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'57 Tailight socket - what a 3-hour puzzle!

2158 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  pineconechevy, 
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Hey Guys, I'm putting in a full new wiring kit in my '57 sedan.
I was having a bugger of a time figuring out why one brake light would only work when the parking lights were off. It took 3 hours and many trial & error events but I learned that the bulb socket on that tail light housing was out of round and allowing the spring loaded bulb contact to hit the ground side of the socket.

I have a perfectly good chrome tail light so I don't want to buy a whole new housing - where do I find a replacement socket to press in?

Has anyone had to do something like this?

Tom
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carls 56
maybe try local first (napa, advance, ect.). try www.classicchevvy.com, danchuk, www.truckandcarshop.com and www.hhhclasic.com. :anim_25:
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carls 56 said:
maybe try local first (napa, advance, ect.). try www.classicchevvy.com, danchuk, www.truckandcarshop.com and www.hhhclasic.com. :anim_25:
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These tri-five parts suppliers don't sell the taillight bulb socket. Unless you can find one in their catalags that I can't see. The ones at the auto parts stores are intended for trailers I think and generic applications. I'd prefer to not hack the chrome housing to make one fit.

Has anyone had to remove one of these sockets and press in a replacement of some sort? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Tom
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mickeywestsr
Swap meets, ebay, etc will probably be best bet.
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H
try, "east coast chevy, `ol`55". in doylestown, pa.
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N
Can you not just straighten out the one you have? Or drop a thin insulating ring to the bottom to prevent the contact hitting the side, e.g. thin strip of plastic?
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Greg Love
tail light housing plugs

i to had some issues with that.
i got replacement after market gear from Lordco. they are not identical but they work just fine.
pull out entire insulating sleave. incert new plastic connector and hook up wires.
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Nutjob said:
Can you not just straighten out the one you have? Or drop a thin insulating ring to the bottom to prevent the contact hitting the side, e.g. thin strip of plastic?
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Hi Nutjob,

Thanks for the suggestion....I messed with that socket for a long time, and tried making a sleeve with insulating electrical tape, then tried shrinkwrap. the bulb fit into the socket is very tight and there isn't any room - zero clearance. I tried three different brands of 1157 bulb that I had laying around and they are all tight.

In the process of fooling with it, I have it bent out of shape even worse now. I'd like to replace both rear sockets so it doesn't happen some day on the other side.


Tom
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Greg Love said:
i to had some issues with that.
i got replacement after market gear from Lordco. they are not identical but they work just fine.
pull out entire insulating sleave. incert new plastic connector and hook up wires.
Click to expand...
Greg, we don't have Lordco around here, but i think this is the route I'll have to take - get something non-trifive and modify it to fit.

Unless anyone knows of an exact sleeve replacement available.

Tom
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R
I think acardon has posted a source for these. You might try a search.

Ron Francis Wiring has some screw together replacements that don't require any swedging. They are a bit pricey, but very convenient and quick.

Edit: tried a search for "lamp socket" and "acardon" and didn't come up with it. Maybe I'm dreaming. Or maybe I didn't enter the right search words.
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fiddlerpin
The 1157 will work ,but is not the correct original bulb. I believe the pins are longer causing it to fit tight. The original bulbs are 1034 and have shorter pins
Jim
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fiddlerpin said:
The 1157 will work ,but is not the correct original bulb. I believe the pins are longer causing it to fit tight. The original bulbs are 1034 and have shorter pins
Jim
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Yep, you are right I read that a few days ago after doing a search on here. I had filed down the lead pins to help get a better fit. They did fit better afterward but didn't help the side shorting problem with the AAW pigtail.
Thanks,
Tom
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Found a generic pigtail

Well here's the latest chapter.....

I was on vacation this week and stopped at a huge truckstop on the highway. They had a truck parts store in there (along with microwave hotdogs, crude slogan t-shirts and girlie magazines) and I looked at about 40 different types of light sockets and bulb assemblies. Every color and size imaginable - mostly for trailer applications. The ones for stop/turn/parking lamp were mostly too big to fit into a '57 tail light housing so I walked away from there empty-handed.
I'll tell you that is the place to go for trailer lights though....

So I ended up at a Carquest auto parts store and they had this 1157 bulb socket assembly that looked like it would fit in my chrome housing. (see picture) It had a third wire for ground hook-up so that made my day. It was $10.16 with tax.

I'm sure it will work - I'll just have to drill out the original housing to accept this new socket. It won't be noticable behind the stock red lens. I'll have it installed tomorrow.

Hope I don't bust anything! :D

Tom

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