Ah, a kindred spirit.

I've saved a half dozen of these, both aftermarket like you show in your first picture, and the original Cibie lamp, in the hope I'd find a better solution.

I think the drawing in your post is of a wagon's tag lamp.

The aftermarket lamps are completely different in construction. Even the springs are different; uncoated and shaped to fit different plastic castings. Worse, the bulb socket is prone to poor connection.

You're right about replacing the spring providing you could find some of them. I had to destroy the housing, even with the lens removed, to release the tang retaining the spring in the molded plastic.

We are up against two facts of repair life which nearly invalidates the premise "if someone assembled it, it can be disassembled." One-way barbs and adhesives make unrepairable assemblies out of individual parts.

Have you researched the price of replacement lamp assemblies, both OE and aftermarket? I seem to recall the cheap lamps were about $9 each, but I haven't taken the time yet to check on that memory.

--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

"Being nice to people is so much easier with your mouth closed." -- Benjamin Davis