Can anyone recommend a quality frenched headlight kit. I understand quite a few of the kits have chincy hardware. I want to make sure I get something that will last. Going on a 54 Chevy Bel air 2dr ht.
Use the original parts,there are a lot of threads how to do it.You'll save money and it will look A LOT better than it would look with the aftermarket shit.Just my 2 cents..
Following on with the above suggestion, the headlight bucket is removed from the font of the fender and reinstalled behind the headlight opening. That allows removal of the bucket for maintenance after a ring/bezel is permanently attached to the front. The choice of the ring is up to you, but several are/were popular. Depends on the 'look' you want. Smooth rounded or deep set headlight. Ray
Here is a link to a How-to. Hope it helps.... Torchie http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1951-buick-frenched-my-headlights-tech.318056/
I did what he other guys said. Mounted from behind. I used some steel headlight rings i found at a swap meet. I believe they're ford. But they dont have the stainless trim rings like the 52-54 do, so i don't know exactly what they're from. Anyhow. Had to trim it down a bit. I shaved my body line off the side when i built my car. But if you don't, you'd have to add that on there as well if you went the same route as me. Heres some pictures. Hope it helps.
Nicely done, Thank you for the pics and info! Will be tackling this as soon as I find a set of headlight rings. Swap meets season is coming up. Hope to score as many parts as possible... reasonably priced By the way, I dig the scallops on your hood. Do you have others?
Thanks, but the scallops were done by the previous owner. Pretty much immediately after buying it i started tearing into it. Its since been chopped, bagged, shaved and finish painted. Heres a pic of it as it sits now. Quite a bit different from when i started.
I ran into the same problem on my 50 Bel air , cheap crap, so this is what I came up with ...57 Hillman bucket, 57 ford outer ring, 54 merc inner ring, and with trim here and a little grinding there now I have a bucket that's easy to adjust and that removes from the front... Sent from my SM-G920V using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Original type parts make for a nicer looking frenched headlight. The Hagen kits looks like a pie tin and is overused.
As I understand it , that's technically a "tunneled" headlight , but you did a heck of a job . Good thinking out of the box , using production parts . It's gonna look nice when it's finished , and I love the fact that it can be removed/adjusted from the front.
Thanks guys..I just work with what I have laying around..once I figure out how I will post what I'm working on. Sent from my SM-G920V using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Stock early french like 49 Ford or Chevrolet and 52/52 Ford and Merc late french, that's it the rest, kits and tunneled, bird beaks etc. is not good for headlights. 52 53 Cad headlight rings look good on 53 54 Chevys as well, buy them and screw them on.