motorharp | Replacing/refurbishing vintage lamp plug

A lamp I have started flickering and dimming, and I replaced the light socket, thinking that was the problem. It was in horrible shape - a cheap part made in China that I replaced probably 5 years ago - blackened and corroded. It didn't help (but was probably a good idea anyway), and I traced the problem to the plug where I could kind of sort of maneuver it half in and half out of the outlet and get it to light. Eventually, no amount of carefully jiggling of the plug made any difference. I really like the plug because it's vintage and adorable, and thinking older parts are better made and last longer, I'd simply take it apart and rewire it...

However, it's riveted together. Dang it. I've never drilled out rivets before and all the instructions online start with removing the top of the rivet. Clearly, I couldn't do that because they are recessed. I figured I had to replace it anyway, and if I ruined it, I could just get a modern ugly plug. The same for if I couldn't find the proper size bolts to replace the rivets.

I used a 5/64" bit, going up from a 1/16" after realizing it was too small and wobbling unnervingly. Those rivets did not want to come out either.

Not too bad! I managed to drill pretty straight and not make the hole bigger. The other one was a little more difficult and I ended up getting the rivet part way out, then slicing through the middle of it between the separated halves of the plug with my Dremel cutting wheel.

And what do I find when I take it apart? It's a cheap-o replacement plug! Vintage and cute, yes, but the same slipshod design used in today's plugs. You shove the cord down on some pointy bits and it is supposed to make a connection. Now I get why my light was flickering. You feed the cut end of the wire into the plug and flip down the lever and voilà.

Except not voilà. You can see the poke-y bits didn't exactly poke all the way through the insulation. And there's some blackening on the cord and in the plug.

After getting screws and nuts from the fine folks at Winks Hardware, and after cutting off the used bit of cord, I put this back together to see if it would work.

It didn't work the first time because, as the previous part of the cord showed, the prongs weren't going all the way through the insulation. I took it apart again and stabbed and twisted the cord insulation with the points until I could see a hint of wire in each hole.

I may cut off the ends of the screw flush with the bolts, but that may make them more difficult to put back in.

Now it is working without any flickering. If it starts again, it will be no problem to take apart and make a more permanent connection by soldering or something equally sturdy.