How to fix unrepairable bulb sockets

With our Mopars reaching the 30,40,and even 50 year old mark,it is inevitable problems may occur with the lighting systems on our cars.
I am focusing on the tail lights and front turn signal/park lamp assemblies.
The majority of the bulb sockets are permanently pressed or stamped into the housings.
The housings were made of either white metal,potmetal,or aluminum and corrode easily.
In the majority of Mopars,these housings are also used as a ground supply to the bulbs.
As the corrosion takes over,the resistance increases and bulbs are dim,or feedback into the system,pop fuses,or just plain quit.
Add dry rotted or missing lense gaskets,broken or cracked lenses that invite the elements in,and the sockets take a beating.

I had seen people search high and low for housings just to replace one bad socket.
Some models do not have repop housings,or used ones are either no better than what you already got.Good used ones or NOS command a premium price--if they ever become available.

So what's a poor guy to do?

I will show step by step on a repair I have been doing and proved it works.
I butcher the sockets out of the housings and modify them to fit modern day twist lock style bulb sockets.
Now this is for those who drive their cars.
OE Gold or 100 point people make not like the butchering I am going to do,LOL!!
But when finished,nobody would know the difference cosmetically..
Tools :
die grinder with cutting wheel
dremel tool with various sized stones and cutting wheels
hammer
chisel or old flatheat screwdriver
solder gun and solder
Parts:
plastic twistlok bulb socket found at any parts store.
wire ends,butt connectors,shrink tube
I butchered two differnt housings in the pics for clarity.

This example show some corrosion around the socket.Not bad--but enough to feeback into the curcuit and pop fuses.Moisture got in from the dry rotted lense gasket.
Note how corroded the housing body is from being out in the open from the elements.That alone can cause a bad ground.you can see where I cleaned up around the mounting screws but that did not help.

Ok.No turning back from here..
Put the housing in a vise,and cut the socket out as close as possible to the housing
DO NOT CUT INTO THE HOUSING!!

Depending on the style of housing,use a cutting wheel on a dremel or die grinder to cut notches or slots into the remains of the socket that is stamped into the housing.
AGAIN,DO NOT CUT INTO THE HOUSING!!

Using a hammer and chisel or old beat up flat head screwdriver,carefully chip away the remains of the socket.
It is not uncommon to see the hole be thin or out of round from years of corrosion.That alone can be the culprit of a bad ground.

The modern twist-lock style sockets have three tabs that keep it tight in the housing.
Also,they come with an extra wire needed to ground the bulb.If the housing is really crusty,this wire will bypass it for a better ground.

Simply scribe the shape of the new socket around the hole in the housing.

Using the dremel,make the slots in the housing.
Also it may be necessary to make the hole in the housing larger.
ALWAYS GRIND LITTLE AT A TIME AND TEST FIT OFTEN!
One shot deal to make this work and if the holes are too big the housing is junk.

When done grinding,the slots should match the socket.I prefer a snug fit.

Socket will pop in,twist it tight and ready for a new bulb.You can use foam or cork gasket between the housing and socket to keep moisture out .
In some applications you may have to install the bulb after installing the socket into the housing.

Leaburn,
Thanks for sharing!

Now to the electrical part.
Cut and solder the car's wires to the new socket.
I always solder and use shrink tubes to keep moisture out.
As mentioned before the new sockets have an extra wire for ground.
Use a piece of wire and a connector and screw it down to a good ground source that has meat on it.
Tailpanel,inner fender,bumper bracket--anything,you get the idea..

All that is left is install the housing back into the car and enjoy.
No more "crossed" signals,LOL!!
In some cars,the twist lock socket makes bulb replacement easy without having to remove the lense,or dissassemble the housing from the car.

Restoring C bodies,I leaerned that it makes one a little more creative since their is very little or no aftermarket suppliers.
I know that used A/B/E housings are drying up,and repops are expensive.
Hope this helps all Moparts members..
Cheers!!
Leaburn

Very cool - thanks for sharing.

Roger

Thank you!
Though not an original idea,it is still a great and cheap alternative.

Good idea...and good job! I had to do kinda the same thing to our motorhome a few weeks ago. I ended up buying a metal socket, cutting the old one out with a ziz wheel just like you did...and spot welded the new socket in. Worked good. You gotta get innovative when you DRIVE this old junk

Good way of showing an alternative and genius, IOP. I was figuring on the same thing doing to my tail light lenses. No one makes a wire hareness for the tail lights for my car. Actaully, dont think for any car, maybe-maybe not

Thanks.
Mods? Think this deserves to be a sticky??

Very cool, and thanks for sharing your tip!