59 Cadillac Headlight switch repair

With time and a few new parts anything is repairable. The key is the few new parts. One always wonders why the manufactures did not make these kind of things universal.
 
I had seen that video a few months ago, but not before paying $525.00 for an NOS one for my '63 Caddy. Surprisingly, rebuilt ones are going for close to that price. I still have my old one sitting on the work bench, so it is a good candidate for rebuilding, but it looks a little too complex for me.
 
Terry Lange said:
I had seen that video a few months ago, but not before paying $525.00 for an NOS one for my '63 Caddy. Surprisingly, rebuilt ones are going for close to that price. I still have my old one sitting on the work bench, so it is a good candidate for rebuilding, but it looks a little too complex for me.
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I have never rebuilt one, but if you want to donate your old one to me, I will give it a try. Has to be a lot easier than rebuilding an engine or a carburetor.
 
Paul Steinberg said:
I have never rebuilt one, but if you want to donate your old one to me, I will give it a try. Has to be a lot easier than rebuilding an engine or a carburetor.
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The interesting thing is that my headlight switch worked perfectly for parking lights, headlights and tail lights. What didn't work was the instrument cluster lights. The experts on the '63-64 Cadillac chapter of the Cadillac and LaSalle club advised me that this was a common problem with these cars. So I paid the high dollar, even though I would have no reason to drive this car at night, so technically, dash lights shouldn't have mattered to me. But I did want everything on the car to be working as it should. Another interesting tidbit is that the head light switch in these cars did not have a bulb in them, so they remained dark when everything else in the dash was illuminated. Some members have installed an LED light in theirs to balance things out.

I'll give some thought to your offer, Paul. You're the second person who offered to take the old one off my hands. The other person rebuilds the old core and sells them for close to what I paid for mine, and in some cases more.
 
The reason that Dan posted this video is that I contacted him yesterday afternoon asking if he might have a headlight switch for a 1959 Superior hearse. I was contacted by a PCS member who has the same problem, the dash lights are not working in his car. I wasn't able to locate one on my own, so I reached out to Dan knowing that he has resources on his side of the country that I don't know.
 
Paul, one of the very active members of the 1963-1964 chapter of the Cadillac LaSalle Club rebuilds all sorts of electrical components on these early Cadillacs. Last week he quoted a member $75.00 plus return shipping to rebuild one of these headlight switches. He is located near Tucson, AZ, and currently has my power antenna for rebuilding. I don't know if he offers his services to non-club members, but it might be worth this PCS member's time to contact him. His name is Russ Austin and his email is russ@thecadishack.com. I do not have a phone number for him.
 
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