Tail light grounding

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Tail light grounding

Postby ol55 » Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:46 pm

What is the best way to make sure the tail lights are grounded? Lights are all good and on a good day they work but looking for tips that make the connection reliable.

Image


Thanks,
Larry
'73 Vega GT Hatchback hot rod.
'76 Cosworth
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Re: Tail light grounding

Postby kgroombr » Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:03 pm

The best way, if you are willing, is to run a ground wire through your vehicle from the negative terminal of the battery (assuming negative ground which most vehicles are).

If not that, I would use grounding washers. Google it and you will find them.

Ken
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Re: Tail light grounding

Postby Monza Harry » Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:13 pm

Larry if you are trying to improve reliability of the lighting system, I would do what Ken was saying and use the serrated washers as he pointed out on all grounds, after I made sure they were working to start with, clean to bare metal and screw in tight, (touch up the paint afterwards) replace the sockets/plugs with new ones (some one does make a kit to keep the original appearance), then as the new cars do use dielectric grease in any connection/socket you can. This last step will help more than you can imagine with the corrosion. The last thing I would suggest is any connections you have/make do as I do, use a crimp connector (bare) and then solder and then use dual wall heat shrink (Adhesive Lined) tubing. If you don't want to spend the money for the socket restorations, you could disassemble and clean, re-spring and re-assemble, cost only time with your jewellers screwdriver and patients maybe a little electrical contact cleaner (Love That S :censored: T! almost as much as dielectric grease) Harry http://www.eastwood.com/crc-qd-contact- ... -5444.html http://www.permatex.com/products-2/prod ... ase-detail http://www.rowand.net/Shop/Tech/Automot ... ectors.htm http://www.repairconnector.com/
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Re: Tail light grounding

Postby spencerforhire » Thu Oct 23, 2014 7:19 am

I'm trying to remember what an early Vega tail light socket looks like; I think they are of the older style that don't even have a ground wire, but instead rely on the metal tab that locks them into the hole in the back of the metal housing. You could check that the tab is making good contact with the tail light and that the tail light is screwed tightly to the body. Or you could switch to a newer style socket that actually has a ground wire coming out of it, but running it all the way to the battery is not necessary. As long as you clean the metal of any rust or paint and/or use a serrated "star" washer, they can be grounded anywhere nearby.
The "fleet"-
72 Vega HB Drag Car -383/'Glide/9"(9.35@146.19)(5.94@117.28 1/8th)
77 Vega Estate wagon- project(someday)will have TPI305/T-5, S-10 spindles/axles
76 Vega GT- 400/4spd/9" retired from active duty(rusty)
06 Silverado 2WD ex.cab daily
03 Silverado 2WD ex.cab (retired)
06 Haulin' 20ft enclosed car transporter
06 GMC Canyon Shop truck
07 Colorado project( 5.3 4L60e swap)
99 Saturn SL1- wife's car
01 Saturn SC2- son's project
07 Saturn Ion Redline project
and 4 more Saturn "parts cars"
Note- the very act of listing all of these has made me realize I have some kind of problem.....

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