Where the heck is the brake light switch?

[mike-down-under]

Car in Park, handbrake on
Started engine
Jacked front end up
Checked front wheel rotation - rotate freely
Applied brakes
Released brakes
Brake lights remain on
Checked front wheel rotation - rotate freely

99% sure it's the switch

Thanks for all your input

Mike

 

[alpine_64]

Hi John,
When I bough the car I was told that the same type gearbox was used in 1980s Toyota Crowns or Cressidas and possibly Volvos. The OD is 0.7:1

Michael,
thanks. I knock around with the local Rootes guys but we only meet two or three times a year. Canberra is a real desert when it comes to classic car stuff, in fact it is a desert in many ways.

WRT the engine, maybe you can tell me more. I was told it has been bored & stoked but I couldn't get more info. I am pretty sure it was a Sully car. (l bought it from Ron Kent btw) And yep, it still has the genuine minilites. A few people have offered to buy them.

Since buying the car I have rebuilt the Webers (the fuel galleries were so badly clogged I had to remove the bungs and drill them out), replaced the water pump and most recently the alternator. We drove it to the Gold Coast a couple of years ago and intend to drive it to Adelaide for the 2013 Bay to Birdwood - 1250km from here. My wife is not overly enthused!
Mike

Mike,

if you send me a PM with your email, or send me an email through the board I will fill you in a little more. If you got the car from Ron it is the ex-Sully car.

IIRC they are not genuine minilites unless Ron changed the wheels from the ones terry had on it the last ones i saw it .. (i think they might have been ROH minilite style) here are the wheels it had on it at one stage.. do they look like this:

 

[Jay Laifman]

I can add that I definitely have had a number of switches fail, and I'm not using synthetic. I even posted a thread on here about it. First, it is just as indicated above. It takes more and more pressure to light the brakes. At some point, it won't go on unless you are at a stop and really holding it down.

Second, in short order, my off the shelf replacement failed, then the OEM one I decided to spend the extra money on failed. These were both in less than a couple of years. I got into the habit of looking at my brakes reflect in chrome grilles and bumpers behind me - which is pretty rare these days! But, there is a truck or so around often enough.

Don't just assume because you can push on the brakes in the garage and see the lights on the wall they at they come on when you really need them. Too many idiots with cell phones out there these days to not give them as much warning as possible.

I then built a very nice bracket that I used with a mechanical switch, wired it to the factory wires, and have never had a problem since. Lights them up when I THINK about braking.

I also rarely jump up and down about Alpine issues. In fact, other than the brake switch and one alternator bolt breaking causing the alternator to fail, I have never had an electrical problem with my Alpine. We're talking 35 years here.

 

[agmason54]

Mike down under,
I have two fairly low mile SV parts cars to pull the switch off of. If you need one send me a cool postcard and I'll be happy.
I knew a man who was a surveyor in my town. He hung out in the Wright Bros Bicycle shop in Dayton Ohio as a young boy. I worked with his son when he took over the survey business. I wish Edwin Browne was alive to hear someone say the Wright brothers were from feakin' South Carolina.
Later

Albert Gears Mason
ex rod man with plumb bob, machete, and walkie talkie.

 

[mike-down-under]

Hi Michael
you are right about the wheels. All this time I thought they were minilites. I just flipped the spare over and it is a steel rim with an alloy centre. Weird.
Mike

 

[alpine_64]

Mike,

i found your PM, will email you later with some details you asked for. Should be able to find the other info you need to.