Thread: Followed Me Home II

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I've hesitated to post on this build thread for quite some time, but today I finally got over a hurdle and decided to try something totally different for my headlights and decided to give it a shot.

Several months back I swapped the fugly aftermarket Chinese built chrome headlights for a pair of '34 commercial truck lamps that I believe fit the application better. I want them low & tight, but the IFS really gets in the way. Can't mount them out more without hanging them more forward, and can't move them back without raising them three or four inches. This is what I ended up with as a start, knowing that this is just the initial placement and some tweaking will be required. I'm still toying with the idea of a pair of brackets that would drop them down another inch and move them outboard about 2" or so, but it might put them too far forward. I don't want to see daylight from the side between the back of the lamp housing and the grill.

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Roger,

Are your headlights at least 24" from ground to center? That's another of the arcane Kansas statutes.

Just trying to save you from some "fun" at the inspection station.

.

Ya want em like this Roger?

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

Roger,
Are your headlights at least 24" from ground to center? That's another of the arcane Kansas statutes. Just trying to save you from some "fun" at the inspection station.

Thanks, Jack. On the '33 mine are 21" from grade, and they never even looked at them. These measure about 19" to the center, and if they get dinged I'll throw on a set of SOCAL hiboy mounts that raise them up.

Originally Posted by DA34GUY

Ya want em like this Roger?

Don, That's about exactly where they're sitting, but maybe a couple of inches inboard. And yes, I've got a single fog/driving lamp to put on the spreader bar, too....

Very COOL looking cars guys !!!!!!!!! I want one !

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

Roger,

Are your headlights at least 24" from ground to center? That's another of the arcane Kansas statutes.

Just trying to save you from some "fun" at the inspection station.

.

You beat me to it Jack!
Roger,
I don't know the finer points of law regarding placement of lights in the various States, but I do know that the initial (so called) 'lo-light' Morris Minor was banned from being imported into the US because of this very issue...hence the hi-light model in '51.
So I would be wary of placing them until you know what regulations are appertainent to you...there's always some pedantic bureaucrat with a ruler and a notebook in his pocket looking for something/someone he can pick on!

Roger that will be a very nice look, also like the center fog light, different, yet cool.

That looks good, Roger.

After thinking about Jack's post with the link to the KS statutes regarding headlight height, I think I'm going to get the beast down off of the dolly's with tires on grade and see how far I'm off of the statute correct 24" to center. I may just take a crack at fabricating some stands that put the lights at about 24.0625" and see how they look there....

I like where you have them. Ya know, you could use some taller tires for during the inspection............... (Don't flame me too bad, it's a joke. )

WOW! Nice build!

Been busy on another project, but today dropped the '32 down off of the dollies and the headlights are 18" from grade to center, 6" below statute. Took one off and played around with it a bit, and I think I'm going to invest in a pair of SOCAL's Hiboy Headlight Mounts to raise them up and also to shift them out from center a bit.

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The more I looked the less I liked them tucked in so tight to the middle, and there's simply no room to move them out due to the IFS A-arms unless they move up. SOCAL now offers their stands with 5/8" cups to fit the '34 Commercial lamps without drilling, which is another bonus. RichB sent me a link showing modification of the SOCAL mounts, including drilling them out for hidden wires - thanks Rich!

Today our temperature got into the 40's so I got in the barn/shop, made a pair of 5/8" plugs for the holes in the frame, and proceeded to see about fitting the new headlight stands from SOCAL to best clear the IFS upper A-arms. Three photo's are 1) frame mount w/1" spacer; 2) one high, one low to show the difference in spacing; and 3) the new SOCAL mounts spaced out & up.
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I like the fact that the SOCAL mounts get the headlights out to the point that the whole grille shows from the front, and they clear the IFS by enough to allow full adjustment of the front end alignment. And just to clarify, the center of the headlights is 22" above grade, so I'll still be 2" below the statute minimum height, but very nearly the same as the '33. I'm happy with the result.

Overall I agree with your choice on the mounts.. it seems to "clean up" the grille, not so "stuffy" if you will.

Wish "our" temps would get to 40... minus 8 here this morning and my shop ran out of heating oil.. been quite a few years since we ran it out of fuel!

Roger: Those lights are looking gooood.