What drawbacks do you guys see to ending the drip rail just above where it ends now. Functionally, do you think I will have problems with water? If I trim it back just a bit I could more easily mount these non-traditional fake spotlights. BTW, everyone please chime in with how you feel about dummy spots. : )
Just make sure you can open your hood! I have seen the "oops" moment when they were mounted too low and the hood couldn't come all the way up. Dummy or not, I think they look neat-o.
maybe dummy spots were not traditional in the forties and fifties, but they were in the early sixties, quite common then on mild customs.
Dummy spots are ok and traditional if they fit the car but I would not cut the drip rail just for mounting them. I don't think it would look good.
Here's just one for reference, but i'd like a close up to see how others have handled the mounting. I have some ideas, like pulling the drip rail up to get the mounting base under it, mounting them and then re-shaping the drip rail down over the mounting base as much as possible. So they actually did put them on cars, and my request for opinions on dummy spots was accidentally submitted without turning on the 'sarcasm' font. Blue Coupe, I checked out your pics of your '40 in your album...very nice. I wouldn't put dummy spots on it .
I like them, but couldn't commit to drilling the holes on my 1953 Chev!! So I shaped & drilled some strong magnets, about 3/4 thick and would put them on at shows. Yeh lame I know!! Drove around at about 25mph and they didn't move, just not game enough to leave them on.
Just as a research angle...how were REAL spotlights mounted on that car?? Unity must surely have made a setup for such a common car, and I think GM at this time used its own Guide rack and pinion spotlights. How did they put them into the limited possible area in such a way that hood, door, and steering wheel all remained functional??
Just be sure you mount them so the stalk is horizontal. I've seen them mounted every which way but the correct way. Some look like if they were real spot lights the handle would be under the dash.
First off, you actually have the brackets on the wrong sides. For some reason, lots and lots of dummy spots get mounted with the stalks facing forward, which as Dave pointed out in the post above, would not actually work if it was a real spot light. They should be mounted with the stalks pointed out at about a 45 degree angle, as if the shafts were going through the post between the dash and the side window. That being said, 49-54 Chevy sedans are a bit of a trick with such a narrow post (convertibles an hardtops have a wider post). The original Appleton templates and brackets actually mount the spots on the door below the belt line....not where we really want them. LOL. On the 49-52 Chevy's I have studied (I have a '50), the spots are mounted on the stainless trim right up tight against the drip rail just above the little stainless corner piece. I see the 53/54 has a slightly longer corner piece, so you might be in just about the right place up and down....so long as you switch your brackets side for side.
Thanks drdave! That isn't exactly what I asked for but that's exactly the kind of info that I was looking for! I want them to be mounted the same orientation that a real spotlight would be. I will be switching the brackets around tonight and mocking up the right way. When done I will post close ups for future reference for others.
I'm looking forward to how they look Scott...I'm facing mounting the spots on my '50 shortly, so have been looking at the same problems.
49-52's had the spotlights mounted on the doors. I'd guess 53 and 4 were the same. I figure if two dummy spots are good, 8 would be even better. I say just mount them at random places on the car.
Same goes for fender skirts. One for each wheel would look better if you ask me. Of course bubbled in front to allow for turning.
DrDave is right, you need to switch sides with brackets. I have a '50 chevy coupe and that's the way that I'm mounting mine. They will look great !
Here's a good pic of Chris Broder's Circle City Hot Rods built '49 with the brackets on the posts but the spotlights not installed. It shows real well where the brackets are mounted. This car having real Appletons, might be mounted a bit lower than you can do with the dummys since the real ones can be moved out of the way to open and close the hood where the dummys can't be.
How far out does the windshield extend under the stainless? I'm thinking that it stops inside that first rib on the stainless and therefore a couple small holes through the upright part of the stainless corner trim would be ok but I dont want to clip the edge of the glass!
I can actually mount all the way down here at the bottom of the post and still clear the hood with the light tipped like it is in the photo. I am leaning toward lower cuz it gives more room on the pillar for mounting. But i want to be mindful of how the stalk would go through the post. I dont think this would be too low.
That last photo looks just about perfect to me Scott. I've heard that when guys at like the Barris shop were mounting spots back when they mounted them lower than the "official" templates put them. On my Merc, I ended up mounting them nearly an inch lower than the Appleton template placed it. So log as you can open and close your hood with them in that lower spot, that's where I would put them.
So, now what to do about the base not sitting down on the post? It sits up on the stainless on one side and the drip rail interferes on the other side. I might be able to get the whole thing on the widest part of the stainless corner molding.
You can file the bracket to fit the contour of what you have there. Maybe rotate the bracket slightly so the top outside edge sits right up against the drip rail. I assume the set came with gaskets to go under the bracket, so once you get the base of it filed to fit, the gasket should help seat it down nice. I wouldn't worry if the bracket overlaps the stainless a little, but it looks like you the way you have it lined up there both screws will miss the stainless and go right into the metal of the post...I would shoot for that if possible.
You have more room than I had on my '51 Scott and as mentioned, I tried to mount them in the orientation of the real thing. I also thought long and hard about putting screws through the corner stainless before I did the deed! As you can see I've mounted mine as low as possible as well and have had no problem with the hood. Dave
Well, after trimming the bases to go Over the raised lip on the stainless and measuring a bunch I popped some holes in the stainless and went to town. I may have some adjusting to do to get them perfectly symmetrical but I'll get there. What holds that corner stainless piece on? My screws only go through that piece and I'm wondering if it's strong enough to stay on with the weight of these hanging on it.
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