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Price: $128.04
A mostcurious pair… this pair is not in any way a money-making venture… The hoursspent on these in repair and research (such as it is) mean it is just a case oftraffo-philia. These are priced to bepressed into service elsewhere… and used in many other situations as I’m quitecertain the highly specific real application is gonna be “hard-as”… but anyway,without further ado, get ready for my long monologue on the conundrum of thealmost unique “smooth-lens-sf37”
THIS IS A PAIR OF SF37TRAFFICATORS FOR AN EARLY 12 VOLT SYSTEM around 1936
Photos 1 to 4 show thetrafficator. Photos 5 to 10 show the trafficator as it was being pulled apart.Photo 11 shows the other type of SF37**
There are two types ofextremely rare lucas trafficators at least. The sf36 is one. TheSF37 rarer. The SF37 is weird as it comes with TWO QUITE DIFFERENT typesof lenses as well...
Note how the lenses hereare smooth and like the SF34 sf40 lenses... but then look at the finalphoto number 11 I got from someone inUK... this one has SF37 on it too but the lens is the **odd bulbous shape likean SF36. See how their sf37 has the strange built-in base* likethis as well.
I cannot explain whythere are two types of sf37, but this one does NOT have the strange thinbulbous lens of the sf36. If your car takes an sf37 you must check alsowhat the lens looks like.. as both types appear to be marked sf37.
It is all very strange...If anyone can cast any light on this weird trafficator, let me know.
This sf37 is from theearly 30s and this, I would say, is an obvious attempt to make the trafficatorsmore compact. At the time the early sf34/40 were gigantic and heavy withfully enclosed mechanisms. (Later the sf34/40 were opened up a bit,at the expense of rigidity, by cutting out the side of the body with little\"shoulders\"... but that\'s another story).It has the lens with the embeddedmetal arm (as per sf34 and sf40), but many other aspects show what will laterbecome the sf80.
A poor decision by Lucaswith these (perhaps) was to move away from the non-uniform body fittings.Virtually all the others use the same double-fitting... a screw andoval-oid key-tang on the trafficator to fit some sort of bracket in the carwith the same screw/tang fittings. This doesn\'t. *This didaway with the double idea andmade the bracket part of the trafficator.
The effect of this was toreduce weight by half... and reduce volume by the same. The design tooand relative ease (relative) of disassembly also shows some thought went intoit. The penalty in the end, however, was non-standardisation. Itfits no other cars than the few it was designed for. However it is a simple twosmall screw fitting... these are very small diagonally opposed at each end ofthe base plate.(The original earth-terminal right at theend of the body has been removed as it was a compression-pinch to the traff-bodyand simply was poor. I have supplied a good solder-point that iswell-soldered to the body... no voltage drops!!)
Of course, now you willask \"what cars?\". I don\'t know. I cannot find any info onit. They would be 1931 to 1937 or so, perhaps Austin , or the Morriscompetitors. They would not use the normal bracket-in-car andscrew-hole-and-tang-on trafficator sytem. This is a direct fit. I wouldsay they must have a very shallow area to fit them as that was the raisond\'etre behind this unit. The solenoid is similar to the sf40 and is a\"fat\" but shallow one (as opposed to sf34). Do not buy this unlessyou KNOW it is correct for your car... or yopu intend to use it in another application (which is fine). Ask me if you\'re not sure, butobviously I can\'t say what it is for... as I said. Most cars of theperiod will use sf34, sf40, sf80, sf35 and possibly sf36... it is just a fewthat will use sf37 and then they have to use this type not the\"bulbous-;ens type as per photo 12\".
I have taken some photosof the unit \"disassembled\" to help you ID it with yours.
Note the chromed topcover is similar to an sf34/40. The wire has the spring/festoon-holderbuilt into one, whereas many others had the spring separate. The bodyplate though should be the main clue, with its two tiny countersunk screw holesfor fitting and the lower earth terminal (removed from these)
Because this unit has aswinging arm with the wire flexing (rarer ones used a contact) I initially wasgoing to just supply the winner with a new piece of special trafficator wirethat I have discovered. I have seen many people try to replace thesewires with various types of wire and they have all been poor jobs. Thewire needs to be extremely flexible in both the conductor and the insulator.However, after examining the existing wire I have decided to do a total-disassembleand replace it for you. It was cracked and hard in at least 2 places.So the unit has been disassembled and cleaned and a new wire installedfor the festoon running all the way through the unit and flexing at 2 places(which is why they got rid of the idea later) (4 hours work). This will\"future-proof\" it for you.
More tips for new owner.I have put a new super-thin 5mm festoon in for you, but if you later wantto remove top cover... be careful of re-assembly. Do not use even the 6mmfestoons as then the lens will not squash shut satisfactorily*. To re-assemblethe top cover, you SLIDE the top cover backwards into the shoulder and mustOPEN the two moon shaped ends up slightly to help it ease in. AT THE SAMETIME, you gently squeeze* the top of the amber lens to get the two tiny groovesto gently snap into place. Only when both of these operations are donewill the top cover be a snug fit and allow you to do up the screw.
These have beenthoroughly cleaned and re-lubricated. I will tell the winner how tolubricate these for best results. NEVER USE \"WD40\" FOR LUBRICATION.
If you know something aboutthese... the cars it fits, I would appreciate knowing... to help some fellowAustin or Morris enthusiast out there. A good pair of these sf37 (or thesf36... or sf28) are so rare now, it would be great to get them back on a caragain.
To look for items in my shop, it is easiest to look in the yellow box to your lower left of \"categories\". Select the category of interest and all items in that category will appear. It is much easier than keywords. For example \"BRAKE\" or \"TRAFFICATOR whole\" or \"LIGHTS\" or \"AXLES\" or \"COOLING\" etc etc