This portion was, and is, painful. As of the time of this writing I still have not finished. I’m waiting on the additional parts I didn’t need. I expected this to take 30 minutes and cost me nothing. That did not happen. I made things myself, saving myself hundreds but taking about five hours. That worked great, right up until the time it didn’t. Perhaps one day I will write the full story. Today we start here.
The tail light housings are designed to mate the rear wiring harness connector to the tail light bulbs. There are four housings. Each of the housings serve as an electrical grounding location, with the lead wire coming from the wire harness about six inches away. The inboard housings have holes for the fiber optic lines, which send a light beam to the groovy panel on the dashboard to show that your tail lights work.
I didn’t take a before or during picture of the removal of the housings. I was grumpy. Notice the blue under the red paint. Not the blue blanket on the ground, that’s how I stay comfortable whilst laying on my back. The blue paint under the red is the original color, Bridgehampton Blue.
This is a close up of the tail light housing mounting bolts. Arrows indicate where the bolts are. The passenger side was just as much fun, only left handed!
The story of the non-existent taillight housing begins here. This is the brief version. On the left you have the drivers outboard housing. On the right you have the inboard housing. Notice the oval opening on the left. My short research revealed that this oval shaped version does not exist. It didn’t come like this on Vettes, Camaros, or Chevelles, which all used the same part.
The second part to the problem was the portion of the housing that mounts the wiring connector. On the left you’ll see a straight sleeve, on the right a sleeve with a slot and a little crater or cul-de-sac in it. The slot and notch approach is required to hold the wiring harness connector in place. Additionally, there’s a raised ring below the notch. This ring serves as a holder for the rubber boot that slides over the electrical connection, without this ring the wiring will be exposed to the elements.
The third part to the problem. The housings have mounting posts welded in. This is essential for two reasons, first is because that’s how they’re mounted – derrrrrr. Second, and every bit important, is the ground wire attaches here.
I had to remove the posts from the existing housings, pound on them with a hammer until they were flat, and then sand them down and clean them up. The plan was to get some carriage bolts and find someone to weld them in quick. I found some guys in Oceanside and they did it for $50. I then sanded the grounding bolts and threw a layer of rust proofing on them. I also had to use my Dremel to carve out a slot and groove for the non-existent tail housing.
I installed them and they fit great, looked great, it all seemed golden. I ran the rear wiring harness up to the first housing and I instantly knew I was in trouble.
In my attempt to save cash I accepted certain liabilities. Two of the housings had massive damage to the internal portion, where the light bulb connects. I cut out the cylinders, pounded the housing flat, then reattached the cylinders with JBWeld because I don’t have a welder. The other two didn’t require cutting, but were damaged. I did my best to heat, bend, and move the cylinders properly.
I installed them again. Two of them are not usable, including the non-existent housing. The other two I’ll try and use. We are waiting for the new tail lights.
