Hot Rods 1926 Model T Headlights- Conversions?

Help the original poster with the "both" solution. I suspect others would like it also. Thanks.

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With that opinion, it can't be too soon.
The OP can run a fucking search light on his T if he wants to, I don't give a shit. I was just trying to give him suggestions to HELP him. How much of your kind of bullshit helps him? I understand, and respect the HAMB for being a place where like minded guys can get help with problems, and share their experience. Lighten the hell up.
Sorry for the rant Ryan. It just upsets me when a legitimate question turns into a pissing contest. I'm done now.

 

Got a hunch you aren't, but F&J is. Damn shame, he is one of maybe three guys on here that I can usually count on to be able to answer my technical questions...
Gotta wonder which is longer...the list of guys (and girls) that really "got" what this is about that have left, or my "ignore" list.

 

Didn't, know headlights could be so offensive. Maybe I left my high beams on when I went by you


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I'm running Halogen bulbs with chrome reflectors and stock lens on a Model A (second car done that way) and have had good results. To adjust your lights set the car on a level surface, measure the center height of the headlight and set a flat surface 25 feet away from the car with a tape mark at the headlight height. When you turn the lights on the center of the beam should be set at the mark, done this on several old cars and motorcycles. The center of the beam will show as a bright line.

 

What is the old saying: "Better to light one candle than to curse the dark?" In the late '60s, I drove a '29 A coupe all over Kansas City for two years with the original lighting and 6-volt system. I revere the traditional, but want my current hotrod to be safe and give me the best lighting possible for everyone's benefit. If that means I have non-traditional choices that are safer, I'll mix as much of the traditional with safety as possible. I've put too much sweat into my hotrod not to be able to use it after dark.

 

the best solution to the problem was F&J's. those original style lenses were meant to spread the light out, on roads without street lights. the driving conditions in the twenties were darker, a drivers eyes adjusted to the condition and the light from those lights were fine. "brighter" night time driving conditions now make those lenses hard to adjust to. i know, i use a halogen bulb behind my old lenses [1939 G.M.C.] and had to add a set of driving lights to "even" the lighting out. if i was to rely on that truck as my only vehicle, as before, i would swop to seal beams........i just can't see as well in the dark as i used to.
or you could add some driving lights......

 

ohh, i forgot to add that i did make an inside plate, that i riveted to the reflector to block the upper part of the reflector to stop the light from being projected upward. it seemed to help.

 

you are wasting your breath, they cant get that stuff from Speedway or So-Cal...

FWIW, heres my traditional, PERIOD CORRECT sealed beams I picked up on Saturday for my T tudor...


Frank, you may be gone, but your spirit lives on baby!!

 

no breath wasted, i typed it.
nice lights.

 

They are pretty decent, they need some minor bodywork, but not bad. Bought 'em from HAMBer, F-Head at Monroe.

 

in the deep end of the pool..........lights=$100, 2 new bulbs=$20, new stainless carriage bolts=$10, new S.S. screws and bulb sockets/pigtails=$15, sandblasting=$20, body work and paint=$180. $345 and you can see. hmmmmm

 

math, smath... I'll do the bodywork/paint myself, and they'll be painted at the same time as the car, so that's a wash...

 

Dietz, King Bee, Arrow; Just picked up a pair of Arrows (Pr. o' Arrows, Arrow pair; Make my roadster look so fair)
Turlock swap, $10! Guy had King Bees, Dietz...wanted $100 for King Bees.

 

I think $100 seems to be pretty much the going rate for King Bee 100-101's. The 6" 98-99's are cheaper, I got a pair of those for my T-bucket, I think I paid $18 for one, $26 for the other.

 

In 1964 I mounted sealed beam bulbs behind the lenses of stock 26 T headlights simply by welding three small tabs inside the headlight buckets to hold the sealed beam bulbs. I think it was technically illegal in California at the time but it worked well. In my current Model T build I have mounted halogen bulbs behind the stock lenses adapting the aftermarket kit from a 28-29 Model A to fit the nickle plated stock T reflector and I think it looks a lot better.

 

Those reflections are really nerve racking sometimes.

 

I just roll the windows down to drive at nite. Tilt the windshield a little and no problem

 

Of all the things that get discussed on here that aren't even close to fitting the "Traditional" aspects, THIS is the one that gets panties in a wad? Stock, original, Headlights, whether they were the "Cool Kid" choice or not, were most definitely on many early hot rods. Not everyone could afford to run down to Western Auto and buy King Bees et al. Not to mention, is that really much different than the bitching that is done about buying new ones from Speedway? There weren't a bunch of Used Old Lights like that around - they were aftermarket parts! WOW.
That sets the bar really low.

 

Nice spin, you should be working for the Clinton campaign. IN FACT, what happened here was a bunch guys started spouting bullshit that sealed beams aren't "Traditional" and they got their collective asses handed to them which they should. Get a grip.

 

Nice Spin? Bull Shit. Ned didn't say they weren't traditional he said he thought they sucked and that lens and reflector were superior. Show me where in your quotes that any reference to sealed beam Not being traditional exists. At beat Osage maybe infers that if they aren't traditionalhe doesn't care - that's a few hundred miles from saying they aren't.
Sorry George, but you are the one playing Spin Doctor on that point.

 

Bottom line, Frank is 100% correct, theres a coup d'état being conducted by the street rod guys on here. That doesn't really bother me, hell, I like street rods too. But one thing I have NO TIME for is duplicity, if this is going to be a street rod forum, then it should get the hell out of the closet and be one.

 

Bolded it, did that help?

 

You are really reaching there - he says "If that means I have non-traditional choices that are safer, I'll mix as much of the traditional with safety as possible." IF is the key word here, he does not say they aren't he says that IF someone thinks they are he doesn't care. Sorry, not the same thing. Frank got his panties in a twist over something really stupid and it got out of hand. As Ryan says, this is SILLY. I'm done.

 

Good, then why did you show up and post that on this thread in the first place, the shitstorm died out a long time ago. Why start it up again, why not just let sleeping dogs lie? Don't poke the bear...
I am not the only one that is pissed that F&J left because he is sick of the history revisionist bullshit that seems to dominate here lately, I am just the most vocal. Trust me, there are a few guys that are not at all happy about this deal...
I tried to talk Frank down a bit if you choose to notice. This thread was more of a "straw that broke the camels back" for Frank, he just got fed up with the "history revisionist" bullshit on here. Guys claiming that sealed beams aren't "traditional" was the last straw for him.

 

the proper answer to this question, on a traditional hot rod site, is sealed beam conversion. it is the solution to the problem post 1940. was it always done? no, they dealt with shitty lights. did they run the old lights for looks? yes. lots of stuff was border line, hell T's didn't have front brakes.
post 1965 solutions shouldn't be argued on this forum. like Frank said "go away"
wwwhatevrbilletbullcrapMIIrackapinto.glom for that stuff

 

Sorry to see your question and plea for help caused such a Turd Toss.

Here's a thought that you might've missed.... Try aiming your lamps by this basic method.
Measure back 25' from a white garage door or wall. Set your lamps at vertical and measure up from the ground to the center and transfer this number to the wall. measure from lamp to lamp centerline and transfer this to the wall also.
Now you should have a horizontal line on the wall representing the basic height of your lamps and two small vertical lines representing the width of your lamps. Find the center of these vertical marks and mark the wall then drop this centerline straight down to the floor and run it back to the 25' mark, keeping it 90 degrees to the wall.
Park you car with the front edge of the lamps as close to the 25' with the centerline of the car directly above the centerline on the floor. It's important that the centerline of the car be exactly the same as the centerline on the wall.
With the headlights on low beam move the right bucket so the beam is about 3"(+-) below the horizontal line and slightly to the right of where the vertical line intersects it.
Do the same with the left bucket only leave it just below the vertical mark.
On high beams, the lights should shine right where the vertical and horizontal lines intersect. If they don't, move the buckets till they do and recheck the low beams.
If this gets you closer to where the lights should be then test drive around the neighborhood.

If your bulbs/ buckets are good your headlights should be pretty close to aligned.

Remember....The great the rake your car sits on the more 'tilted back' the headlights need to be in order to be aligned.

 

Well, I certainly apologize for having inadvertently started this shit storm. I had no idea that I would end up wounding Frank, mortally it seems for his HAMB purposes. It wasn't my intention.

What I will say is this: you can see "traditional" in terms of detail accuracy or in terms of a technological ethic. Yes, sealed beams were what were available and therefore what you saw. But sealed beams were also one of the earliest instances of an approach to technology which would eventually dominate the era in which we live now. That was what I meant by "the beginning of the rot". It was part of a rising current which, it turned out, was at odds with the current which characterized the "traditional" era, which, I submit, is the reason a lot of us are interested in the era in the first place.

The sealed beam was a presence in the "traditional" era but as a technology it didn't sit comfortably or naturally in the technological context of the era. "Traditional" technology is about things which can be taken apart, which consist of lots of separate and relatively simple parts, which may require periodic adjustment but which can be repaired, often using fabrication processes outside the strict realm of manufacturing. Modern technology is about sealed units with finite, predetermined "service lives", things tending to be one complex part which can be replaced but not repaired. It's as if the OEMs are falling over themselves trying to make an entire car one single part. It's what pisses me off about modern cars and the reason I much prefer the older ones.

That is why, museological accuracy notwithstanding, I won't run sealed beams - though I'd readily run visually similar lights with discrete bulbs. But I don't expect everyone to see it this way.

 

Lighten up. I get really tired of "traditional only" police on the site...talk about haters?