Hey guys, When Briggs & Stratton casts a cylinder, there are these pieces that are left from the die that caught my eye one day. So, here is what I did with a couple of them. I milled off the long bar, chucked'em up in the lathe and this is what resulted. The lenses are from Napa, and I machined a recess in the ID for a spring clip that I made to hold the lens in place. The piece in the background is what it looked like before (well, after I broke off some extra stuff), and is also one of the pieces that I'll use to make the rest of the light. I have already milled the face of that part and filed it all flat, now just need to finish milling all the corners round and some slick fins in the back of the arm. I took 1157 LED lights and removed the cards from them so I can have a lower profile, and I'll mount them inside. I'll post more pics as that part takes shape. That is if you guys are interested. Hey, one step closer to having a Chevy-proof, billet-proof hot rod! Ray IronHunter Rod & Custom
Lookin good, Ray but they'd look even better in the rear pan of a 26-27 T coupe. Hey! You could use the busted-off pieces for a whippy tailight stand or a mirror mount. I imagine you have access to about 23 milloin of these things too, right?
If you go to a trucker supply store, they have all sorts of lenses like those in different styles and colors, pretty cheap too. Her's a few links my husband has, (he's a truck driver), just surf around to see some differnt styles, both LED and non. http://www.pinklightning.com/panelite/lites.php http://www.grandgeneral.com/ http://www.atwchrome.com/lights.html
Looks like you could also turn those things into some pretty cool and unique inside door and window crank handles....
Thanks fellers for the compliments! rdstr31...thats a good idea! I gotta keep that one in mind, thanks! Rocky, yeah there are baskets of those things and no one has a problem with me taking a few here and there. They do melt them down and reuse them, but as long as I don't go overboard there hasnt been a problem. Its nice to have a piece of cast to work with and not feel guilty as if I was using billet Fraz...lemme get mine done and then I'll see what I can do, ok? Yorgie, I pitched the boxes, but I can get that number for you tomorrow. I gotta stop in there and I'll make a point to get it. 52chief, we have a Navistar dealership here that carries all sorts of neat pointy lights. Some look like the 59 Caddy lens, and in red or amber. As you stated, they are very low-priced. I think the ones I got from NAPA were about $3 each, and the ones I have gotten at the Navistar are cheaper than that. Here is another style that I use and I have been selling a few of them. The lenses are from Navistar and I think they were about $3 each. They were a complete light and I had to remove the lens with a Dremel, but then PVC cement will set them up tight to a piece of PVC. The housings are made from a PVC couple and a PVC cap. I turned the cap on the lathe to center the hole and cut the chamfer for the bulb holder, then turned the coupler to fit inside the piece of tubing. You weld in the tubing and then slip the light assembly in the tube and tighten up a setscrew. They use LED 1157 bulbs, but I can do them solid state with no bulb contacts to corrode.
and here is a slick little tool that I came up with years ago to draw the hole for a tunneled light or antenna. No matter what the angle of the panel, you can get the right shape of the hole without guessing and cutting out a bunch that you dont have to.
Thanks...glad you guys like that. I knew if anyone could appreciate that, it would be HAMBers. Yorgatron, the NAPA part number for the lenses is 680-2001 and they are a whopping $1.39 each. Damn, cheapest parts I've bought for a hot rod in awhile. Here are a couple of the lights that the NAvistar dealer carries here. They are made by Trucklite and are a big $3.50 each. They are a bit longer and look really slick tunneled, even better in pairs. You gotta cut the plastic base off them though because they are sealed with a little Mickey Mouse bulb in them. I use 1157 LED bulbs behind them because of the heat.
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