I miss the old floor board high beam switch

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
I'll tell you what I miss:

- side vent windows

Indeed.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Forget the side vent windows floor vents or as I prefer to call them ball vents rock. My beater 89 caravan still has one on the driver's side and on a hot day with shorts on ahhhhhh 🙂.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
Forget the side vent windows floor vents or as I prefer to call them ball vents rock. My beater 89 caravan still has one on the driver's side and on a hot day with shorts on ahhhhhh 🙂.

My conversion van has both (like you, though, the floor vent is only on the driver's side).

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: OUCaptain

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
What 90s cars still had them? Newest car I've had with one was my 81 dodge mirada. Miss them too.

That's what I'd like to know out of curiousity.

I know Chevy and Ford trucks had long ago done away with them by the 90's.

I am not sure what he is thinking about because from my recollection once the multifunction switch started being used in the steering column in the late 70s early 80s the floor mounted switch basically disappeared by the mid 80s, in fact I cannot even think of an 80s car that had a floor mounted switch (but that doesn't mean they don't exist). Remember there is no "flash to pass" with a floor mounted switch. My 85 Mustang GT had the column mounted switch as did my moms 79 Ford Fairmont. Trucks were the last to have them as I remember.

If I remember correctly, my buddies '90 f-150 had one. They stayed in the truck world much longer than passenger cars.

Still hardly the late-90's, as mentioned earlier. I know for a fact Ford didn't have them by at least 1993.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: OUCaptain

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
What 90s cars still had them? Newest car I've had with one was my 81 dodge mirada. Miss them too.

That's what I'd like to know out of curiousity.

I know Chevy and Ford trucks had long ago done away with them by the 90's.

I am not sure what he is thinking about because from my recollection once the multifunction switch started being used in the steering column in the late 70s early 80s the floor mounted switch basically disappeared by the mid 80s, in fact I cannot even think of an 80s car that had a floor mounted switch (but that doesn't mean they don't exist). Remember there is no "flash to pass" with a floor mounted switch. My 85 Mustang GT had the column mounted switch as did my moms 79 Ford Fairmont. Trucks were the last to have them as I remember.

If I remember correctly, my buddies '90 f-150 had one. They stayed in the truck world much longer than passenger cars.

Still hardly the late-90's, as mentioned earlier. I know for a fact Ford didn't have them by at least 1993.

92 is when the body change was but if you got a chassis truck with no options you could still get the floor switch up until 98 when the F250/350 changed bodies. Possibly easier in teh vans as they evolved slower.

Also I love the side floor vents, you could get those in some fords up until 92 when the body change was as well.

And another vote for window wings. I have them front and rear on my Stude and it moves the air through the car.

I would also vote on real cars again. I don't know how we get such crappy gas mileage out of some of these cars, my 64 Stude with a 289 V8 and ~200hp can get about 20mpg with no OD ratio like today. I know even older cars that got in the twentys from the '50s. Let's start dumping power windows, power seaats- that would save a couple hundred pounds there.

 

[BassBomb]

Theres alot of things that are in cars today that were not there long ago causing added weight and thus MPG didn't get too much better.

ABS
Disc Brakes (Front for most)
Airbags up the wazoo
Bigger rims
More fillers to become "queiter" (not so much in cheap cars though)
Power locks, windows, seats

 

[AMCRambler]

My '66 Rambler had one of those! Haha! That's true about stompin it to blast the douche giving you the brights, so fun. My Rambler has the four front headlights so you were really jamming it to them when lit up the second set, hehe. The only downside was trying to find the suckerif you don't use it that often. You'll be feeling around down there with your foot when you really need the brights and you can't find it.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
Theres alot of things that are in cars today that were not there long ago causing added weight and thus MPG didn't get too much better.

ABS
Disc Brakes (Front for most)
Airbags up the wazoo
Bigger rims
More fillers to become "queiter" (not so much in cheap cars though)
Power locks, windows, seats

Well Disc brakes started in the 60's

Maybe bigger rims now but most aren't all steel, usually a mag/alum. I would like to see a weight comparo there.

I even had auto off headlamps if I left them on and turned the key off, vanity mirror and tray in teh glovebox.

But yea alot of new features added way too much weight.

 

[Dirigible]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
I'll tell you what I miss:

- side vent windows

Indeed.

Yup, I miss those too.

I don't miss the floor high beam switch though. The last car I drove with one of those was a '68 Chevy Caprice. It was tricky to find the switch and push it correctly. Never did fully get the hang of it.

 

[Iron Woode]

for those that have never seen these switches, here's a pic of mine:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/IronWoode/floor_switch.jpg

also visible is my kick panel air vent control (right next to the hood release) which I have on both sides.

The side vent windows were an option on my 1987 Crown Vic with the LX trim level.

 

[IronWing]

Check ebay. One going for ten bucks right now. I looked into it a few months ago and at that time there were a bunch.

Floor switches are faster to activate/deactivate than the steering wheel mounted switches. It was so easy to let oncoming drivers know their high beams were on, just tap-tap.

 

[SonicIce]

Yes I love these things, a nice tactile response

though, it feels like it gets stuck down sometimes, any way to lube it or something?