Better check with DMV....I'm pretty sure that the law states that if there is a light in the car it must work of it will be considered as defective equipment and subject to an infraction. I don't know if spot lights in general are legal of not in Connecticut.
thanks. e probably wouldnt wire them because they are most likely illegal here and if the cops did ever pull us over we could argue that they are not in working condition. i know it sounds silly but we'd much rather not draw concern from the state po po's
Man it's your car do what the hell you like! My opinion from what I read on this subject (spots, sidepipes, spinners etc.) is that the younger guys don't get it or like them and get pissed if you put them on YOUR car. I'm an old fart from the 1960's and if you could afford it back then (which alot of us could not) we would do anything to have a good pair of spots, dummy or real and sidepipes were really the frosting on the cake. Any spinners were also almost impossible to keep. I had two or three sets of dummy spots stolen and a couple of sets of Olds and Dodge Lancers stolen,(the pipes were welded on, so they couldn't get e them off) so they WERE popular and I never heard anyone say I should have bolted pots or pans to the car if I wanted shiny things . We old farts don't say your rust finish looks like **** (well some do), but back in the '60's we never let a speck of rust show anywhere even if we had to just use rattle can primer to cover it up, but now the rust and rot are IN to some and thats cool (old fart word again) if thats what you like. If your going for the 50's-60's custom car look, which it looks like you are to me and your not sure about how they will look, just have someone hold a spotlight or spinner cap or sidepipe up to the car and give it a good look before you drop a bundle of cash on them (photoshop works good also). Appletons run $300.00+ for the dummy's and God only knows how much you will pay and where you will find a real pair! My '51 Ford in my senior year (1963) had Dodge Lancers, Dummy Spots, full length sidepipes, skirts, was lowered 4" front and 6" rear, I covered it in pinstripping, and I damn near washed the paint off that car keeping it shiny clean. Even a couple of my high school teachers thought it was the best looking car in the student parking lot! If you want the IN look today maybe chop off the roof let the car rust all to hell, drop it down (with air bags of course), cruise it around at a show with a 6 or 8 of your buddies drinking and poseing and just show everyone how things were REALLY DONE in the 60's ! And by the way...your car looks damn good to me, I was gonna say kool but that would just piss 'em off again Customs are one thing, Hot Rods are another.
KING OF DICE has them for $299.00 a pair they are good to deal with, have been around for many years at the shows on the east coast. They are in VA (804) 758-0776 and they have a free cataloy with lots of stuff!
Thanks! I just, just found them on Ebay. I guess, like everything with cars, its a preference thing and someone is always going to hate something about your car.
I would even argue that the cal custom knockoffs that you can get for under 100 bucks are just as traditional as the Kustom craft ones, if only because that's what most cats would have been able to afford back in the day!I also think they have a smoother bullet shape. Just be sure get the stainless ones so they don't rust. But then what the hell do I know, I'm English and wasn't around back then. Paul
i love the idea of the cheaper cal custom ones but there is something about having more of a "teardrop" shape that i'm in love with. maybe its the farmall tractor thing in me. i should paint up some farmall tractor headlights the body color and mount them as spotlights on the car. they'd be virtually the same thing. If i could find a set of the MOPAR ones featured in the '50 accesories catalog for the car; i'd be in heaven.
Whatever you do..DON'T paint what should be chrome Bumpers, side trim, spots, pipes should be chrome . I found that the bigger Appletons were too big for my car, but maybe they would be OK on your Plymouth. That idea for rusty Farmall headlights would go well with the torched off roof though .
Same goes with Lakes Pipes...blue dots, dice hanging from the mirror, Continental Kits and fender skirts. There are two schools of thought on Kustoms - east coast style and west coast style. I was born and raised in Iowa and we had more east coast style Kustoms running around in nearly any town in Iowa than west coast style...the point is do the car the way you want it and the hell with those that have negative comments. The dummy spots would look good on the car, but if "trad" is important to you, then by all means buy the others. Personally, I don't think they'd add much to the looks of the car --the whitewalls and chrome rims, (or hubcaps) would add much more and pinstripes would fit better than scallops. IF you'd like to see an east coast style build, go here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329070&highlight=the+best+55+caddy+build R-
thanks! the car is going to be pinstripped and it will most likely be done by Charlie Decker. Has anyone used the Unity spotlights? I was browsing them on ebay and i really like the S6's with the short handles, teardrop spots AND theyre affordable!
I'd have to imagine that spots are legal, even here in California, as long as they don't strobe are red or blue or aimed at airplanes. My friends 54 Caddy has one big one on the drivers side, came as an option. Looks cool, have you thought of that? One functional one makes sense to me, unless you're driving a cop car replica. So basically I am saying go for it.
If you don't plan on them functioning as they are intended for, don't use them. Dummy spots are just that in my opinion........dumb. The large hole that you are concerned with can be welded back, and You can have the "real deal" until you decide to do so. My '47 will have wired-up Spots. Just make sure that you do what you want, not what I think or anyone else......You will be the one driving your ride, which is a kool one as is. firstnomad
If you want to be period correct then "real spots" have to be Appleton 112's (for early build styles) or 552's not Lorraines, Unity's or any other Appleton spots. Kal Kustom dummy spots (for later builds) are way more period correct than just adding any old "real" spotlight you can find to your car. Now if you are not going for a period correct work than anything goes.
first off i think your car looks good as is in the photoshop BUT if your going for a period correct custom spots of some kind are almost requisite i dont have a problem with dummys in fact i cant understand why anyone would want the real ones like you said you have to cut the big holes through the car (thats what i dont like) and once thier installed they take up alot of room and look out of place in the interrior im not the die-hard "traditionalist" that most on here claim to be if you like em real or fake run em if other people dont screw em its your car and you wont be happy with it if its built to someone elses taste if your at show and someone gives you **** about your car ask them which one is thier and if they actually have one go over and pick thiers apart....fair is fair right ive been in cars utility working vehicles with real spots all they do is get in the way and unless you like to go opossum hunting what use would you have in the real ones if i was going to build a early 60's-late 50's correct style custom id run the dummy spots (im thinking of running them on my shoebox
well the wallet and bank account is telling us we can't entirely go for period correct. We've done a pretty damn good job so far since the car is very original and we haven't done anything over the top to it...just very subtle things. We've found some very vintage NOS parts and thingamagigs to put on the car to fix it and we're tried to keep it very nostalgic. I checked out the Unity's and there are some vitnage ones that are teardrops with the same type of handles as the appleton spots. I'm just wondering if it's more of a "name" thing. Is the "name" the deciding factor on whether or not it is "period correct" i think if it comes down to it; we're going to have to go for whatever is affordable and whatever is thebest looking on the car. If someone stands up and tells me that the vintage Unity's are OK to use on this vintage car; then i'm game.
kripfink and old skool 51 are right on track being a old fart from the late 50,s there were many customs that had real appeltons that work and ones that they cut the handlers off so the didn,t have to put big holes in the post cause the were against the law to have 2 on a car(in nj&ny where i grew up)so you just unscrewed 2 screws to take them off for state inspection or a cop that was busting balls when the fake cal customs came out everyone started to use them now people want what was then so they think everyone had real and others just like the real appletons all are cool and right and if you want what would have come with it new it would be the unity light they have the top part that says mopar,ford and anyother makejust get the one you want and the dice king is the man to see if you want the cal custom dumbs or the appletons he has both and wayne a great guy to deal with
FWIW I picked up a pair of 6V Unity poice spots that I plan to use on my '53. I'm sure they aren't correct for a perfect period custom, but I like them, I could afford them, and I realy don't care what others say. Personally I rather a real non-cool light to a fake cool light, but what do I know. BTW - anyone know where I can buy 12v bulbs for these - I plan to convert the car to 12v soon.
A factory spot is different than adding spots to a custom car. Guys building Kustoms did not add 451's or Unity's or Lorraines.
i'm not seeing the difference. if they are teardrop, same handles, same similar size...whats the difference? the name?
Maybe you should add some useful info then instead of adding cute emoticons to your posts. 451's are cheap and easy to find and your only useful comment was about not putting spots on due to budget. There is a 451 in great shape on Ebay right now for a starting bid of $75 with no bids so they are not expensive in any sense of the word and they are on there all the time and rarely go for more than about $125.00. 552's and to some extent 112's are way more expensive because that is what guys want to build period correct cars. I am not saying other were never used but what guys seemed to want and what seems to have become the accepted spotlight to use on a period custom is the Appleton 552. I think the difference is the big name builders back in the day used 552's so that is what everyone strived for and it just seems to have become the spotlight to use on a Kustom.
I'm not really into retrospective history lessons from people too young to remember. There's people out there that would like everyone to believe that the Holocaust never happened,but it doesn't make the right. I listen to people like special Ed, you know, people who were there at the time. Paul
Here is a real easy way to find out what they would have run back then: Pick up some Rod & Custom or some Car Craft "Little Pages". That will give you a definative answer as to what they where running back then. Also I run real Appletons on my car, not Dummy spots. However I dont think there is anything wrong with running them if they are done to fit a certain time period time frame. I dont think the Kopper Kart, Larry Watsons 59 Cadillac, Larry Watsons T-Bird or any of the other customs that were built in the late 50s or early 60s that ran dummy spots looked stupid or where stupid for running them.
It's really about personalizing your own car. Some guys add chrome, some guys remove chrome. Asking for opinions is asking for arguments. Popcorn, anyone?
Excellent point. My 55 F100 will have the real ones since the holes are already there. My 51 Plymouth will sport a set of dummies.
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