1956 cigarette lighter

[John Rather]

Is there any way to tell an original from a repro? Are all of the oringinal ones stainless and the repro's chrome? Can you unscrew teh knob from the element and tell in the way that they are made? We are missing the oringinal and the one that we just purchased looks too shiny compared to the rest of the knobs.

Thank you,

John Rather
jrather@chemsoft.com

[James F.]

Re: 1956 cigarette lighter

John,
My '56 lighter is pretty shiny, it appears to be chrome. It's not the original with the car however it was purchased from a Chevy dealer in the early '60's ('60 - '62). I'd check out other '56 lighters before I'd do anything. Your's is probably OK. During Flight & Ops judging I've never had a shiny issue with mine, usually the judges are wraped up in amazment that it still works! Regards,

[Michael H.]

Re: 1956 cigarette lighter

Although purists may shreik in horror, I strongly recommend you inconspicuously hide a 15 amp fuse somewhere in the cigarette lighter circuit. That circuit is directly connected to the battery and if the wire breaks free and contacts ant ground, adios muchachos. Many an early Corvette caught fire due to this flaw.