Need Help with Glove Box Light

[Larry M.]

I have a GB light/switch which I think is the 3859327 as in the pic below (pic came from Jack Humphrey post). Mine came out of a 63 Corvair and has a black lead which I want to change and I want to clean up the metal face plate, so two questions on this part:
1. How do you get the face plate off the plastic housing? I've seen pics of them apart but don't see how they come apart.
2. How do you get the lead terminal out of the housing?

The other pic shows the same part plus the shield. I got this pic off this forum and think it is an original shield correct for mid years.
1. I have this or a similar shield (very thin material). When installed on a bulb the seam spread to about 3/16 inch. The pic shows it very close in an uninstalled mode. Does an original shield spread out significantly when installed?
2. It appears that the shield when installed is very close to the base of the bulb and is electrically hot or would be with any side pressure on the bulb (e.g., just bumping it). Has anyone found this to be an issue?

[Harry S.]

Re: Need Help with Glove Box Light

I have a GB light/switch which I think is the 3859327 as in the pic below (pic came from Jack Humphrey post). Mine came out of a 63 Corvair and has a black lead which I want to change and I want to clean up the metal face plate, so two questions on this part:
1. How do you get the face plate off the plastic housing? I've seen pics of them apart but don't see how they come apart.
2. How do you get the lead terminal out of the housing?

The other pic shows the same part plus the shield. I got this pic off this forum and think it is an original shield correct for mid years.
1. I have this or a similar shield (very thin material). When installed on a bulb the seam spread to about 3/16 inch. The pic shows it very close in an uninstalled mode. Does an original shield spread out significantly when installed?
2. It appears that the shield when installed is very close to the base of the bulb and is electrically hot or would be with any side pressure on the bulb (e.g., just bumping it). Has anyone found this to be an issue?

Larry, the switch itself does not come apart, meaning the face plate does not come off the plastic unless you break it. Just clean up the chrome the best you can. The wire should just pull out, then you can insert the orange wire from your harness. The shield goes on the elongated bulb as the round bulb is for passenger cars.

Good Luck.

[Larry M.]

Re: Need Help with Glove Box Light

Thanks Harry. I did pull the terminal out. I believe the point of the open side of the terminal goes over a small ledge in the housing but there is no practical way to compress it so you overcome the resisstance with force. There is likely a limited number of times you can do this before the terminal will almost fall out. My wire is black with an orange tracer but I get your point. As for the shield, I am using it on an 1891 elongated bulb and it spreads as I described, so I'm still wondering how it looks if the shield is known to be original.

[Harry S.]

Re: Need Help with Glove Box Light

I've been unable to tell an original from a tarnished repro. There are no stampings on the part and while judging it's difficult to see. After installation turn the shield so the light faces away from the driver, that's proper installation.

Most wires do come loose in the switch, but the insertion of the bulb will keep it in place.

The wire to the switch is always hot except when you disconnect the battery. For safety reasons I cut the wire about 4 inches above the glove box and installed a male/female connection. The female connector is on the harness wire and the male connector is on the switch wire. This makes it real easy to take out and install the glove box.