Customs Hinged tail light/ gas filler?

Im thinking way down the line here, but eventually i would like to hinge a Packard taillight to double as a gas door.

I've seen pictures here(green car/ white roof towing gold hotrod), done a search with no luck, and can find no tech.

My question is how to hinge the light? What hinge to use so it securely stays shut?

Thanks

and as always, pictures are greatly appreciated.

 

not sure if this helps but '49 caddy had a stock hinged taillight/gas door. you may be able to modify it to fit the packard. good luck, jerseymike

 

'56 Chevrolet also

 

You may have to fab something up. I had a 57 Olds that had a hidden gas cap under the taillight was a piece of chrome that swung out on a hinge. Something like that may work for your Packard lamps as well.

 

shouldn't be any great trick to it; just combine the elements involved and fine tune it. deciding on the approach is the hard part IMHO. sounds like a great idea BTW. keep us posted.

 

I built a similliar Setup for my 59 chevy wagon taillight , I have posts on my build thread and I think on my profile as well that might help u out .

 

I'm hinging my Falcon T/L with an 80's Camaro gas door assembly. I'll post pics when I get a chance. The stock unit is junk, and can omly be filled slowly with the pump handle turned sideways.

 

'54, '55', 56 Caddy had hinged taillights, too...making a hinge would be relatively simple...

R-

 

Check out this build thread, he did one on his 59 elky.


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=432618

It's on page 30 I think

 

I used a taurus gas door hinge on my sons studebaker and used a latch with a pull cable to open it. Salvage yards have plenty of goodies that can be adapted for this purpose.

 

Thanks, i checked this out the fuel door build starts on like pg26 or so and stretches quite a ways. He put ALOT of time into that.

I realized after posting that i have a Nash Ambassador tail light that flips up, and i have access to a caddy that does the same. I know what im doing on break tommorrow! haha.

Thing is im building my gas tank from scratch because my original has some holes. The one im building is gonna be out of aluminum. Since the car is going to drag ass im making the lower half out of 3/16, while the top is 1/8. I want to KNOW that a little scrape wont make a big BOOM.

I dont want to use the stock filler neck location because its ugly as sin, and i dont want it to fill in the trunk because of the potential problems that can arise there. So, its either hide it behind the license plate or hinge the tail light.

 

I was thinking of using a modern fuel door hinge, but it would need some girth to it. The Packard housing isnt the lightest thing out there.

Do you have any pics?

 

This is the ugly stock fill location VVV

 

Is it only me or is there something about having electrical right next to the gas cap, that just doesn't jive??? :ee:

 

We'll see what happens.. Definitely going to be interesting.. everytime I hit the switch!

 

sounds like a great idea to me I think I will try that on my roadmaster also

 

Just a thought outloud..
if you do this , isolate the electrical , and add an additional ground
make sure your cap is un vented, vent the tank instead some other location

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458755&highlight=filler&page=5
Found it, Did you use some sort of latching system or a spring to keep the door closed?

Slick set up

 

im looking to do the same on my 54 desoto. the stock filler is horrible to look at. although im using 56 caddy tail lights, which already have the hinge built in.

 

I pulled the light/gas door off a parts caddy today. "Looks" like it will be an easy swap. Just take the hinge off the caddy light and mount it in. Im gonna try it with my stock tail lights first, depending on how smooth the set up works i may decide to use em when i install the packard lights.

 

Hillbilly, I actually haven't gotten that far as to a latch setup yet , but I was thinking something on the lines of a pull style latch with a cable.

 

The caddy one i pulled had an actual push button latch(similar to glovebox door) located underneath it. Looked pretty trick, problem is the cylinder was seized.

 

how about a drawer slide so it pulls straight out?

 

Make sure that aluminum tank doesent hard mount to your chassis, they like to crack because of viabration. Make sure it has plenty of cushin........ I have fixed a few.

 

Copy that. I planned on putting some hard foam between the top and the trunk pan, and between the bottom of the tank and straps.

I realized after i started the hinge setup that this is no different than installing the filler in the trunk. DUH. So i would still need a vent leading out and a non vented gas cap.

I found a hinge at Lowes. It is called a "European hinge" made for cabinets. It is the only one i found that swings out and away when hinged. It also has a spring to hold it open and closed

http://www.lowes.com/pd_67157-89973-P6992-C_4294856658_4294937087_?productId=3102535&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Hinges_4294856658_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr%7C0%7C%7Cp_product_quantity_sold%7C1%26page%3D11