Well, after years of fiddling with the taillight sockets on my '72, I decided to take drastic action. I purchased some modern style replacement sockets (Amazon) and LED lights (Amazon and eBay), modified the socket openings in the taillight housing, and spliced in the wiring. I made a cardboard template, marked to housings, and used an Xacto knife to trim out the openings. The sockets fit nicely in the taillight housing and the LED lights brighten things up significantly. All told, this modification cost me less than $95 and about two hours of my time. This retrofit was much more wallet friendly than the super nice LED panels on the market and will meet my basic needs for working lights on the back of the car!
Here are the links to the sockets:
Bought 2 of these for the taillights - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RYB8414?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Bought 1 of these for the reverse lights - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S1BHLWK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
UPDATE: I forgot to mention, the red wire on the socket connects to the car's brake/turn wire, the green wire connects to the taillight wire, and the black wire to ground.
Also, I don't think the 3156 LED provides as bright a reverse light as the multi-chip LED style lights. These Sylvania ones are probably better suited to modern lights with the chrome reflectors.
Here are the links to the sockets:
Bought 2 of these for the taillights - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RYB8414?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Bought 1 of these for the reverse lights - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S1BHLWK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
UPDATE: I forgot to mention, the red wire on the socket connects to the car's brake/turn wire, the green wire connects to the taillight wire, and the black wire to ground.
Also, I don't think the 3156 LED provides as bright a reverse light as the multi-chip LED style lights. These Sylvania ones are probably better suited to modern lights with the chrome reflectors.
Last edited:
