GE light bulb source

[Tim S.]

Anyone know if any of the Corvette vendors carry U.S. made GE bulbs vs. the Made in China junk. Seems like the Chinese made ones have very weak ears for the bayonet style bulbs?
Thanks

[John D.]

Re: GE light bulb source

Most all the light bulbs we so desire are made in Chine or overseas somewhere. I hit all the auto stores in my town looking for USA bulbs for my 63. I found ZERO. Jorjorian told me he thought since 1994 or so the big companies have been outsourcing their bulbs. If you find a new bulb tha has no markings on it at all you can rest assure it ain't the real deal.
Send me a list of what you are looking for as I have a pal who might be able to help you out. He is into bulbs.
Try and find some real deal flashing 257's in your town. Buy the foreign made and see how long they flash. That reminds me. My 63 barely made it thru ops at Seven Springs on those 257's. Right after the ops I was sitting in the car with the engine running and was playing around learning how to work everything (heee) and noticed that one of the 257's was taking a powder. Might have to get RS to change it as I hear he has the ability to change one of those critters without having to pull the IP out. JD

[Tim S.]

Re: GE light bulb source

John

Thanks the problem today was th 1157 tail and parking lamps.
The ears on them seem to bend or snap off when attempting to seat them in the tail light housing. I thought at first it was an issue with the repo rear wiring harness, but I noticed the unmarked bulbs were damaged in the process of seating them against the spring loaded contacts in the harness.
Last year a had issues with several of the dash cluster bulbs, the 257 flashed but at a rate too slow for the judges. It had about a five second interval vs one second. I was afraid all of them were made offshore now but thought I would ask
Tim

[Steven S.]

Re: GE light bulb source

I was surprised to find a pack of GE 1816's at a local parts store, but guess what, made in Hungary. Good luck finding anything made in this country anymore, the only thing we are good at making is unemployment checks.

Steve

[Larry M.]

Re: GE light bulb source

Tim:

There is no easy solution to this problem. What I have done in the past is

1. Go to local NAPA or other old-line auto parts store in your area and ask if they still have the GE, Westinghouse, Sylvania, or ACDelco New Old Stock bulbs. Sometimes you get lucky.

2. Go on-line and "google" or "search" for GE #1157 bulbs (or whatever number you need).
I just did this (few minutes ago) and found a number of places selling the GE bulbs. One was for snowmobiles, the other was for RVs. Same bulb, different application.

3. Search E-bay. A few months ago I purchased a 10-pak of NORS #257 blinking bulbs. Made by Westinghouse in the mid-1960's according to the box date code. Work/flash correctly. I also found the GE #257 blinking bulbs the same way. Expect to pay higher for these.

You can find what you need for your car, but probably not all in one place anymore. But on the positive side, once you find them, they should last a lifetime on these old cars.

Larry

[Jack H.]

Re: GE light bulb source

Understand we've done this to ourself (forcing lamp mfgr to go off shore). When congress passed legislation to foster enviornmentally efficient/friendly lamp technology (e.g. LED, CF), the writing was on the wall that it was the end of the road for incandescent lamp mfgrs...

Next, don't lump all of the off-shore lamp sources into the same category ('Chinese junk'). Some of these off-shore sources, like Hungry, are acutally the purchased reminants of GE/Westinghouse and their lamps actually work pretty well, thank you!

What you CAN expect to see is a cost reduction where the base of the lamp(s) is no longer brass (price of copper) but is plated stamped steel.

Last, YES, expect to find little/no existing inventory of the older Made in USA lamps on the shelves of major parts retail or parts distribution houses. Most have been sorted and bought up by individual speculators to sell in small lots via eBay, Etc.

[David C.]

Re: GE light bulb source

Good luck finding anything made in this country anymore, the only thing we are good at making is unemployment checks.

And big fat asses

[Wayne K.]

Re: GE light bulb source

Good luck finding anything made in this country anymore, the only thing we are good at making is unemployment checks.

"And big fat asses"

Who you talk'n bout

[John D.]

Re: GE light bulb source

I'll tell you of a troublesome bulb in our midyears. The courtesy light bulbs. #90's I believe without looking. So I bought some NOS GE or Westinghouse ones (I forget) and they would NOT go into the socket of my 63. Seem they had too much solder on the contacts. So i bought another brand and they went in perfect. The real deal midyear courtesy bulb is shaped like a small grape-the glass that is.
Typical over the counter replacements #90's have a much fatter globe.
I learned this in Marlborough of 06 from Bill Sangrey. He said to me. JD those POC bulbs in ur 63 are shaped like pears. Should be shaped like a small grape.