Illumination and safety mods on my 65 C10

[car10107]

Since I bought this truck, the left front turn signal and right rear taillamp would stop working intermittently. Then a couple weeks ago, I slowed for a yellow light and heard the guy behind me almost plow into me. He said my brake lights were barely visible in the sun so he didn't know I was stopping. I compared to my other vehicles and the rear lights did leave a lot to be desired.
I decided to make some repairs and upgrades. Found my front signal didn't work because the ground tab on the socket was not making good contact with the housing. Also found the PO had painted the insides of the front and rear housings with white paint which I know helps make them reflective but he had not done any prep or priming so it was a mess. I sanded all four housings smooth, primed them and then painted with gloss white enamel. I ended up replacing both front sockets, cleaning the rear sockets with a battery cable brush, replacing all bulbs and lenses. In the rear, I went with an LED upgrade bulb. At this point, the lights were all much brighter especially the rears with the LED upgrade. It's hard to show in a picture but the rear lights are literally night and day different now. The LED bulb doesn't even look like a bulb as it has no glass but it sure is bright.