I want to french in the headlight buckets on my 54 Ford Victoria. The 54 uses a cast headlight bezel. I was wondering if a 53 Ford bezel would be best turned 90 degrees. The 54 has a little peak on the side and it looks like the 53 has a peak at the top. Any suggestions one the best way to address this?
I am pondering using the Muggyweld.com solder to attach them. You can solder/braze cast to steel with it and it has a 350 degree melting point. Might be worth checking out. I am planning on running my car with no paint and want to only use metal body filler.
Then there are these:http://www.butchscoolstuff.com/52-merc-style-headlight-frenching-rings-85-pr-6900/
Thanks Jeff, something does not look right with those in my eye, probably because they are not on a car. I saw a set of 57 Ford Bezels at a local flea market, think I will grab them "just because" I kinda like the Muggyweld idea. Anyone ever do it?
Know nothing about muggyweld on my 51 frenched the headlights, one side mig and on the second side used panel adhesive. Available at any good paint and body supply house, used by all the oems these days bulletproof. Only downside is that it takes a product specific gun. Who knows maybe they will rent one. Its a 2 part epoxy so the cartridges are twins. Easy as pie to use just like a caulking gun, squeeze a bead, and stick it on, you'll be fighting gravity as it sets up so duck tape comes in very handy to hold it in place. Curing/set time varies by manufacturer overnight is perfect for most. Bonus is that they're compatible with all fillers, primers and automotive paints.
I did that swap on my 1954 F-100. went from "bug-eyed" to "frenched" just by swapping stock parts. Not sure if the same would work on 1954 Cars.
you may want to check voodoo customs build on main board he frenched his maybe PM him for details he welded his not sure on rim used but he may be a big help on what rims he used.I find butches look too bug eyed but that's me
Use the 3m panel bond, good stuff. Coin is still in the air on doing bezels on my merc. If you use panel bond, make sure both surfaces are clean, metal to bare metal. The headlight rings("doors" in the body shop world)there is not a whole lot of "panel" surface on the rim edge mating to the fender. My thought was to panel bond and then "tack" a couple of places or run a small bead on the inside seam over the lip to fender after it sets up. However, I tend to over-engineer everything. As far as "pot metal" rings, jury still out on panel bond. I'm planning to use it on the "wing" portion(is pot metal) of my factory hood ornament to create a hood scoop(functional) front lip & see how well it holds, don't see why not. Overall, Panel bond is a great product. Heck, Mercedes/BMW uses bonding material to build their cars., it will hold up in an accident. We bonded a quarter panel on a Nissan at my shop, it came back about 6 months later, hit in the same place & the panel bond didn't let go!! it can be sanded,shaped with a 2-3" sanding disc on a mini grinder. It isn't cheap though!
Dobie try looking at it with your eyes closed it helps a lot.if you have a welding helmet with around a 14 lense I found helps also but that one requires a 50.Jeff you need to beat yourself 30 times with a wide wet noodle for that one
Oh by the way,15K does not include the engine Here are some more pics to check out: https://www.facebook.com/chadmanandbryson/photos?pnref=lhc
They had some fun with him here too: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/stupid-o-t-goofy-and-uncalled-for.882203/page-354
that is as Dobie said much much better.you are on the road to redemption.noodle sales will suffer but better that than we who are recovering from burned eyeballs
I used the stock 53 bezels and welded them to the fender of my car. I've seen guys with 54's use a 53 bezel, or the merc kit that was posted above. You should just be able to recreate that side crease on the bezel.
Really would be surprised if it did, years ago my boy was selling product to body shops and as panel adhesives were new to many of his customers he wanted to have something to show its strength. So off to my shop and the s**** pile. Couple of steel pieces found and cut to roughly 6'' squares. One was was probably 3/16 '' thick the other no more than 18 gauge. In the first we cut a window roughly 3'' square centered in the plate. We then bonded the 2 pieces together nothing more than a bead around the window and held together with a pair of c-clamps. And overnight it sat on the bench. Next day he came over and we tried to separate the the two pieces by beating thru the window with a 16oz ball peen hammer. We did manage to stretch and finally tear the patch after many strikes. However there was absolutely no separation of the bond. All the oems use it in their factories and personally have never heard of a bond failure the metal will rip before that happens.
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