dome light assembly : how to remove and replace?

[Woogeroo]

dome light assembly : how to remove and replace?

Howdy folks.

The plastic in my 46 year old dome light assembly crumbled to bits last week, so I ordered a new assembly, which arrived today.

I took it out of the box and it has a LONG wire with a plug on the end. I haven't been out to the truck to poke around yet, haven't' dug out the manuals yet.

So, I thought I'd ask around for any tips and advice on removing and reinstalling the dome light assembly.

Thanks.

-W

[jocko]

did the same thing. It actually comes with the wiring that goes all the way to the fuse box. So, two ways to go about it:

1) snip the wires behind the existing dome light so you can completely remove it - also cut the wires to the new dome lamp short about 5-7"-ish - then splice the old to the new.

2) snip the old dome light off, but HANG onto the wires, and then wrap them firmly around the end of the new ones on the new dome lamp - and use them to fish the new dome lamp's wires thru the drivers side sail panel. Takes a little time, but certainly doable. The absolute key is a tight connection between old and new. I wrapped them together, then doubled them over themselves, then taped the whole thing really tightly (about 5" worth of overlap and 5" worth of tape. Once you've fished it out (it kinda comes out to the driver's side of the cab fuel tank (if you've got one) and then snakes under the sill plate up to the fuse box. Find the old wires and it will all make sense.

Biggest "be careful" with either approach is to not drop the old wires back into the cab before they're either spliced into the new dome lamp (#1) or firml;y attached to the END of the new wires so you can fish em thru. Should be orange and white if I remember right. They can plug into the fuse panel right where the old one did.

I did option #2.

(EDIT - Sorry, don't mean to confuse, I said "wires" - but I'm not sure if it was a one or two wires - whatever came with the kit is the correct #)
(EDIT #1! It really helps to also push the wires from the dome lamp end while you are pulling them from the "old wire" end below the sail panel.)

[64shortbox]

What jocko said,
You can also take a long nose needle nose pliers to the new connector and squeeze the male ends and push them out through the back of the connector, tape just the new wires to your old wires that you cut off your old dome lense and easily pull them through. Once you get your new wires out in the open just push them back through the new connector. Your dome light wiring just plugs in to a connector about 4" down from the fuse box. Now if you really want to get carried away you can easily add door jamb switches and used harness for the floor lights from a 73 or so Chevy truck.
The male connectors in your new harness are exactly like the ones pictured in the lower right of my attchment. The other attachment is where your new courtesy light assy will plug into. Hope this helps some.

[jocko]

now THAT'S a good idea (door jamb switches...)

[64shortbox]

If you guys like I can post pictures of what I'm in the process of doing for jamb switches and harness all removed from a 73 C-10. all you need is a 1-1/8" hole saw, a 21/64" drill bit and a 3/8-24 tap and you're up and running.

[jocko]

1+1/8" Crimeny! (but yes, I'd like to see what you're doin)

[Woogeroo]

Thanks a bunch everyone.

Great Tech!

-W

[Woogeroo]

top to bottom...

photo one : dome light assembly hole with old wires

photo two : top of the fuel tank, behind the driver side of the cab, shows the white and orange/white wires running down the two clips back there. On my truck the wires ran down there, then under the door sill/plate thing with the chevy logo on it. From there it ran up past the bright lights on/off switch to the fuse panel where the plug snaps in.

photo three : bad dark rainy day photo showing the wires running by the dimmer switch

photo four : dark shot of the plug and the fuse panel.

My biggest aggravation with this project was getting the sill loose as all of the phillips heads stripped out on me. If your truck is beat up and rusty like mine, I would suggest working on getting that part loose before tackling the rest of the project.

-W

[Woogeroo]

photos five, six, seven, shows where the wire was running under that plate.

I used to know what that plate was called...

-W

[Woogeroo]

The finished installation in the daytime.

The reproduction dome light assembly and the clear lens are both from LMC truck. I was very happy with the parts, which is not something I can always write about with LMC parts.

The reproduction dome light assembly has plastic snaps on the back that line up with the screw holes in the cab. You could drill a hole in it, if you wanted to I suppose, but I just snapped mine in.

I also bought the clear lens at the same time. It really puts out a lot more light, even with the standard bulb.

Oh yes... the dome light assembly came with the opaque cover and a bulb already in it. Just in case anyone wonders.

I never could get the plug to fish through the cab... I was cold, wet and rather mad, so I just cut the wire, fished it through, spliced it and went on with my day.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.



-W

[Woogeroo]

a little tech article I wrote using the photos I took while doing this project.


dome light assembly - remove and replace.

-W

[70STOVEBOLT]

Originally Posted by 64shortbox

If you guys like I can post pictures of what I'm in the process of doing for jamb switches and harness all removed from a 73 C-10. all you need is a 1-1/8" hole saw, a 21/64" drill bit and a 3/8-24 tap and you're up and running.

Did you ever post your progress? I want to put in door jamb switches and I want to wire it like it came from the factory that way. I would like to see what you did.

Thanks

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by Woogeroo

photos five, six, seven, shows where the wire was running under that plate.

I used to know what that plate was called...

-W

Sill plate

[64shortbox]

Sorry it took me so long to reply. Here's what I did if it helps. I took a complete courtesy light wiring set up from a 73 C-10, I mean everything, door jamb switches & all. A 73 C-10 only has one floor lamp which is mounted a little off center to the passenger side. I felt this wasn't enough so I also added courtesy lamps & brackets from a square body Jeep Cherokee (the same one I pulled my door check straps from) The 73 C-10 door jamb switches are 3/8" X 24 thread so you will need to drill your door jambs with a "Q" size drill bit and tap to 3/8" X 24 threads. I had to stack a couple of flat washers on mine to shim them out enough to get the curtesy lights to shut off when the doors were closed. (I used Stainless steel flat wasers). The 73 C-10 has rubber grommets moulded onto the wires where they pass through the kick panel. These factory grommets require a 1-1/8" hole. That big hole makes it easy to fish the wire down the inside of the kick panel. Once the holes are drilled and tapped for the door jamb switches I took a wire coat hanger, cut it & bent it into a sharp "U" at the end to grab & pull the wire through door jamb switch hole. Since the jamb switches complete the ground circut I would only do one side at a time and test to make sure the lights go out when the door is closed. I would start out using 2 flat washers on the jamb switches. I like me "JUNK" to look factory so I pulled my fuse box and spliced the 73 wiring in where it wouldn't be seen. If you look closely you can see where my red heat shrink tubing shows at the base of the fuse panel (Darn).

[64shortbox]

Here's the Jeep courtesy lights. The one on the left is "as pulled" the one on the right shows the modified Jeep light bracket & "GM" connectors installed for that Factory look.
2nd picture shows the single factory 73 C-10 lamp, 1-1/8" grommets with hole saw. If you choose the factory way it's pretty much plug & play.
3rd picture is the 73 lamp just hanging under the dash about where it ends up.
4th picture is the modified Jeep lamp mounted in place. Notice I used GM style connectors so everything looks Chevy Stock. I'm sure I could convince most people that that's the way it left the factory.
5th picture shows the under side of the dash with all 3 lamps mounted in place. Can you see them? Good, you're not supposed to. Between the dome light and the 3 under dash lights it sure lights up the inside of the truck at night when the doors are opened or the light switch is turned to the courtesy light position.

[70STOVEBOLT]

Good info, thanks for taking the time to post it.