Bulb sockets needed

I have this little problem. I keep blowing fuses because my frigging tail light sockets suck.
Anybody got pointers on where to get the entire aluminum cup and socket assembly new, or is there one unused pair floating around out there in limbo?
I'm running out of ceramic fuses. I'm bridging the hole in the fuse-box with a 25A fuse right now, because I'm more stubborn than the car.
I also need a VW eight-fuse, black fusebox cover. ... Casualty of war, I'm afraid.

I got a pair of superb old brass ones from a junk school bus in a salvage yard. That was the best I found. Definatly worth the walk and the time brazeing them into the Vintage teardrop tail lights .

Your only other real good lights are the Stoddard Beehives also brass. I even concidered buying a pair of them just for the high quality bulb holders. Very expencive. but very nice!!!

Welcome to the Darkside It takes a certain amount of stuborness to beat some of these problems.


If the fuse box cover is about 4 x 2 ? I did have one . somewhere???

It came with a dune buggy harness I canibalized. I'll look but you may want to contact Larry's off road parts he may offer it.

Thanks, Barry. I'll have a look around the junkyards here.
(Looks like you beat TC to the punch with that suggestion!)

Cory,
For fuses that you replace often (usually because you short something as you're working on electrical),I use circuit breakers.
I found some at Sears in the Autoparts fuse section.
I know that Harley uses them instead of fuses in their electrical systems, so a Harley Dealer or bike supply store would have them.
you can wire them with leads and clips for temporary use while testing.
I tend to always blow one of the Main (red 16 amp fuses) as I'm mucken with electrical stuff, so I wired a permanent 20 amp breaker into that spot on the fuse box.
They're cool in that they break, when appropriate, then reset in a couple of seconds.
Greg B

Have you considered going to LEDs? Look for the custom variety on ebay. I can look them up if you do not find them. Also, NAPA sells some brass and copper replacemetns. You will need to remove theo old corrodid sockets from you housings and replace them with the new ones. Probably solder them in, but they may fit tight enough. Then use a petroleum jelly to seal your lens and housings so water does not get in there and corrode the new ones.

I am entertaining all comers' suggestions. I think the sockets are fitted solidly into the aluminum, though. I don't know how I'll test that theory without breaking them.
As for LEDs, I tried some at first, but there wasn't enough resistance to trip the flasher. I'll try it with a thicker gauge of wire and see what happens.
For now, the circuit breaker is what I'll try very next; maybe I can isolate the problem without blowing my last couple fuses in the attempt! (Pun. Sorry.)
Thanks!

You really wouldn't be blowing fuses if there was a problem with the light sockets, the lights would just flicker on and off, or BE on or off.

The bulb holders are a part of the housing and are either old originals or trash repros. take a plumbers pipe brush and give them a good cleaning inside, use a dremel and polishing disc to clean the contact tab at the bottom, then wrap the metal part of the bulb with aluminum foil for a tight fit.

Be sure that the bulb contacts the tab correctly and squeeze a SMALL dab of Goop/silicone/etc. where the glass touches the reflective housing to hold everything still and prevent any extra movement.

Drill a hole in the housing, use a pop-rivet and double washers to fasten a secondary ground wire, and re-install the bulb holder, attach the ground wire to a spot that's appropriate and DONE.

If it blows a fuse, you've got a secondary short in your funky wiring. The bulb holders are just WAY to simple to be responsible.

Idiot (light) ! !

Cory,

I may have a couple of old bulb holders somewhere that I can "rebuild" for you, re-silver the reflective surface, clean 'em and set them up with working bulbs and such.

Just in case I can't find 'em, does anyone have a trashed pair of bulb holders, original or repro, that they can donate to the cause ? Not for me, but for Cory. If anyone does, send 'em on to me, lemme work a little magic, and I'll pass them on to Cory as soon as they're done up.

It's for the Hoopty! I think that THAT'S gonna be my new excuse for EVERYTHING from now on. "But Robin, I HAD to . . . it's for the Hoopty!"

Kinda works, doesn't it?

Your kindness and charity are only surpassed by your sagacity and ... venomous wit.
"Ouch! Hey, what a cool snake!" :)

FYI and to follow up, I stuck a couple pictures of the fix effort in Technical General. Got the lights to work as advertised, fixed the intermittent horn thing -- and discovered the answer to the fuel gauge problem.

Oh yes they can to. mine did the same thing. My vintage tear drop lights had wide contact surfaces that could touch the bulbs outer lip, and the holders would let the bulbs slip out.

Just agravating.

"and the holders would let the bulbs slip out."

That's why I'm a fiend for the tin foil wrap trick and the little silicone dab.

Really . . . it's a neat little trick. I got it from my Dad's buddies and all that ancient iron that used to pass through the side garage "way back when."

TC -

The many uses of tin-foil and silicone in auto applications bring back fond memories of our 'shade-tree-mechanic' fix-its. I've used that particular mend many times.

Oh, you KNOW it ! ! !

A triple decker aluminum foil and fiberglass mat sandwich is the best thing ever for an exhaust pipe repair. Foil and duct tape rocker panels with a quick spray of black undercoating will get you through almost ANY yearly Safety Inspection. As a base for fiberglass repairs it's the best bar none. The list of uses is longer than that for duct tape . . . who among hasn't balled up a wad of it and whipped it at their sister at a cook out? Fired a plug of it out of an air rifle at her?

...and an excellent substitute ammo for your potato gun (when you run out of potatoes to launch at those noisy bastards in the campsite 100' down the road)!

Re-posting; I'm not sure the other pictures worked in the Technical General thing. Since y'all are still here, loitering on a stale thread, howzabout a look?
First, the wiring problem was an insufficient male end for the size of the female half of the blue connector; The Wrench had sliced the plastic cover's edges to accomodate the larger, female side, and had flapped them over like mudflaps to keep them together.
I took the old male side covering off and soldered the connector, then wrapped it with tape -- for now. It's working, and it isn't mechanically wiggling itself loose by pinching slowly backward anymore.
The second is my packed socket and TC's foil recommendation. TC, I'm assuming this is what you meant?
The fuse block cover I need fits the one in Most Honorable Number Three Picture. If anybody's got one ...

The make a repro of that fuse block I think, but it might be kinda tough to find just the cover 'cause the block is probably out of an Oval Window Beetle. Where/why did you use something so archaic? Want something a little newer, with the cover, I can send it right off to you.

I went with what I had, and now I'm hooked on the simplicity.
I'll keep looking.

Wait a minute ... YOU want my fuse box for your OWN project, don't you ... ?
:)

Nope . . . I've already got that same one as you . . . with a cover. Want me to post a pic, just to see what you're missin'?

Nope. I'm stubborn. If I can't find it soon, I will make one out of Lexan and aluminum.
:

If the fuse box cover is the same as a Oval Heck.. BFY will have that I think I've seen it in their book but it only holds 4 fuses. I still have not found the one Im supose to have.

If you never find the right one you could just by 2 fuse boxes form Bfy