Hey guys,

So, I noticed first of all, that the lights work and everything, and after replacing all the peanut bulbs and holders etc, all the indicators and illumination lights on my 68 now work (and grounded the cluster too!). That is until the other day, I was driving home, turned on the lights and had no illumination lights, speedo or fuel gauge lights. The interior courtesy lights work on the headlamp interior override portion, and the dash lights used to dim when I turned the dimming knob, but I did notice that there were some deadspots in there. the cluster illumination lights would cut in and out as I dimmed the lights via the knob, but they would stay on where I had it set.

Now, the lights don't come on at all, at any brightness. The parking brake indicator light, and turn signal indicator lights, and generator lights all work, but not the courtesy lights etc.

You guys think the headlamp switch crapped out on me?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Eh, went ahead and purchased a new switch... will post up if that works! Kind of seems like the inner rheostat portion crapped out.

There is a snowball effect that kicks in whenever you upgrade parts. After 40 years all sorts of corrosion and bad connections develop. When you find one and fix it, all of a sudden the system seems higher current because you've eliminated a resistance somewhere. Then the next weak link in the chain takes the brunt and fails. So it may be that new bulbs (hoepfully the right amperage) have placed a higher load on your switch (for example) and eventually snow-balled a new bad connection. Hopefully the switch will get you going again.

All the connection points - bulb sockets, plug connector pins, fuse terminals, and the components themselves are prone to corrosion and may need to be buffed up or replaced.

thanks for the info, def. sounds like that is a possiblity here. I have gone through and fixed a lot of the connections with a light sandpaper to remove the tarnish etc and bent the tabs on the spade terminal connections due to worn connectors and that has helped with almost everything. I was going to replace connectors, but a little reconditioning goes a long way! I should have the new switch monday to install, but that is fine because the fuel indicator gauge bounces (sending unit going?-I regrounded it already) and the speedo reads waaaay lower than it actually is.

replaced the headlamp switch and still didn't work.

so, realized I was looking at the wrong fuse, and pulled the small lower left inst. light fuse (writing has worn off), and sure enough it was blown. Got a new one and works like a charm.

I did take the opportunity to clean/sand down the connector copper to the gauges, and the lights are now brighter, so at least it was an easy fix! The headlamp switch needed replacing anyways!

Thanks for the help!

Now that you have all that bright metal, consider putting a little dielectric grease on there to keep the oxidation away. One think about dielectric grease though - it contains silicon and it will creep so a little dab will do ya.

ah yes, good call!