[Guest]

I took apart the old window/seat switch that I had to replace due to all the cheap plastic switches breaking and found that they are manufactured by "Cherry Automotive Electronics". So I went online and did a little exploring...

Tell me if you think the very cool ALL BLACK switchpod on this page looks familiar....
http://www.cherrycorp.com/products/US/prodauto.htm

I'm going to be doing some further snooping.

 

[Guest]

Good find!
Looks like I might be doin a bit of shopping there too for the soon to come kill switch(s)
That switch pod looks very nice,
now taking donations or gift certificats to cherrycorp

 

[Guest]

I don't know if they sell to the general public, but I am going to call them on Monday and find out what we can do to get some products from them.... At the very least it would be cool to get the black actuators in the switchpod. Maybe a group buy will shake em loose. I'll report back after I speak with the company

 

[Guest]

Sounds like you would be a good pivot man on this one Occam. Keep us all posted.
Kevin

 

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Occam:
I don't know if they sell to the general public...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It does look like this is an "OEM only" company. On the other hand, you never know. A few OEM suppliers will sell to John Q. Public. There might be a minimum purchase but I'm sure you could get enough forum members in on it to make it a go. I could use some stuff myself.

 

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Occam:
I don't know if they sell to the general public, but I am going to call them on Monday and find out what we can do to get some products from them.... I'll report back after I speak with the company<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Don't know if it'd help at all but my wife works about three doors down from them in Waukegan. If need be she could try and run something through her purchasing department (lighting mfg.) or pick something up if they will not ship to a consumer. FWIW.....

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't mind a few for my car. It would be cool to have my air bag and No2 switches match the window ones. Count me in.

 

[Guest]

Keep us posted on wghatever you find out. I could use some OEM black switches.

 

[Guest]

Ditto, I would love the switch panel and switches in Black. If they won't sell to the public, see about some GM part numbers for them.

Mav

 

[Guest]

Umm, why don't you guys just take the switches out and paint them black, much less cost involved. I can understand using switches for other stuff though, to match.

 

[Guest]

SS454, If you want a black interior and are thinking of painting the various parts, you'll never get a "real" factory look because you lose the lettering on the panel.

Furthermore, many of us (all of us eventually) are going to have broken switches because they are made out of plastic and the section that holds the switch to the actuator is very flimsy. It would be cool to find a source like Cherry to get just the little plastic part for maybe a buck...than to spend 80 or more on a new switch or go looking through a junkyard in the hopes of maybe finding one in decent shape.

AND...most importantly....it's just cool

UPDATE...this ain't gonna be easy folks. I got referred to a "salesman" today, left a number, and didn't get called back. I will be calling again and again until I talk to someone who may be able to give me a minimum number that will make an order happen (it's not like they won't have the tooling for our switches...right?) or at least give me the GM part numbers for the all-black switchpods.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, the lettering is the hard part. If I could find a way around that, I would have SEM'ed them a while ago. OCCAM, Keep us posted on all the good stuff!

Mav

 

[Guest]

So far I've been unable to get a salesperson to call me back. I am going to try and see if there is a way to get hold of a distributor name and have them make the calls for us... I haven't given up!

 

[Guest]

Lettering : it isn't easy and it IS tedious, but I found a way thanks to GForceSS.

Goto a good model/hobby shop, and they have dry transfer lettering sheets (letters are white) for a few bucks. Easy to transfer, and ARE pretty durable (and EXTREMELY durable if you throw an acrylic clear-coat on top). Hard part is getting them lined up right, since you're transferring one letter at a time.

I have the "SSLED" bowtie switch in my center console lettered like this, and also my "trunk lights" switch in the trunk (lets me turn off the trunk lights at shows and stuff). When I redo my rear door window switches in SEM black, I plan on relettering them via this method.

 

[Guest]

Ed, does it look stock? Can you find the same font? I think the phone calls and research are more tedious because nothing happens to the car until I hit paydirt~

 

[Guest]

If you can do without the lockout switch, Inventex has them in black WITH lettering.
http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/jax/i/n/inventex/

I bought them in black without the lettering since I wanted the switch.