1973 Taillight housing question

[NoJoke73]

Been in around collision shops for over 25 years but none of my guys know mopars. My self included - ha!!

So - can the lamp sockets be removed from the housings ???

It looks as if they were pressed in..

Has anyone had luck removing them ?

As I'm not looking to go for a restoration I'd have no problem breaking the sockets of and going with modern sockets ..

But if any here have had luck disassembling them from the housing I'd rather go that route.

As you can see my housings need to be cleaned and restored - it'll be a hell of a lot easier if I could get the harness and sockets off in one piece.

Thanks in advance ..

 

[Chargerjase]

They can't be removed unless you destroy the sockets. I had one on mine that was rusted through, so I carefully removed it with long nose pliers. I bought a similar type socket and installed it. It does the job but I can push it back out if I am not careful. Your housings look to be in good shape. I would mask the sockets and leave them alone, trust me you will have a much better end result.

 

[Bb70charger500]

Well said it's not worth the effort you could get them out but your going to brake something I guarantee it. Leave some old bulbs in the sockets so they stay clean ,then just clean and paint as needed . It doesn't have to be perfect as you'll never see it ever again some guys have to have it perfect but it is what it is good luck

 

[ODZKing]

I am told that the sockets can be pealed away from the inside as to be removed if they are broken. Chroming places say they have seen it before and it can be done. I have never tried myself.
I did exactly what Jase suggested, left an old bulb in and taped off, sprayed to refinish and left alone. But if they are broken you may have no choice but to put a new socket in there. The lip apparently can be bent back and pulled out but the socket is useless after that. But again if it's broken, it doesn't matter.

 

[idrivemopar]

Well, I was working with on of the guys at Ron Francis wiring to build a set of new sockets with the harness, thought it was progressing well, and the guy just stopped calling me. I might follow up with them to see if they ever completed it.


So, I cleaned up my set, removed the rust from the sockets with small wire brush on a dremel, cleaned the pins, sealed the cracks around the socket with JB weld, and re-sprayed both inside and out, and re-wrapped the wires with cloth tape. They are working well, and brighter with the chrome paint on the inside.

 

[NoJoke73]

Nice job

 

[NoJoke73]

So there it is -- thanks for replying..

 

[idrivemopar]

Just a FYI, I used Dupli-color adhesion promoter followed by dupli-color Chrome paint, after cleaning the inside of the housings, same on the outside except used a satin black.

 

[NoJoke73]

Thanks for the heads up. I've been painting for years.

Probably gonna use bulldog - same stuff just a PPG product.