I found this laying in the trunk when I bought my 48 plymouth coupe. The coupe was someone's old hotrod and was v-8 swapped in the early 70's, I purchased it as a basket case which had most of the wiring cut out of it. Does anyone know what this is? It appears to be a relay (I think) but I'm unsure and Google wasnt much help
These are all of the numbers I could find stamped into the body, and the last number is from the vacuum tube itself
I thought so too, but I can't find another one like it....nor have I seen one like it. Never seen a voltage regulator with a vacuum tube or what I ***ume is a reset ****on and a green indicator light beside it
certainly looks like a home made rewired regulator for a generator equipped car. I'll bet the push****on switch is for "polarizing" the generator
I'm with Johnny Gee, my first thought was the brain box for an Autronic Eye (or Guide-Matic, depending on era). It's pretty small for an autronic eye box, but I never saw a vacuum tube inside of a voltage regulator before, unless I'm mis-interpreting what's in that gl*** bulb.
After googling autronic eye I sort of doubt that's what it is, I have none of the other components or the evidence of any of it... although that's pretty cool old technology!
Yeah I sort of thought it might have been a relay for the headlights but I can't find anything to support that idea. The soldering is a little sloppy which makes me believe it's homemade
The tube is a thermostatic time delay relay. 12v heater, 180 seconds (3 minute delay), Normally Closed contacts. It's listed in my 1968 Allied Radio catalog. Cost $2.40 then. Maybe part of a burglar alarm? Definitely home made, to fit in an old voltage regulator housing. Late 60s/ early 70s time frame build looks right, the regulator housing is probably from the 1950s. It is NOT an Autronic Eye. The cases on them are similar, but larger, and say Autronic Eye on them. oh...the part number of the regulator was 1119002 and it was used 55-62 on lots of GM vehicles. The 7L date code makes it for a 1958 model year, built at the end of 1957. 12VN is 12v Negative ground, which was important to know soon after they switched from using 6V Positive ground systems.
I think you might be on to something! It has a key switch mounted up inside the left front fender and an old window sticker that says something about an anti theft alarm
Time delay relay to let you disarm the alarm system before it goes off, say if it's connected to a dome light switch. Pre-solid-state electronics version. That 'reset' may be a test ****on, or a reset if it does go off if it's a latching type relay.
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