I bought a 58 Yeoman wagon last fall to play with, and one of the things I wanted to change was the tail lights. The stockers look like a chrome-plated cat food can, and are potmetal...and wagon-specific. Mine came with what looks like a pair of 58 Impala housings that are a little too small, the studs don't line up, and are pitted. I've looked at several options online, and scoured Flat Top Bob's place looking.....but nothing really lent itself to a bolt-on scenario, so the hunt was on for something to cut up. Yesterday's scrounging at the Fletcher NC swap netted me a pair of NOS 60 housings priced at $5 each, which I negotiated to $4 each. Up the hill, I bought a pair of new GloBrite lenses for $15. Fortunately, when I got home they proved to be the correct diameter for where they mount. First, I marked the housing with tape to chop it off so it would sit flat. Next cut was to remove the lamp recess.... I trimmed most of the flange off the recess, and what was left.... I hammered down flat. This makes the recess fill the hole better and it overlaps the housing a little to hold it in place. I flipped both pieces over and stuck 'em together with a piece of metal duct tape After lining up the screw holes , making sure they were horizontal, I drilled two 1/8 holes in the recess, then rechecked my alignment and drilled thru the body of the car... Dug out a couple plated screws with washers to spread the load, and mounted the housing. Screwed down snug, I marked the location of the screws that hold the lenses, removed the housings, and drilled 3/16 holes for the lens screws. The lens screws are machine thread and tap into the housing, not the body sheetmetal, so 3/16 gives them room to not interfere with the body. And done. Now I'll wire in a couple new bulb holders(the pop in type) and eliminate the troublesome type they came with(like 60-66 Chevy trucks) that usually lose contact after a while when the lead blobs wear. Like the title said, they'll fit "almost" anything with a relatively flat mounting surface....but they're not perfect--there is a gap in the housing in one spot, and I turned it to the bottom....and it's pretty much unseen in this application.(see pic) Sure, I could have been a sheep and bought 59 Cadillac lights, but what fun is that? Plus, everybody uses Caddy lights....they're almost as common as flat black paint. This was done cheaply with new parts, bullet styled, and looks factory, but custom at the same time....well, to me anyway ...and took less time than making this post!(about 15-20 minutes)
Looks great but... With my age and a 108 heat index the last few days, I will be up all night trying to recall what a stock 58 wagon light looked like. yes, google is my friend
Looks good! I like that better than seeing more caddy lights on anything but a caddy... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
LOL Earl...nice treatment of '60 taillights on a '58 wagon...cheap too...!!! I've been looking for a pair of '58 Bel Air taillights to put in the '60 wagon I'm building...but the ones I've found aren't cheap...!!! R-
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