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Old 01-23-2023, 09:58 AM
Steve Brown 53 Steve Brown 53 is offline
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Default 69 Tail Light Housing vs. bulb socket fitment

Always had trouble with the repop sockets holding in place in the housing. Have been using silicone to "glue" them in place where they don't vibrate loose. Anyone got a better thought or brand suggestion of the lamp socket replacements. Also considering LED for tail lamps only. Comments appreciated.!

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Old 01-23-2023, 10:39 AM
gto4evr gto4evr is offline
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I've gotten tired of constantly having to wiggle these as the connection to the ground tabs always goes bad every time you breathe near the car and the sockets popping loose too. My next plan are these style sockets. solder a ground wire to the housing so it'll be a solid wired ground and you can bend the tabs as aggressively as you want them to lock into the plastic light housing.

I see these on ebay but I'm sure any Napa has them locally.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/27275147463...f012%7Ciid%3A1
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Old 01-23-2023, 01:01 PM
Steve Brown 53 Steve Brown 53 is offline
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Thanks gto4evr, I was actually thinking along the same lines. Appreciate it,

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Old 01-23-2023, 01:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gto4evr View Post
I've gotten tired of constantly having to wiggle these as the connection to the ground tabs always goes bad every time you breathe near the car and the sockets popping loose too. My next plan are these style sockets. solder a ground wire to the housing so it'll be a solid wired ground and you can bend the tabs as aggressively as you want them to lock into the plastic light housing.

I see these on ebay but I'm sure any Napa has them locally.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/27275147463...f012%7Ciid%3A1
I e used these before they aren’t any better than the factory ones , I’d stick w factory and alter w a ground . I bought a new factory style harness for my convertible figuring maybe they’d fixed things somehow but it’s the same , so gonna ground mine too on the convertible soon agreed 69 birds have the worst lighting situation I’ve seen and that’s saying alot as I’ve owned Maseratis and MGA s Lucas electrical systems are notoriously bad and I think they are great compared to the 69 bird. Lol

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Old 01-23-2023, 01:51 PM
gto4evr gto4evr is offline
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Originally Posted by Steve Brown 53 View Post
Thanks gto4evr, I was actually thinking along the same lines. Appreciate it,
found them cheaper on summit, and it has a tab for connecting a faston for ground rather than needing to solder.
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Old 01-24-2023, 09:36 AM
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Nice to know I'm not the only one with this problem. If only I had a dollar for every time someone said "you're tailight is out".....Never had this many issues with my old 70

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Old 01-24-2023, 01:58 PM
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It's not much better with good OEM sockets because the modern bulbs have crappy posts on them that don't engage the sockets very well.

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Old 01-24-2023, 02:26 PM
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X2. Been down that path with various bulbs sold in the stores.
One thing I've noticed is their lifespan seems to be much shorter. Even the push in type used on newer vehicles.

So I've either bought NOS bulbs from the 60s-70s or raid the junkyards for original USA made bulbs. I eyeball them for broken filaments or darkened bulbs and can get a handful for a few dollars.

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Old 01-24-2023, 05:45 PM
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Originally Posted by OG68 View Post
X2. Been down that path with various bulbs sold in the stores.
One thing I've noticed is their lifespan seems to be much shorter. Even the push in type used on newer vehicles.

So I've either bought NOS bulbs from the 60s-70s or raid the junkyards for original USA made bulbs. I eyeball them for broken filaments or darkened bulbs and can get a handful for a few dollars.
I rescued 1000's of 1157's back from the dumpster at work 20-25 years ago. I used sell bags of 50 or 100 of them on ebay for like $10 shipped back when ebay was cheap and fun. lots of garage shops used to buy them from me. also used to give them out to friends and random muscle car guys at the car shows as well as drop a bag of 10 or so into any gto parts sale that had the room in the box as a bonus for the sale. I still have a bunch of them somewhere up in the attic of the garage but time and poor weather storage has weathered the bright brass. I'm sure they're still up there somewhere, just haven't come across them recently. We used to build a crane game at work that used a trailer tail light setup but they changed the bulb to something else and would throw these out in the garbage. supplier had no interest in us returning the unused bulbs. what a waste!

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Old 01-25-2023, 02:12 PM
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I used these since the included ground wire allowed me to get rid of the original ground straps that were pretty rusted out.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002H9BF5Q...roduct_details
The plate helps if the hole in the housing is weakened or cracked. To secure it I used 1 inch of 5/8 heater hose. I placed the sockets through the housings and used soapy water to slide it on. I then used glue around the end, being sure to NOT get glue in the socket. Much more weather tight this way and hold is secure.

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Old 01-25-2023, 02:27 PM
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That socket looks better formed than most of the stuff out there. I see that it's a Taiwanese product rather than China.

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Old 01-25-2023, 03:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OCMDGTO View Post
Nice to know I'm not the only one with this problem. If only I had a dollar for every time someone said "you're tailight is out".....Never had this many issues with my old 70
Yeah right it’s like a Pontiac right of passage! My friends always bust my ass cause I dont FIX my tail lights and turn signals.

They just don't have a clue. Of course thats evident by their choice to buy a Chevy anyway…..

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