Main Switch Panel illumination?

[esray]

Dear Forum,

Am I correct in assuming that the main switch panel should be illuminated when the lights are on?

I have a switch panel from my donor car (Rover 2000 TC) which has two bulbs in it. Before I remove the switch panel in my main car (1973 Rover 2200 SC) to check if it too has bulbs and whether they need replacing, could anyone please tell me if the bulbs (assuming they are there) are protected by a fuse, and if so, which one?

Please, I'm not being lazy - It is just that after a year of P6 ownership, I have learned not to dismantle anything unless I have to.....It is very difficult to remember, when you are up to your neck in crocodiles, that your original intention was to clear the swamp :!:

Bets regards,

Ray

 

[testrider]

I think it's more likely that you have dirty contacts on the bulb holder or even a blown bulb than a blown fuse. I don't have a wiring diagram for you car, but those two bulbs would be on a circuit with lots of other things, so if everything else works then the fuse is ok.

 

[esray]

I think it's more likely that you have dirty contacts on the bulb holder or even a blown bulb than a blown fuse. I don't have a wiring diagram for you car, but those two bulbs would be on a circuit with lots of other things, so if everything else works then the fuse is ok.

Hello Paul,

Thanks for your reply - In that case, it is open switch panel time!

Ray

 

[testrider]

Good luck.

 

[esray]

Dear Testrider and Forum,

Well I looked behind my main switch panel (which was very different both inside and out to that of my 2000 TC donor car) and there are no light bulbs! Having said that, I really cannot see how these bulbs would light the main switch panel on a 2000 TC anyway - If you look at the attached donor car panel picture you will see that the bulbs face away from the panel-front and are shielded from behind and above (they sit behind and below the two bits of translucent plastic you see at the top of the frame which form triangular shapes and are presumably powered and earthed by the two terminals on top)?

So, did the 2000 TC have switch panel lights which the 2200 SC did not and (if so), I wonder how well did they work?

ATB Ray

 

[redrover]

Hi Ray,

Yes, that's correct. Originally, only Series 2 V8's and TC's had the illuminated switch panel. SC's had a panel that looked similar, but was covered in vinyl and not backlit. So you'll need to take a feed off the dimmer switch in the instrument binnacle to get that working.

The bulb location in your illuminate-able panel is correct. The bulbs don't shine through the panel, they shine into the edge of the green-tinted acrylic plastic, and therefore everywhere where there plastic is exposed, the light escapes out of it, bathing everything in a lovely greeney glow. On the front of the panel is the clear plastic finisher, behind which is a thin sheet of black celluloid-type material with the lettering stamped out of it. This allows the light to shine out and illuminate the letters. But because the bulbs shine into the edge of the plastic, the light disperses nicely so everything glows very evenly. It works in a similar way with the round dials dashboard - there are blue/green plastic tabs projecting off the edge of the dials which collect the light and bounce it evenly onto the dial face. Dead clever!

You'll need two festoon bulbs of the same size as the interior light (38mm??) to get it working.

Have fun!

Michael

 

[esray]

Thanks Redrover - What a very clever idea!

I'll do well to remember this next time I feel inclined to mock some archaic feature of these fascinating cars :!: :!:

ATB Ray

 

[esray]

Redrover,

There is so much about these cars that are about personal taste. I look at the picture of Redrover and I think what a gorgeous cream/white interior within a beautiful red car!

My car is Arctic white (has anyone noticed how much P6's and early BMW's resemble Great White Sharks?) with a (previous owner-fitted) completely red leather interior (everything, the carpets, shin bins, door cards, seats, rear parcel shelf etc, etc, are red leather; sometimes (to me) it looks like I stole it from a pimp :?: :!:

Personally, I would have gone for red leather seats and the same cream interior as Redrover.

Anyway, I was talking about personal taste.

When I first looked at the difference between my (1973 2000, with a 2200 SC engine) main switch panel and that within my donor (2000 TC) car; I thought, how tacky those plastic switches in the 2000 TC are. My SC car has those really 'Rover' switches and the vinyl-covered face of the panel matches the dash-top, (or Windscreen Rail, in 'Rover-Speak').

Now I learn from you that the 'tacky' green plastic switches (in front of a piece of PERSPEX) were designed to pick up the illumination from what must have been an early example of fibre optics (take a look at that spelling correction on this site, Harvey 'Imperial' P6 ) :!: :!:

So, my point is that you end up trying to choose from a day-time style-match and a technically brilliant (but day-time tacky) night-time ensemble?

It is difficult; I am not (personally) bothered by authenticity.....But as long as I have two round objects dangling in a sack external to my body for cooling reasons, I may have to go for 'This allows the light to shine out and illuminate the letters. But because the bulbs shine into the edge of the plastic, the light disperses nicely so everything glows very evenly' :!: :!: :!:

Ray

 

[redrover]

Ray,
You're too kind! But I can absolutely promise you that my car doesn't look anywhere near as decent as that in real life! They are some very, very carefully taken photographs on some very, very sunny days with a very, very expensive camera (that wasn't mine!). No photoshopping mind, they're real- I was just very careful to keep all the bad bits out of shot. The bonnet is shiney enough, but the rest is as flat as a witch's tit!

You should totally swap some of your interior trim out for a different colour if you want to. Buckskin cream would be easy enough to source for door cards, pillar trim and glove boxes, and it would match the headlining so it'd hang together nicely. I must admit, I thought about fitting a set of black seats in mine to contrast against the cream and match the black of the dash, but came across a decent set of Buckskin flat pleats, so had to have them.

I personally don't think the backlit panel looks too cheap, but it really sits nicely with the round-dials instrument binnacle, which is also backlit in green, so the whole thing hangs together nicely - there's a real muscle car flavour going on. In a series 1, it's all about minimalist, stable horizontal lines (even down to the speedo), so breaking the straight run of vinyl on the dash rail sort of interrupts that design language. That said, I feel the switches are nicer to operate. The up-and-down toggle switches of the S1 side/head light switches have a sort of 'clack-clack' motion to them, whereas the rotary headlight switch of the later type has a satisfying 'clunk-clunk' feel.

You're right, the backlit switch panel does effectively work on a fibre optic principle, which is brilliantly clever! To further add to your sense of wonderment, the round-dials binnacle is one of (if not the) world's first instrument clusters to use a printed circuit board, which the components plug into, so no wiring to corrode or tangle! I'm sure someone could get you a picture of the inside if you've not seen one. Also, all of the switchgear (for both s1 and s2) was, according to a fascinating interview with David Bache from the week of the launch in 1963, deliberately designed to have a different shape and plane of movement so they could be easily operated without looking!

Got any pics of yours?

Michael

 

[esray]

Redrover,

Thank you again for your interest; I will post some new outside & inside pics when my supervisor returns to Cyprus from the UK (visiting Mater & Pater) - She has my camera. Meantime, here is an outside pic of my Arctic White P6, taken last year:

You are still right about the interior

Best regards,

Ray

 

[darth sidious]

Redrover,

Thank you again for your interest; I will post some new outside & inside pics when my supervisor returns to Cyprus from the UK (visiting Mater & Pater) - She has my camera. Meantime, here is an outside pic of my Arctic White P6, taken last year:

You are still right about the interior

Best regards,

Ray

If I may ask, to be clear, which car is this one you've photographed? Your main car or the donor?

Just curious that (what appears to be) a Series 2 car has got a Series 1 tachometer and clock pod!

 

[esray]

Redrover,

Thank you again for your interest; I will post some new outside & inside pics when my supervisor returns to Cyprus from the UK (visiting Mater & Pater) - She has my camera. Meantime, here is an outside pic of my Arctic White P6, taken last year:

You are still right about the interior

Best regards,

Ray

If I may ask, to be clear, which car is this one you've photographed? Your main car or the donor?

Just curious that (what appears to be) a Series 2 car has got a Series 1 tachometer and clock pod!

Hello Darth Sidious,

It's my main car, but it has plenty of bits on it from my donor!

Ray

 

[esray]

Redrover,

Thank you again for your interest; I will post some new outside & inside pics when my supervisor returns to Cyprus from the UK (visiting Mater & Pater) - She has my camera. Meantime, here is an outside pic of my Arctic White P6, taken last year:

You are still right about the interior

Best regards,

Ray

If I may ask, to be clear, which car is this one you've photographed? Your main car or the donor?

Just curious that (what appears to be) a Series 2 car has got a Series 1 tachometer and clock pod!

Hello Darth Sidious,

It's my main car, but it has plenty of bits on it from my donor!

Ray

 

[Demetris]

Series 2 SC had always had the strip speedometer.
Of course you can add the respective pod and tachometer. :wink:
Only V8s and TCs got the round instruments.

 

[esray]

Redrover,

Thank you again for your interest; I will post some new outside & inside pics when my supervisor returns to Cyprus from the UK (visiting Mater & Pater) - She has my camera. Meantime, here is an outside pic of my Arctic White P6, taken last year:

You are still right about the interior

Best regards,

Ray

If I may ask, to be clear, which car is this one you've photographed? Your main car or the donor?

Just curious that (what appears to be) a Series 2 car has got a Series 1 tachometer and clock pod!

Hello Darth Sidious,

It's my main car, but it has plenty of bits on it from my donor!

Ray

 

[darth sidious]

Series 2 SC had always had the strip speedometer.
Of course you can add the respective pod and tachometer. :wink:
Only V8s and TCs got the round instruments.

Yes I know! We added a Series 1 pod like that (from the donor 2000TC we scrapped) to our old <Series 2 2000-Auto-which-got-converted-to-manual-and-TC>. Raylish's pictures brought some memory lane moments for me.

 

[testrider]

You're right, the backlit switch panel does effectively work on a fibre optic principle, which is brilliantly clever!

It's called internal refraction and it allows the light to get from the bulb round the corner to the dial - the light bounces off the internal surfaces of the acrylic. Ain't physics great? :wink:

Love the red interior Ray, but if you don't I'm sure you could sell it for more than a replacement Buckskin one would cost you.

 

[esray]

REDROVER,

Please find below a pic of my 2000 TC Main Switch Panel fitted to my 2200 SC. I had to move a couple of switches because they are positioned differently on the two switch panels.

My panel-lights dimmer switch is right up in the strip-speedo cluster, so I figure it will be much easier to take a live and earth from my main light switch (after all, I only want the main switch panel illuminated when my lights are on); I know very little about car electrics (struggle with wiring diagrams). Accordingly, which of the terminals on my main light switch will provide an earth and which for live, please? If I crimp a double terminal on one of the bulb-holder earths (presumably the innermost two will do) can I run just one earth wire from the light switch to the bulb earth and connect another wire to the other earth (is this a common earth)? Would the same be true for the live feed, please?

Best regards,

Ray

 

[redrover]

Hi Ray,

You'll want to take the feed for the bulbs off the sidelight position on the headlights switch. I'm afraid I can't tell you which one that is as I don't have a WSM handy at the moment, but I'd say pull the topmost spade connector off, flick the switch to the sidelights position, and if they don't come on (but the other lights still work), you've found it! Somebody else will be along shortly to let you know which colour it is though, I'm sure.

You're fine to run a wire from the sidelight position on the headlight switch straight to the bulb holders. As I understand it, the headlights are earthed behind the lamps themselves on the front of the car, so you'll need a separate earth for the panel illumination bulbs. The obvious one that springs to mind is the earth on the back of the cigar lighter (the one on the outside of the housing, not the one in the centre on the back), but if you can't find one or aren't sure, running any wire at all to any point of steel on the bulkhead and screwing it in place will do.
There should be an earth wire for the radio somewhere, but I can't remember off hand where the main earth is under the dash - it's just a bolt holding a load of wires onto the bulkhead somewhere, so tap into one of them if need be.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Michael