Re-popped Appleton dummy spotlights...

[133]

what are your thoughts about running these? i've seen pictures from the old days that had cars with dummy spots on them. just curious to see your input.

one more thing, anyone know if i could french '54 Chevy taillights into the fenders of my '51? thanks.

[RocketDaemon]

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one more thing, anyone know if i could french '54 Chevy taillights into the fenders of my '51? thanks.

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you can do anything if you just put yer will into it http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[low springs]

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one more thing, anyone know if i could french '54 Chevy taillights into the fenders of my '51? thanks.

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you can but i personally discourage doing that. why not go with putting them in the bumper instead. the lights you have now don't look to bad. maybe spread them a little further apart and french them in a bit. so they stick out so much. just my $.02

[daign]

Chrome doodads are bad. Unless of course you can blind the guy that just cut you off with them. Appletons that work are supercool.

Dummy spots look just like they're called. Dumb in my opinion.

Find a set of cheaper non appletons off a cop car and call it a day.

[lownslow]

just leave the spotlights off.....the whole point on a custom is to lean the lines up not to interupt them with chrome doodads.....i have heard them described as chrome pimples on a fine chicks ass....

and the tail lights i agree wih lowsprings on putting them in the bumper or in bumper guards........

[Donzie]

See, this looks awful!! I wouldn't be caught dead riding around in a car like this, with all those do-dads and gee-gaws hanging off of it......oh, wait, that's MY car!!

Check out my web site, there's a ton of pics of '49-'52 Chevys, maybe you'll get some ideas.

[Smokin Joe]

Oh Boy! Now they're making fake, dummy spots? Yea!
Get some curb feelers and chrome your skirts while you're at it. I hear they're making those big stick on "Laugh In" daisys again too. Boy, ain't Kustomizing neet!

[lownslow]

no offense donzie.......did i miss something somewhere ? when did you get that car ?....i love fleetlines.....now take those pimples off . http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[52Chief]

I have to agree that dummy spots are dumb. If you want them, get real ones, they sell them at truck stops too, (real working ones that is).

[Psycho78]

as for the 54's.. here's some examples....
not 54's but on the bumper

[Psycho78]

here's one w/ 54's

[Psycho78]

here's one with shoebox lights.... this is one badass 51

[Kartsa]

Yeah,they sure look bad.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/Kartsa/148976271GyDHLV_ph.jpg

[lownslow]

psycho,
that 2nd pic look cool.....any you could show him with the lights in a bumper guard......but that pic looks bitchin.....i may haveto change my vote........but i stand behind my feelings on the spots ......

[Psycho78]

those last 2 pics have got to be some of the best damn 51 chevys I've seen. I dont see the purple one around much anymore. I think he 's from the Nasty Jacks.. The last one is Frank Epstein 's he works at Epstien Mufflers in Montebello. an old school lowrider shop. I think the shoebox tailights go a little better cause they are shorter but the 54's look kickass

[Smokin Joe]

Love the backwards plate in the second shot! OOPS! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Trying to go Aussie on us?

[Psycho78]

heres a quick photochop.. w/ lights in the bumper... i used the 54's but they looked ugly..so i shortened them to look more like shoebox lights...

[FONZI]

133,
I think the taillights you run kinda depend on what era/style your car is going to be. If you are doing a 50's style custom then i think the dummy spots look ok as they are some what traditional for that era. (Although I also prefer working spots) along those lines I also think that lake pipes fit the 50's era cars. I am doing my 51 60's style so u will find no dummy spots or lake pipes on it. I was going to run my tailights in my overriders but i thought the look was to 50's for my car (almost 40"s) style. If you are interested I still have the overriders and lens' i was gonna put together for my chevy. They are 54' front overriders and round red glass lenses from a 41' plymouth. They would look good on a 50's custom.


FONZI

[steevil]

kind of a nice touch but I prefer REAL ones. I'm not big on the fake stuff.

FYI, check yer local laws first.

Conversely speaking I happen to have one original working one. I'm told my local po-po doesn't care for them though

[Justin415]

Theres nothing better than cruising through the city backstreats and alleys lighting up the crackheads or junkies as they perform their circus acts. Or catching them mid shit or back alley bath buck naked like a spotted hyena with sores. It's the joy only a functional spot can bring.

[Sailor]

The classic Appletons wasnt dummys as far as I know.

Also; I think we have had this exact discussion about 100 times. The only new thing is the pic of Kartsas perfect kustom. Looks like a car Sam Barris could have built, -and that includes Appletons for crying out loud..

[plan9]

it almost seems like different parts of the country people tend to have more gimmicks on their rides. to every school of thought, theres an infinite split in successive thoughts.

none are right, and most assuredly, none are wrong.

personally, i like clean lines, if something needs to be put on it should actually work.

[leadfoot]

I was going to run my tailights in my overriders but i thought the look was to 50's for my car (almost 40"s) style. If you are interested I still have the overriders and lens' i was gonna put together for my chevy. They are 54' front overriders and round red glass lenses from a 41' plymouth. They would look good on a 50's custom.


FONZI

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Excuse my stupidity, but what the hell are overriders?
I have a '52 Chevy and am very curious as to what you mean.
By the way Fonzi, I think your car is really cool but Karsta is the tits!
I was planning on running either dummys or real spots on mine.
I want to change the tail lights but haven't found anything I really liked yet.
Thanks for the info, Mike.

[alchemy]

Overriders are what the VW-schooled guys call bumper guards. Just the short vertical kind, not the kind that wrap around the license plate like a '49 Chevy.

[hotrod54chevy]

personally,i like dummy spots and i run them on my car..functional spots are cool if you can get a set,but i had trouble drilling 2 SMALL holes into my car,let alone any big ones! lol but not to say it shouldnt be done.i like how it looks and i like that it give them a purpose,i just havent done it..as for the 54 lights,i like how they look,but i dont personally like how they look frenched..unless they're frenched and peaked or you dont leave out the peak that the stock bezels had..i dont really care for them when they're just frenched into something without those nice flowing lines..just my personal thoughts
creepy

[Kojack]

Damn, that last black Chevy looked sweet.

[Psycho78]

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Damn, that last black Chevy looked sweet.

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That's the 51 that Hollywood Hot rods did up. it was featured in Rod&amp;customs how to section.

[RPW]

Spotlights do give an important part of the taildraggin speedboat look and the spotlights on a custom is just an accessory for the looks, never to be used as working spotlights (that’s uncool, as it gives the car wrong lines...).
And as you said: Even in the 50´s there was dummies with the look of Appeltons. Dummy Appeltons can be OK in this case even if real Appeltons are preferred. But there are dummy spotlights and there are ugly stupid dummy Spotlights, and even worse: there are people that use wrong but working spotlights and do use them as spotlights...
The Kustom Kraft Reproduced Appelton dummies is OK to me, they look great. But the wrong shaped cheap dummies that many use (I guess they are only a few percent of the price of real Appeltons or even Kustom Kraft’s dummies) is just waste of metal. The same goes for use of "police-spotligths" on customs.

[abe lugo]

Hey man, I'll put it this way opinions are like assholes, you know the rest. I am working on two rides and on of them is a 40s style custom, I would run them on that style car. Also the style dictates weather you need them or not. If you are going for the barris custom look, I would run spots. If you have read "customs of the fifties",and not just jack off off to it like much others on the board, Andy Southard states that real appletons were rare in the late fifties. ( hence running dummies was not an unusual thing to do, sort of like running a fucking carbon fiber hood when you are driving a piece o' shit jap car). so don't be afraid to run dummies, besides all you have to do is get dummies, then go on ebay and buy some appleton handle parts and make a dummy handles to mount on the inside, I bet you a hundred bucks the no motherfucker will ask you to actually make them work. In fact they'll say ooohh!! he is a goldchainer that can afford appltons. Also when you got to "rad rod" shows in LA you can see a lot of half ass attempts to have appletons, sometimes you see the spots installed with a shaft and they still need the handle. Check on Ebay sometime you see actual appleton 112's for sale on there and you can get them for a decent price. I know those appleton dummies run about 350 or something like that. so your looking at about 600 for the real deals on ebay. Just take your time and make sure that adding these are fitting to the style you are looking to eminate. Hey I'm no car designer but atleat I'll give you some facts and tell it the way it is. Sounds like some of the responces are really saying " I don't like them, because I can't or Don't... fuck it if you want them, you want them . If you dont , you don't. done deal. make sure to shop around!!!

[randy]

I wonder how hard it would be to make functional Appleton's out of the fakies. I'm sure it could be done... Hell, it probably has been.

As for the DUMMY vs. FUNCTIONAL debate, it's already been said. If you're trying to get the 50's (K)custom look, then they would probably fit the theme. If you look at mid fifties car mags ( I'm sure you have) you'll notice spots on practically everything. Good or bad, it was done ALOT 'in the day'.

-r