Does anyone know if the original replacement elements are available from any source for the Smiths lighter? The p/no. is C1430/2, and the complete item is C1430. I heard there was some N.O.S. in the UK but I don’t know from where. The reason for chasing these is to bring the little bits and pieces back to original working condition. (I know this is getting down to the pedantic level, but it is an interesting piece to demonstrate how things worked before standardisation) In their time these models would have been a common standard accessory in many upmarket cars like Humber, Rover, RR, Bentley, etc., before being superseded by the world standard automatic type we are all familiar with.
I don’t have personal experience of these but it might be a possible. I suspect the insert doesn’t fit the original holder so you might need to replace the whole lot.
Peter
They are occasionally on ebay , but expensive. Be aware that you may live longer without an operational fag lighter. But for the real pedants… some had clear glass and some had green.
Some say the green is correct for SS [ that’s i think people who have green in their own cars, so perhaps biased. But when and why the change?
Actually clicking on the ebay listing just now { and being confused by the "owl eye ‘’ description which I thought applied to SS 100 tail lamps, but may indicate a one eyed owl,] I thought the uS $ 44 wasn’t a bad price, I wouldn’t want to make them for that… Postage however[ US$ 22] is another matter.
I bought one of the new versions on eBay when the exchange rate US/AUD was better than at present and am intending to fit it to my MKV. I don’t smoke so it’s rather redundant but I was hoping to use the plug to charge my phone! I wonder if it will work, being positive earth?
It certainly looks the part which is not bad for a one eyed owl!
Cheers,
Tim
Tim,
It will blow your phone. You need to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. 
Safer to rig up a USB charging port inside one of the glove box/cubby holes which has been reversed already.
I did this and works a treat.
Jon
Hi Jon,
Could be handy! However, I think Ill just take a battery pack. Thanks for the heads up.
Cheers,
Tim
Nary a stick of the dreaded tobacco hath touched my lips, nor will any be permitted to present themselves aboard my chariots lest there be violence meted out upon the arrogant offender by blows smitten.
For those who don’t have an original lighter, they are shorter than the modern ones and are larger in diameter by about a mm or so. So you cannot fit an original lighter insert into a contemporary socket - and it wouldn’t work anyway, the contact system being different. Also because of this, you cannot use modern power plugs for accessory use in the original socket. So what are they good for? Only show, but I would like mine to work as it was when new. (To operate, the knob is pushed in and held until you see the red glow in the glass lens - a great recipe for driver inattention.)
However, if you buy one of those noted above on e-bay, you will have one that looks the part and is fully functional for accessory use too, provided you have converted to negative earth… I bought one from Cordell some years ago and can vouch for its quality and appearance that would fool most know-it-alls. Fortunately, the hole in the dash is suitable for the old and the new.
I will keep looking. I have one with a missing element, and one with a badly broken ceramic shield.
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Reminds me of a comedienne I once saw doing Queen Elizabeth I receiving a trans-atlantic phone call from Sir Walter Raleigh. “What’s that you say, Sir Walter? The savages in the New World make up old dead leaves into a roll, stick it in their mouth, and set fire to it?!?!? It can’t be good for their breathing. I forbid you to bring back any of that sort of thing.”
Anyway, I got one from Cordell and I imagine Bill sells the same thing.
Here is what you get.
The center piece pushes through the wood, and the piece on the right screws on the back to hold it in.
As long as I am caretaker of 40051, this thing will serve no other purpose than to fill the hole that was there.