Bantam Tail Lamp Project

"Arrow Alternative"

by Gale Breitkreutz

	I thought that NACO tail lights for the Willy's CJ2A were hard to find until I tried to find Arrow lights for my Bantam T3-C trailer. Not being lucky enough to have one still on the trailer when I got it, and not wealthy enough to buy the few that show up on eBay, I started looking for alternatives.  The Arrow looked very similar to Model A taillights so I wanted to see if they could be adapted to fit.
	Some of the differences are that the Model A taillight is about 3/4” shorter than the Arrow, and they have 2 sockets that protrude from the rear as opposed to a single hole with wires coming out.
	The Model A lights originally mounted on a stalk that was bolted to the car, this “stalk” covered the 2 sockets and the wiring. First thing I did was to paint the them, I was only able to get these in polished stainless steel so I scuffed the metal, used an acid primer and painted them black.
	I also removed the mounting screws and put longer screws from the inside out so that I could mount them with nuts like the Arrow.
	Next up was making an adapter to account for the protruding sockets, originally I made a simple spacer.
	I didn’t like the look so I changed the design to one that enclosed the sockets and wires.
	They also clean up the look.
	Finally here’s what they look like completed, wired, and ready to mount.
	And then mounted (I’ll cut the studs to length once the trailer is painted and the final assembly takes place) I think they look pretty good (not as good as originals though)
	The finished look.
	I'm now working on a complete wiring harness. Here is the WW II connector I will mount in place of the cover on my CJ2A.