Hi Folks,

I'm trying to figure out how to get the high beam jewel to stay in the hole in the dash above the cluster in my '47 tonner, and also how to get the light that sits behind it to stay in place. Coming up empty, so far. Any ideas?

For those of you who are curious about the brake issues I was having previously, I 'cheated' and drove it (sans brakes) to a shop about 10 miles out of town, where they fixed me up with a dual-chamber master cylinder so that I wouldn't have to worry about having another total brake failure on the road. As I recall, they said it was for a '70s Cadillac, but I can check if anyone wants to know the part number. They also installed my rear cab corners, so there's no longer daylight shining through Swiss cheese.

Other good news is that the engine is starting consistently now, and the lights are all working. The only things I need to take care of for wiring are to install my oil pressure indicator and hook it up to the cluster, figure out why the temperature gauge isn't getting a reading (new temperature sending unit is already installed), and get the heater connected up. I've got one of those 3-door heaters that apparently doubles as a defroster. Still looking for a diagram of wiring for that, since as far as I can tell, heaters were not installed when these trucks were built. It's getting close to being ready to try as a daily driver!

-Captain Sygo

 

 

Thanks, Tacoma Cream. I've already got the parts (jewel, wire, bulb, socket). Just trying to figure out how to get them to stay in place. The jewel is too small to wedge snugly in the hole in the dash, and I can't see anything to attach the socket to on the back side of that hole so that the light will shine through the jewel.
-The Cap'n

 

May be different, but my '40's HB indicator fit thru the hole on the front side, and the light housing clipped over it on the back side of the dash; tension kinda holds it in place.
BTW: I was missing any sort of lens in mine so I used a leather punch to cut a tiny circle of red plastic from a peanut butter jar lid and it fit into the 'jewel' snugly. It lights up very clearly.

 

Captain Sygo: Did you buy the following? If so, it's not correct despite C & G saying it is.

81A-13580-A .. Headlamp Indicator Light Socket w/Wire / Reproduced

1938/40 Passenger Cars / 1940/47 COE Trucks / 1941 Sedan Delivery.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is correct, but I don't know if it's reproduced:

01C-13580 .. Headlamp Indicator Light Socket w/Wire / Obsolete

1940/47 Commercial (1/2 ton truck) except Sedan Delivery & Trucks except COE

No Ford dealer or obsolete parts vendor has any.

 

Yes the jewel goes in the front of the dashboard and the bulb and clip slids on the jewel metal from behind the dashboard. Do this before installing the speedo.

 

Bolded for emphasis! Don't ask me how I know this...

 

Hi All,
Thanks for the speedy advice. I'll have to look for the receipt, but am pretty sure I bought these:





I'll take a look tomorrow - will remove the speedo cable before giving it another shot.
-Captain Sygo

 

As mentioned above, the jewel goes in from the outside of the dash and the light socket/cylinder assembly goes in from behind the dash. There is a slot plate in the OEM spring loaded retainer cylinder that mates up with the groove in the jewel housing. I found that it is not quite as easy as just clipping it together. The tight area behind the dash can make it very difficult to depress the spring loaded cylinder and blindly figure out how to slide the slot of the plate over/around the groove in the jewel. I had to practice this with both parts away from the dash before trying it in the dash. It is surely much easier with the entire instrument panel removed from the dash as you have room for your hands to work in the tight space. The picture of the socket/wire assembly shown above is different than the OEM part. The original is a round cylinder with spring loaded slot plate to attach to the jewel. The original does not have the square box part as shown in the picture above. The lamp socket on the original actually snaps into the end of the cylinder. I am not familiar with the design in the picture above and it may work just fine once you figure out how it actually goes together. In some pictures on vendor sites, this reproduction appears to have an additional U-shaped (but with square corners) clip that may be what is used to secure to the jewel, but again I am not familiar with this type. Sorry that I do not have a picture of an original to share with you. I am 350 miles away from all of my spare parts and there is a blizzard going on in South Dakota so travel up that way for me will be a while into the future.

 

This jewel socket is out of a 40's dodge truck but is very similar to what is in my grandpa's '46 Ford tonner. In this pic, the jewel is installed and the base of the jewel is attached inside the housing in the spring loaded slot plate. The lamp socket just snaps out of the back of the cylinder and allows a small finger or other small tool to be inserted to push on the slot plate to attach the jewel.

 

This is all very helpful - thanks. Now I have to find the darned jewel. I set it somewhere in the garage several months ago...something that small, you'd figure I'd have put in an obvious location, but apparently not!
Captain Sygo

 

I usually put the head lamp jewel in a ziplock baggie along with the cylinder and lamp socket. But sometimes I have a hard time finding which box of baggies I put it into so it can become quite a search. I am reminded frequently that I have a jewel of a wife that lets me play with old Ford trucks.

 

Found my high beam jewel! It turns out I'd stowed it in a small bag in the glove box. Once I figured out that the socket for it wasn't grounding well to the dash, it seems to all be in good working order now, though I ended up having to use a washer to get the thickness needed for the socket to stay in place behind the dash.
-Captain Sygo

 

I just love a story with a happy ending. Now if I can just remember where I put my six special clutch bolts......I think I have some ziplock bags somewhere but I can't find THEM either. Good job Cap'n !

 

Nice to hear that you found it and you got it installed and working. Was the original socket in the bag with the jewel?