OP I did very much what you did there, it worked well. Including welding the sockets.
I also took the socket apart and ran new wires to avoid a bunch of splices (I have some waterproof plugs if needed in the future). Discovered that rivet heads work well in their place, they crimp and take a little solder. I did knock the diameters down on my lathe first to make sure they would recess and not short out. I little heat shrink on the back side as insurance (can't have too much or it will bind). Worked well, didn't take very long. I did the same for the taillights and ran a sealed junction box so I don't have splices in the wiring back there either.
