1936 High Beam Indicator

My recollection is that the high beam light on a '36 Hudson is right in the speedometer. Since I assume the speedo on a Hudson says 'Hudson', and the one on a Terraplane says 'Terraplane', it wouldn't be an authentic interchange -- even if the speedos physically interchanged.



You could always get a separate light with a chrome bezel and plunk it anywhere on the dashboard; seems to me that many manufacturers did this in the 40's. You might even mount it under the dash where it wouldn't easily be spotted (unless you look for it). But as far as the original location, I'm pretty sure it was in the speedo itself.



Strangely enough, Hudson dropped the high beam indicator in 1937!

Isn't this similar to the turn signal lamp used on the Step-Downs? The jewel-with-bezel pokes through the hole, then a spring-loaded, cylindrical lamp enclosure snaps around it from behind the dash.



If you manage to find a used Step-Down turn signal complete, at a Hudson flea market, it will have the switch and steering column bracket, indicator lamp, flasher socket, and the wire raceway that brings the wires down the steering column, along with the neat little potmetal thingie that takes the wires up under the dash at the bottom of the raceway. The whole thing fits many late-30's Hudson steering columnss as if it was built for them. And if painted black, the switch itself is almost invisible (as opposed to those huge chromed aftermarket switches that stand out like a sore thumb). Plus, you can make the whole thing self-cancelling by cutting a small hole in the side of the steering column tube, and attaching a small hose clamp around the shaft itself (to act as a cancelling cam). I have such an arrangement on my '37 and it's worked fine for 30 years.