switch under clutch pedal?

Hi. I'm going to re-wire my '49 champion this winter and I'm in the process of gutting the exsisting wiring. There are two switches on the floor. One is the headlight dimmer, and there is another near the clutch pedal. The clutch pedal hits it when the pedal is pushed down. Does anyone know what that switch is for? Thanks.

[rockne10]

That's the starter switch. Starter only operates when clutch is depressed. If it were an automatic the switch would be a pull switch under the dash.

[chrysleritis]

That's your starter switch. It's supposed to be clever that way --
you have to push the clutch in to start the car.

[stoodie gasser]

Thanks guys....and once again, this site is awesome.

[BRUCESTUDE]

JUST MY PREFERENCE, BUT WHEN I REWIRED MY '52 COMMANDER, I ELIMINATED THE UNDER CLUTCH STARTER, AND REPLACED IT WITH AN ORIGINAL DASH UNIT. NOT CORRECT FOR A STICK, BUT IT LOOKED NICE, AND I LIKE A DASH MOUNTED SWITCH.

[Walt Zander]

BRUCESTUDE. Like your dash starter switch idea. My '49 Champ will get the same treatment. Any advice on which type of switch ie: is one better than another? Considering a rewire for my Champ also--
any pitfalls that I should prepare or be aware of? Thanks.

'49 8G Coupe
Daily driver/ down at present. Rehab in progress. Needs help.

[castlepk]

I ended up changing the floor starter switch in my '51 Champ to an original NOS (Automatic) pull type on the dash because every time I let someone else drive my car, They would slam the clutch pedal to the floor when shifting the car while driving, causing the starter to engage while the engine was running! After this had happened a few times I desided to disconnect the floor switch and replace it with an automatic type switch that I picked up at the York, PA swap meet. It was pretty easy since there was already a hole provided in the dash and I even found the correct "T" shaped handle for the switch. The only problem now is that the new "T" shaped pull starter handle and the "T" shaped handle to open the hood are right next to each other! You don't want to pull the wrong "T" shaped handle at the wrong time! Even though they are marked "HOOD" and "START" there is a chance you could grab the wrong one if you were not carefull, especially at night. So far I don't seem to have changed one problem for another (I guess I'm a little brighter than I gave myself credit for!). I really like the dash starter switch better than the floor one. It seems much more convienient to use.

Jim Caffrey
Rochester, NY
'51 Champ

[N8N]

Now I have never worked on a Stude that old with a stickshift... but isn't there some kind of interlock to keep the starter from engaging with the engine running? Maybe a vacuum switch or similar?

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight
62 Daytona hardtop

http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

[GTtim]

Nate,

What are you thinking? Interlock? We are talking 1940's technology here. The auto makers of that era did not think drivers were idiots. They knew that only people with average intelligence or better drove cars. They did not have to put up with every stupid person expecting to find the exact same controls in the exact same place on every car made. Studebaker even did things just to be different even though it made no practical sense. Like the way the interior door handles have to be moved to open the doors on the '40's era cars. It's totally backwards.
As for the starter switch, only Studebaker and Nash used the under the clutch pedal type. I think it is one of the neatest thing about the marque. If I had one that other people couldn't master, I would install another switch in the circuit, mount it out of site (it could be located toward the middle of the car so I as passenger could switch it off for heavy footed drivers) and then the car would have an 'interlock' and theft prevention.
But that's just me.
Tim K.

[Blue 15G]

It's all a matter of personal preference I guess, but I like the floorboard starter button in my '54 Champion. In my car, to activate the starter takes an extra long push with the leg to engage it. You simply don't have to push the clutch in as far to shift as you do to start the car, so accidental engagement of the starter while shifting in normal driving has never been a problem for me.

[Transtar56]

"Average intelligence"
Did you know that 50% of the population is below average?

[Dick Steinkamp]

quote:Originally posted by Transtar56

"Average intelligence"
Did you know that 50% of the population is below average?

50% is below the MEAN, but 50% may or may not be below the average (MEDIAN).

(beat you to it, Gary <g&gt

-Dick-

(don't even ask about the MODE <g&gt

[GTtim]

"Average intelligence"
Did you know that 50% of the population is below average?

50% is below the MEAN, but 50% may or may not be below the average (MEDIAN).


When automobiles were in their infancy you had better be a good mechanic to own one or you'd be walking home a lot. Over the years things improved but even through the sixties you had to be aware of how your car worked or there would be cold mornings that you would not be able to make it go. Some cars required two or three pumps on the gas pedal while this same procedure would leave another car hopelessly flooded. Today, virtually any brain-dead imbecile can drive a car, just turn the key (they are all in the same place except for Saab) and away you go.
I think that todays cookie cutter cars are such a contrast to the diverse bunch of cars I grew up with in the 50's and 60's. Pushbutton transmissions, hillholders, seats that could be made into beds, tinted glass roofs, fake antennas sprouting over windshields, oval steering wheels, different shift patterns, instruments lit with electro-iluminescence light, the list can go on and on, from the sublime to the ridiculous. I'm not suggesting that manufacurers make cars difficult to operate but todays cars seem rather boring and with the electronics we have today just think of the gimics that could be produced if only any of the companies currently in the business had the gumption to do it.
Tim K.

[rockne10]

I forgot to mention, if it were an automatic with a pull switch under the dash, it wouldn't be a 49, since automatics were first offerred in 1950.

[BRUCESTUDE]

SORRY WALT- I SKIPPED MY COMPUTER TIME FOR A FEW DAYS. AS TO WHICH TYPE OF SWITCH, I FIRST USED A GENERIC PUSH BUTTON. IT LOOKED OK, SMALL ENOUGH THAT THE JUDGES MISSED IT! MY '52 HAS A GROUNDING SWITCH, INSTEAD OF A SWITCH THAT HAS A "HOT" LEAD; NO PROBLEM, JUST RUN THE WIRE TO A GOOD GROUND.
I LATER USED A STOCK START SWITCH FROM A '52 W/AD. IT LOOKS GREAT, BECAUSE IT MATCHES THE REST OF THE KNOBS.
I ALSO CHANGED MY '53 2R5 FROM A FLOOR SWITCH TO A KEY OPERATED TYPE, LIKE MOST "MODERN" CARS. I HAD TO CHANGE THE SOLENOID ON THIS ONE.