when he purchased the car. I wish I knew where those 2 cars ended up when he passed away, they were a treasure trove of originality.