Electrical Ground Lost Between Lamp Socket and Housing

[carbdoc]

And now for the stupid question of the day:

 

Every year or so, I have to remove the front parking/turn signal lenses from my 1970 Chrysler 300 and use a center punch to stake around each bulb socket flange where it was peined over the lamp housing.  This is because it loses all ground between said steel socket and pot-metal housing.  I know that there must be a simple way to repair this problem permanently but, even though I'm a pretty resourceful guy, the solution has evaded me.  Any suggestions . . ?

[MCHinson]

I would try either attaching a separate ground wire to the socket or else possibly soldering the socket to the lamp housing.

[joe_padavano]

While I am not an expert on the details of your Chrysler, my 62 Olds has a similar problem.  In my case, the parking light reflectors are aluminum, and the socket is steel.  Galvanic corrosion between the two occurs due to dampness, causing this same recurring problem.  I finally had to solder a wire to the base of the 1157 bulb and ran it to a separate ground.  Since the socket is swaged in the aluminum reflector, it is nearly impossible to remove the socket without damaging the soft reflector, so I gave up and ran the wire instead.

[carbdoc]

Much appreciated, Matthew and Joe!  A local friend suggested this same fix to me after I posted this . . . strange how we can often be oblivious to the obvious.  

 

And by the way, Joe:  my first car was a '62 Olds 98, black and silver with silver interior, that I bought from a neighbor for $100 --- the proverbial "$100 Car"!  Great memories . . . 

 

Jeff

[Frank DuVal]

Same with early model and FC Corvairs, steel lamp socket crimped into an aluminum reflector. Easiest permanent cure is soldering wire to steel socket and attaching other end to chassis for a good ground. Of course, not stock if a judge notices!😁

[carbdoc]

Thanks, Frank; this is on an HPOF car . . . so they don't pay quite as much attention.  Besides, I'm very resourceful about making "stealth modifications" . . . 😉

[chistech]

I’m sure your socket is different than mine but I drilled the side of my socket and tapped it for a 6-32 I believe and connect a ground wire to the side of the socket. This allows me to still remove the socket from the reflector if I need to. This is for a 32’ Olds. When getting the reflectors recoated by Uvira, they recommend grounding the sockets such as the way I did.

Edited December 29, 2018 by chistech (see edit history)

[carbdoc]

Thanks to everyone for the advice!  I soldered a wire to the lamp socket and a loop terminal to the other end of the wire, then reinstalled the assembly with the one of the retainer screws (which screws into a body ground) though the loop terminal.  I used a liberal amount of dielectric grease at all connection points . . . and now my Chrysler's park/turn lamp works great!