As I mentioned offhand in another post, with my Atom and the Microdash, other people (notably Tom Smurzynski) have had the ignition switch be flipped off by the cable from the Microdash on the steering wheel getting caught on the switch handle. This seems to be due to the way they install the steering wheel, as it hasn't happened to me, except when I got the car back from Tom with the wheel on as he left it.
This may or may not affect cars with the shift light steering wheel option. And some might be interested in my solution for the coolness factor alone
I located a retrofit safety switch cover:
The difficulty was in locating one that didn't flip the switch back to "off" when the cover was closed. The most common covers either flip the switch down or to the center position when the cover is closed.
This particular part is mil spec MS27752-1, and one of the manufacturers that makes this part is Eaton (yes, the same Eaton that makes the M62 supercharger for the LSJ). The Eaton part number is 8498K6. There is loads of additional data
here (PDF). It is seriously overpriced at around $25 (
here or
here), but that's because of the mil spec nature of the part.
I have confirmed that this part is a perfect fit for the ignition switch used by Brammo (which is a no-name Taiwanese part). The cover mounting plate is keyed and lines up with the notch in the Brammo switch. Installation is a snap (no pun intended) - just unscrew the collar nut from the front of the panel, put the cover on, and re-install the nut. Depending on how the instrument panel was assembled, you may find that the extra thickness of the cover mounting plate doesn't leave enough threads of the switch exposed. In that case, go around to the back of the panel and back the inside nut off a couple turns.
Note that I installed this on my oversized dashboard:
For cars with the U-shaped surround on the standard instrument cluster, the cover mounting plate may be too large. I'm attaching two photos showing the switch cover and a genuine Brammo ignition switch on a grid. The thinner lines are 1/4" scale, the wider lines are 1" scale:
As I mentioned offhand in another post, with my Atom and the Microdash, other people (notably Tom Smurzynski) have had the ignition switch be flipped off by the cable from the Microdash on the steering wheel getting caught on the switch handle. This seems to be due to the way they install the steering wheel, as it hasn't happened to me, except when I got the car back from Tom with the wheel on as he left it.
This may or may not affect cars with the shift light steering wheel option. And some might be interested in my solution for the coolness factor alone ;D
I located a retrofit safety switch cover:
[img]http://www.newark.com/productimages/nio/standard/4533886.jpg[/img]
The difficulty was in locating one that didn't flip the switch back to "off" when the cover was closed. The most common covers either flip the switch down or to the center position when the cover is closed.
This particular part is mil spec MS27752-1, and one of the manufacturers that makes this part is Eaton (yes, the same Eaton that makes the M62 supercharger for the LSJ). The Eaton part number is 8498K6. There is loads of additional data [url=http://www.newark.com/pdfs/datasheets/Eaton/8498K6.pdf]here[/url] (PDF). It is seriously overpriced at around $25 ([url=http://www.alliedelec.com/search/productdetail.aspx?SKU=826-8498]here[/url] or [url=http://www.newark.com/eaton/8498k6/switch-guard/dp/93B3461?Ntt=8498k6]here[/url]), but that's because of the mil spec nature of the part.
I have confirmed that this part is a perfect fit for the ignition switch used by Brammo (which is a no-name Taiwanese part). The cover mounting plate is keyed and lines up with the notch in the Brammo switch. Installation is a snap (no pun intended) - just unscrew the collar nut from the front of the panel, put the cover on, and re-install the nut. Depending on how the instrument panel was assembled, you may find that the extra thickness of the cover mounting plate doesn't leave enough threads of the switch exposed. In that case, go around to the back of the panel and back the inside nut off a couple turns.
Note that I installed this on my oversized dashboard:
[img]http://www.atomacrossamerica.org/microdash_1-s.jpg[/img]
For cars with the U-shaped surround on the standard instrument cluster, the cover mounting plate may be too large. I'm attaching two photos showing the switch cover and a genuine Brammo ignition switch on a grid. The thinner lines are 1/4" scale, the wider lines are 1" scale:
[img width=516 height=600]http://www.tmk.com/transient/6F5S7539-s.jpg[/img]
[img width=525 height=600]http://www.tmk.com/transient/6F5S7540-s.jpg[/img]