1966 Corvette replacement brake light / taillight bulb won't fit in socket

[Wayne L.]

I had to replace the passenger side burned out taillight. As per typical the old lamp was stuck in the socket due to corrosion. I tried to loosen it by soaking it with WD40 to no avail. In the process trying to work the bulb out of the socket the glass bulb detached from the base. I ended up working the old base out of the socket with a pair of needle nose pliers.

Now I have a new problem, the replacement 1157 lightbulb doesn't fit into the socket. I've cleaned out the socket, used a light coating of dielectric grease. The new lightbulb is just slightly too large to fit into the socket.

What am I missing here, did the old/original lightbulb have a slightly smaller base? Is my original socket slightly smaller because of the corrosion? I would pull out the driver side lightbulb and check the size of that base but the driver side taillight is also stuck with corrosion.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1966 Corvette replacement brake light / taillight bulb won't fit in socket

I had to replace the passenger side burned out taillight. As per typical the old lamp was stuck in the socket due to corrosion. I tried to loosen it by soaking it with WD40 to no avail. In the process trying to work the bulb out of the socket the glass bulb detached from the base. I ended working the old base out of the socket with a pair of needle nose pliers.

Now I have a new problem, the replacement 1157 lightbulb doesn't fit into the socket. I've cleaned out the socket, used a light coating of dielectric grease. The new lightbulb is just slightly too large to fit into the socket.

What am I missing here, did the old/original lightbulb have a slightly smaller base? Is my original socket slightly smaller because of the corrosion? I would pull out the driver side lightbulb and check the size of that base but that the driver side also stuck with corrosion.

Wayne------


I think your problem is the result of a damaged/corroded socket. I'd replace the socket.

[Wayne L.]

Re: 1966 Corvette replacement brake light / taillight bulb won't fit in socket

Joe, you were right, after a fair amount of grinding the inner surfaces of the socket with my Dremel tool I was able to get the new bulb to fit.

[Mark F.]

Re: 1966 Corvette replacement brake light / taillight bulb won't fit in socket

Joe, you were right, after a fair amount of grinding the inner surfaces of the socket with my Dremel tool I was able to get the new bulb to fit.

Wayne,

When you removed the plastic lens was the white gasket intact and still pliable ?
Also, was the white felt wick at the 6 o'clock position in place ?
If either of those items fail or are not in place, that could be the source of water inside the housing which can lead to the corrosion you are seeing.