How do you attach the pigtails to the front side markers?

[Plum70Dodge]

Bought a new set of side marker lights from Classic Industries. Rears are fine but the front marker pigtails are not attached.
Not really sure why they dont just finish building them at the factory. I cant imagine why anyone would want this separated. 
The original unit has petals (for lack of a better term) that can be bent outward to hold it in place. Mine does not. All I got was a rubber washer.

[70chall440]

So are you talking about the lenses, the light socket or both? As I recall, the socket just presses into the lens housing.

[JayBee]

I've read that Mike Ross of BE&A can attach them. Depending on where you live shipping your stuff to him might be prohibitive. The following information was copied (and slightly edited) from another forum that was posted by him.


I have all the tooling and press here to correctly install them.  If you've purchased new pigtails and can't figure out how it install them in your original housing?  Send them to me.  If you haven't removed your original pigtail, don't, I'll do it here, you can easily break the lip on the housing the pigtail is crimped to.

Installing pigtails with the correct tooling is very simple, the turn around time is same day, just cover the USPS shipping.

I also have pigtails here I can sell you.

Michael C. Ross - Owner
B/E & A Restoration Parts, Inc.
8801 Norwalk Road
Litchfield, OH.  44253
330-725-3990

[Plum70Dodge]

I found a work around. Ground the sides of a large washer to sandwich between the back of the bulb holder and the housing. Added a bit of body gasket material to hold it tight.

[jimynick]

For some reason, I thought the socket needed the top peened over once it went in through the housing. This would require something like the rounded end of the properly sized ball peen hammer to start the roll over and perhaps a brass drift to finish it. If you've got them stuck in, it really doesn't matter too much. Enjoy 

[Plum70Dodge]

Wow, that was easier than I thought. I redid this. I didnt like the washer idea.
So the metal is there but it's nearly one solid sleeve. I used a dremel wheel to cut slots so the petals would fold down and secure the socket into place. First I chucked it into my vise with rubber jaws, then I used a series of sockets on a long extension to tap the petals open. Starting with a small socket and moving to slightly larger using firm pressure and a wobbling motion. Worked great.

[jimynick]

Glad to hear you got a handle on it! Don't forget to put a wee seam of sealer around the socket to body joint to keep any water from wicking in and enjoy!