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I want to upgrade my 1939 headlights with use of correct cloth braided 14ga wires. The problem is that can’t find the correct bulb contacts that shall attach to the wire ends, and hold the wire in position in the bulb holders. I can buy regular pigtail contacts, but they are all equppid with a short end of undersized black and red plastic wires. It’s the same all over the market, Ebay, Filling, Chevs.40....
So from where can I buy the correct wire end contacts or rivets (or what is it called?). The contact measures about 5,5mm (7/32’’) outside diameter.

You referring to these: Middle of the page.

Thank you Tiny. Exactly what I am looking for.

If you've never put them on before there's a bit of a trick to it to make it easy to do. Tin the end of the wire, melt a dab of solder into the hole on the contact, put the contact over the end of the wire, hold the solder gun against the round end of the contact gently pushing it onto the wire. You'll see the contact sink into the wire end. When it bottoms out move the end of the solder gun/iron away from the contact perpendicular to the wire. If you pull the gun off parallel to the wire it can pull the contact off of the wire if the solder is still liquid. Another option, if you have a trigger pull gun is to release the trigger while holding the contact onto the wire and wait a few seconds to let it cool and solidify before removing the gun from the contact.

Go to your local hardware store and purchase small tubular rivits. Get the brass/copper ones if they are available. Buy several, you will be glad you did.

"Go to your local hardware store and purchase small tubular rivits. Get the brass/copper ones if they are available. Buy several, you will be glad you did."

Ray,

Have you seen those in hardware stores that are a correct size to replace the rivets in gas tank senders (1/4" OD, 3/16" ID)? The gas tank sender on my '36 PU suddenly developed very high resistance and reads full all the time. An internal solder connection or the fine resistance wire probably broke and needs to be repaired. Fortunately I had a spare, but to make it work, and not read empty when full and full when empty, I had to reverse the direction the float arm faces. That places the float right next to the front of the tank where the liquid level fluctuates a lot, making the temporary gauge reading fluctuate more than I like.

Thanks for your information.

Ray W

There is usually a selection of sizes. Take a sample with you when you go.

brino:

I rebuilt 2 GM senders of the type with the gears. I could not find appropriate rivets, and found that the size was critical to fit the holes and also get the screws through. I used some brass tubing from the hobby store (k&s makes both metric and standard tubing, I do not recall which it was), and with the help of a friend, made a little tool to form the rivets. It was just a hole in a steel puck with a bottom, and if I remember correctly, a chamfer. I used 2 sizes of ball bearing and a hammer to form the heads.

More recently I have heard a .22 shell just fits. I have not tried it.

P.S. the little keyed brass washer with the spring behind it in the gear mechanism is a brake, with a cork washer under the brass originally. I think it may control some of the waving. Be careful to use real cork. I used cork composite gasket material, and that may or may not have been a mistake. The brake may be sticking. I will have more information when I take it back out. For what it's worth, saxophone cork is solid cork, is cheap, and is readily available on Ebay.

Good morning bloo and Ray.

Thank you so much for that information. I will check a .22 shell for size. Do you suppose that brass is soft enough to form a rivet head without cracking? I'm nowhere near a firearms expert. But I have done some reloading of .44 mag. cartridges and I think I recall the brass cracking after a certain number of reloads. What do you think?

I also have thought of forming the rivet heads with ball bearings.

Ray W

I used some 2 piece brass rivets i bought in the sewing section at Hobby Lobby for gas tank senders.

Some of my homemade rivets may have split. Not every try on the little rivet maker was a success but most were. I do not recall if I annealed the brass tubing. You can anneal brass by heating it to a dull red (be careful). Unlike steel, it does not matter if you let it cool slowly or dunk it, it still softens. I am sure I did not anneal more than once in the process, if at all. Maybe I should have.