Projects What to do with the Hagans…?

When i bought the Merc (-49) i didn't mind the Hagans. Didn't give them much tought but after reading a lot of treads here i hate them… Thanks

Since i have much work left on the car the Hagans isn't my priority but i still like to do something to them without cutting to much.

Any ideas?

 

' 53/54 Ford car headlight rings have a steel bezel you can cut down and weld directly to the fender. HRP

 

You can cut away some of the depth from the Hagans with a cut off wheel, so the headlights aren't set back as far. It looks better that way .


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I had them on my truck when i bought it.....one of the first things to go as well.
I put stock stuff back on, but its a 52 chevy and i dig the stock look on them.
Im with HRP, id get a pair of those Ford bezels and go that route. I actually used them on a 53 chevy i built a few years back.
Gonna take a little work to put the flange back on the fender for the bucket to mount, but worth the effort in my opinion.

Tony

 

My 51 has 53, 53 Ford steel rings welded to the fenders. The trim rings are stock on the 53, 54.


About a weekends worth of work and well worth it to get rid of those god forsaken Hagan rings. Nothing says street rod like a set of those ugly bastards.

-Abone.

 

Here is the only pic I could find.



First, you weld the rings directly on the Merc fenders, them make a transitional filler piece to smooth it together, thin coat of bondo, and you are done. I thought there was a tech article around here, but I couldn't find it.

Good luck, -Abone.

 

Oh well here goes. What the heck is a hagan? did I just date myself or have I had a sheltered life. Tim

 

A local car has Hagans in it and I was looking at it one day. It would take some measuring but I wonder if you could just take the Hagan ring out and replace it with a different stainless ring, one that isn't dished in to cover part of the bulb. What's the diameter of the Hagan opening and what is the depth from the lip to the headlight bulb? If you could figure out what fits in there, you could be the hero of everyone trying to undo Hagans without ruining finished paint.

 

Hagan is a company that makes some "street roddy" type parts. What these guys are talking about are these instant frenched light kits that Hagan sells. You should see the ones for a '39 Chevy! The ones for a Merc look like they cut the bottom out of a medium size chrome frying pan and use that as the trim ring around the head light. K6

 

I don't think there is any way to fix those stupid things other than cutting them off and doing it right.

 

Great car!!!^^^^^

 

here is the stock ford/merc units. I hate the hagans

here is an aftermarket merc "copy " attempt but looks better than hagans

 

The aftermarkets one no longer come with the inner stainless trim so one really needs to find originals these days.

 

You're not alone, Tim. I didn't know what the hell they were talkin' about either!

 

For those who haven't seen Hagan "frenched headlight kits," here's an example.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=374353

 

here's a shot of the hagan frenched headlight UGLY!

 

A couple minutes with a BFH will make them look a lot better.

 

That Hagan junk needs to go straight in the trash......

I use these from Speedway

They are trimable and when installed look just like the '53/'54 for rings on the merc above.
Just got done installing a set on a '48 Chrysler Windsor coupe.

 

Yeah, that's the chrome frying pan look that I was describing. Gross!

 

Man, those are ugly. The rings in post 13 are what I THOUGHT you guys were talking about , that can be trimmed to look decent.
Those Hagans are beyond help.

If you can't find a pair of the Ford rings, the Speedway kit above looks alright to me.

 

The kind of guys that have those on their cars can usually be seen roaming the local car show wearing a Hawaiian shirt & socks W/sandals combination while carrying their wifes purse.

 

If you really don't want to cut them out and put in something else (like the classic '52-54 Merc rings and bezels), your only hope is to find a convex rather than concave stainless or chrome trim ring that will mate to the inner diameter of the fender opening. I think you're going to have to either take some very careful measurements at the next swap meet you hit OR buy a lot of rings until you find something that works.
Start by trying the '52-54 Merc.
In fact, I have a couple laying around. Measure your fender opening carefully and if it seems like one might work I'd be willing to send you one to try if you'd like? I can't imagine it would cost more than a couple bucks to ship one?
If it works you will be the hero of everyone with a Hagan-equipped car!

 

This is what it looks like and it meassures 200 milimeters across.

 

Hahaha , rich , so true. And a lowered Caprice Wagon daily


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I'll measure my rings when I get home from work tonight and post tomorrow to let you know.
It looks like the distance from the front lip to the actual bucket is very shallow - you will have to do some trimming even if the diameter is correct.
If the '52-54 Merc rings don't fit then maybe '54 Ford will. They are very shallow.

 

the 54 ford units are 3 inches long or so, and they are cast pot metal at least on mine. they were a pain in the ass to install. the 53 merc rings are what you are after. 52's are more rounded. 53's are a little longer with less round . 54 fords again are cast pot metal, and a major pain in the ass to do, im not sure on what 54' merc's are like if i remember correctly they are like the 53' merc... the picture is of my 54's fender with the stock 54 ford bezel.

 

Anybody ever try using the rings from a '76/77 Chrysler Cordoba ? They look like they may fix. I had never tried one but always wandered if they would fix the Mercury rings. Just a thought.....

 

These are Mercs done the traditional way.

They are just as ugly as the Hagens.

 

Oooops. .. I just burped a little vomit in my mouth!

 

I am talking about just the inner trim ring, NOT the entire bezel!
We're trying to find a stainless or chrome trim ring that will fit the headlights he already has mounted on his fenders.