I am finally getting back to working on my mercury. I have welded up the front seams and removed the turn signal lights. Now I am getting ready to put in a grill, either the '54 Pontiac or an early Desoto. What options are there for front turn signal lights? I have checked out several pictures on the HAMB and over at carnut.com. I like the clean look of no light below the headlight but I have a couple of lights that I picked up at a swap meet and could recess them in a piece of tubing where the original light was. Let's call that option 1. Option 2 that I have seen is to put the lights in behind the grill. Would there be a problem to see the light from an angle other that straight on? Option 3, I mentioned to the wife that I was going to use the highbeam of the headlight for the turn signal and she said that people would not care to have a highbeam flashing at them. I saw that idea here on the HAMB site and thought it sounded good. Who does it this way and do more people flip you off because of the high beam flashing? So, what are you doing for front turn signals or what have you see? I will try to attach a picture or two of where I would like to get with the car. Thanks. Neal Note. Yes, I see the turn signal light on the Desoto grill pictured below. Do not care for the look but is an option (No. 2). I am leaning more toward the Pontiac grill.
Run the tail lights in the rear bumper guards and run the front turn signals in bumper guards or in one of the teeth in the grille.
Were yours frenched in below the headlights,mounted on the surface, or in the grill opening? I have some nice lights that are about 3 inches in diameter. When I bought them I thought that they would work for the Merc but now after welding the patches over the old signal light holes, not as sure that I should break up the area visually with the lights.
I already put a pair of Caddy lights on each side in the back. Ya I know, nothing too innovative but I figured everything has already been tried on a Merc and I like the looks of the Caddy's. I thought about putting the lights in some bumper guards but currently I wasn't planning anything on the bumper. Idea was to keep the horizontal lines of the bumper, grill, and grill surround continuous without anything breaking them up. How about cutting something into the bumper? No LED lights. Has to be traditional, you know. Neal
I am in the same situation now for my 50....I like the looks of some of the chev backup lights ..simple round with nice little chrome bezel..I think these would look good in the original turn sig location...My opinion Lowlidx50
Use the grille in the blue Merc, add amber Caddy bullet tail lights where the bullets are on the grille bar.
There are 7" headlamps available from hot rod parts companies that have the turn signal bulbs within the headlamp. A lot better alternative to using the high beam. They come in different configurations. Alden
Option #2 - Hide in in the grill opening. Like 00 Mack said, keep it invisible until you activate it.
Use the 54 Pontiac park lights if you are gonna use the stock 54 Pontiac grille. Will make the car look wider and lower.
Thanks for the comments. I now need to do some more digging in the different options. Will check the headlight with turn signal thing, see if I could stick a light in the end of the grill while keeping the look that I am after, and still have the swap meet lights. Neal
Yes, another option. I have considered that too. I have a '54 Desoto setting here. I would need to shorten it up and then the size of the parking lights seem to distract from the teeth of the grill. Just my opinion. I think I am going to fix up a Pontiac grill with bullets and then go from there. Stick the grill in and look for a place for some lights. Will post a picture when I get that far but don't hold your breath, may be awhile. Thanks again for the help. Neal
How about modifying the bullets to accept round park lights? Too bad the park lite lenses couldn't be red.
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