I got my headlight rings in and was looking very close at them and they seem to big. Do they need to be cut down or should they be correct size diameter? The ones I got for my 54 Ford Customline are the 51-52 Merc. french kit. Thanks in Advance.
Why cant you just use the headlight rings that came with the car? I'm not being a dick, I'm just asking....
The 54 ford has slight peaks on the front fenders. Might be a good idea to follow that line through the headlights. 29tudor- The 54 headlight rings are pot metal and can't be welded to the fenders. I've seen a few guys on here french them with body filler, but they will eventually crack in the seams.
headlight rings on the 54's have a small peak on the top and sides ,ive seen the french in kits that also says listed for 54's but never thought they would work since they are round with no peaks and opted to use the stock rings ,a couple guys ive seen have used 3m body panel adhesive to bond them to the car since they are pot metal, I used jb weld instead and also made small L-shape tabs and used screws to fasten them to the fenders for extra reinforcement so far they have been holding up fine been a over a year now , it was a trial on the shitty fenders i have to see if they hold up, when i find a decent set of fenders i have a extra set of headlight rings to do it again if they continue to hold up....
I just used body filler. Did a nice grind out of the groove between the ring and the fender. Used good filler. Been on there 30 plus years. You are taking out the bucket and mounting it from the back aren't you?????
Well most folks could not do it but it can be done,in fact some early customs done by Sam Barris used '54 Ford headlight rims on a number of cars with low heat and lead,but there is a newer process:http://muggyweld.com/pot-metal-repair
LostHope: you are correct, those are the rings I bought. After a try fit on my car they do not match very well. I also found out that you have to take your inner light bucket apart and revers it and weld back in. Now I know why they charge so much to french these cars. I also got the buckets for the rear and had to cut sheet metal to weld in the back with a 3/4 inch hole so that I can insert the turn signal housing.
That's right, I remember hearing that now. Pretty sure the ones on my 52 are stamped steel. Maybe find some from a 52 or 53 versus trying to make a "kit" work.
OK, I got to work on my headlights this weekend and everything went smooth. I cut the lip off the buckets with a dremel tool and filed down the rough stuff. I bolted the buckets from the back of the fender and wired them up. Job only took a 3-1/2 hours to do. I tried to fit those off the shelf buckets from the 50's merc. and I can say they don't line up at all. There would have to be lots of cutting just to try and make them work. I was going to try and use my 54 buckets and just solder them to the body but on the bottom area there is a gap where solder will not fill. I would like to use the 53 rings but would like to know if they have the same peeks on the sides like the 54's do. I have heard that they are steel and can be welded. I am not sure about the 52 year model.
53 and 52 rings are the same and they don't have the peak on the side, so they don't match the 54 fender.
This link to my '52 Victoria project includes a step-by-step of frenching the headlights using '52-'53 Ford steel rings. You can get the early rings to look right on '54 fenders using a dab of body filler to build up the peaks and contours as required. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/g...nid=2841&pp=20 Good luck!
Ok, I tried the soldering and it didn't work ass well as I hoped. The 51 to 52 headlight rings will not work without a lot of cutting. I am now going to try using epoxy like JB weld or metal to metal. I've seen cars with the tail lights frenched the head light rings untouched and it doesn't look quite right to me. Any recommendations on what might work? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
not sure how much difference there is between the two but 52 ford rings are pretty peachy for this application.
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