Customs lets see your headlight treatments

yeah it was there, the original car was built by gene in '56 or '57. my dad is working on gettin the clone done for the Sacramento Autorama.

 

Here is what the original car looked like.

 

great start, I bet Gene was tickled to see that.

Anyone else have hooded lights going on?

 

My god thats ugly. And im a billet grill fan.

 

A little graft job in 40 fenders

 

50 Stude-MIKE

 

'39 Chevys on my '37 Plymouth, gets them down off the radiator, and gives a lower look.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHaaaaa....... are you serious??????

 

X2

 

My Brother In-law built that grill when my dad and him first built the truck because the other grill was smashed due to a deer. That was back in the early 90's and its an either love it or hate it kinda deal. However the truck took many trophies back in the day so that ugly grill must of been liked by enough people. LOL I personally like it some days hate it others. It will most likely stay because its how dad wanted it and I remember when he bought the truck and we built it as a family project after my Grandmother died. Ya'll asked from headlight treatments. Sorry mine don't look like everyone elses. My 54 Chevy truck has the frenched treatment but everyone's seen that. Its so common its hard to call it custom. Its solid cold rolled steel, Not Billet in fact the truck is very anti chrome. not one piece of shiny on it. Thanks for you opinion

 

Yup Dead Serious, Look at the other reply I posted if you like to see the story behind the grill and headlights. You may not like it but you dont have to, And I respect that.

 

cmon guys read the first post please,...... Does anyone else have any tri five chevy lights grafted? Who has info on the headlight rings themselves as far as material and quality for welding on etc.... Whats good to use and more importantly what is not? Does anyone repop the 53 buick stuff?

 

Hey,

I'd suggest you avoid any fibreglass, ''Kitty Hair'' or JB weld mixtures if you deside to go with a die cast headlamp door. "Pot metal'' (Zamac)can be soldered to carbon steel without issues, but over a period of time the fibreglass/putty deal will crack. A carbon steel headlamp door welded to a carbon steel fender will produce the least grief over time!

" Life ain't no Disney movie "

 

Thanks for the input, do you have any tell tale ways for us to determine the difference in the metals while walkin through the scrapyards?

 

Hey,

Yeah, stainless steel is pretty easy to spot, it kinda has a blueish cast to it where as old chrome plated steel will have a kinda greyish cast. A small magnet ain't a bad thing to carry when ''bone yard'' or swap meet hunting until you get better at spotting metals. Die cast or Zamac which is a trade name is made up of tin, zinc, antimony and other alloys of metal and is used when a part is cast rather than stamped from steel, brass or aluminum. Automotive engineers usually call for a part to be die cast from Zamac if the part is small and has many shapes, bends or folds. The same part could be made from stamped steel or brass, but would require very expensive dies, and several ''strikes'' or hits from the forming press/hammer and usually with a cost prohibitive scrap rate for a given parts run. Die cast usually has a ''thud'' sound when tapped with a fingernail & is somewhat soft, like lead which it sometimes contains. Headlamp doors, fender & quarterpanel extensions and trim pieces are a favorite use of die cast on vehicles built in the 50's &60's. I think the '55-6 Fords used die cast headlamp doors as did the '57-8 Fords. Cracked or bent die cast can be repaired, but it takes some skill to do well.

" Humpty Dumpty was pushed "

 

Triumph vitesse lights with T bird trims on MkII Consul that I did 30 odd years ago

 

Mine are '59 Holden (FC) headlights and indicators. I grafted about a foot of fender onto the originals

 

930 Porsche Headlights from the 70's

 

My 55 Fairlane

 

wow those look nice, I'll bet those are easy to find

very different

 

cool i like these. kinda look similiar to 56 olds in that picture

 

They are fairly easy to find over here. Much easier than 56 Olds which are similar, as merc-o-madness pointed out.

 

So it seems as if the 56 ford doors are a bad idea due to being die cast? this was my first feeling about them. they would require a bit of welding overall.

Someone mentioned solder?....

 

Going from this....

to this....

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Quite possibly my new favorite shoebox!

 

btt

 

Bringing this one back up