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Getting to those taillight bulbs

  • johnmereness
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27 Feb 2020 06:50 #39596 by johnmereness
Replied by johnmereness on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs

1748 S wrote: Bill... Before you do any work on these tail lights please put down some carpet or blankets. Harbor Freight has inexpensive shipping blankets that will cover the area well. Behind the red lens are 6 flat springs that act like a shot out of a cannon.

Reply: Same with the Headlamp lenses and same with Auburn 951 and 852 as well. I had a fiend just look at me serious and say they would have had same luck just hitting the original with a hammer and then installing a second.


JMM
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  • Terry Cockerell
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25 Feb 2020 07:22 #39571 by Terry Cockerell
Replied by Terry Cockerell on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Bill once you have removed the tail light assemblies you can use a drill press with a piece of timber cut to spread the load over the glass together with some cushioning rag to depress the springs. Having done that the chrome locking ring can be easily removed. The rest has been covered by previous postings.

T cockerell
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  • JIM.OBRIEN
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25 Feb 2020 02:03 #39566 by JIM.OBRIEN
Replied by JIM.OBRIEN on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Use LED bulbs. A lot less current draw and MUCH brighter then either standard bulbs or halogens. Check out the Newsletter article.
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  • Tim Gilmartin
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24 Feb 2020 22:54 #39564 by Tim Gilmartin
Replied by Tim Gilmartin on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Bill: while you have everything apart.......I would recommend painting the inside of the housing white. I put in halogen bulbs also. To alleviate any heat build up, I drilled a hole in the side of the housing. And as you suggested, put a mirror in place of the frosted glass.
Since I’m driving more, I want people behind me to see that my brakes are being applied!
Tim.
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  • uconn_1965
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24 Feb 2020 22:03 #39563 by uconn_1965
Replied by uconn_1965 on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
just in case something breaks these are on ebay now. item # 124093622912
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  • 1748 S
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24 Feb 2020 19:21 #39562 by 1748 S
Replied by 1748 S on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Bill... Before you do any work on these tail lights please put down some carpet or blankets. Harbor Freight has inexpensive shipping blankets that will cover the area well. Behind the red lens are 6 flat springs that act like a shot out of a cannon. In 1967 my Dad and I found this out. We removed the chrome retainer and nothing happened. Then the lens sprung out hitting Dad in the chest with great surprise. Then sadness when it hit the driveway not protected with blankets. Lots of little pieces... Cushion is your friend here. I honestly would remove the tail light buckets from the body to paint the car. They have two nuts holding them on the body from inside the trunk. Wet them with penetrating oil like PB Blaster or my favorite, Aerokroil. Work the nuts back and forth is stubborn. If you beak off a nut with the stud don't worry. They are replaceable. I have made several of these studs in stainless so they will NEVER break off or rust up again. Once the bucket is on the bench you probably can remove the retainer without issues. Most owners remove the 6 flat springs and just use three. They are double stacked in the buckets. The rivets drill out easy because they are brass and easily purchased from many places. Even the springs can be purchased from ebay but they are $17.00 each.. Ouch is what I say to that.


Gary Parsons
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24 Feb 2020 18:49 #39561 by wcoye
Replied by wcoye on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Your opinion(s) please,
I'm prepping my car for paint and wondering if I should remove the tail lights, which seems to be a daunting project OR mask the heck out of the lens, chrome ring and rubber gasket. Also, if I don't disassemble these things I have one with the chrome ring sprung partially away from it's proper position. see attachment. Any suggestions on how to push this back so it stays put?

Bill Coye
Westchester 2240A
Brag line: Winner of the
2014 Hillsborough Concurs Strother MacMinn award
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  • Terry Cockerell
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07 Aug 2018 23:31 #35178 by Terry Cockerell
Replied by Terry Cockerell on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Attached is a picture of the modified tail light housing as suggested by Tom Georgeson. The butterfly springs have been reduced to one at each of the three points. The compression spring under the bulbs has also been shortened too to reduce the load.

T cockerell
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  • RumRunner
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31 Jul 2018 12:07 #35126 by RumRunner
Replied by RumRunner on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like I'm going in the old fashioned way!
-Michael

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  • 1748 S
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31 Jul 2018 03:17 #35121 by 1748 S
Replied by 1748 S on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Sadly you have no possibility of removing the frosted lens and then taking the bulb out the back.In my first picture you can see the screws that holds in the tabs that secures the frosted lens in the body. Try using a quality penetrating oil on the stainless steel ring to ease the removal. It can't hurt to use a lube there. As Terry suggested. Drill out the brass rivets and use only one flat spring per location. You may not need to buy more of them but if you do they are available as I have posted already.

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  • Terry Cockerell
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31 Jul 2018 02:42 #35120 by Terry Cockerell
Replied by Terry Cockerell on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Unfortunately there is not enough room to access the globes from the back. The globe springs are quite stiff too. The only real answer is to remove the red glass lens. Perhaps you could use a small drill press and place some rubber on the glass. The butterfly springs are way too strong. Once you have the light opened up you will see there are two butterfly springs at each of the three points. I ended up drilling out the rivets and removing one spring from each point them making and fitting new rivets.
Just be careful once the glass has been moved a little the retaining ring can be worked out.

T cockerell

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  • RumRunner
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31 Jul 2018 02:01 #35118 by RumRunner
Replied by RumRunner on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Thanks very much for posting those pictures. Gives me an idea - curious on your thoughts. First of all, on several evenings now I have gone into the garage and pressed with increasing force on the taillight lenses and they haven't budged. I am worried about breaking them as they both already have some large chips.

So looking at the pictures, I'm thinking about removing the frosted glass at the rear of the housing and getting at the bulbs that way. I think to get the frosted glass out I would score and break it, take it out, remove the clips that held it in place (unscrew from the inside), replace the bulbs, then use a mirror in place of the frosted glass on the outside of the housing and affix the mirror to the housing using the same screw holes that originally held the frosted glass on the inside. That way I would never have to risk breaking the outer lens.

Real question - do you think I can remove the the bulb itself by access through the frosted-glass hole? It looks like it's possible, but also looks like a very tight fit to get the bulb in or out even with the taillight lend off.

Open for thoughts ....

-Michael

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  • 1748 S
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19 Jul 2018 16:06 #34998 by 1748 S
Replied by 1748 S on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
The name of the ebay seller is bwjandid. The flat springs are $18.00 each. So you need three per lens housing if you decide to reduce the doubles to one. Yours may be able to easily be reused too depending on condition. My spare set of tail light buckets had some well rusted springs in need of replacement. I will be purchasing springs for those later.

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  • 1748 S
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19 Jul 2018 15:49 #34997 by 1748 S
Replied by 1748 S on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Here are the pics of the open tail light lens. The flat springs are held to the body by a brass rivet. Just drill it out to remove damaged or to remove one of the springs. Am still looking for the member who sells the flat springs on ebay.

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  • mikespeed35
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19 Jul 2018 03:41 #34993 by mikespeed35
Replied by mikespeed35 on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Hot rod shops sell 50CP tail light bulbs. Don't use them unless you want to change bulbs a lot. They get so hot they melt the stock holding the filament. They are bright though.
CORDiallyMike

Mike Huffman

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  • 1748 S
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19 Jul 2018 03:32 #34992 by 1748 S
Replied by 1748 S on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Tomorrow I can post some pics of the removed tail light pieces. Yes... That stainless steel ring is difficult to remove. Way back in 1967 my dad and I tried to remove the drivers side tail light lens. We got the stainless steel ring off but nothing happened till... It popped out hitting my Dad in the chest, then to the garage floor.. you bet it broke into several pieces. So please put down anything soft like a large blanket just in case it pops out. Those springs Terry talked about are actually a doubled up type flat spring. Many times they are rusted out and useless. Someone on ebay sells replacements too. I will supply the seller later. Someone recommended removing the three double spring packs and using only one per area. There is no reason to remove the complete bucket from the car body to replace a bulb but it might be a safer way to clean one up and paint inside white like suggested. The frosted lens in the bottom of the bucket is to light up the dark trunk at night but of course you must have the head lights on too.

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  • Terry Cockerell
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19 Jul 2018 00:29 - 19 Jul 2018 00:31 #34990 by Terry Cockerell
Replied by Terry Cockerell on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
The springs are really too strong for the application. I reduced the tension by carefully reducing the spring size, grinding the sides and tip. This makes it much easier to depress the glass lens. It is a good idea to paint the inside the the light shell white for brighter lights. Also there is a frosted glass at the back to illuminate the trunk at night. Replacement mirrors help here to make the tail lights brighter at night. Brighter globes help too.

T cockerell
Last edit: 19 Jul 2018 00:31 by Terry Cockerell. Reason: Type error

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  • RumRunner
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18 Jul 2018 22:37 #34989 by RumRunner
Replied by RumRunner on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Cliff,

Thanks for the description. Essentially the same construct as the headlights. Now I understand how changing the bulbs jeopardizes the lenses! I’ll be very careful!

-Michael

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  • uconn_1965
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18 Jul 2018 22:11 #34988 by uconn_1965
Replied by uconn_1965 on topic Getting to those taillight bulbs
Dark Ruby glass lens has to come out to change the bulb inside and it's easier said than done.
Very easy to either break or chip the lens in it's removal. What makes it hard is that time has frozen the parts together.
The lens is held in place by the stainless steel ring around the lens. Inside the housing there are 3 butterfly spring clips that
push the lens up against the stainless steel ring. I spray WD40 around the stainless ring. If you are lucky, when you gently push in
the lens, it will move in slightly. Don't push too hard or you can crack the lens. You will notice there is a split in the stainless retainer ring.
When you gently push in the lens near this split in the ring, you have to start to pry out the ring by pushing it to the inside and then work
you way around the lens. When the ring is removed, you then can remove the lens and have access to the bulb. As you remove the stainless ring, be careful that the lens doesn't fall out. Reverse the procedure to put everything back together again. Good Luck.....Cliff

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  • RumRunner
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18 Jul 2018 21:43 #34986 by RumRunner
Getting to those taillight bulbs was created by RumRunner
It's hard to believe that I'm even asking this question, but how do I access the rear taillight/stoplight bulbs in my 1937 Beverly? I see that there are two nuts that appear to hold the taillight housing to the body, but when I remove those nuts nothing budges. Not a whisker! Does the assembly pull out from the body lens and all? Is there a cover on the inside of the body that removes leaving the lens/trim ring in place? Hoping for some know-how from the smart folks here before I try to force something and end up unhappy.

Thanks all,

-Michael

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