How To: C15a Wire-3 restoration

[Jordan Baker]

Today I fitted out the rear interior light with a modern LED puck light. It fit perfectly into the wooden housing and gives off a lot of light with a nice period warmth. The best part is that since LED’s run off of DC power I didn’t need the AC converter that it came with. It will also be hooked up t the charging panel and run for the 12v batteries in the back.

The two pictures taken in the back are with the canvas fully down. No flash was used on the camera.

[David Dunlop]

The lighting looks really good, Jordan, and has the extra benefit of a nice low amperage draw on the batteries!

David

[Jordan Baker]

My thoughts exactly David. Originality is great but sometimes there is a place for modern technology. Especially when you cannot tell when installed.

[Jordan Baker]

Some more pictures of the LED light install into the dome light.

[Jordan Baker]

I mounted up the two lights to the canopy frame today. I also made up the wiring loom that connects both lights to the charging panel. Next up I’ll be securing the loom into the canopy frame.

[David Dunlop]

Hi Jordan.

How are the interior lamp assemblies mounted? I assume a bracket of some sort fits between the wooden body of the lamp and whatever structure the lamp is installed on.

If I remember the look of the lamps, they seemed to have a pair of large holes in the body, on the back and one of the sides, that appeared to permit two possible entry points for the power feed line, so there may have been more than one option/application for the installation of these lamps.

David

[Jordan Baker]

David.

I just realized I didn’t take a picture of the mounts I made up. Basically it’s 2”x 1/8” thick flat stock. Ends are bent 90deg on both ends. This fits across the width of the wooden body. Two woods screws on both bent ends screw into the lamp. This bracket would get bolted to the roof sheet metal then the lamp inserted and the wood screws screwed in. In my case I needed to make another piece that fit over the canopy tubing. I made up a stamping die and pressed some out in the shop press. The top stamped piece fits around the canopy tube and then two bolts are used to secure the top piece to the lamp bracket.

As for the lamp, yes there are few different holes in it.

The red circle is for the power in wire. It goes directly to the push/pull switch. It has a quick connect GM connection.

The green arrow is where the push pull switch mounts.

The blue circle is a socket accessible only from the outside of the lamp. It gets wired to the switch. I believe it was used to fit the plug from a trouble light or provide remote power to another lamp or some other accessory. I’m not sure if it should always be live or only live when the light is on.

The yellow arrow is the lamp socket.

The red arrow is a screw that holds the tinned metal reflector in place. It goes right through the wooded body and has a double nut on the backside. This also acts as the hookup for the ground to complete the electrical circuit.