Rim blow switch

[Naasaa]

Hi

I am searching for a rim blow switch for a 1972 Mercury Marquis.

Did find a new aftermarket switch, but only available in the color green.

My Mercury has green interior,green steering wheel with a green rim blow switch!

 

Do anyone have an idea of where and who to contact for such green rim blow switch?

 

Lars

[Guest]

Sorry I do not understand the question.  

15 hours ago, Naasaa said:

Did find a new aftermarket switch, but only available in the color green.

My Mercury has green interior,green steering wheel with a green rim blow switch!

 

Do anyone have an idea of where and who to contact for such green rim blow switch?

This implies you know where green switches are and your car is green. Why not order the green aftermarket switch?

[GARY F]

What is a rim blow switch.??

[TerryB]

8 minutes ago, GARY F said:

What is a rim blow switch.??

Horn rim???

[GARY F]

I learned a new term today.

[capngrog]

1 hour ago, TerryB said:

Horn rim???

 

That would be my guess, the old horn "ring".  Below is allegedly a shot of a 1972 Mercury Marquis steering wheel which doesn't seem to have a "ring", and the horn is blown by pressing on the cross bar (spoke?) of the steering wheel, not a "ring" or rim.

 

Cheers,

Grog

 

 

 

[Roger Frazee]

8 minutes ago, capngrog said:

 

That would be my guess, the old horn "ring".  Below is allegedly a shot of a 1972 Mercury Marquis steering wheel which doesn't seem to have a "ring", and the horn is blown by pressing on the cross bar (spoke?) of the steering wheel, not a "ring" or rim.

 

Cheers,

Grog

 

 

 

 I think the horn in the above picture is actuated by pressing the soft plastic ring attached to the inner rim of the steering wheel.  The buttons on the crossbar may be for cruise control.  And then again, I may be wrong.

 

[Guest]

Mercury's "rim blow" had a rubber strip here, on the inner edge of the wheel that the driver could squeeze with his fingertips to blow the horn.

 

 

[Guest]

Ha ha! Roger, we were typing at the same time!

And yes, the toggle switches are for the cruise control.

[Naasaa]

Sorry for the confusion. I can find an aftermarket rim blow switch, but only in the color black, whereas I prefer the color green.

Havent been able to source such.

 

In hope that someone in here have an idea to whom, or where, to contact.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Rim-blow horns were sometimes seen

in the late 1960's, I know.  My 1969 Cadillac

Eldorado has that function, where squeezing

the inner face of the steering wheel will 

sound the horn.

 

I was told that no one could fix them.  Surely 

there must be someone out there.

 

Mr. Naasaa, if I were you, I would buy the black one.

There are vinyl dyes (paints?) which should enable

you to change the color.

[lump]

It is common throughout the automotive aftermarket that, when an item made of plastic or vinyl, etc, is to be reproduced, to make it ONLY in black. Thus it is extremely unlikely that you will ever find a green one. 

 

The fact is that it costs a fortune to tool up for many of these long-obsolete parts. When those cars were new, factories tooled up and produced tens of thousands of each item, and in all different colors. The small manufacturers who reproduce such parts must amortize the cost across only a few hundred parts...and only selling a few dozen a year of many of them. Taking that small production run and then making it even smaller by having multiple colors makes the project financially impossible. So items like dash pads, steering wheels, arm rests, glove box pulls, etc, must often be purchased in black, and then carefully painted with special paint intended for plastic and vinyl. 

 

It makes sense, when you think about it. Can you imagine how many folks have a Mercury with a green interior who want to buy a rim-blow switch this week? The cost would have to be in the thousands of dollars apiece, and still wouldn't fly. 

 

Good luck to you. 

[Mikefit]

Only fix was to replace the strip I did a number of them in the 80s.   At our Ford Lincoln Mercury dealer

[John_S_in_Penna]

On 11/19/2019 at 9:33 PM, Mikefit said:

Only fix was to replace the strip I did a number of them in the 80s.   At our Ford Lincoln Mercury dealer

 

Is the strip rubber, with electrical contacts

somewhere behind the rubber?  Or does the

strip have the electrical contacts embedded in it?

[joe_padavano]

On 11/19/2019 at 9:20 PM, lump said:

It is common throughout the automotive aftermarket that, when an item made of plastic or vinyl, etc, is to be reproduced, to make it ONLY in black.

 

^^^This. Frankly, I'm surprised they make a repro at all, given the rarity of the rim-blow wheel and the limited following for these cars. I'm guessing this same switch fits other Ford products.

 

The typical way to deal with the any-color-so-long-as-it's-black problem is vinyl paint. SEM is the paint vendor of choice, but their color pallet has become severely limited to shades of grey and beige (mimicking new car interiors). Auto paint stores can actually mix any color you want to match your interior and the original interior paint codes should be available. New BC/CC paints are actually pretty flexible, so the need for flex agents added to the paint no longer applies. The real secret to a good paint bond is cleaning the plastic base and etching it. The plastics will outgas for quite a while, and many of these volatiles will pose an adhesion problem. SEM sells cleaners and an etching product that should be used before any paint.

Edited November 25, 2019 by joe_padavano (see edit history)

[lump]

On 11/25/2019 at 4:49 PM, joe_padavano said:

 

^^^This. Frankly, I'm surprised they make a repro at all, given the rarity of the rim-blow wheel and the limited following for these cars. I'm guessing this same switch fits other Ford products.

 

The typical way to deal with the any-color-so-long-as-it's-black problem is vinyl paint. SEM is the paint vendor of choice, but their color pallet has become severely limited to shades of grey and beige (mimicking new car interiors). Auto paint stores can actually mix any color you want to match your interior and the original interior paint codes should be available. New BC/CC paints are actually pretty flexible, so the need for flex agents added to the paint no longer applies. The real secret to a good paint bond is cleaning the plastic base and etching it. The plastics will outgas for quite a while, and many of these volatiles will pose an adhesion problem. SEM sells cleaners and an etching product that should be used before any paint.

Well said, Joe. It is not terribly uncommon for folks to have to repaint these items every few years...especially when the part is especially new. Your advice here is right on!