# 1969 GTO Parking Lamp Assembly



## mysons69 (Mar 3, 2012)

Ok, so maybe I'm losing it. Perhaps my mechanical skills have greatly eroded, and I can no longer figure things out.

My son and I are FINALLY getting around to trying to get his '69 GTO running and on the road. After replacing engine harness and installing a RobbMC starter, it's time to make sure all lights and other electricals are functioning properly.

Cleaned up all pins and sockets with DeOxit, now checking all functionality, starting with parking lamps. Who designed these frigging things, anyway? :confused

From what I can see, there are two major problems with these things...
1) No dedicated ground wire. Three wires to connector, 1st is turn signal back to fuse box, 2nd is parking light to fuse box, 3rd is connected internally to 2nd, parking light out to side marker.
2) It seems that if the bulb dies, you basically have to remove the Endura to get at the valance in order to keep the metal retaining bracket from falling back into the valance after removing the two trim screws.

Am I missing something?

My main problem at this point is ground. Since the three wires into the connector are accounted for, where does the assembly get ground? Maybe we're missing hardware? The retaining bracket seems to be hanging in mid-air, held in place only by the tension imparted by the screws coming from the front trim.

Any advise, enlightenment, etc. would be GREATLY apprreciated.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

I ran a dedicated ground to the parking lamp assy's. It's invisible from the outside anyway and makes the lamps operate perfectly. I have no idea how they made these things work properly when new. Grounds are a big problem with these cars front and rear.

It's been a long time since I put mine back together but I know I can change my bulbs by just removing the two screws, metal "frame" and the lens. Never had a problem with the housing loose in the valence. Where's Bear?


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## mysons69 (Mar 3, 2012)

Thanks, ALKY. Maybe I'm not completely losing it after all.

I can't for the life of me figure out how this thing gets ground. The brackets are painted, so is the valance. Squeeze two painted pieces of metal together, MAYBE they connect electrically, maybe they don't.

How did you hook up the dedicated ground? I was thinking of doing the same thing, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I'm thinking about drilling a small (#4 or 6) hole in the metal lamp housing and connecting there. I'm sure I could make it close to weatherproof with maybe a shoulder gasket, but I'd still love to know how they did it in a manufacturing environment.

I'm gonna have to figure some way top keep that bracket and filler piece attached to each other and the valance, and still be able to change bulbs relatively easily. Both Performance Years and Ames show a setup virtually identical to ours, so not much help there. Perf Years does show a PYF102 1969-70 STUD REPAIR KIT. Maybe that's my answer, but I can't see how that would help either.

And speaking of grounds, I think I may add a number of extra grounds all over this thing. You're not kidding when you say grounds are a big problem.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

For a ground I put a ring connector over one of the studs on the rear of the housing and ran it to an existing hole on the frame of the car. Hooked each assy up individually like this on either side of the car. Honestly it's just a ground and I know you don't want to drill a hole in your lamp housing. Just needs some good bare metal to contact too. Paint can be a great insulator!

I have a HUGE 1" ground strap from my engine block to the frame. My battery is in the trunk so I also have it grounded directly to the frame there. You can definetly add some grounds to the system and be discreet about it (if you're worried about a "correct" appearance, I'm not lol). For sure you want a good one from the chassis to the engine block.



> _*2) It seems that if the bulb dies, you basically have to remove the Endura to get at the valance in order to keep the metal retaining bracket from falling back into the valance after removing the two trim screws.
> 
> Am I missing something?*_
> 
> ...


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

They ground through the housing, to the 'strap' that holds them in to the back side of the valance, and through the valance to the fenders to the inner fenders to the frrame to the engine block to the ground post. That means you've got to make sure that all those points are getting good metal to metal contact and all your ground straps are in place. Take a red scotch-brite pad and scuff up the back side of the valance next to the openings where the mounting straps touch, and the mounting straps themselves at those points, and also take a wire brush or whatever you need to the mounting screws on the back of the housings themselves to get everything around there all shiny.

Bear


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

^There you are. I knew you'd have some insight. :cheers

Myself, I have a problem removing paint from sheet metal where you can't see it. So _that's_ why restored cars have problems with grounds where the stockers from the factory did'nt. We use more paint . No wonder most of these cars rusted into the ground (pun intended) a long time ago. 

Personally, although my solution is'nt "correct" I like it better than bare sheet metal. Just my 2 cents. :shutme


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

ALKYGTO;315244 Personally said:


> No argument there!
> 
> Bear


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## mysons69 (Mar 3, 2012)

Thanks guys.
Bear, I agree with ALKY about grinding off paint. It's an open invitation to rust, and I also don't wish to go that route. I think I'm going to go through with creating some type of separate ground to the metal housing.

And no, originality is not way up high on our priority list, though I see no reason to modify things if absolutely necessary. We're just trying to keep any of that to a minimum, and also makes any mods reversable if possible.

Now that I'm OK with grounding, what about the mechanicals of this setup? As I said in my initial post, the bracket drops out when the two screws are removed. Attached is a pic of the unassembled assembly where you can see the screws that go all the way through the housing to the mounting bracket. The pressure of the screws to the bracket squeezes the assembly with the valance sandwiched between them, thus holding the whole thing in place. Release those screws and it all falls apart. What sucks is that there is then no way into the valance to put it back together, unless we take the nose off. There's got to be a better way.

The Performance Years PYF102 1969-70 STUD REPAIR KIT (page 108) looks like it may do the trick. All I can figure is that I need a nut & bolt combo to hold the shell, metal housing and bracket to the valance, and then a screw to hold the lens in place. I wonder if that stud has internal threads for the lens mounting screws?


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

I tapped out the back of my housing for 1/2-20 and put some short studs in. I used stainless interior screws on the front to hold in the lens. Use the new stud in the back of the housing to hook up your ground.


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