Help!!! I am trying to install a Painless Courtesy Light Kit in my 1966 Chevy C10. If I drill a hole in the door jamb for the light switch it just goes into what I will call a blind cavity with no way to fish the wire through to the lamps. I know I've seen a video or something a long time ago showing how to take the small corner cowl piece off from above and drill a hole down from the top of the cowl to fish the wire in but I cannot find it again. I sure would appreciate any help on this.
4 bolts. Open hood to access 2 of them. Open the door and with an extension, grab the other 2. It will be shimmed and those shims will fall out. Take a note of where and how many so you can get the cowl flush again when reinstalling. There is a pretty good picture in the LMC catalog that shows the cowl. If you put a hole there the cab will leak there. You will want to seal it well. Post a picture and maybe we can work this out together. Based on your description - are you trying to mount into the front of the door panel or into the cab?
Last edited by Hambone; 03/25/202010:57 AM.
~ HB 1966 Chevrolet K-10 | Ghost: formerly Flappy Fenders | In the Stovebolt Gallery 1962 Chevrolet C10 1962 Suburban
Larry, welcome. Please take a few minutes and look around the site. Stovebolt is broken down into several mini-forums covering specific areas of your truck. Pick the forum that covers what you want to ask about and post away. Your introduction in the DITY Forum was interesting and many of us have been down the same road.
Martin '62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress) '47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project) ‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily) ‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence) “I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one! Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop! USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
Any Electrical Engineers in the house? Thanks to Hambone's suggestions, I got my Painless Courtesy Light Kit (#30702) installed by drilling down through the cowl. Now for the wiring. Each light has two wires coming from it, a white and a black. I ran the black wire from each light to its respective door jamb switch. Then I tied the white wires from each light together and tapped them into the orange wire coming from the headlamp switch to the dome light. Everything worked great...Individually. Open the driver's door and the driver's side courtesy light comes on; open the passenger side door and that light comes on; turn the headlamp switch to the left and the dome light comes on.
But...I had hoped I could wire it so if you opened either door, both the courtesy lights would come on. And if I turned the dome light switch on, both courtesy lights would come on. But I don't see how that can happen because when either door is closed, it doesn't matter where the power comes from since that circuit is broken by the door jamb switch!! I would be happy with what I have now except upon two different phone calls to the Painless Tech Department, they assured me that it can be wired to do all these other things!!! I'm thinking it must take a much more sophisticated kit that what I have. Any input would be appreciated.
In order to have either door opening turn on both lights, you need to wire the door switches in parallel. In other words, run a black wire between the black wires on each door switch. That way when either switch closes, (open the door), both lights will come on. Is the dome light coming on when either door opens the way you have it wired now?
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
No, the dome light does not come on when either door is opened. If possible I would like to have it so when I turn the dome light on from the headlamp switch, both of the courtesy lamps would also come on. Than you, Klhansen, for the tip on running a black wire between the two existing black wires. I think I see it now, that way the current goes back to the door that is open thereby completing the circuit on the closed door light!!
Larry, Here's' a way you can wire them up. The little triangular thingy is a diode that acts like a check valve for electricity. Allows current flow in one direction, but not in the opposite. It will light up the courtesy lights with the dome light switch, but not the dome light with the door switches. You may have to flip the diode end for end if it doesn't work that way. If you leave that out (just a wire instead), all the lights will come on when any switch is closed. Hope that helps.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Not sure that is correct. Functionally it would work if wired that way. However, most door switches use a switched ground, not a switched power. Power is usually routed directly to the light and the switches control the path to ground. Reverse you polarity and it should work fine. Diode may need to be flipped, I didn't look close enough once I saw it was using switched power. Great concept, just not for this application.
The dome light switch is fed power thru the headlight switch, correct? If the courtesy lights are switched ground, then you're right it they woudn't work together unless you feed power thru the door switches. Yes, the diode direction is dependent on polarity, and may need to be flipped as I said. The dome lights could easily work together if the switch and jumper between them are moved to the ground side.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Wow - what a treasure I have found at Stovebolt.com!!!! I only joined up a few days ago and have already received so many nice welcomes from my introductory story and photos (My 66') as well as answers to my questions about installing a Painless Courtesy Light Kit. I would especially like to thank Hambone, Klhansen, and 62Stick for their response to the later. I used Klhansen's tip of running a wire in parallel to the lights and it worked great. Now both lights come on if either door is opened. But as far as going any further with the dome light, I have decided to just leave it the way it is. Very happy!! Thank you all.
You're welcome. That's what we do here. We all have a passion for these old trucks or we wouldn't have one. When we find others with a similar passion, we try to encourage it. Trucks like ours don't maintain themselves. They need our help. None of us knows it all, but as a Community, we can usually figure out whatever issue any one of use are experiencing.
I have courtesy/dome lights in my '64. Actually a aircraft style in the center of the headline, the stock light over the rear window and lights up under the dash adjacent to the tick panels. We used GM style switches which are self centering and screw into a 11/32" hole. Drilled a 3/8" hole in the kick panel, adjacent to the lower edge of the dash, fished the wire into the door jamb and then into attached same to the GM type switch. If I remember correctly the courtesy lights are switched on the ground side in lieu of the hot wire. Wm.
