Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Any suggestions as to how best to ground front park lights to body? My housings are not in great condition and I would like to run dedicated grounds, but am unsure as to the best way to attach ground wire to the light sockets. Thanks. Clifford

Some have soldered a wire directly onto the shell. That requires a fairly large soldering iron and some quick action to avoid burning the rubber grommet. If you try that, it might also be a good idea to try and push the wire thru the grommet as shown in the first photo to allow something to be temporarily placed inside the shell to protect the wire insulation from the heat.

Depending on your year the housings will be different than the 56 I show here. This second method may or may not be easier but some sort of screw installation should be do-able on most years.

After thoroughly cleaning the socket edge and pot metal with a wire brush drill a small hole from the back to try and catch the outer edge of he socket shell with the head of the screw. This method will also reinforce the shell connection to the pot metal. Use a short sheet metal screw around 1/4" long to attach the ground wire via a ring terminal. I would suggest removing any plastic from the ring terminal so it is bare. If properly positioned the bare terminal will have a decent surface area for some additional contact to the shell. The screw will also have the advantage of positively connecting the shell to the pot metal for the regular ground path via the fender sheet metal connection provided by the housing and mounting screws to be reinforced.

Drilling a small hole right at the edge of the shell somewhere along the red line on the outside view in the second photo is not too difficult. If you keep the sheet metal screw to around 1/4 long the point will come out maybe 1/8" away from the crimp visible on the inside -- somewhere along the red line in the inside view. If short, point should be far enough away from the glass that the two will not touch.

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