The right side tail light on the Corvair was not working at all. It would barely illuminate and the 1157 style light bulb wouldn’t securely stay in place. The bucket removal itself is sort of tricky. Even though service manual gives the impression that removal is done by removing two base screws.

To remove the bucket assembly the two base screws need to be loosened and not actually removed. Once there is enough play to move and rotate the assembly you can line up two tabs to the access cutouts. This allows you to pull out and free the part.

I made contact with one of the local Corvair Clubs and made arrangements to purchase a couple of buckets with the hope of piecing one functioning part.

The couple parts I got were not in good condition. I really had to use a wire brush to remove the heavy grime due to years of buildup. I lucked out and one of the buckets bulb receptacle still had functioning retracting pin contacts. The issue with my original bucket bulb socket were seized pins. This meant there was no way to have a bulb inserted into the slots.

I will eventually have to replace both rear tail lights as the grounding on these parts go bad in time. It was the poor grounding that caused the lower illumination, I could get full lighting power if I physically pressed on the assembly securing a proper ground.

I can keep trying to fight nature and constantly clean the housing and bucket mounts but a new set will make it painless and more reliable in the long run.