I'd like to drop my stock headlite bar but I don't want to screw it up. I've seen an artical somewhere but I can't find it . Any help? Thanks
Thanks Crusty Nut thats just what I needed to know.I didn't want to screw up my Deuce bar by expirimenting.
I didn't want to screw mine up either, so I picked up a totalled one (all bent & twisted up), at the swap meet for 5 bucks, cut the flanges off where the taper is 3/4 inch, bolted the 2 stubs to fenders, beveled both stubs, took the ORIGINAL bar & laid it on garage floor & with soapstone, carefully reproduced the original arc of the bar on the floor. Using a 36 inch piece of 3/4 round cold roll bar, heat to DULL RED, bend to desired shape (arc) on garage floor, let cool, determine how much drop you want on each side, heat offset to bright red & bend, repeat for other side, keeping both offsets in line (not twisted), let cool, have someone hold the NEW bar next to each stub on fenders & mark with soapstone for an overall fit, cut the new bar 1/8 short at each end, & leaving that gap, tack weld each end to each stub,keeping the new bar the same distance from front of grill that the old bar was. Now, weld all around both stubs/bar,with headlight bar bolts slightly tightened to keep in place, let cool. Remove NEW bar, install OLD bar, tighten again, Using an angle finder, place it on the old bars headlight socket & lock down the original angle, & DON'T MOVE IT!! Determine distance from bar flange to center of bucket, repeat opposite side measurement, Again, exchange bars, re-tighten bolts,with soapstone mark center of bucket each side on new bar. Go to old twisted (bent) bar & cut out buckets on both sides, (mark Left & Right), grind a big bevel on both ends, now go back to NEW bar & mark the ends of bucket stubs on the new bar, measuring from bar flange to center of old buckets, with flanges firmly bolted down to fender cut the new bar loose on outside marks only, now with someone holding bucket & angle finding device, keep a 1/8 gap & tack weld once, making sure angle device matches original angle, tack weld again, Repeat other side. NOW, measure between the 2 buckets & see if it matches the marks you made earlier (remember to cut the new bar 1/8 short on each end for welding!). After making those 2 final cuts, (& beveled) have someone hold the NEW BAR in alignment with both buckets, holding the bar original distance from the grill, Tack weld one end & check everything for looks, etc.---Then tack weld the remaining end, check again, then weld all 4 joints around both buckets. let cool, then remove from fenders, if you need to add more weld on bar at this point, now is the time to do it, grind the welds gently so as not to make any "Valleys", finish off with a flat mill file, & you are ready for paint OR chrome!!! In my case, all the ready made dropped headlight bars were 2 inch drop, & I wanted to be different, so I made mine a 6 inch drop!!! You can see it in my photo.-------------Don
Man-O-Man, if I posted a reply on this board every time I learned something....The HAMB would run out of band width...Thanks, Rick.
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