Chevrolet Cab 11 Instrument Lights

[Owen Evans]

The Cab 11 Chevrolet has two instrument lamps built into the instrument cluster, along with a third 'hooded' lamp in the centre of the dash panel (just below the windscreen). From the parts manual and August 1940 instruction book, these lights operate through a 3 way ON-OFF-ON switch (part no, 5801115).

What does the switch name plate look like for this 3 way switch? I'm guessing that to align with the other panel switches (i.e. down is off) then the 'lug' in the plate should be at the top, not the bottom?

Does anyone have a photo of the correct name plate for the 3-way instrument lamp switch?

P.S. I believe the 3-way switch for the instrument lights (along with the third instrument lamp) was deleted on the Cab 12 Chevs.

Thanks,
Owen.

[Paul Singleton]

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/at...4&d=1173658854

This dash picture is from an old thread on this forum. It is a very early C8 11 cab that was in Coe Hill rusting away. You can still read the painted lettering saying “ panel” above the switch and also “on/off”. Hope this helps.

The thread that this picture comes from is “ cab 12 dash layout” from
10/03/07.

[Bob Carriere]

It was the earliest C8 cab 11 I have encountered. Totally rusted out BUT the interior silk screen labelling of the switches was still readable.

The first one is labelled "HEATER" followed by "PLATE" ad to the far right "PANEL"....... only the PANEL light is a on off on switch ........ there are NO additional instrument lights that I could see..... now the cowl section above the switches and custer contains the same arrangment as my cab 11 C15a....remember the initial GM production of cab 11 was started with 2 wheel drive C8 only.....so my cab 11 4x4 was produced later in the Summer of 1940.

My switches tags were different and identical to the switch tags shown by Owen..... and this is how I wired my cab 11...... the instrument switch turns on two instrument lights andthe hi-beam big stump switch on the cowl turns on a little red light.

I cannot say categorically that what I had and is now restored is accurate.

One word of caution..... during my rewiring using a hand made loom from Phil Waterman and he used all the correct gauge and color pattern as per the shop manual I ran into technical difficulties. The NOS switches I had purchased with original waxed wrapping were all heavily oxidized with a white powder an the contacts were sometimes working sometimes not. I kept them for posterity and replaced all 3 switches with "made in China" ....$2.99) Princess Auto switches which came with a little ball ends on the switches. To this date they are still working fine. I did have to do some dentistry since orientation of the on / off was reversed but was an easy fix.....and matched the wiring diagram that I was following in the manual.

Will dig up a close up of my restored dash...... all was converted to 12 v. by the way....... all instruments work with voltage reducers.

Good luck Owen.

[Bob Carriere]

Neither do I .... I just forget....

For the record here is a blow up of my instrument switches.... I did have a 3 way switch for the instruments...... I did use the original tags with the Chinese repro but can't find a recent photo of my restored dash.

Disregard the other switches added by PO......

hard to read but......STOP TAIL INST


So basically I can control whether my STOP light will light up......... TAIL being my marker lights or parking lights......NOTE.... my cab 11 did not come with rubber front fender marker lights but depended on the second light bulb inside the headlights.....since I converted to sealed beams I retro fitted modern yellow bumper mounted markerlights......would love to revert to inside the HD if I can re silver the reflectors.....but would still keep 12v bulbs.....Mac's sells halogen rero fit 12v. bulbs.

[Owen Evans]

Paul/Bob, thanks for your responses.

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

The NOS switches I had purchased with original waxed wrapping were all heavily oxidized with a white powder an the contacts were sometimes working sometimes not. I kept them for posterity and replaced all 3 switches with "made in China" ....$2.99) Princess Auto switches which came with a little ball ends on the switches. To this date they are still working fine. I did have to do some dentistry since orientation of the on / off was reversed but was an easy fix.....and matched the wiring diagram that I was following in the manual.

Good point. I have three NOS 3-way switches (part no. 5801115), and they all have the 'white powder' oxidation. I'll be checking them over the weekend to see if any of them actually work.

I picked up a handful of these switches as modern replacements for the tail and stop switches:

https://www.leviton.com/en/products/735

They are clocked the same way to match the notch in the tail and stop switch name plates, but I suspect that these are also of finest Chinese manufacture. Based on Bob's second post (#4 above), I believe the original instrument name plate for the 3-way switch should look like the attached. As you can see, I don't make a living out of photo editing..

I may just use one of the modern replacement 2-way switches, and have it operate all three instrument lights (I don't really need the blackout function); that way, I can use my existing switch name plate. Unless I can get one of my 3-way switches working....and find the correct switch name plate.....

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

NOTE.... my cab 11 did not come with rubber front fender marker lights but depended on the second light bulb inside the headlights.....since I converted to sealed beams I retro fitted modern yellow bumper mounted markerlights......would love to revert to inside the HD if I can re silver the reflectors.....but would still keep 12v bulbs.....Mac's sells halogen rero fit 12v. bulbs.

My cab 11 was fitted with the british 'Butler' sidelights, but beyond repair. I'm replacing them with the rubber ones; for the cost of one 'butler', I can get two rubber ones! My headlights have the second bulb in them, so I intend to use the rubber lights as front turn signals.

Now, I just need to figure how I'm going to do the rear lights (in the UK, I will need tail, brake and turn signal on each side).

Owen.

Edit: on closer inspection of Bob's photo, the 3-way switch name plate looks like it has 'OFF' written at the bottom; photo now edited. Excuse my myopia....

[Bob Carriere]

You are correct Owens what we call a 3 way switch maybe wrong and is actually a left and right position the middle (off) is slightly lower position. Still can't figure out why they had a split as the instrument panels I have examined ( I have Chevs and old GMC) only have two little lights........ i.e. I am using a NOS GMC cluster because that is what I have and have seen enough mix match on early cab..even early cab 13 to say it is acceptable.

Cheers

[Owen Evans]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

Still can't figure out why they had a split as the instrument panels I have examined ( I have Chevs and old GMC) only have two little lights....

Hmmm. Given that my instruction book which identifies the three lights in the wiring diagram (August 1940) states 'built for British War Department' on the cover, I wonder if the third light with the blackout hood was a purely British requirement? In the summer of 1940, we were getting bombed on a regular basis, so blackout conditions prevailed.

Given that by July 1941 (or possibly earlier) the third instrument light had been deleted, I guess it wasn't all that successful.

Owen.