Vintage porch light retrofit

[LHall]

After searching high and low for the light that fits our vintage trailer, and reading some of the posts on how "extinct" these are, we pondered over a couple of martinis and came up with this solution. It works great and keeps the vintage look of our AS. We used an inexpensive outdoor jelly jar light from Home Depot and striped the paint for a shiny metal look. Sealed the bare metal with clear poly. We used threaded lamp rod and some threaded stainless pieces we had laying around from a lighting project in the house. (Funny how you never use all of the parts included in the boxes ) We purchased a metal male plug end with the rubber and clamp strain relief and mounted the plug directly to the threaded rod. The locking collar is the only thing we could find at Home Depot that closely matched the threads on the outlet cover which ended up being a plastic p trap connector from some ABS plumbing parts. (Yes we searched all of Home Depot). The threads are not an exact match but it does tighten well and it fits very tight over the male plug for a water tight seal. Let us know if any other details are wanted.

[Ganglin]

Very ingenious - nice work.

[wkerfoot]

The idea, description and pictures are great. The only additional information would be pictures of the individual parts, a detail parts list and blueprint.

Bill

[68 Overlander]

Originally Posted by wkerfoot

The only additional information would be pictures of the individual parts, a detail parts list and blueprint.

Bill

4 parts Vodka
3 to 5 drops Dry vermouth
1/8 tsp Lemon juice
Lemon twist

[uwe]

Nice. Any plans for a switch on the light? Or is the outlet switched from inside the trailer?

[68 Overlander]

Really though, nice work guys. Those are my favorite, ingenuity.

[LHall]

Originally Posted by 68 Overlander

4 parts Vodka
3 to 5 drops Dry vermouth
1/8 tsp Lemon juice
Lemon twist

Bill, here is the blueprint, as provided by 68 Overlander. Ketel makes for some very creative projects.

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by lhall

After searching high and low for the light that fits our vintage trailer, and reading some of the posts on how "extinct" these are, we pondered over a couple of martinis and came up with this solution. It works great and keeps the vintage look of our AS. We used an inexpensive outdoor jelly jar light from Home Depot and striped the paint for a shiny metal look. Sealed the bare metal with clear poly. We used threaded lamp rod and some threaded stainless pieces we had laying around from a lighting project in the house. (Funny how you never use all of the parts included in the boxes ) We purchased a metal male plug end with the rubber and clamp strain relief and mounted the plug directly to the threaded rod. The locking collar is the only thing we could find at Home Depot that closely matched the threads on the outlet cover which ended up being a plastic p trap connector from some ABS plumbing parts. (Yes we searched all of Home Depot). The threads are not an exact match but it does tighten well and it fits very tight over the male plug for a water tight seal. Let us know if any other details are wanted.

Yes, these vintage porch lights are 'extinct'. BUT, they do become available occassionally. I finally resorted to scouring Home Depot for the same solutions as you did while continually checking Ebay. I was about to go the HD route when to my amazement a vintage porch light went up for bid. As expected other bidders were looking at what I saw so I bit the aluminum bullet and won the bidding. My next problem was locating a single outlet cover with the screw cap...also rare. I located a box of them on a shelf at a RV salvage yard in Sacramento. However, it isn't chrome but will suffice until I find a chrome or an aluminum one that can be polished. Keep looking for that 'vintage' light though. One will show up........eventually.

[walter1]

Hi, thanks for sharing. Nice idea, good job.
I too have been searching for a lamp.
Now take it all back apart and show us the pieces .

How long are the lamp rod and stainless tubing? How did you connect the lamp rod and stainless tubing to the lamp housing and to the male connector?

Does the threaded p trap connector thread tightly enough to support the entire weight of the lamp?

Does anyone know where I can find the female plug and cover with screw-on cap threads?

No Home Depot type store for 50 miles

Thanks for sharing idea
Walter

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by FreshAir

Yes, these vintage porch lights are 'extinct'. BUT, they do become available occassionally. I finally resorted to scouring Home Depot for the same solutions as you did while continually checking Ebay. I was about to go the HD route when to my amazement a vintage porch light went up for bid. As expected other bidders were looking at what I saw so I bit the aluminum bullet and won the bidding. My next problem was locating a single outlet cover with the screw cap...also rare. I located a box of them on a shelf at a RV salvage yard in Sacramento. However, it isn't chrome but will suffice until I find a chrome or an aluminum one that can be polished. Keep looking for that 'vintage' light though. One will show up........eventually.

Oh, by the way....I installed a small push on/of switch on the housing of the light. Now I do not have to screw and unscrew the light to operate it.

[walter1]

Originally Posted by FreshAir

I located a box of them on a shelf at a RV salvage yard in Sacramento.

If you're talking about the box of covers at RV Dr George....it's now empty...George laughed, wishes he had 50 more...you started a rush with your last post about them.

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by walter1

If you're talking about the box of covers at RV Dr George....it's now empty...George laughed, wishes he had 50 more...you started a rush with your last post about them.

Yeah, I was told by another Forum member I should have bought the whole box THEN posted my find.

[Boondocker]

I always thought that outlet midway down the camper was just an outlet.....

[LHall]

Originally Posted by walter1

Hi, thanks for sharing. Nice idea, good job.
I too have been searching for a lamp.
Now take it all back apart and show us the pieces .

How long are the lamp rod and stainless tubing? How did you connect the lamp rod and stainless tubing to the lamp housing and to the male connector?

Does the threaded p trap connector thread tightly enough to support the entire weight of the lamp?

Does anyone know where I can find the female plug and cover with screw-on cap threads?

No Home Depot type store for 50 miles

Thanks for sharing idea
Walter

Hello Walter,

I took the trailer back to the storage facility and do not have it here for more pictures, however, I have some pictures of individual components of the light.

We used a standard threaded lamp rod that screwed right into the light fixture after we removed the wall mounting adapter the threaded lamp rod is about 3". The stainless threaded pieces are threaded right over the lamp rod. They are some pieces of a celing fixtue that were not needed. It is an extension down rod for a celing fixture, we had to cut it with a hacksaw to a 3" piece. You could also use a sleeve of some sort to cover the lamp rod. I just happened to have that laying around in the garage. They are commonly found at any lamp store like Lamps Plus or others.

The threaded lamp rod is simply pushed into the male plug in the place of the cord. We used a metal plug with a rubber strain relief. This tightened nicely with the clamping screws on the plug. To be honest, I think the outlet on the trailer would support this without the plumbing piece we used. The plastic collar does screw down tight and provides additional support. We did change the outlet at the same time, the old outlet would not have supported it at all. We also had to change the outlet box as ours was disintegrating we used a standard switch box and it fit right in there perfectly. The third picture shows the threaded brushed or stainless sleeve. In the photo it is the fourth one over in the top row.

I hope I have added enough detail, if not please let me know and I can give you further information.

Thanks for your comments.

[mello mike]

Very clever, Louis. Karen was researching information about these lamps and found this thread on Google. She thinks you're so clever.

[LHall]

Originally Posted by mello mike

Very clever, Louis. Karen was researching information about these lamps and found this thread on Google. She thinks you're so clever.

Thanks Mike,

Brad Norgaard made one too and he used some very retro looking metal to put around the glass... looks very cool. He had it on his trailer at Deadhorse.

Good luck with your project!

[Someday'59]

It's also on Brad's blog if you want to see it. It looks really nice.

[Colin H]

Originally Posted by walter1

If you're talking about the box of covers at RV Dr George....it's now empty...George laughed, wishes he had 50 more...you started a rush with your last post about them.

Vintage Trailer Supply.com has them now.
Colin

[VooDooLounge]

Originally Posted by 68 Overlander

4 parts Vodka
3 to 5 drops Dry vermouth
1/8 tsp Lemon juice
Lemon twist

[emoji23]

[VooDooLounge]

Originally Posted by FreshAir

Yes, these vintage porch lights are 'extinct'. BUT, they do become available occassionally. I finally resorted to scouring Home Depot for the same solutions as you did while continually checking Ebay. I was about to go the HD route when to my amazement a vintage porch light went up for bid. As expected other bidders were looking at what I saw so I bit the aluminum bullet and won the bidding. My next problem was locating a single outlet cover with the screw cap...also rare. I located a box of them on a shelf at a RV salvage yard in Sacramento. However, it isn't chrome but will suffice until I find a chrome or an aluminum one that can be polished. Keep looking for that 'vintage' light though. One will show up........eventually.

Super cool! Great find!