headlight problems

[McC_65_91]

ikve got a 65 4x4 GMC. I took the grille off and painted it and off-white as well as the roof. the headlights came off with the grille. the lights worked before taking it off, finished painting it, went to put it back on, tested them before completely bolting it back on and nothing. I have an LMC HD headlight harness in it. I am clueless as to what it may be since the harness worked fine before hand.... maybe i messed up a connection while doing it??? i cleaned up the hot wire and hit all the headlight plugs with electronic cleaner and redid all the grounds and nothing. anyway let me know what you guys think

i also posted this in electrical, i need to figure this out to get it back on the road
thanks

[ConnDemned]

Do the headlights ground to the grille or to the truck body/frame? If it grounds to the grille and you didn't have it bolted up the circuit might not of been complete. Try it after bolting it up, it only takes a few bolts to mount it.

[jonzcustomshop]

this happened to me the other day, the headlights ground to the grille, and the grille grounds to the front clip.
I had everything all painted up and there was no contact for a ground, and i did the same thing as you did not have the grille bolted tight, as soon as i tightened everything up the lights worked again.

[McC_65_91]

havent tried it yet but that has to be it... makes soo much sense, thanks for making me feel dumb hahaha

[markeb01]

A better and more permanent solution would be to reroute the ground wire from the headlight bulbs direct to either the engine block or the frame. Depending on multiple sheet metal connections for electrical ground wasn't very effective when new. After 45-50 years of use, dirt, and rust it's a reasonably unreliable method.

[protrash64]

I had my connector come loose after installing a new grill. It's located on the core support near the horn......same thing, no headlites.

[jonzcustomshop]

Originally Posted by McC_65_91

havent tried it yet but that has to be it... makes soo much sense, thanks for making me feel dumb hahaha

I felt the same way...pissed 'cause the headlights did work, and now they didn't; and then the d'oh! after I realized I just needed to tighten some of the bolts holding the grille to the support..