I am restoring a Chris Craft Capri 19 from 1960.
It has an ivalite wich I took completely apart to clean and grease everything.
The bad thing is that the contact spring and the little copper ring is missing.
That little electrical slider wich connects power to the lead for the bulb, you know.
Does anyone know where to get those or how to build this so it works again.
Would love to see my ivalite fully functioning again as it is such a cool light.
Any help aprecciated.
Ciao Bernhard
Here you can see the missing copper parts on the bottom:
Wow, it must be lonely waiting for some help. What you may need to do is find another one, and use it for parts. This is a tough one, and maybe someone has a junk one you can harvest.
Hi Matt, thanks for your advice.
I found an old piece from ebay for 90USD but there is the bottom contactor ring missing.
Maybe I will build the copper parts from scratch.
I might cut them out of copper sheet with a fine saw.
I wonder if there are any ivalite specialists here. I can throw this onto WoodyBoater after Dora if need be, also, there is a great flea market at Lake Dora, I can look around. Of course shipping might be insane
Thanks guys for your great help. Thanks for the explosion plan.
JimF, yes, that piece you have there in your hands is exactly the missing part.
Actually I have the big chrome nut where the copper is screwed into.
There should be another copper contactor ring that is not shown here – the counterpart of the contact spring. No. 50 on the sketch above.
That is also missing at my light here.
My light is in perfect shape, looks like new but this whole contactor is missing.
I would definitely buy this part from you, if possible.
I will write you an e-mail for pricing and shipping.
I have the ring with the pink wire soldered to it. I can remove the copper spring thing from the chrome part and send you that and the ring with the pink wire. The parts are free and I will even throw in the shipping even though I know you are in Austria. I think we both like keeping these things alive. Just send address.
Wow – Jim you are the man! That´s really great news.
You name it – spending hours and hours in the workshop to bring these babies back on the lake. Best thing to do!!! Thanks Matt for installing this great forum here.
Hi Jim, yes I have picked up the package last week.
Thanks again … that are exactly the parts that were missing, even the little screws!
Actually I have just successfully installed the ivalite today.
I have taken some pictures … will post them here soon.
If I can do something for you one day, please let me know.
Actually I have some good source for Riva and Boesch parts.
Best greetings from Austria.
I want to share some restauration experiences with the ivalite.
With it´s 360 degree spin and tilt up/down, this is a great light for cruising in the dark.
But it needs to be installed properly to function in the right way.
Therefore the shaft of the joint needs to be greased well so it can spin easily.
You might wonder how easy you can operate it with three fingers.
Further the new cable of the sliding contact needs to be soldered on the little contact spring.
I used a new cable same diameter, same color. The cable goes down the little groove.
Also make sure the copper spring is mounted well centered so the two little screws do not touch the copper of the spring. This needs to be perfectly isolated from ground otherwise you have a problem. Maybe you need to bend the spring to the perfect position a bit.
Now it´s time to mount the ivalite on the boat deck.
The cable goes through the little hole and through a hole in the deck, it should be long enough to reach the dash. Make sure the cable is soldered on the inseide / downside of the contact ring so that the cable goes directly in the hole and the ring lies perfectly on it´s place without touching any ground.
Also do not forget to oil the tube / shaft line with WD40 or similar and mount without tight bending.
Finally install the light and grease the tilting shaft well.
The little brass thread nuts need to be turned in the right direction so the light can slide on.
It can be a little tricky but you will find out yourself.
Before closing test the contact of the 2 red cables with a multimeter – while turning the light by hand.
Also measure the red cable to ground. There may not be any contact to ground, otherwise you need to take it apart again and check everything.
OK that´s it – hope this helps.
Maybe someone can need this some day.
