Rebuilding original tail lights?

[WoodHacker]

I have a trailer made from a 1949 (I"m told) pickup truck. The tail lights appear to be original equipment. Today I needed to remove them and every one of the mounting bolts broke with very little effort. Even the bulbs are rusted in place but the lenses are good.

I have some WD-40 soaking them now but I doubt the bolts were meant to be removed without some drilling or grinding. The sockets are probably needing replacing.

Is it possible, or reasonable, to rebuild these?

 

[The Doge]

I redid mine. Below are some pics. I sprayed the inside with a chrome type paint to try to get more reflection.

 

[Nicolson]

Butch. Are these the ones that you have? http://www.partstrain.com/store/det...MI3LXNwsDI1wIVUGp-Ch1gKAtdEAkYASABEgI0ifD_BwE

 

[mathman]

I have a trailer made from a 1949 (I"m told) pickup truck. The tail lights appear to be original equipment. Today I needed to remove them and every one of the mounting bolts broke with very little effort. Even the bulbs are rusted in place but the lenses are good.

Those tail lights aren't original. The originals had a chrome ring that held the red lenses with a black body:

If you want a really bright light, paint the inside of the tail light with gloss white, it beats any of the chrome paints.

 

[Blindmelon]

Those tail lamps looks very similar to the 1940's Ford pickup lamps I used.. Thank you for posting the photo.

What is not apparent in this photo are the rectangular reflectors on each side of the tailgate, just behind
the tailgate chains.. The lenses in my repop lamps do not reflect...So I added red reflectors to the rear
stake holders for night safety.. Also visible is my backup lamp...

 

[WoodHacker]

Butch. Are these the ones that you have? http://www.partstrain.com/store/det...MI3LXNwsDI1wIVUGp-Ch1gKAtdEAkYASABEgI0ifD_BwE

I think those are what I have...

 

[Herk]

CJ based article, trucks were similar... https://cj3b.info/Dating/Taillights.html

 

[uglydukwling]

The lamps you have look like a generic trailer/old truck light, available cheaply at most farm or trailer supply stores. I've used a lot of them on older vehicles. The full width lenses are a give-away. The originals almost always had a ring retaining the lens with slight differences depending on the exact vehicle, but they're about the right size and shape, and unless you're showing the vehicle competitively, no one will care. I even have a pair of them on a 1933 Rolls Royce and nobody has commented on them.