Ive been getting alot of hits from ppl on how I did my 55 chevy style headlights on my 54 so here is a quick mini tech on how I did it. I originally thought that I could use a 55 brow cap patch panel that they sell but when I got it there are just too many differences and they wont fit at all no matter how much cutting you do to it. So had to start from scratch. I got a set of 55 bezels mounted them and just shaped the templates and metal around the benzel. You have to mount the headlight bucket from the inside of the fender to flush the lamp with the bezel Once I got the shape I cleco'd the sheet metal to the fender tacked it in then bent 3/16" Rod around the edge shaped and polished. I wanted the brow real subtle and mellow. Just takes alot of standing back and checking out to get the profile. Here is the pics in sequence Hope this helps Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Damn what a great idea. A buddy of mine was wonderin what to do with his. Nice work and thanks for posting it
I did the same thing 5 or so years ago ,but i used the front 8 or so inches of the 55 fender on the 53 fenders.It was a lot of work ,but i also made them point down a bit in the process ,plus i was trying to make the fenders look longer in the process.I never got it totally finished before i sold it ,but i got the point accross..I wanted to give it that sad droopy look.It also had 54 olds fender flares that i welded in an inch lower than the factory opening and a 52 plymouth grill floating with a 56 plymouth bumper and 55 pontiac rear fender flares and back bumper...
very nice job,,,,i've seen that done, and always thought it looked great...you are right about adapting those patch pieces,,its much easier to make them from scratch,,,,,lets see a picture of the whole car........ i had a 53,,,and in my opinion, the 53 tails are some of the UGLIEST tails ever,,,i used 56 buick lee bubble lenses in the rear, and built the rest basically the same way you did your headlights,,,,,,if you like the way it looks, feel free to use the idea,,,,,,(i sold the car)
Man, am I glad you posted that, that's exactly how I was going to do mine, now I know it'll work, those look great!
Looks like a sensible approach. I grafted a big chunk of early Holden guards to the front of my 52. I sort of had to because of the peaks. It was a lot more work though. Still not finished Pete
Nice job, one of the reasons I bought a ring roller is to roll out stock to do things just like that. great to see.
That looks really great. I like it better than "real" '55 parts because it has a little more crisp look. Excellent.
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