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For those looking for an original style trunk light...


David Maxwell

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...I dug out the repro one I purchased for $14.99 a couple years ago and here's are the product part numbers from the package. Might help you track one down.

It is listed as an "Engine Compartment Lamp" however, it is the trunk light.

1956-71 All (although it is identical to the original Mopar light used in 1946-48)

Replaces: C2RZ-15A700-A

P15-23350 (ironic how the part number starts with P15)

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...I just ran a search using the part number P15-23350 and came up with the following link to a supplier: http://www.classicautopartsgroup.com/MUSTANG/hazel.exe?client=59219359&action=detail&item=P15-23350

The image on the website makes it look like the light has a greenish sparkly finish, but it does not. It is unfinished stamped metal just like the original. Apparently the same light was used in early Mustangs.

...I dug out the repro one I purchased for $14.99 a couple years ago and here's are the product part numbers from the package. Might help you track one down.

It is listed as an "Engine Compartment Lamp" however, it is the trunk light.

1956-71 All (although it is identical to the original Mopar light used in 1946-48)

Replaces: C2RZ-15A700-A

P15-23350 (ironic how the part number starts with P15)

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I have the under hood light, and trunk light on my coupe. It's about useless in the dark. Yes, it will help a little getting the dipstick back in the hole. But.........why would you be checking the oil, in the dark on the side of the road? That's something you should be doing before leaving home, or at a service station where there's lots of light anyway. For working on anything else under the hood, the light is not bright enough to be of any help. In fact, it causes shadows because it's stationary. A flashlight is better any day than one of those things.

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This could come in handy for checking oil as the dipstick can be hard to get back in after sunset. A flashlight can work just as well, but batteries go dead, or flashlights can get borrowed and not returned.

I found a LED flash light that charges itself when it is shaken, even just a little bit. It lives in the car constantly charging itself. So far it has worked out well, not needed it for working on the car but it has been useful when first pulling into a camping spot after dark.

My only regret is that I did not buy one for each car when I saw it on sale. Figured I'd try one and then get more if I liked it. By the time I went back they no longer had that particular light.

Flashlights that live in my cars do not get loaned out.

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Norm-

You seem to forget that I am a bit of a night owl. I also live in a rather rural area. Every gas station in this town turns off the lights at midnight and sells gasoline pay-at-the-pump with a debit card. In fact, just a few weeks ago, I was traveling to Tennessee and even along I-24 there were very few service stations actually attended by a human being. Very unnerving to have out of state plates and fueling up at an unlighted service station, but I had already passed a few unlighted gas stations and was at risk of running out of fuel very soon.

I had a similar experience in Iowa traveling along I-35 in 2006. I've never been hassled, but it may be time to invest in a .38 and a holster while traveling.

For your sake, Norm, I am glad that you don't travel after dark. You'd run out of gas because you don't have MasterCard or Visa. :D

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Ben,

Regardless of if you travel after dark, that light isn't going to help that much. A flashlight is still much better than that under hood light. I use to have one of those flashlights like Tim mentioned. They work great and never need batteries. But:rolleyes:................one day while replacing the wife's headlight bulb in her car, I couldn't get the trouble light just where I needed it. So........used that shake flashlight like Tim's. Worked great, light just where I needed it. Only problem was. When I finished putting the headlight in I laid the flashlight on top of the strut mount under the hood. Later when I shut the hood, I forgot to remove the flashlight. So.........I then had a squashed flashlight.:o I'll have to pick up another one someday. I keep forgetting about it when I go to the store. Luckily I didn't damage her hood in the process.

I do use credit cards for gas when on a trip somewhere. Otherwise, when home don't have a use for them.;) I rarely will let the tank get below half full before filling up. Wife does the same thing when at home. We use good old hard cash for gas at home. On the road, I never let it get below a quarter tank before stopping for gas. So........since both cars will go over 100 miles on a quarter tank, I don't think I'll ever have a problem finding a gas station open.

Also on a trip, I'm in no hurry to get someplace. So.........we are usually checked into a motel someplace by about 8 PM, relaxing.

All that said. I bought my new car on August 21st. It had a full tank when I drove it off the dealers lot. Since then, I've only pumped gas into it twice and I still have about 3/4 of a tank left. I've only put about 720 miles on it.:P It's nice to live in the big city, where things are close at hand.:P That 720 miles includes two day trips. One was 240 miles round trip, the other was about 120 miles round trip.

Edited by Norm's Coupe
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My father was not one to heavily option cars. However he did like a trul light and an under hood light. he usually just bought a white lended clearence light and mounted it where he felt it would be most usefull. His little trick was to wire it through a home made automatic switch. Which he made out of an old pill bottle and a small dollop of mercury.

Two small holes would be drilled into the cap and the stripped wire feed through and glued to the cap. Then the bollt was attached to the trunk lid bracing or hinge, i such a position that when the trunk was closed the mercury would reside in the bottle away from the wires. When the trunk was opend the mercury would go into the cap end of the bottle and complete the conection between the ends of the wires, lighting the lamp.

Same deal under the hood. The trunk lamp was usually tapped off the taillight circuit so the parking lamps had to be on for the light to work.

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