Ok so here is something that caught my eye one day. Im into antique military vehicles, I own two, a Dodge M37 and a willy's M38a1, both like the ones in KS. At the meets there is always tons of old junk for sale. One day I came across a fellow that was selling old flashlights. He had quite a few, and I decided to pick through them to find a good "Indy" flashlight. I wanted a dated one and it had to look just right. Unfortunately, the one best fitting my mental requirements was in pieces. Its a winchester flashlight dated 1925, all brass with a pushbutton cover on the switch so it doesn't accidently turn its self on in the adventure bag, and it has a neat swivel hook that detaches from the bottom.
I have to say, when I saw it, it was like that moment when Indy found the "Holy Grail", the light bulb over my head lit up and I said to myself, "Thats the flashlight of an adventurer!"
I negotiated with the peddler and got it for a mere 15 bucks. Yes it looked like @#$% when I got it but I loved it. He felt he took me Im sure, but he wanted 30.
I began by drilling out the ridiculas pop rivets that were installed by someone in the upper rings, so that I could access the switch. Unfortuneately this previous owner also popriveted the switch back on as well. I will remove those two later if I am able. I dissassembled what was left assembled and began to clean the brass and internal copper parts. Un fortuneatelty the switch parts disentegrated while I was working on it. I put alot of hours into this thing, reworking the switch and adding some internal wiring to make it work. At this point, I have a 4.5v bulb in it because I have not found the correct #14 screw in 3v bulb yet. Also, I am searching for what I feel would be the correct brass crush type rivets that would hold the upper ring in place. I also need to locate a place that does rechromeing of copper. The reflector is pretty badly scuffed up and needs to be re chromed. As for the worn paint, Im leaving the appearance as is so it looks as though its had many adventures with a legend in his own time.
http://www.RichardSJohnson.net
http://www.SCMVCC.com
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