It could be the high-beam switch.
But the shape and angle make me think it's actually a starter button.
High-beam doesn't have a gasket between the outside and interior either.
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29 October 2025
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Dashboard starter button. It is too small to be the foot high/low beam switch (which my dad's car had right where a modern footrest would reside) . Of course our first family car had 3 on the tree and 3 pedals on the floor, so there was never any need for a footrest, ever. And yes, I learned how to drive in a '44 Willys jeep with 3 on the floor then graduated to 3 on the tree. Am I old? Hmm.
ReplyDeleteThat's a Chevy truck foot starter. It's not a switch, but the end of a linkage that moves a bar that completes the circuit.
DeleteThanks Angus, but I am still puzzled by how small it is, using the Phillips head screw for reference. Even if that is a big honking 3/8 head it makes the step on button about 1/4 to 3/8 diameter which is tiny for a floor mounted switch or push for a lever. The foot starters were easily 1" diameter and stood about 1 inch or more above floorboard, would expect any mechanical driven assembly to be same profile for the sole of the shoe to be able to press it reliably.
DeleteThe last of them were energizing a solenoid just like a dash mounted key; and were much smaller and had shorter throws. But still penetrated the floor.
DeleteI've never seen a starter button so when or where were they used? I sorta remember the mid '50s cars I'd see when they were 8 or 10 years old and I don't remember any with a starter button, but not remembering something from 65 years ago doesn't mean much. To me it looks like a high beam switch because the wear pattern of being shiny on top could indicate that shoes and foot pressure created its shiny, worn appearance, and the thing it's mounted on looks more like a floorboard than any dashboard I've seen.
ReplyDelete40's and 50's trucks had them a lot.
DeleteI know what it isn't. A foot operated windshield washer
ReplyDeleteI've seen those in 1920s cars, but they have a lot more travel and usually they have bellows on them due to that.
Delete-swj
Long throw ones with more travel are doing the job of the starter solenoid as well as making the electrical connection. Short ones are making the connection to a starter solenoid.
DeleteBut the little bellows seal is the main clue it's a starter stomper not a high-beam switch.