After two brake light switches failed during
Club Triumph’s 10 Countries Run (one in 2005 the other in 2019 😜) I thought it about time to
go looking for a decent quality replacement. Most important reason being that I
was running out of good condition original ones. And I really didn’t want to
fit a scruffy looking old brake light switch to the ’76 FHC. And as I do like
standardisation I went in search for a modern replacement. The search didn’t
take long, as I have a list of a fair number of alternative modern parts for
the TR7. In this case the alternative part number was published on the TR7
Forum a few years ago.
Picture by Russ Cooper
At the time I duly
added the alternative part numbers to the list, for future use. It is the brake
light switch for various Volvos (FAE #24150 for 940, 850, 760, 740 and 240) or
the BMW 3 series (FAE #464110010 for E21 and E30). And with these numbers
I set a friend to work, and he came up with this switch (Facet #7.1014 for BMW
3 series).
At first glance I thought the switch wouldn’t
fit, as it didn’t have a machined flat to lock it in position. But it turned
out the new switch’s thread is M12x1, where the original one is ½” UNF. As a result
it fitted without any adaptations to the bracket. Though the bracket needed
some fettling to get the alignment of the switch and the pedal correct. After
which adjusting the switch point with the two lock nuts and a multi-meter was
the proverbial piece of cake! The first switch pictured below was fitted to ‘t Kreng. But both DHC and ’76 FHC will receive the same switch soon!
Oh … and while trying to remove the old switch, I found out why this switch has lasted
as long as it did. I had put
a cable tie around it and the bracket to prevent it from falling apart!
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