|
|
How To French Headlights - Head StrongFrenching Headlights with an Old-School Twist From the April, 2012 issue of Custom Classic Trucks By Dakota Wentz
|
|
Here’s the new setup, ’52-54... Here’s the new setup, ’52-54 Mercury rings and bezels from renowned custom accessory super store Night Prowlers. These products will soon find their way, imposing their will on the nose of the ’55. When GM developed the headlight design of the ’55 Chevy, it was all about show and chrome. The design was structured around a lustrous headlight insert that filled a spacious headlight fender opening for a bold look. Albeit the insert is a definitive look of the Tri-Five Chevy, it doesn’t bode well with the customizer. To a customizer, big flashy chrome inserts surrounding headlights are gaudier than the Kardashian’s come New Years Eve! Which means the only cure is to french. One of the fundamentals surrounding the art of customizing is frenching headlights. For those out of the know, frenching headlights is the task of molding in a set of headlight rings to flow as one with the fender. Upon doing so, any seam—or form of chrome adornment—is welded, painted, and disguised as a simple extension of a body panel. For the most part the job is pretty straight forward, but being it was developed in the early days of customizing, the concept ran uncontrolled with an outpouring of ideas on how to french headlights. For some, they simply chose to use the vehicle’s pre-existing headlight bezels and rings, yet others chose rings and bezels from different makes and models. As the fad caught on, customizers soon found certain breeds of rings and bezels were suited for this type of work over others. Some of the favorites were those pirated from ’52 Fords, ’55 Chevys (cars), ’56 Oldsmobiles, ’52 Mercurys, and ’58 Chevys for those after a dual-headlight. Things have come so far from the first inception of frenched headlights that in today’s marketplace several companies offer their own versions of frenching kits. What it all boils down to is there are several ways to skin this cat! Unlike most of the French... Unlike most of the French jobs ya see on the Tri-Five Chevy trucks, these headlights will protrude from the fenders instead of flush mount. Here you see how the new ring substitutes where the chrome insert once was mounted. When scanning the pages of CCT, one would find that frenched headlights are no stranger to these pages. However, the majority of frenched headlights in this realm are of the aftermarket variety, which most commonly mounts the headlights flush with the fender’s cavity. Star Kustom Shop’s latest project, a ’55 Chevy truck, is a throwback to the good old days of customizing and, what custom is complete without a set of frenched headlights? Therefore the ’55 will undergo a french job, old school style. Star Kustom decided to go with a set of ’52-54 Mercury rings and bezels. The Mercury components offer a clean, round , flowing, and period-correct look that will complement the curves of the ’55 nicely. Apart from that, they will also buck the trend of the countersunk look and give the custom a distinguished one-off look. Making things easy is the fact that these Merc products are now available through the aftermarket. Instead of searching swap meets and junkyards a simple phone call will land a set of OE styled Mercury rings and bezels at your door, which means one can get straight to work. Speaking of work, enough hoopla, let’s get the torch! CCT I decided the ring had a little...  I decided the ring had a little too much of a bug eyed look when butted up to the fender, therefore, I decided to remove some meat. Using 3/4-inch tape, I marked off my cut line around the ring, and removed the area highlighted in yellow.  Originally, the ring and bezel...  Originally, the ring and bezel would be assembled off the car, and then the assembled unit would be installed to cap off the headlight. However, being that the ring will be welded to the car, that method is now a no-go, but with a little engineering all will be well again. In order to create a system that works, the actual headlight bucket must first be welded to the fender flange at the fender opening. Before any welding, make sure the headlight is centered in the opening.  The stock method of mounting...  The stock method of mounting the Mercury bezel inside the ring is via a set of clips. Normally the clips would be inserted from the backside, and then the assembled bezel and ring would be mounted to the car. Again, not anymore; so here’s how ya get things to gel. The bezel will now be fastened to the ring with trim screws, which means a set of mounting tabs must be welded at the north and south end of the ring, BEFORE it is frenched in.  Next, the ring, with the bezel...  Next, the ring, with the bezel sitting in place, is centered on the headlight and welded in—or should we say frenched in!  Here’s how things measure...  Here’s how things measure up. Yet again, things just didn’t sit right with me. Normally, the factory chrome insert would fill up more of the hollow cavity on the front of the fender. Without that insert it looked as if the headlight was just popped in place. To fix the problem I’m going to reshape the openings by giving them a shallower appearance around the newly placed ’53 Merc ring.  I fabricated a few sheetmetal...  I fabricated a few sheetmetal panels, shaped to better suit the eyebrow opening to the headlight. Using Cleco fasteners to hold the sheetmetal panels in place, I then welded the panels to the fender.  As mentioned before, the bezel...  As mentioned before, the bezel used to secure to the ring via clips. It’s now impossible to clip the bezels in position; therefore, they will need to be secured using screws. Here’s how it’s done. First, I found this 1-inch brass bung, but a piece of simple pipe would work as well.  Next, I placed the bung under...  Next, I placed the bung under the bezel and punched a mark at the north and south end of the ring. A 1⁄8-inch hole was then drilled at each end.  Using a larger punch, I hammered...  Using a larger punch, I hammered the hole down into the bung. This created a nice counter sunk area for the screw head to mount flush with the bezel’s lip. (This method has things looking as if Mercury had intentionally designed things this way!)  Remember the tabs welded to...  Remember the tabs welded to the rings back at the beginning of the story? It’s now time to line up the counter sunk holes to the tabs and drill another 1⁄8-inch hole at each end. At this point the headlight can be installed.  The last step is to simply...  The last step is to simply place the Merc bezel into the ring and secure it with a couple of stainless trim screws. Simple as that!  At the end of the day, the...  At the end of the day, the result is a set of frenched headlights that are unique, creative, and true to form of a late ’50s kustom.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Thinker??? - Haul Monitor
Ryan talks about the friendly badgering that goes on around the shop and overcoming obstacles that seemly pop up out of nowhere during a project....
more
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|