Does anyone have photos of the process to swap out the 1958 Ford headlights for the 1957 Chrysler headlights? Here's where I am so far but some detailed photos would help greatly! Headlight-Small by easyissy posted Aug 12, 2015 at 1:35 PM
I'm having a hard time getting the fitment to look 100%. It may be a job for some filler. Damn, I hate block sanding. That photo is from the 'good side'. I'll post some additional photos when I get home so you can see what I'm referring to.
More pics would help. The way that those are made they always look crooked to me if that makes sense. I have a set for my 58 also and Im still not sure if Ill use em or not.
Come on. Be straight with us. You just want to display your excellent fabrication skill to us. Your teasing us with your super powers.
Here are the photos I promised. I'm no expert fabricator just a novice at this so any advice is greatly appreciated.
Well you'd be making a mistake just using body filler to fix the gaps. You need to build a flange that fits the headlight door just like the one in the Desoto and weld it to your fenders. It also needs to retain the housing that holds the actual light units. That all needs to be mounted solid, then maybe a little filler to clean up the fit some. The easy way to do these is to actually cut a section off the Desoto and graph it to the Ford fenders. The Wizzard
A big problem is that the headlight bucket area of the Chysler/Desoto fender is a notorious rust spot, since mud gets slung up there and holds moisture against the steel. I don't have a lot of advice for the OP, but I do have a pair of headlight buckets and trim for a '57-58 Chrysler.
Thanks for the input. Believe me I wasn't planning on filling it with body filler. The graphing idea is great but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find some donor fenders.
57-8 & 9 Fords all rusted above and below the headlight housings also. I currently own a few of them and have repaired almost all of them. The Wizzard
Decided to take a stab at fabricating custom headlight buckets instead. Just need to start bending the flange. IMG_0902 by easyissy posted May 11, 2016 at 10:08 AM IMG_0905 by easyissy posted May 11, 2016 at 10:08 AM 20160510_204237 by easyissy posted May 11, 2016 at 10:08 AM 20160510_204338 by easyissy posted May 11, 2016 at 10:08 AM
HERE IS A PIC OF MY SHOEBOX WITH WHAT I AM TOLD IS 57 DESOTO HEADLIGHTS I WAS TOLD THE DESOTO FENDERS WERE GRAFTED ABOUT HALFWAY BACK
Just a suggestion for the future for anybody doing this, on the headlamp buckets. Get the headlamp assemblies from some early and mid 60's Mopars. The headlamp mountings and the retaining buckets and rings are all one unit. You can just have a flat area for the back and just screw the complete assy. to it. No need for cutting holes for the buckets to fit into.
The Jalopy Journal
