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Customs Custom guys/ Olds headlight swap

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Roothawg, May 28, 2020.

  1. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,523

    Roothawg
    Member

    Question for the custom guys. What are the olds bezels made of? My 55 Ford's bezels are made from some heavy, non-metallic casting. Just wondering if the Olds are weldable? Or do you just take part of the Olds fenders and graft them on? Just curious what is involved in this swap.
     
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  2. Usually the fender sections from the Olds are used.
     
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  3. The Ford bezels are made of zinc and could be soldered to the fenders, you just can't weld on them.
     
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  4. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 9,817

    BJR
    Member

    Arn't the Olds headlight doors pot metal?
     

  5. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,778

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    you use part of the olds fender and the bezels are pot metal so the remain chromed like Lee Pratt did on his 52 chev


    lee.jpg
     
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  6. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    If you don't have the Olds fenders you could shape that part with small rod and sheetmetal. Finding nice rings that aren't all pitted is the hard part. I found a decent pair at a swap a decade ago and got GOOD money for them.
     
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  7. As others stated, use a bit of a fender or the round rod and shape metal. I remember recently that one the newer custom magazines had a tech article on adding 56 Olds bezels to a fender with round rod, it was either Traditional Rod & Kulture or Car Kulture Deluxe.
     
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  8. arkiehotrods
    Joined: Mar 9, 2006
    Posts: 6,803

    arkiehotrods
    Member

    Talk to @drdave. He probably even has pictures.
     
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  9. mlagusis
    Joined: Oct 11, 2009
    Posts: 1,126

    mlagusis
    Member

    If you look at some of Richard Zochi's cars, when he ran 56 Olds lights, they were trimmed down a bit and looked pretty good.

    56 Chysler.jpg
     
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  10. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,390

    Squablow
    Member

    I believe the bezels are reproduced now, and much cheaper than having a pitted set rechromed. Certainly the easiest way to do it would be to have a chunk of the front fenders to graft in, it's a fairly complex shape, the back sides are not flat and the depth of the bulb isn't even with the back side of the bezel so it would take some work to fab it from scratch.

    Definitely an attractive headlight design though, looks pretty when done right.
     
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  11. JeffB2
    Joined: Dec 18, 2006
    Posts: 9,484

    JeffB2
    Member
    from Phoenix,AZ

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  12. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,523

    Roothawg
    Member

    Thanks guys. Not 100% yet which direction Inam going.
     
  13. Yes, as others have said, the headlight rings are pot metal. Both 55's (without the peak) and '56's (with the peak) are being reproduced and available from Fusick Automotive. Nice quality, I have them on my Chevy.
    http://www.fusickautomotiveproducts.com/products.asp?dept=86&val=2

    When Myron built my Chevy, a friend of his gave him a set of '55 Olds rings, but he didn't have the fender parts. He filled the gap with round rod and sheet metal. When we put the '56's on, I had the Olds fender sections and used the whole top of the fender with the peak all the way back to the cowl.

    18156969_10154720072587462_565692879715952938_n.jpg
     
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  14. Roothawg
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 24,523

    Roothawg
    Member

    Wow!
     

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