Hey, I've been (very slowly) creating a tribute to Jack james' Buick 1957. While a few jobs remain I've been researching the Appleton placement on the car (pictures below). I got myself a pair of original Appleton 552s which I hope is correct for the car. My question is, looking at the pictures, how did they install them? Has anyone come across a guide for late 50's curved windshield install? Early 50s makes sense. But here it look like the spots are fixed against the chrome moulding and that seems wild to drill thru without cracking the glass. Any ideas? Help is much appreciated as I want to get this right as the worst thing I know is badly installed spotlights. Thanks, Alex
They’re through the steel of the body. They might have massaged the trim a bit but remember that that and the seal extend well beyond the glass of the screen.
spotlights themselves are somewhat universal other than the length of the shaft. you would need to find the mounting kit that goes with the car, the mounting kit for my 49 chevrolet had a piece that went around the original stainless trim on the door. there is probably a similar kit for your car.
...here's a Unity kit ... they generally come with instructions and a template for drilling the holes
This job might turn out easier than you were worried about. I'm pretty sure the original car used dummy spotlights. By the late 50's, most of the Watson painted cars were using dummy spots, which were a little smaller than the Appleton 552's.....and didn't have a handle, of course. So, the ones on the original appear to be mounted to the trim, which will only entail lining them up where you want/need them to be, marking the two holes, drilling the trim and mounting them with the two sheet metal screws that come in the package. ps: very excited to see your car! I've always wondered why no one has cloned it....such a great looking car then and now
This is not a difficult job but it's also not a walk in the park either. The main problem you're running into is that you need to drill a straight hole through several layers of metal, ie the cowl, the dash, and the bracing within the dash that typically exists in that area. Being able a shoot a straight hole through all of these layers is ultimately your issue so you can pass the shaft of the spot light through. Here is how I have approached this issue in the past. First, use only the exterior bracket to mock up exactly where you want the spot light mounted. Drill the holes to screw this piece down with the 2 screws. You'll notice that the exterior mounting bracket has threads to mount the spot light. I think they're 1/2 or 3/4 npt or something like that. I then took some plumbing fittings and adapted a 5/16" hose barb to the exterior mounting bracket. Next I got a longggggggggg 1/4" drill bit, which should pass tightly through the middle ID of the hose barb. If it's too snug, just drill it out. Lubricate it with some WD-40 or something, and mount the bracket back onto the car. What you have now is a jig to pilot the drill bit through the body, through the dash brace, and through the dash board itself in one action from the same location from which the spotlight will be mounted on the outside of the car. When you're done going all the way through, you can run a larger drill bit through the holes without the jig. I wish I had some pictures of when I did it last, but it's a fairly easy operation with only a hand drill.
I agree with drdave, Blowing up the photos of Jack's Buick I can see no handles inside the car. I believe these are not Appleton 552's or 512's, they seem to have the shape of the Cal Custom dummy spots that were used on many cars then and now. Mick
If you're needing spotlight advice &/or parts, including the escutcheons, gaskets, et-al; go to Accessoryland. 563/556-5482. In Dubuque IA. He's got loads of Unity spotlights, parts, & brackets from 1930's->present. Very knowledgeable, willing to share info, nice guy. Had a long talk w/him at the Stude Nats meet. IIRC, he bought out all the factory material, was a factory dealer for a long time. Marcus...
I didn’t know Appleton made an application for a 49 chevy, that’s really cool. I’ve had the good fortune of finding nos appletons with templates and drill guide for my cars at very reasonable prices. The spots on my latest car have Firestone logos.
Actually if everyone looks handles inside are plainly visible. They're sticking out of the dashboard at a downward angle
no, the problem is he does not know where or how they mount. I'm sure you could use a Unity mounting kit with an Appleton, or look at the instructions and templates to figure it out.... I could anyways.
Except that pic is from a 57 Ford. I’ve got no idea why he included pics of a Ford in his question about a Buick. And it really shouldn’t matter, because if he is trying to replicate the exact 57 Buick, he should use what is exactly on that car. I trust Mick’s opinion, even if it is the same as mine.
I have not found Unity and Appleton mounts to be the same. If they were, the value of the right side Appleton mounting flange wouldn’t be so huge.
If you decide to use the 552's rather than the dummies, the process is as @57JoeFoMoPar described it. Here's how I did it on my Merc (scroll to about the middle of the page): https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-un-dork-ifying-of-a-merc.678319/page-9 The big difference being that as Joe pointed out, you will be aimed down through the dash like the pics you posted of the 57 Ford rather than horizontally like earlier cars. Also as Joe pointed out, you will need a really long bit. Appletons had at least two different length shafts for different applications depending on how far they have to go for the handles to have clearance to turn. I have two different lengths, one in my Merc and one in my '50 Chevy. Funny enough, I think the longer ones are in the Chevy (I mounted mine through the windshield post rather than through the door as Appleton intended).
Hey Thank you everyone for pitching in your replies. I was after an approach to getting the Appletons 552 installed with the handles included and if anyone had any experience and pictures of doing it on a curved windshield, hence why I included other cars as examples. Anyways, lots of great answers I'm very thankful. Given me the confidence to go with the approach to guiding it through all those layers including the window trim. But yes, I have suspected the Jack James Buick had dummys (if anyone has any hi res images, please post) but I'm doing a tribute and thought 552s would be a fun idea / twist while being period correct as some still ran those. Disclaimer, spent too much money on the 552s to not use them now as well haha. if they look weird and wrong I'll replace them with dummys. Or there is also the approach that The Aztec used which is the Cal Custom dummy housing with handles. Want to believe that's what I'm seeing below but maybe it's just me. Also some images of the car in question in various dusty and dirty states during the build process
Ive looked closely at many photos that I found of his car, and cannot see evidence of spotlight handles inside where it appears that they would come through. Use your Appleton's if you want! If you decide not to, I doubt you would lose any money selling them.
Splendid car!! Ain't no one ever going to say a thing about using a set of 552's instead of dummys....they are going to look great. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the universal brackets can be ground and filed to fit the profile of what they are being mounted to....so they can be rounded to fit your stainless trim.
Remember they had two different shaft lengths long and short. 552's were mostly early and had short shafts
Nice car!. I see templates for mounting spots on ebay occasionally, maybe you'll get lucky and find some. Here's a link to Rik Hovings site Custom Car Chronicles on mounting spotlights might be helpful even though its not a curved windshield. https://www.customcarchronicle.com/custom-cars/installing-spotlights/
Found this pic on Petersen Publishing Archives. It's a 55 Buick. Unfortunately the water mark hides the drivers side.
Awesome pictures, thanks for posting. Really helpful with higher res and seeing the angle being similar if not the same. Need to measure up the length of handles, think they should be fine... but have a few more jobs to do before we get to installation so will take picture and post here when it's happening. Thanks everyone for pitching in, grateful for your input.
Hello, Nice 57 Buick. This is the look my brother and I wanted our dad to do on his blue 57 Buick Roadmaster. It was the last car we used as a family vacation vehicle. We were getting too large to both fit in the back seat for all of those road trip miles. Our mom contemplating her son’s futures… When we were little, one of the things our dad did was to allow us to play with the spotlights he had custom installed in his 53 Buick two toned 4 door sedan. Years earlier, we had gone to Baja, Mexico in his 53 Buick Roadmaster. Driving on dirt paths to get to the little coves and beaches was hectic as there are/were no lights, except for the Buick headlights and high beams. Even with the high beams, the dirt roads were shaky to say the least. The flamed Buick sedan has light brackets and interior handles according to a blow up of the photo and some digital clarity. The angle and chrome particles show it to be in line. When everything is lit up with street lights as in the cities, it was fine. But as one wanders into the beach coves and locations, the paved main highway turns into dirt roads leading back to the oceanfront locations. As one got farther away from the cities, the street lights stopped lighting up the highway. So, driving around at night had high beam lights. Sometimes to show the side road exits, the spot light was used to show the path leading from the paved road toward the ocean. For daily use back in the USA, they were strictly accessories and only used by the local police and CHP cruisers. But, those that had them, used those cool lights for a “game of chase” when families went to the drive-in theaters. During the half-time intermission, the dark screen was lit up with one light. Then within minutes, several more lights and finally a ton of lights lit up the screen, moving all over the giant flat screen in front of everyone. One light follows another and so, the game of chase begins. No one knew who was at the other spotlight car, it was all in fun. Jnaki As teens hanging around at a friend’s house for a gathering out in the street, a local police cruiser usually drove by and when they came up to a bunch of cars, out came the spotlights to highlight the teens and hot rod cars, all sitting legally by the curb. Then, a question or two and the local police moved on to the next hangout. Some custom cars had body mounts and others had window post/door mounts. We would have gone for the body mounts, since the handle on the inside would be out of the way and not interfering with the driver’s position. But, then again everyone has their own place that suits their needs… YRMV
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