61 Hawk Quietly Objects To Modern Devices

[jg61hawk]

I took the Hawk out today for what I would say was a maintenance run. While driving I made sure to use everything: ights, horn, wipers, you get the idea. I even pushed in the cigar lighter. It would not stay in. It got hot if I held it in, but would not lock in the socket and then POP out.

When I got home I disconnected the battery and looked in the socket. I never really gave any thought to how that thing worked, but it appears some little prongs hold the lighter part to a dead short until it gets so hot they expand and release the lighter end (which is spring loaded).

It appears my use of cell phone chargers and GPS chargers has pushed those little prongs in too far. Just for fun I did bend them back, and everything worked as designed. I know that won't last because I need those two modern devices when I travel in the car.

So Judges here is a spot you're sure to surprise everyone with if it is checked. I'll bet all the Studebakers have rejected technology like mine did.

[2R5]

Judges aren't suppost to touch your car....so you should be safe

[showbizkid]

I just pulled the lighter socket when I redid my dash and put a blank in the hole. Figured I didn't need the distractions anyway

[rockne10]

Leave the lighter as designed and wire an auxiliary power outlet to the hot terminal on the ignition switch. Or you can wire it to accessory if you only want the output when the key is on.