headlight sockets

thom

thom

Senior Member
I've discovered that the sockets in the headlight buckets in our '28 coupe are cheaply made, probably Chinese. I don't believe they will ever work correctly. Contact will be made places where it shouldn't. I wish I had some originals in any condition to look at. I would like to see the difference in them and what I have. I have no idea where the ones I have came from as they where in the car when we got it.
 

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thom said:
I've discovered that the sockets in the headlight buckets in our '28 coupe are cheaply made, probably Chinese. I don't believe they will ever work correctly. Contact will be made places where it shouldn't. I wish I had some originals in any condition to look at. I would like to see the difference in them and what I have. I have no idea where the ones I have came from as they where in the car when we got it.
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Hi Thom,
Yes, you are describing what I found too, though I don’t know where my headlight sockets were made. The high beam terminal in the socket on one light was just barely touching the socket and would short out intermittently. That was sure hard to find! Jeff
 
I am going to look locally and try to find a pair of original sockets to restore. I have placed a wanted ad on here in the swap meet section also.
I have already figured out that whoever "restored" the headlights on our car didn't know what they were doing. I could tell by the wiring job. There may be some pieces missing. I see some black plastic or rubber parts listed with the sockets and other headlight parts that we do not have. Can someone direct or link me to an exploded view of a '28-29 headlight please? Thanks.
 
All i've seen is Fig 436 of the FSB, which doesn't tell you more than you already know.

The 1928-E29 H-type headlamps used a different bulb set than the 29-31 Twolite type. The only bulb you will find for the original sockets today is the 21/3 CP, #1158. The others, eg, 50/32 will fit at right angles in the original H sockets. The replacement socket in your pic appears to be made for the later Twolite bulbs.
 
Although I was fortune enough to find a couple of originals I believe the cheap foreign made repops can be made to work by "rebuilding " them with insulators just behind the bulb contacts like these. Without them, the contacts tend to get together or make contact with the side of the socket body. Either is a problem. If you can't find originals, give it a try. Just go to a parts store and buy a kit for a double contact socket.
 

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Thom, there is a very good tech article in the January-February Model "A" News on Repairing the Model A Headlight Sockets by Mark Maron. Mark put a lot of time into the repair of the sockets and was kind enough to share his expertise. Very good reading.... with lots of pictures!
 
I don't get the Model A News , yet , but I have read, on another Model A website the article, or one by Mark Maron that was obviously first written a few years ago. Good info. Since I bought the taillight socket repair kits I didn't have to do any soldering to rebuild mine. The key parts are those fiber washers and them being in the correct place. It's hard to believe the repop manufacturers didn't see the need for them.
I should have taken pics of the process but I did not. I might pick up another original for a spare and rebuild it. If I do then I will take pics of the step by steps.
 
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