C1 - cigarette lighter fit question

[Joe P.]

I just replaced the complee cigarette lighter with a repro from Paragon and noticed i have a lot of slop when its screwed down all the way. I put the original that was in the car and noticed the same loose fit. I checked the assembly manual and it doesn't show any gasket or bezel. I was expecting a tight fit. Am i missiing a gasket or spacer or is this loose fit normal?

Thanks in advance

Joe

[Dennis A.]

Re: C1 - cigarette lighter fit question

Joe...
The lighter knob should be tight, the lighter into the recepacle is loose, but not "sloppy" loose. You lighter should be able to pop-back when hot...

[Joe P.]

Re: C1 - cigarette lighter fit question

Dennis, I took pictures of the old and new lighter retainer and the housing to better describe what I meant. The slop that i was refering to was between the housing and the retainer when it is screwed together.

Is this normal. I thought that i may be missing a gasket or bezel.

The old housing has the red overspary on it, and is still loose when screwed all the way. THe new one is definetly looser. You can see the old is crimped over more than the new.

The cigarette lighter assemby fit to the housing fits well.

Thanks.

Joe

[Terry D.]

Re: C1 - cigarette lighter fit question

Are you sure you have the right lighter? and dash assembly? I had a 62 once that Bubba had replaced the dash with one out of a 59. I got a new 62 lighter and it would not fit. The lighters are different from 58-60 and 61-62, because the housing in the dash is different, just a thought
Terry

[Roy B.]

Re: C1 - cigarette lighter fit question

It don't matter what year Corvette, as seen here the male after installed in your dash , the female when screwed onto the male there should be NO GAP. (as seen here with a 53-55 unit) both of your parts show a gap between each male & female when screwed to gather one or the other part is not correct

[Joe P.]

Re: C1 - cigarette lighter fit question

It don't matter what year Corvette, as seen here the male after installed in your dash , the female when screwed onto the male there should be NO GAP. (as seen here with a 53-55 unit) both of your parts show a gap between each male & female when screwed to gather one or the other part is not correct

Thanks. I am starting to think that the retainer is to short on both sets that I have. The one that came with the car and the repro that i got from Paragon.

The two that I have have to big a gap when screwed down all the way. In the picture I attached on my previous post are screwed all the way down.

Guess I will need a spacer to get a tight fit.

[Jack H.]

Re: C1 - cigarette lighter fit question

Let's not confuse the issue with 6V parts from the '53-55 era as they differ from 12V parts in geometry just to make sure owners couldn't inadvertantly insert a 6V lighter element into a 12V socket...

There are basically three versions of the 12V power socket: (1) '55-57, long with wide lip, (2) '58-62, long with narrow lip, and (3) '63 and up, short.

The short/long issue deals with the overall length of the power socket to conform to its mating lighter element (Casco L-48C for '55 only or L-144C for '56-62 and Casco L-160C for '63 and later). Judges know the difference by sight vs. Casco designation. The L-48C doesn't have a sliding ash guard surrounding the lighter element while the L-144C does have the ash guard feature. The L-144C has the ash guard embossed simply 'Casco 12V' while the L-160C element's ash guard is embossed '63 Casco 12V'. There are later era versions of both of these 'short' and 'long' elements which include '72 Casco 12V', '73 Casco 12V', '78 Casco 12V', Etc.

On the early, long, power sockets one has a wide lip at the top while the other version has a narrow lip. The wide lip version fits '55-57 cars where the power socket was installed in a hole drilled in the fiberglass dash. The wider lip spreads the attaching force over a wider area.

The narrow lip version of the power socket was intended to install in the lighter well hole of the dash cluster. There, you had a metal to metal surface contact and the clearance surrounding the power socket was tight forcing the lip or flange of the socket to be narrowed down.

So, anyone selling a 'one fits all' cig set covering the 12V cars is cutting corners since there were three discrete configurations of the power socket. If you get the right parts for the job, they will fit, mon!

[Roy B.]

Re: C1 - cigarette lighter fit question

Jack you are the man , I learned from you.

[Joe P.]

Re: C1 - cigarette lighter fit question

Let's not confuse the issue with 6V parts from the '53-55 era as they differ from 12V parts in geometry just to make sure owners couldn't inadvertantly insert a 6V lighter element into a 12V socket...

There are basically three versions of the 12V power socket: (1) '55-57, long with wide lip, (2) '58-62, long with narrow lip, and (3) '63 and up, short.

The short/long issue deals with the overall length of the power socket to conform to its mating lighter element (Casco L-48C for '55 only or L-144C for '56-62 and Casco L-160C for '63 and later). Judges know the difference by sight vs. Casco designation. The L-48C doesn't have a sliding ash guard surrounding the lighter element while the L-144C does have the ash guard feature. The L-144C has the ash guard embossed simply 'Casco 12V' while the L-160C element's ash guard is embossed '63 Casco 12V'. There are later era versions of both of these 'short' and 'long' elements which include '72 Casco 12V', '73 Casco 12V', '78 Casco 12V', Etc.

On the early, long, power sockets one has a wide lip at the top while the other version has a narrow lip. The wide lip version fits '55-57 cars where the power socket was installed in a hole drilled in the fiberglass dash. The wider lip spreads the attaching force over a wider area.

The narrow lip version of the power socket was intended to install in the lighter well hole of the dash cluster. There, you had a metal to metal surface contact and the clearance surrounding the power socket was tight forcing the lip or flange of the socket to be narrowed down.

So, anyone selling a 'one fits all' cig set covering the 12V cars is cutting corners since there were three discrete configurations of the power socket. If you get the right parts for the job, they will fit, mon!

Very Informative.. thanks... so where does one get the right size for a 60? Obviously the one i ordered from Paragon is not the right size, even though i ordered the entire asemebly...

Thanks