This seems pretty telling that you have already made up your mind to do the hidden lights, if it will get past the inspection process in NY!
Can you shorten / narrow the pod? Or find a similar one that is smaller? This might look good. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Why not get another grill-I-O to cut up/mock up some kind of hind away headlights. Looks like all grill, turn on headlights flip the ends of grill to so headlights aren't blocked. Them being some what blocked is the safety issue here from what I see.
Since you want to discuss location, many states have laws regarding the minimum and maximum height for headlights. I would suspect that the ones in your mock-up are too low, but as an experienced NY State participant, you'll know if that's so. I suspect a non-standard headlight, small enough to shine between the bars would run afoul of a state inspectors, but I suppose that would depend on the inspector. I generally find that once they key into one transgression, they generally start looking for more, but your experience may differ.
Are you thinking you're adding aerodynamic improvements to that brick of a truck? The headlights in the grill look stupid. Of course you'll do whatever you want to, but you did ask... Put the stock lights on it and, maybe, buy yourself a nice hat...
swade , My suggestion is to go out to the garage , grab a seat and a beer and just look at your truck. The right idea will come to you and you will be the only one that needs to be happy about it. If some one says it looks street roddey , who cares . That is just a name some magazine guy came up with because the term hot rod had become politically incorrect. As far as this thread is concerned , it has just become another H.A.M.B. pissing match of opinions. Not that the guys who have expressed safety and legal issues opinions do not have merit, because they do. I would have enjoyed your post more if it had contained photos of ideas and conversation of techniques to achieve them . But that does not seem to happen very often on here. Maybe that's why new guys don't hang around to long. best of luck and have fun and be safe! Larry
I like the head lights behind the grille but i also know my ass would get a ticket for it . Now if you make some kind of door for them out of the grille then that would slide sideways or flip up or down for night that would be really cool and legal i believe
Do whatever you want, just remember we are all, in our own way trying to help. The consensus is that behind the grill will be illegal, and not light up the road enough to see safely. Like I said do what you want to do it's your truck.
I am going to eat dinner right now but I got an idea that will give you what you want , be legal and actually add to the Bonneville flavor. I be back on in a bit. So stay tuned. This is what I would do if that was my truck .....
Ok take one bad 51 Merc suggestion and grab a beverage and go sit on a stool looking at the front of your truck. Scoot over where you are looking more on the driver's side hood. Get the vision in your head of 10/12/14 inch bubble blister mounted to the side of your hood, sort of a Bonneville style look. Picture a 46 Chevy truck head light assembly mounted sideways mounted on a pivot when closed looks just like a bubble blister. When pivoted out you have the headlight showing . The light is unobstructed and Bam your good to go. Closed and your styling down the road. Three options to open/ close lights. 1)Manually with your hands , 2) with a push/pull rod actuator inside the cab or 3) with an electric or even air actuator/solenoid inside the cab. Just an idea if you have the room. That's all I have right now but I will keep letting the steam escape under my hat and think about any other ideas to help you out. I like your vision for the truck
One more idea. Maybe if you can find a smaller diameter motorcycle headlight would make it fit and work better/easier.
EXACTLY ! Like I said I've owned this truck over 25 years and I've stared at this blank canvas here since 1994, I didn't just get up one day and decide to change things, I always put plenty of thought into my decisions. I've cut Willy's type of a grill opening, I've sealed it back up and drilled holes, I've sealed it back up, then have cut the whole clip apart and put it back together with as stock grill. I've done more than MOST would do trying different things but somehow some people seam to know more than me about my own damn truck and what style I like. It's a poll about hidden lights or lights out of the hood sides like 39-40 trucks had. If you can't input how to hide the lights or possibly a different light in that hood location then don't look down your nose giving me YOUR opinionated spiel, buy your own truck and have at it !
I like the smooth look. I'm sure someone makes some small lights that would shine between the bars even if you had to run 4 of 'em. As to vehicle code: If I can see what I need to see F'em. But I'm an outlaw by nature.
Try showing a few pics of the whole project. We would all have a better concept to base suggestions on.
I did quite a bit of Google searching on small lights but just didn't see anything that small. I even thought about a trap door coming out of the hood sides with lights behind them but attaching metal hinges to fiberglass parts to hold the weight of the mechanism is a bit tricky. My current lights are Deitz style which are smaller than stock 39-40 truck lights, but not small enough for the hood sides. They would needs to go further back than those holes because of the radiator location. Last week I bent up these stands for the lights.
I like it better without the lights. You could make a removable light bar that slides into a receiver behind the crank hole, but that's probably not a good idea...
I seen a guy with a Bonneville inspired 32 roadster with slip in bars like that. Since it's a one piece tilt front I'm not sure how to pin the bar in the receiver once the front is closed. Then I'd have to make a box in the bed to be able to secure the lights when not in use, which wouldn't be a big deal, more so the pinning part.
No lectures from me. I like the lights in the first photo of the opening post........ because they look good. I don't like the lights behind the grill........ because they don't look good.
Maybe you can widening the holes and use small projectorlights where you have the blinkers. The blinkers should be easy to fit in grille.
I know you covered the NY law but be aware there are also federal regulations in regard to headlight height and position and those are too low in that position. There are also regulation to obstruction of the beam and amount of lumens projected. While most local officers are not conversant with those regulations all it takes is one officer "in the know" that has been to training courses on the relevant federal regulations and you could be in for a bunch of violations or sent to MVD for further action.
Vehicles have a face, they gots ta have eyes. Go with the regular headlights. In a case like this, the hidden headlights make the "face" of the machine look weird and incomplete.
Did anyone even read the part about the headlights being duct taped into place or the part about bending up the model A headlight bar ends ???? Good grief ! Those headlights when mounted won't be as low as my t-bucket, which has been on the road for over 11 years, or this track-t from back in the day which somehow was fine as well.
Your first Picture looks great to me. The size and position look just fine. I’d customize the mounts making them more teardrop shape and chrome them to match the grille and call it done. I’d like to see a nice small chrome bumper on the front too. It’ll mimic the original look some.
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