The cable connection access panel is on the driver side front of the trailer next to the battery box. I disconnected the old cable. Then I did continuity tests from the access panel connections to each running and brake light socket. They all checked out! I was very happy!
There was one original running light lens still on the trailer. This poor guy was in terrible shape:
Faded, cracked and brittle, but lucky for me. With an original I now knew what to look for when ordering replicas. Vintage Trailer Supply offered the exact replicas in both yellow and red. I ordered a pair of each, red for the rear and yellow for the front.
The bulbs for the running lights were hard to find. I wanted to use LED's but because the originals were not a common size I could not find any. Had a hard time finding incandescent bulbs as it was. I finally found a supplier through Amazon. After cleaning out the bulb sockets we were in business:
The rear light lenses are original. They show their age a little bit but are in working order. No need to replace them. New bulbs and they were ready to go.
The original license plate light is a Bargman Trail Lite. The old glass piece in it was broken and the fixture itself a bit corroded. A little elbow grease with some #00 steel wool made it look like new. I ordered a rebuild kit for this model tail light from Vintage Campers. The kit includes a hand blown glass insert and an LED light. http://www.vintagecampers.com. Soweeet!
For all the lenses I tried a couple of different gasket materials but they leaked. I finally used butyl tape to make a seal, works great and allows the lenses to be removed easily if needed. Butyl tape is a great product. The old tape I removed from my window cleaning was still flexible after 50 years of harshness.
If you get nothing else out of these blogs, please DO NOT EVER use silicone to attempt sealing anything exterior on any trailer. Not windows, nor seams, nor lenses, nothing! Silicone is not designed for this purpose, it is meant for your kitchen or bathroom. I don't care if you saw someone on tv, You Tube, or at your local RV dealer use it to seal lenses or windows. They do that because they are either clueless or cutting corners. They are not the ones who are going to have to try to remove the lenses for a burnt out bulb later. Don't take my word for it, do your research.