Hardbody step bumper license plate lights

[HRH]

So I've had a bitch of a time trying to find license plate lights for my '93 D21. There are two Nissan styles, neither of which will work if you got the non-Nissan optional chrome step bumper of those years. Haven't been able to find the other license light anywhere, aftermarket or Nissan.

 

I've been running around with a missing light since Canby since the original plastic light has a stupid plastic tang that holds it in, but it's very long, so the cutout in the step bumper is a round hole, with rectangular notches at 3 and 9 o'clock. And they're very long, which means all the other lights I tried to put over them had to be huge. To make matters worse, most of them don't shine light the correct way as they're meant for above or below the plate illumination.

 

Going through the balkamp catalog the other day, I found some GM lights, like off a '98 S10. They happen to fit damn near perfectly. Some trimming of the plastic notch is required on the forward edge so it fits tightly in the forward rectangular part of the cutout. After that, it fits nicely. Unfortunately it has no way of locking into the cutout, but a little blue silicone or what have you makes short work of it. I left it over night and they're stuck on there pretty damn good. You do have to use some eyeballing to make sure you get them straight.

 

I forgot to take a picture of the new light backing, but should you exercise this option you'll find it very easy. Make sure you install the bulb and the socket first so you can seal the whole assembly while you're soldering in wires to the original leads.

 

For light changing I'd be careful, even though I wrenched on them and the silicone seems to be quite strong. Removal won't be a problem, just reinstalling the light socket. I would hold pressure against the light to make sure it doesn't pop out of the cutout.

 

Either way you slice it, it's a very cost effective option and it looks damn nice I think.