Left switchgear reassembly - stumped

[exzachtly1]

Last time i needed a ball bearing for that i found a nice supply in the headset of an old bicycle

Haha, that's funny - as I was googling that size ball bearing, I was getting a lot of hits for bicycle parts. Must be a common size for that... maybe I should hit up a local bike shop.

Leaving this here in case anyone besides me might find it useful...

- Top is the spring that goes under the contact on the left and right of the turn signal switch block
- Middle is the spring from the BACK of the turn signal switch block
- Bottom is the block itself - to get the diameter and depth of the hole. I'm thinking a 10-12mm long spring will do the trick here, with a ball bearing around 3-3.5 mm diameter

I'm finding some promising stuff on amazon. Hoping I can put something together that works...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RRYCDGD/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A11JQY1907BP4E&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z95B2Q2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A83BHZFQ3Y439&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081SQZR62/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1THAZDOWP300U&psc=1

3mm x 15mm springs
4mm x 15mm springs
3.5mm ball bearings

fingers crossed...

 

[exzachtly1]

And I'm thinking maybe, just mayyyybe I can fashion a copper contact for the other side of the switch with some careful bending of some bullet connectors I have laying around. Thinking I can flatten it out, do some careful bending and maybe get something going? But I'm still not sure if it is even supposed to be there

Edit -
Turns out a female bullet connector is pretty close to the right size with a little bending and cutting. We'll see if this works when I get my springs in the mail lol

 

[exzachtly1]

Got my springs and ball bearings today, and it was a great success. Used a 4 mm OD spring (3 mm inner diameter), cut to just a little longer than the depth of the hole. Used a 3.5 mm ball bearing on the end. This made the turn signal switch lock into place with just the right amount of resistance, and it clicks back and forth very nicely now. I was even able to use my makeshift copper contact for the other side of the switch, with the 3 mm springs I bought. Still don't know for sure if it's necessary but... it's not hurting anything!

Here's a link with all my photos if it's of help to anyone.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jitMjn6QuVa5pWEKA

Two things I learned:
1. Digital calipers are one of the most valuable tools
2. Don't be dumb like me and work on this on a piece of newspaper. It's impossible to see tiny springs and ball bearings on patterned material lol. Do yourself a favor and use a plain white work surface.

Unfortunately it did not really improve anything with the horn but... it is cleaner now, and there was a spider web and a dead spider in there soooo, still good to clean it up I guess! I never want to take this apart again. I had so many close calls almost losing things, lots of swearing, and it took me way too long to figure out how the damn thing was actually supposed to be constructed. The photos from you guys in this thread were very helpful so thanks a million. Love this forum.