39 1 Ton headlight bezel question

[NCSUDucker]

So back last summer I hit a pothole pulling into a gravel drive and one of my bezel popped off, unfortunately I didn't notice it until I got to my destination. I found it but had clipped it with one of the tires. I can most likely bend it back but just in case I ordered a set of Bob Drake chrome replacements (mine were painted) The opening on the reproduction was almost big enough to slide the retaining ring and headlight through. For that matter of positioned right you could have. I took some pliers and did a little bending all around the inside to make them functional. Were the headlight buckets on the 1 ton larger than the 1/2? I'm going to try to fix the original but was just curious.

Thanks Brad

 

[ActionYobbo]

Have you got any pictures of these parts? On my 39 truck the bezel contains the headlight retained by 3 wire clips so if the bezel was to fall off the bezel and light would be hanging by the wiring or the whole headlight would be gone and just the bucket with the headlight plug would remain. So I am having a hard time understanding how you only lost the bezel.

 

[NCSUDucker]

I'll try and take some. There is the outer bezel (painted) an inner ring which has to be put on before the light is plugged into the socket that holds the headlight against the bezel that is held in place by those 3 wire clips. The spring and latch for the bezel was not functioning correctly causing the bezel to fall off along with a broken wire clip. The headlight was dangling by the socket and still had the inner metal retaing ring around it when it happened. Oddly enough there is a small bulb on the socket and I'm not sure why as the buckets are solid so no light would shine thru if those bulbs were functioning. Granted this isn't a concern, just a weird finding.

 

[Karl Wescott]

Does your truck have seal beams? Do your rims have a rolled inside edge? If so then you likely have 1940-41 truck headlights. That same light was also used on cabovers 1940-47. There were a lot of NOS 1941 military rims around for years which were painted.

 

[ActionYobbo]

What’s the number on the top of your headlight bucket?

 

[NCSUDucker]

I'll look this evening.

 

[38bill]

Can you post a photo of your bezel and bucket? I still have several different bezels that came with my truck back in 1999.

 

[NCSUDucker]

https://scontent-atl3-2.xx.fbcdn.ne...1gd-N-sQjDCPXAv92wkQ5d_uQTBdA-z6g&oe=69393C4D

So you can see how the reproduction does not fit well. It doesn't fit well on the bucket. I took a picture of the top but can't read the number. I was thinking there were only 2 pieces, the bezel and the headlight retainer ring. But there are actually 2 retainer rings. There is a small one that the light fits in and should seat inside the opening of the bezel while the other ring sits on the back of the light and what the retaining spring clips attach to. While we're here, you can see the random bulb that is inside of the bucket. I'm trying to bend the original one that is messed up back out and see if I can rob the spring/T clip that holds the bezel to the bucket off the repro but getting it bent back to shape may not be possible.

 

[Karl Wescott]

Right reproduction part... Wrong original. The headlight is 1940-41 Truck... And a great replacement when you want to run seal beams bulbs rather than the original reflector/bulb/lens set up.

 

[NCSUDucker]

Right reproduction part... Wrong original. The headlight is 1940-41 Truck... And a great replacement when you want to run seal beams bulbs rather than the original reflector/bulb/lens set up.

Makes sense and would explain the interior bulb as it would have thrown light on the parking lens of a 40 car/truck, correct? Now the problem is finding a set of bezels for a 40 big truck....lol

 

[51504bat]

Right reproduction part... Wrong original. The headlight is 1940-41 Truck... And a great replacement when you want to run seal beams bulbs rather than the original reflector/bulb/lens set up.

And if you can find the headlight stands from a '40/'41 big truck or a cab over up to '47 they have parking lights you can use for turn signals.

 

[fordyford]

What I see in your pictures is a 1939 truck bucket with an aftermarket sealed beam conversion kit. Original head lights on 1939 did NOT have sealed beam bulbs. Sealed beams were first used in 1940. Owners wanted to have "state of the art" lights and bought a kit to update the truck. Kinda like today putting in LED to replace dimmer technology. Many different companies offered their own design kits, some better than others.

This basic metal headlight bucket began life in 1935 and was used with some updates until 1947 on cars and trucks. All of the buckets had the same dimensions and rings will interchange. The rings came in many variations. 1935 thru 1939 had glass lenses held in to the ring with wire clips. Beginning in 1940 with the new sealed beam the ring was only a trim part and not a functional component. These kits used a mixture of parts to adapt for sealed beams. The random bulb you have was the updated park light formerly installed in the 1935-39 cone shaped metal reflector.
Rings came in painted or stainless for the 1935 car or truck, 1936 car, 1936-39 truck, 1940 big truck & COE, 1941 big truck/ COE, 1942-47 Big truck /COE. Any of these will fit the bucket but have different size front openings . I just noticed your picture shows a bucket that is double stamped making it hard to read.

 

[NCSUDucker]

Thanks for all the input. The bezel ring definitely does not seat all the way on the bucket. I'll see what I can find along with seeing if I can't reshape the original painted bezel.

 

[Karl Wescott]

And if you can find the headlight stands from a '40/'41 big truck or a cab over up to '47 they have parking lights you can use for turn signals.

A note on the park light. While the rim and lens are unique to the trucks, the internal housing and light socket are the same as the 1938-40 passenger oval dome light.

 

[Dec211975]

I bought a pair of Headlight rims 48-13045 from Bob Drake when they first came out ( seven or eight years ago) and they are too tight to fit the headlight buckets 1/2 ton pickup. I picked up some originals at a couple of swap meets and they fit fine. I should have returned the ones from Bob Drake but I still have them. If I remember correctly they were about 1/8" too tight