Milano Headlight - Water Entry Mystery

[Ronald C Coddington <rcoddington@domain.elided>]

OK Alfa geniuses here is my mystery . . . someone may have the answer.

Recently after a wash, the left headlight on my Milano showed evidence of
water inside.  Bad.  I scrutinized all of it that I could see for cracks,
etc. and found none.  So I removed the bulb and with a coat hanger wire
and a couple of clean terry cloths I was able to thoroughly dry the
interior of the housing.  Then I set up a hair dryer to get the last bit
of moisture out.  

Time passes.  After a couple of washes and several good rains water
appears again (makes sense - after all I did not fix anything right?). 
Must be a crack somewhere, so I remove the battery and remove the entire
headlight assembly.  I carefully clean it on the outside and give it a
visual inspection.  No cracks.  All joints/seams where there is sealing
compound look good.  So I dry out the inside of the assembly again.  Then
I fill a sink with water and submerge the assembly up to the fitting
where the bulb installs (bulb is removed at this point).  No water goes
in anywhere.  Then I put my mouth on the bulb fitting and pressurize the
inside of the assembly.  It seems to hold pressure and no bubbles come up
from the water around the outside of the thing.  So I conclude - no
leaks.  

I then suspect that the only other place that water could enter is around
the bulb o-ring.  So I carefully clean this area on the bulb and on the
headlight assembly, coat the o-ring with silicone grease and reinstall
the whole thing onto the car.  

All done.  Problem solved.  Nope.  After one wash and several good rains,
there is water in there again!

In sum . . . any ideas how water is sneaking into this headlight
assembly?  My last guess is that the bulb itself is somehow leaking
either through its integral seal or at the o-ring.  But . . . hmmmm . . .
it looks perfectly fine.

Thanks.
Ron Coddington
Hamden, CT
'69 1750 GTV
'79 Alfetta GT
'87 Milano Platinum (with water-cooled headlight)       
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