Headlight Wiring

dpson

dpson

Senior Member
Over the years I've heard remarks that the original style headlight wiring connection at the rear base of the lamp is problematic and is commonly bypassed. I just got the parts from Synders and it seems pretty straightforward to me, so what's the issue?
 
dpson said:
Over the years I've heard remarks that the original style headlight wiring connection at the rear base of the lamp is problematic and is commonly bypassed. I just got the parts from Synders and it seems pretty straightforward to me, so what's the issue?
Click to expand...


Crappy repro parts.


Bob
 
dpson,
Consider the fact that the connections are in a good spot for moisture to gather and then corrosion starts and leads to a bad connection. I think a good dose of dielectric grease will help a lot.
Ed
 
These Repro headlight parts really need to be fused in some way! They just don't seem to work well! The car I purchased had these installed, and when I bought the car and turned on the lights and checked all was well. By the time I had trailered the car home and turned the lights on again, I had smoke! Those connectors are just prone to problems. What I did, is gutted them but kept them installed, for the look, and used push on connectors inside the headlight. I also added a fuse to deal with any future shorts should they occur.
 
I have the sockets and guides from Snyder's and I think they're quite good. The contact surfaces are stainless steel instead of brass, so they can cause corrosion of the (original) brass wire contacts over time from galvanic action. Another thing, if you have bullet connectors on your wire ends, the bullets are the wrong shape for good contact. So don't drill the guides as their instructions say. Instead grind the pointed ends down to the wide part and form a bead of solder over the end. Makes a better contact than brass, against ss.
 
Thanks for the insights and suggestions. As soon as the headlight counduits arrive from Snyders (I forgot to order them with the other HL parts) I'm going to put it together and see how they work.

FYI: I ordered a new wiring harness from Snyders and it fit and worked fine without modification of the switch disc as is suggested by Brattons: https://www.brattons.com/files/index/download/id/1519764846/
 
I bought my harness and headlight sockets from Bert's.

I too had read many negative posts so I called Steve at Bert's and he assured me they would work.

They fit well in original buckets and work fine without modification.

The new light switch also worked fine just as it was.

Randy
 

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The original connectors were probably the best they could do in the Model A era.... after having many shorts and cut fingers trying to get the couplings to work in my '29 .. I went to wire nuts and am more than satisfied.....
 
In the last few years there has been much improvement in the recent reproduction head lamp wiring . If you have some of the old stuff laying around it wont be as good as the current parts .
 
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