Dash lamp cover

[casadecabra]

I recently saw a request from Australian Le Mans owner in need of a dash lamp cover. I didn’t have a spare but coincidentally I had just made one for the second dash lamp on my own Le Mans so I sent him a sketch. This may be useful to other Singer owners so details follow.

According to the Hardwick catalogue they were original made of Ebonite. This is difficult to obtain now so I made mine from 30 mm diameter black acetyl (e.g. Delrin). Most of the machining is straightforward as acetyl is very easy to work. I rough turned the external hemisphere and finished it with an assortment of files and wet & dry paper. The internal hemisphere was the only tricky bit. I drilled and bored it as much as I could, then made up a form tool from a cheap 25 mm hole cutter for wood which I annealed and filed to the right diameter and form. I didn't bother to re-harden and temper it - with the lathe in back gear it cut the plastic without any problem. On the original the internal hemisphere is painted white to reflect the light.

I have found these cheap wood cutters useful on other occasions, e.g. opening up the diameter of some tube by a few thou to make a starting handle grip. They are made of carbon steel so can be annealed, ground to a different size (or hammered if slightly too small), then re-hardened and tempered.

If anyone has a spare base (or the dimensions) for the centrally fitted dash lamp at the top of the scuttle I would appreciate hearing from them.

David B

[mikeyr]

WOW really nice work and great write up, I can see myself making that when I get back to my Singer project as it is missing that on the dash.

[telco.2]

Lovely work! & a nice tip on the use of a hole cutter...I hadn't thought of that

[cev196]

Does anyone have a pic or drawing of what the internals of the Dash Lamp? I have resin cast a cover and am trying to work out how to make it work.

Here's where I am at present -
The central fixing hole to the bulk head on my car is slightly smaller than 3/8", so I am currently looking at an 8mm bolt which I proposed drilling an 1/8" hole all the way through to take one wire (drilling for 2 wires would make the hole too big and compromise the strength of the bolt), with the bolt itself providing the earth connection and securing a 5/8" tap washer which will provide a mounting point for the cover which appears to push on nicely. this does not leave much room for a light to be installed. Getting stumped!

As an aside as to why these covers are so rare I note that the gap between the cover and the steering wheel is small and any lack of concentration on the part of the driver in this area would result in knocking it off. The wearing of gloves is definitely a no no.

[casadecabra]

I've attached some pictures showing the internals of an original lamp for mounting directly on the wooden dash. The thread is 7/16" x 26 TPI (oddly the nut hexagon is 5/8" A/F). All parts (except the washer but including the clip) are brass. Let me know if you need more detailed dimensions.

I would appreciate any photos or details of the version of the dashlamp that is fixed to the scuttle directly above the dashboard. Dave Hardwick sketched one in his spares catalogue (see attached) but it is not dimensioned, and the extension casting he mentioned is not currently available.

David B.