| BRL | -- 07-16-2023 @ 11:14 AM |
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Hi: My car is a 1937 78-750 model Phaeton and while working under the dash I see that my cigar lighter has no wire going to it. I have the element assembly and holder (or well), see attached photos. I believe the element assembly is correct and is the non-replaceable element style as seen in the 1937 Ford Book. I do not know if the holder is correct and I am unsure of how the wire is supposed to attach to the holder. I have a schematic that came with a new dash harness that indicates the wire jacket should be black color and it attaches to the fuse block at the left side fuse attachment (5Y coded amp wire, I believe)...so the wire is probably supposed to have a ring terminal at this end. My holder has a little post sticking out the back of it that looks kind of like the little bullet contacts but it also had a piece of plastic insulation slid over it...so I dont know what is going on here. I want to keep everything close to OEM appearing but I also may add an inline fuse holder based on what I have read about these manual cigar lighters. Can anyone tell me what gauge the wire should be? Can anyone advise if I have the correct holder? If I do have the correct holder, what should the electrical connection be to it?
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| kubes40 | -- 07-17-2023 @ 6:54 AM |
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The wire should be soldered to the plate within the element assembly. The pigtail was about 4" in length as I recall. The wire was solid black with a male connector on the end. Mike "Kube" Kubarth
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| BRL | -- 07-17-2023 @ 10:05 AM |
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Hi Mike: Thanks for the info...you know, that little post sticking out of the back of the holder is probably a female solder connection...upon closer inspection it appears the post is hollow and has been filled with solder so I guess it may have had a wire soldered into it at some point...I will fire up the solder iron and solder sucker and see if I can pull out the solder. A 4" long pigtail attached to it doesnt seem long enough to reach to the fuse panel though. I think I will test this cigar lighter on the garage bench before I actually put it back in the car.
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| 1937sedandelivery | -- 07-17-2023 @ 11:45 AM |
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Hi BRL, I rummaged through my 37 parts and found a cigar lighter that appears to be all original. Picture is attached. The wire measures close to 6" long and has a connector/rubber sleeve at the end. Hope this helps. gregg
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| Grant | -- 07-18-2023 @ 4:31 AM |
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Good morning BRL. You are asking "what should the electrical connection be" ? With the utmost respect, I'm thinking that no electrical connection at all is probably a very good idea. And for the sake of safety is the best approach. Those cigar lighter elements can and do sometimes malfunction with nasty results. A nice car will become a crispy critter in short order, and may damage anything near it as well (other vehicles, the building, shop tools and equipment, etc.). "No wire going to it" may have been a deliberate hazard-consciousness decision by the previous owner. You might like to Google-search "fire caused by cigarette lighter". All the best with your '37 !
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| nelsb01 | -- 07-18-2023 @ 7:08 AM |
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I have to agree with Grant. Several years ago at a place called Hershey a wonderful V-8er from Connecticutt brought a very original 1937 Ford Coupe to the show. We helped him unload it from the trailer and he then allowed us to ride to the judging field. The lady in the middle unknowingly had her knee against the lighter. When the smoke started coming from under the dash, the owner reached under the dash and forcabily pulled the hot wire from the lighter. It could have been a lot worse.
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| ford38v8 | -- 07-18-2023 @ 8:33 AM |
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Bruce, you may remember, the same thing happened with my wife in our ‘38. She was curious as a cat, pushed in the lighter and waited for it to pop out, not knowing it wasn’t automatic. You know the rest, and the good that came out of it was my wound healed, and the ‘38 got a new harness. Alan
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| BRL | -- 07-18-2023 @ 11:21 AM |
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Hi Guys: Thanks for the responses and advisements. Yes, from reading past posts on this website I am aware of the hazards of the 1937 OEM cigar lighter. As a new owner of this car, I am starting to think that the disasters that can occur did occur to my car with the previous owner: the dash was recently refinished and the wiring under the dash is somewhat haphazard and the wiper motor was disconnected...it is as if the dash was burned and someone repaired it but very hurridly reassembled everything and did not pay attention to details. Having said that, I would still like to install the OEM manual lighter because I value originality, but I would like to install a in-line fuseholder in the pigtail. I would leave the fuse out so it would be functional but nobody could use it or accidentally actuate it. IF I sell the car the next owner would get a "heads up" on the potential danger lurking behind the dash. Gregg, thanks a lot for the photo...your ligher element and holder look like mine and so I think mine must be the OEM manual lighter. It appears the pigtail has one of those "bullet" style male contacts soldered to the center contact of the holder. The other end of the pigtail looks like maybe one of those insulated female "bullet" contacts. Your holder has a rectangular opening on the side of it with some metal pieces in the opening...mine just has the opening with no metal pieces visible...could you possibly take another photo showing what is inside your holder?...my holder may be missing a part...I desoldered a big solder blob on the end of my holder center contact and then I was able to push out the center contact part...see my photo....but it doesnt cover the rectangular hole as yours does, so I am thinking something is missing inside my holder.
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| ford38v8 | -- 07-18-2023 @ 4:39 PM |
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You're interested in originality, but you want to install a fuse where there was no fuse originally. Alan
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| BRL | -- 07-19-2023 @ 9:24 AM |
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Hi Alan: Yeah, I know...an in-line fuse would not be original but considering the circumstance here (fire hazard) I think I would make this concession to originality...the in-line fuse would not be visible to the untrained eye and would be an easy change back to an unfused wire if someone wanted to do that. I was thinking I would use one of those 1930s steel in-line fuse holders with a cardboard fuse insulator to at least LOOK period under the dash...and the original style wire.
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| 1937sedandelivery | -- 07-19-2023 @ 3:07 PM |
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BRL, Funny, from my picture it does look like there is something in the rectangular hole. I looked at the holder again and nothing is there, hmmmm. Upon further looking at the picture, it turns out that what we see in that hole is just a reflection of the inside metal on the far inside of the holder, if that makes sense....... gregg This message was edited by 1937sedandelivery on 7-19-23 @ 4:32 PM
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| BRL | -- 07-20-2023 @ 9:16 AM |
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Hi Gregg: Yes, I understand...thanks for checking.
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| TomO | -- 07-20-2023 @ 4:48 PM |
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If you just want it to look original, at the bullet end cut the wire flush with the insulation, crimp the bullet connector to the insulation and use shrink tubing to help hold it in place. The lighter will not be functional, but the wiring will look stock. If you are concerned about fire hazards, do not use the metal fuse holder. The cardboard tube for the fuse for my radio disintegrated without being touched. When I connected the ground cable one day I got a small spark, so I checked for grounds and found one in the fuse holder. Tom
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| BRL | -- 07-21-2023 @ 10:15 AM |
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Hi Tom: Thanks for the advisement...maybe I will use one of those modern plastic in-line fuseholders available at the parts store...and cover it with some non-heatshrink black sleeving...and keep a blown fuse in it...still thinking about this. BTW, please advise where the cigar lighter pigtail is supposed to get its power from...does it connect to one side of the 20A fuse on the dash fuse panel or what? I have a wiring diagram that came with my dash wire harness that shows the cigar lighter connecting to the fuse on the amp wire side (wire 5Y).
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