Blackout Grill Light Wiring

1941 - 1945, MB, GPW Technical questions and discussions, regarding anything related to the WWII jeep.
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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by jose72 » Sun Apr 12, 2020 10:20 am

Thanks Sean for quick answer 👍
MB 214362. Feb 24 1943
MB 302188. Jan 11 1944

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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by JakobTheGreat » Thu Apr 23, 2020 11:08 pm

Thank you for your post, good little project to carry out over the weekend. Thanks

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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by 85jeepcj » Thu Dec 17, 2020 7:45 am

What is the length of the blackout wires ?

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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by JAB » Wed Jan 13, 2021 5:38 pm

About 20 and 53 inches is what I wrote down in my notes. That's the cut length of the wires.
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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by gpwmke » Fri Jan 15, 2021 3:20 pm

Thanks all for sharing. Very informative post.

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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by Jpjedi » Mon Mar 08, 2021 3:21 am

Interesting! thanks for sharing.

I pulled apart the marker lights for painting. I was just wondering, with this cable, how did you get it fit in the fitting of the lamp itself? Did it come with that metal tip pre-attached? Because you lost me when you show the picture where you pull the wire through but the next picture it already sits in place. So guess you soldered it to the fitting at some point or it came pre-assembled?

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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by JAB » Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:13 am

Metal tip? The bullet connector (terminal that gets plugged in to the black "plastic" one-to-two fitting" on the fender? If it's not the crimp-and-solder type it can be de-soldered and then re-soldered. They're available at several places but I like http://www.riwire.com/ If I remember correctly you need the 0.180" size, but please verify before buying.

Or, metal tip, the safety wire he soldered in to use as a "snake" to pull it through? I used a strand of copper wire that I pulled out of some stranded #12 MTW (Machine Tool Wire, but any small diameter wire you can pull on will work) instead of safety wire to pull on. It still still took a couple of tries to get it all through.

Or are you referring to the tip that the bulb meets inside the socket that Jose was asking about? That's just soldered back on after de-soldering it from the original, or possibly just a solder blob. If you broke the plastic insulator you'll need a replacement from another light socket of similar construction or some other functional replacement.

BTW, I just did a couple of these and I pulled in the opposite direction so that I didn't have to pull the entire length of wire through the small hole.

And... the dimension of the long wire that I gave earlier (53") seemed way too long so I ended up cutting off about 5" or so and re-soldered the bullet connector (I don't use the crimp style).
Last edited by JAB on Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by Jpjedi » Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:18 am

JAB wrote:
Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:13 am
Metal tip? The bullet connector (terminal that gets plugged in to the black "plastic" one-to-two fitting" on the fender? If it's not thje crimp-and-solder type it can be de-soldered and then re-soldered. They're available at severl places but I like http://www.riwire.com/ If I remember correctly you need the smallest size, the first one on the page, but please verify before buying.

Or, metal tip, the safety wire he soldered in to use as a "snake" to pull it through? I used a strand of copper wire that I pulled out of some stranded #12 MTW (Machine Tool Wire) instead of safety wire to pull on. It still still took a couple of tries to get it all through.

Or are you referring to the tip that the bulb meets that Jose was asking about? That's just soldered back on after de-soldering it from the original.

BTW, I just did a couple of these and I pulled in the opposite direction so that I didn't have to pull the entire length of wire through the small hole.

And... the dimension of the long wire that I gave earlier (53") seemed way too long so I ended up cutting off about 5" or so and re-soldered the bullet connector (I don't use the crimp style).
Thanks for the reply! I mean in the fitting of the lamp itself. So when he pulls the wire through, the end of the wire needs to get fixed in the fitting. I do not get that part.

This 'tip' of that wire:
img_0704a.jpg

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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by JAB » Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:34 am

I edited my post while you were typing so your quote is a bit different than what it says now.

In my situation I carefully de-soldered it and pulled the strands of wire out (it was crimped too, so it was a bit of trouble). After getting everything else installed I put the spring and tip back on and re-soldered it. The insulator was part of the socket (or it didn't come out) on one light but I think another had a separate insulator that I had to slide back on too. I used a pick to try to re-size the hole a bit (in the brass terminal) but that part is very thin so I was careful not to ruin it.

Oh! I remember ruining one....I had a brass rivet that was a perfect replacement! Your picture shows exactly what I had as well as the repalcement rivet.
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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by Father&Son » Thu Mar 25, 2021 2:26 pm

This is a great thread - and I will be using as I rebuild mine. Thanks for the thorough explanation

Some added questions for the G...as I have my disassembled and cleaned up.

1) Is there somewhere to purchase replace "lenses"? - (If you were me - would you just leave as is?)

2) What is the best way to remove them... so fragile, I already broke some portions of it

3) Pretty certain moisture/water will leak through - is there a gasket/ring that sits inside - I seem to feel there is????
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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by JAB » Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:17 am

To the best of my knowlege Ron does not carry the replacement lenses, but he does carry the entire assembly; https://www.vintagejeeps.com/p-509-gpw- ... 13200.aspx MV Spares makes the repair parts and John Bizal at Midwest Military carries them. https://store.midwestmilitary.com/produ ... es-346.htm For a bit less you can buy just the cover and gasket from John. If Ron carries the repair parts now I apologize. The difference between left and right is the length of the wire and the difference between MB and GPW is the F mark and the mounting pad.

Replacing them without breaking the potmetal tabs is nearly impossible. I believe the replacement parts orginally came as a "door assembly" and wasn't meant to be repaired. I have some NOS Chevy (I think) branded units that I may wind up selling rather than install in my GPW.

There is a gasket, but when the tabs break the fit is too loose to form a tight seal. You'll need to improvise with glue or black silicone, or similar. the repair parts come with the gasket for the lens but not the big gasket for the "door".
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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by Father&Son » Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:25 pm

JAB wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:17 am
To the best of my knowlege Ron does not carry the replacement lenses, but he does carry the entire assembly; https://www.vintagejeeps.com/p-509-gpw- ... 13200.aspx MV Spares makes the repair parts and John Bizal at Midwest Military carries them. https://store.midwestmilitary.com/produ ... es-346.htm For a bit less you can buy just the cover and gasket from John. If Ron carries the repair parts now I apologize. The difference between left and right is the length of the wire and the difference between MB and GPW is the F mark and the mounting pad.

Replacing them without breaking the potmetal tabs is nearly impossible. I believe the replacement parts orginally came as a "door assembly" and wasn't meant to be repaired. I have some NOS Chevy (I think) branded units that I may wind up selling rather than install in my GPW.

There is a gasket, but when the tabs break the fit is too loose to form a tight seal. You'll need to improvise with glue or black silicone, or similar. the repair parts come with the gasket for the lens but not the big gasket for the "door".
Super helpful and exactly what I needed to know. Thanks so much for the leads on this. I might try to fix with the just new lenses and some glue as you mentioned.

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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by MB1944 » Fri Jan 20, 2023 6:37 pm

I just did my grill BO lights yesterday. I took a slightly different approach; I didn't cut the new connector off. I took the bare end of the new wire and fed it through the light receptacle. Unfortunately, the last owner snipped off the wires at the very bottom of the housing, so I had to rewire it. Luckly, he left everything inside the housing untouched. I unsoldered the bulb contact and was able to reuse the original insulators. After fishing the new wire into the receptacle, I reinstalled the components in the proper order and resoldered the bulb contactor on my new wire. I found period correct Edison bulbs on eBay, they work nice and ready for another 79 years of service.

I'll have to say the wiring harness from Ron Fitzpatrick is really nice.
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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by thunderbird » Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:15 pm

jeep-a-holic thanks for your info, great job 👌🏻

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Re: Blackout Grill Light Wiring

Post by thunderbird » Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:18 pm

pecopfc wrote:
Thu May 16, 2013 9:45 pm
Grounding is the KEY!
I agree with you👍🏻


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