71 Cutlass Ragtop

I just installed a new reverse light assembly with a socket. It's so tight that I can't get the bulb in to turn it into the slots. Has anyone else ran into this issue?

Octania

new, as in, Made in China?
Or. NOS GM parts
or, used known good part?

Hard to believe a Chinese part would not fit and function right *smirk*

71 Cutlass Ragtop

I think it was made in China. I found other sockets without being in the frame, but they all had two wire leads. This one looks like the original, but like I said before, it's too tight to twist into place.

Fun71

There's the problem, just as Chris said.

71 Cutlass Ragtop

71 Cutlass Ragtop

Does anyone know where I can buy a brand new housing made in the USA? I'm union and I buy American, but in this case I had no idea that this stuff was being made in China.

Sampson

I ran into this with a couple of the original sockets on my car. I ended up filing the contacts of the bulbs down just a little bit. I think it is the bulbs and not the socket!

RetroRanger

much of the repop stuff is made off shore. You better off refurbing original GM parts in many cases.

CO has many reputable sellers of original (new and used) GM parts for our cars

RetroRanger

I recently spruced up my original back up lamp housings heres what they look like...I like the made in USA !!! . I cleaned up the visible brass and clearcoated it and then used a cast color (cuz they didnt have stamped color ) mixed w stainless color on the housing body

71 Cutlass Ragtop

They turned out really nice.

oldspackrat

Retro,
Nice work!

71,
I have some decent originals if you decide to restore a set.

Daverd

Mmmmm tastey
Great job !!

71 Cutlass Ragtop

Packrat,

Do you have any pics of em? How much would you like for them?

Thanks, man!

RetroRanger

Thanks guys!!! You know how it started? I think I'm just gonna clean up that rusty look that's on the bottom half of the lens! From there it's well I MAW clean up the white inside, to ok just redo the whole thing. the yellowed lens wouldn't clean up easily, so I tried iron out on it sure enough it came out sparkling clear and looks like new.

So hopefully this inspires some people to send less money to china and buy some used or NOS parts or rework their original GM parts!

71 rag if you get some used peices and restore them post up some pics !! Great part is when you're done the parts fit right on like they were made for the car

Oh yeah my son helped w this too it's not always easy to find projects on the car that he can help with ( he's young) but this one was perfect small parts small hands !

71 Cutlass Ragtop

I asked about the country of origin and the guy sent me a pic of the housing saying made in America. Not sure if he was telling me the truth though. I still had to file the contact on the light and a good friend of my had to pull on the wire lead with all of his weight as I pushed the bulb and twisted into place. It does work now.

Octania

While it is possible to make crap in any country, in my experience China is very good at making stuff that resembles the real thing but does not fit and work right. USA manufacturers usually have standards to go by [like the exact size and shape of the bulb/ socket] and they have a system in place to ensure that the product made is within spec. Chinese suppliers do not seem to grasp this concept. Therefore, even if a box says MADE IN USA, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck...

However, the DeWalt brushless impact is M.I.C. and is a very nice tool, so they CAN make stuff properly, at least in some places.

71 Cutlass Ragtop

I worked for a company that tried to open a plant in China to source some of the materials that were used in the Asian markets. The raw materials that were used affected the weld and final assembly thus making it inferior to the product made in Fort Worth, TX. Our parent company was headquartered in Germany spent 2 billion on that plant. I now work for another company outsourcing a lot of their heavy aircraft maintenance there and I can say that it worries me!

RROLDSX

I just did this 2 days ago. Some of the problems lies in the fact you can't get your fingers in the housing to get a good grip on the bulb. I first ground down the contact on the bottom of the bulb but that didn't work until I also polished the grind smooth to allow it to twist. Keep at it, you'll get it even with the Chinese bulbs. Good luck.

gearheads78

With the upcoming 3D printing revolution a lot of stuff will be built here again.

classicmuscle442

Understand Jay Leno set up a 3D printer to make a part for one of his cars, can't find it make it. Go USA