Dome Light and Cigarette Lighter (2 Viewers)

[MOC]

This is my first post (other than posting my VIN and engine number) after purchasing a '75 40 in great condition. Amazed by the wealth of knowledge on this forum and hoping to learn a lot. Already learned how to fabricate the return line from the transmission to the transfer case and got that done last weekend.

2 small problems with my 40. The dome light isn't connected to power and I don't think the cigarette lighter is either. Both are on the same fuse with the 12v outlet in the glove box.
First, where do I connect power to the dome light? At the fuse box or elsewhere?
Second, how do I verify if there's power to the cigarette lighter? I'll try connecting a multimeter to the center and perimeter of the lighter. After that, how do I determine if there's power? Access to the back of the lighter is really tight.
Thanks for the help.

 

[John McVicker]

1st off verify that your fuse is good.

The dome light wiring comes up thru the windshield frame on the drivers side. It then comes out the top of the windshield frame thru a small round hole and then over to the light.

On my 2-‘75 it’s only one hot wire with the ground being thru the screws that hold the light in place.

 

[cruiserboy14]

I second the one got wire... I didn’t know and routed a return.... went threw 3 fuses until I looked up the schematic....

 

[MOC]

1st off verify that your fuse is good.

The dome light wiring comes up thru the windshield frame on the drivers side. It then comes out the top of the windshield frame thru a small round hole and then over to the light.

On my 2-‘75 it’s only one hot wire with the ground being thru the screws that hold the light in place.

I knew I'd get great advice on this forum! Thank you.
The fuse was the first thing I checked and it's fine. The 12v outlet in the glove box is on the same fuse and that works fine so I'm pretty confident the fuse is fine.
If I run a new power source to the dome light, where would I tap into power? At the fuse box or elsewhere?
Also, I was going to run the power along the floor board, drill a hole in the bottom of the B-pillar and run it up to the dome light. I thought that route would make taking the hardtop off easier. Make sense?
I searched for the cigarette lighter and found a couple of great posts on the lighter.

 

[samatulich]

Just fish the wire up through the windshield frame. If you are lucky, the wire is already there and you will need a pigtail to go from the top of the windshield frame, along the hardtop rail to the pillar that the light is mounted on. Use bullet connectors to make the pigtail. The light should be grounded through the hardtop sides of the 40.

 

[John McVicker]

Either way will work but I’d suggest what @samatulich and the factory does.

Use a insulated bullet connector and just disconnect when you remove the top.

As far as getting a 12v source, just get out your test light & splice into any factory wire that is constant hot. Using a factory wire will insure that you are safely fused.

 

[MOC]

Thanks John and samatulich for the prompt and great responses. I'll take your advice and run the power through the windshield frame. Looking forward to escaping to the garage over Thanksgiving to fix the dome light and cigarette lighter.

 

[skidplate]

Feel the ledge where your hard top meets the driver side just above the dome light. You might get lucky and find the wire up there.

 

[John McVicker]

^^^
Yep, good idea.

 

[Catching Neutral]

Mine was there......reconnected. And now it works

 

[MOC]

Feel the ledge where your hard top meets the driver side just above the dome light. You might get lucky and find the wire up there.

I spent a few minutes last night feeling the ledge where the hardtop meets the driver's side and didn't see or feel any wire - not surprising. I also looked under the driver's side dash to see where I could fish the line up through the driver's side of the windshield frame and didn't see any openings or holes into the windshield frame. I did see a small hole at the top of the windshield frame. I'll look more carefully this weekend but any suggestions on how to run the line from under the driver's side dash into the windshield frame?
I really appreciate everyone's help.

 

[samatulich]

Maybe you can run the wire down the windshield frame, instead of from below? That might just be too sharp of an angle to get the wire to fish down there easily, but its worth a shot.