Tech Week....Eye Surgery for the 53-55 F100 Grilles

My current build is a 55 F100. One of the things that I personally have never cared for on the 53-55 F100s is the bug-eyed look of the headlights. I have read discussions of using the 56 F100 headlight trim rings in the 53-55's but I've never seen any details on exactly how it was performed. So this is my approach for using the 56 trim rings in the 53 grille that I intend to use.

I initially did a lot of over-thinking about how I wanted to go about this. I duplicated the original headlight openings on poster board and applied some dimensions to work with.







The 56 ring won't fit flush into the opening without some surgery.



I found that the 8 1/2" dia. shown in the drawing would allow the trim ring to sit flush in the opening.

I made a poster board pattern that had a 9 1/2" outer diameter which is equal to size of the headlight housing and a 8 1/2" inner diameter. I lined up the 9 1/2" outer diameter with the headlight housing and taped it down.



After I got the pattern located I marked the cut lines that would allow the ring to sit flush.



Take note that the 8 1/2" dia. will leave a portion of each of the 4 depressions in the opening after the metal is cut away.



I decided to use my trusty 4 1/2" grinder with a 60 grit flap disc to remove the necessary metal. As I noted above after cutting away the metal that there will be a portion remaining of the 4 depressions that located the screw clips used to hold the headlight buckets. They came in handy for me in locating the headlight bucket and maintaining the correct orientation of the bucket so that the headlight fits correctly.



At this stage I decided I would weld in some tabs at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions that would be used to hold the trim ring in place. Just some simple sheet metal tabs that I pre-drilled and used J clips to run the trim screws into. I welded the tabs in using the wag method to determine the angles they needed to be located at.







I really tried to make recessing the headlight bucket difficult, but after a little thought I came up with this. I made up 4 angle brackets for each bucket out of 14 ga steel. The 1 1/2" measurement locates the bucket at what I felt was the best depth.



I located the brackets at each bucket mounting hole as shown and drilled holes and bolted them in place.



I failed to get a photo of this but I assembled the headlight into the bucket with the retaining ring and did some checking as to where the brackets would line up with the depressions that I referred to earlier. Some minor tweaking of the brackets were necessary to get everything lined up and centered in the 56 trim ring.



This is where some extra hands could come in handy. I just got comfortable on my shop stool with my mig gun close by and I did some trial fitting and when I had it right I did a quick spot weld and rechecked my fits. Once I got all four brackets spotted, I rechecked my fits and when satisfied, I welded all 4 brackets solid.



I smoothed off the welds and assembled everything to see how it turned out.



For comparison I assembled the other headlight in the stock positon.



Both lights finished and assembled.



Wish I had a photo of the grille assembled on the truck but at the moment the truck is torn all apart and the best I could do was sticking the grille in the tilt front end sitting in the floor. Also another modification that will have to be made will be an indentation in the air deflector to clear the headlight bucket after it has been moved back in the headlight opening. If you happen to have 56 air deflectors, they already have the indentations.





Drew

 

Awesome look!

 

I'm liking that!

 

that looks great , i will deff be doing this to my 55

 

Okay Dont flame me. But I saw this the other day.

 

That looks great. The only problem with doing custom work like this,(subtle) is not many people notice, but the ones that do appreciate it more.

 

Very nice outcome. They look much better that way

 

Great job man!

 

thats real sharp

 

Great writeup Drew!! definately one mod i`m going to do to my grille!

 

Great tech!
It should be a requirement to put 56 F-100 headlight buckets on every 53-55 F-100 and every 57 Ford Fairlaine that rolled off the assembly line.
Larry T

 

Looks killer.

 

That's a real pick-me-up from the Hagan's tunneled with a dinner pot look.

 

Get a rope.

 

I like it but those modern tri bar head lamps ruin it for me, I don't think those look good on anything.

 

I must admit , I am the owner of a stock somewhat now restored 53 panel. yes , the 56 headlight doors do enhance the overall appearance . Course the aftermarket lights do too! scrubba

 

Great work, looks better, I think with some stock headlight bulbs it would look perfect !

 

The headlights were just some that I had picked up at a swap meet. I just needed something for illustration purposes.

 

A question came up regarding how much of the headlight bucket protrudes out the backside of the grille.



Approximately 3/4" and yes it will require an indentation in the 53-55 air deflectors. In my instance I have the 56 type which already have the necessary bulges.

Drew

 

Really sharp. Good thinking.

 

Cool, rad, Lucas Flamethrowers would be amazing but hard to find.

 

Nice subtle details are always cool.. Good Job

 

I was just about to perform this same mod on my grille. Thanks for the write up. They look great!

 

love it, showed it to friend now he wants to do it.

 

Looks good! Good tech too

 

How about a pair of "proper" Lucas P 700 tribar reproductions?



You can get them over on your side of the pond from here;

http://jollyrogersmotors.com/node/63

Great tech piece.
Good luck
Paul

 

Drew another great detail to your truck,adding to the rest of your trick details that you have already done with your truck. Keep them coming!!
Great Job!!

 

A definite improvement for sure! I never cared much for the '53 -'55 grills for this very reason. You got my vote in tech week. Eli

 

Nice I'm gonna have to attempt this

 

Next on my "To-do List"! Thanks, man!!!