Le Mans 2 Seater Dashboard

[telco.2]

From my recent experiences connecting choke cable I have "deduced?" that if the car is fitted with Solex carbs the choke knob can be in the wooden part of the dash as the choke connection on Solex carbs is on the top. But it has to be fitted elsewhere if SUs are installed as the choke connection on these units is at the bottom. Presumably this is why Singer's used the gearbox extension tube mounting on '36 models.
Bill

[Phillip]

Makes sense Bill,

My '36 LM has exactly that; a plate attached to the gearbox remote which has cables for choke, start and advance/retard. A similar convention also used by MG on various models.

[cev196]

On my 34 Le Mans near the dashboard outer mounting points are the windscreen mounting points, the internal backing plates are missing, also on my frame I feel the lower windscreen pillar bolt should pass through the body frame. However on my frame it appears the person who did the frame has missed these out, can anyone post a photo showing the fixing from the inside including the metal work for these fixings.
Thanks in advance.

[Peter McKercher]

The studs on the mounting posts just go through the scuttle woodwork and bolt with a washer to the wood.

[casadecabra]

Location of the original holes for the windscreen support posts on my 1934 Le Mans.

David B

[jeans_old_man]

On the '35 there is an oblong metal plate on the inside, held in place with two countersunk wood screws:

[casadecabra]

Thanks Philip for posting the photos of the Le Mans ignition switch – I’ve wondered for ages what they looked like. All I have to do now is find one. I’ve got the remnants of a totally different Lucas spade key switch. I might try and adapt it for the time being.

I was also interested to see your picture of a Solex choke cable. After I saw your post I searched eBay and by some miracle one was listed which I bid for and won. Haven’t received it yet and from the blurry photo it doesn’t look in brilliant condition but I’m pleased to have got one in any state. Was the bezel originally chrome?

Could you post a picture of the original Lucas starter button that you mentioned. Any idea why they did not use the normal push button switch.

David B

[ColinB]

I also found a Solex choke on eBay a while ago. This is destined for the Light Six.

[robertctayler]

Hi, thought you might like to see this. mine is an early '34 two seater SS. 40+ years ago when I bought her as a penniless engineering student I made some typical 60's "adjustments" but the dash is original and the holes for the instruments are as drilled by the factory in March of '34. The grab handle is as originally placed. I covered the centre gaping hole in the cowl with a front apron badge as I had no idea it was supposed to have a dash lamp. A couple of 60's dash lamps were then mounted on the dash, the one on the right in the original hole, however sacrilege - I drilled the one on the left.
As you can see I removed the original fog lamp switch as totally un-serviceable and put in two, one for the fog and one for a reversing lamp.
Phillip is quite correct concerning the ignition switch and mine was in much worse condition than his damaged one, so that was replaced with a 60's mini anti theft switch. The two gauges on the right are the oil pressure and combined water and oil temperature gauges.
At the time, as an apprentice, I had access to some dome headed chromium nuts so I reversed the dash mounting screws so the nuts are visible.
Not very kosher in the modern purist's eyes but to a 20 year old engineering student I loved it! I have never felt the need to change it.
Best wishes with your restoration. Bob

[cev196]

Hi Robert, Nice pic of your dashboard, raises a question for me - is your clock original, by that i'm interested in the Hands for shape and size. Mine has no clock mechanics and some plausible hand made hands would make it look a lot better. Can you post a close up of the clock face.
Abe

[Phillip]

Hey Abe,

Here's a photo of the clock hands for your reference:

Jaeger Clock_WEB.jpg (184.89 KiB) Viewed 13739 times

I made up an electronic tach for someone using an old Jaguar speedo casing and made up the (fake) clock hands usin thin aluminum.

Hope that helps!

[Phillip]

@David B: Sorry for the lengthy delay in replying to your request, but here is a photo of the starter buttons:

Lucas Starter Buttons_WEB.jpg (134.12 KiB) Viewed 13739 times

The one on the left is the original style and the one on the right is the more modern replacement that most people use.

[Phillip]

@Bill...further to the discussion on choke knob location, here's a drawing from a road test report on the 1935 Le Mans SS:

As can be seen, the choke is a Bowden lever on the gearbox remote control extension and the advance/retard and the hand throttle Bowden control levers are on the steering column just under the dashboard. These kinds of levers were used on motorcycles mostly if my Dad's bikes were anything to go by (Scotts).

Interestingly, the center panel on the dash has a pull knob for ignition to the right, what must be the ignition warning light in the center and the panel lamp switch to the left. This is contrary to every 1935 center panel I've seen to date which have had a spade key ignition switch in the middle flanked by the ignition warning light and panel lamp switch. I've seen pull switches on early '33 cars though.

[telco.2]

I knew I'd seen the bowden cable set up somewhere in the last 54 years! Good to have a date on it. Using the centre panel on the gear extension is working fine on ours as we also needed a SatNav socket and it's quite inconspicuous down there. Hopefully we'll be using it this summer if not before. Hood frame is finished as also side screen frames on the near side. Just the off side ones on the door to do and then we'll be ready for the hood. The frames needed quite a bit of modification to fit neatly. (They were ex Hardwick). But having said that it was a lot easier than making from scratch!!
I'm glad I re-invested in oxy-acetylene recently!!
Bill

[casadecabra]

Similar lever controls by various makers (Bowden, Amal, Doherty etc.) were used extensively on motorcycle handlebars for adjusting the magneto timing, throttle, choke etc. They were supplied to fit two handlebar diameters, 7/8"- used by the the majority of marques, and 1"used by Scott(!) and I believe Triumph. Both came in right and left hand versions.

I haven't looked in anger yet but I suspect that versions to fit the 1.25" diameter of the Singer steering column are thin on the ground.

David B