Technical No room for floor type dimmer switch. What did you do to have a switch in a handy spot?

32 ford with a 40 ford dash, 3 pedals, no room at all for floor dimmer.

I do have a correct toggle switch that is used on snowplow lights, and I also do have remote dimmer relays...but where to put something that can be easily reached?

Pics of the dash....and a vintage turn signal switch that I want to keep, rather than a modern T/S with a built-in dimmer handle

or am I overthinking this?

 

Mount it in the kick panel side ways. you bump it with your knee.

 

Or mount under the dash and push it with your hand...

 

Yes I recall hearing of that, so I tried my knee there today, and the kick panel is below my knee by a lot.


And I forgot to say that is an old pic of dash. I have used up all those switch holes already.

That leaves just the dash underlip to mount a switch, but it seems not too handy of a spot?, but maybe I will try that in the morning.

 

I had the kick panel set-up in my 32 Roadster and it was kind of a pain in the ass trying to find the sweet spot at 70-80MPH at night.
I did see a set-up where a standard dimmer switch was mounted under the dash that was lever actuated for a clean set-up.

 

The rules are, there ain't no rules. You don't have to mount it so your left foot operates it, like from the factory. From the pic, it looks like you may have room between the pedals. Or, maybe closer to the seat & use your heel to hit it.

 

Kick panel but make it low to hit with the side of your foot. easy peasy

 

VW headlight relay and a momentary-contact pushbutton switch. Find a small, hideable switch (mount to the steering column or even on the turn signal stalk) to switch the relay, and install the relay in place of the dimmer switch.

Part number and diagram.... http://www.oldvolkshome.com/headrelay.pdf

 

That diagram shows the brown wire to S on the relay....I assume it's a momentary grounding of S to trip the relay? VW brown is usually ground

I know I have those relays here, maybe even NOS ones.

 

That's what I did in the Model A (avatar) works great!

 

Their is a switch out there that has high low beam made in the switch.

 

under the seat !!! hand OR heel...?

 

'32-'36 Fords had the foot-operated starter switch in the toe board between brake and clutch pedals, you could put a foot-operated dimmer switch in that spot. Another option is to put it in the flat part of the floor board just in front of the seat riser where you can hit it with your heel as 1pickup suggested. A lot depends on how tall/big/long-legged/long-armed you are. A location that is perfect for somebody who is 5' 6" might not be so good for somebody who is 6' 5". Make the decision while sitting in the driver's seat with a helper holding the switch in different positions. You want to be able to hit it quickly in the dark without leaning forward, bending your knee sideways, or other awkward maneuvers that one should not attempt while driving.

 

Mount it to the left side of the steering column down low where your left foot can hit it.

 

Personally I'd use the toggle switch intended for the snow plow that you already have and put it within easy reach. Trying to be cute with a foot switch and put it in an awkward spot is going to end up being a pain in the ass but having the switch stick down from the bottom of the dash where you can flip it right or left with the movement of your hand will become second nature in a couple of hours of night driving. Most of the time unless the car has sorry assed headlights or the driver has sorry ass night vision you don't flip to high beams unless you are on back roads or big long roads anyhow.

 

Ron Francis makes one: https://www.ronfrancis.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HL-16

 

Yep, the other side of the switch connects to ground. It's been a long time, but I'm pretty sure these relays are 'ratcheting' types. Jaguar uses a similar relay, but those aren't as cheap....

 

don't have a solution but I like your dash/wheel combo. but I may be partial. I'm planning the same for my truck

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Mine was mounted in the angle up floor board basic traditional location and I kept stepping on it and flicken em high and low. What I did was mount it about 5 inches higher (or just above were my foot sits and put it an inch or two above) on the firewall panel (I don't think screws were external). I can still kick it on and off with my foot as normal just lift the foot up a bit. I see your a real Hotrodder you have 3 pedals......I don't so that might kibosh the idea I am proposing. So perhaps a button on bottom of dash you can just push with your fingers. Use a vintage button perhaps.

 

Got to thinking about a Buddy in Texas who is on here who built a dune buggy back years ago and had the headlights hooked so the high and low beams operated off the park and headlight positions of the headlight switch. If you don't run park lights that will work with relays. out 1 click for low beams two clicks for high beams.

 

Speedway sells a switch set up with park/low/high, all pull.

 

When I had my '27 tub, I wired an on/off switch (velcroed to the 9 o'clock spoke on the steering wheel) to an underdash relay via coil cord. "Off" = relay NC = 30 to 87 low beam; "On" (relay coil grounded) = NO = 30 to 87a high beam. A connector under the dash let the switch be removed and stored in the glove box (under the seat) until needed. Warning: do not attempt to connect switch while driving!

vic

 

......or some kind of small (toggle?)switch hidden on the back side of your turn signal lever (fixture/post or whatever it would be called?)that you could access easily, kind of modern twist with classsic flare???

 

Get crafty! Mount the dimmer switch in the centre of your steering wheel. Instead of pressing the centre button for the horn, it'll control your highbeams. Close at hand, hidden, and you use it much more often than you would the horn.
Mount the horn button on/under the dash instead.

 

...or just hook em up together so you can toot your horn every time also

 

My channeled '32 truck has it on the floor with 3 pedals and is easy to get to

 

I'm installing a headlight switch like this in my RPU. No dimmer switch required.

 

Im assuming these have some kind of safety to keep from pushing it back in too far and shutting out the lights while going down the road or do you turn it or???

 

Maybe I can do a micro switch on that stalk. Going through stuff in 2 buildings of CRAP, I just found a VW micro switch, and the only VW 12v dimmer relay I found so far is an older bulky type...but I did find a wire diagram for it. Looks easy wiring....just 4 wires on it:

>>I will post a pic if I can get the micro switch to fit.