cowl light wood blocks

K

kocon

Junior Member
I installed cowl lights on my 31 A with a kit from Mac's. the wood blocks they sent to install behind the brace are loose and just rattle after I tighten the lights. Are they even necessary?
 
kocon said:
I installed cowl lights on my 31 A with a kit from Mac's. the wood blocks they sent to install behind the brace are loose and just rattle after I tighten the lights. Are they even necessary?
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Yes, otherwise it will dimple the cowl band and sink in the cowl panel if they are too tight. If they are too loose, the cowl lamp will rotate just by slight hand pressure.
 
Needless to say, the reproduction blocks are not very close to the original. The ones I have seen are of uniform thickness, whereas the original is tapered and fits snuggly inside the bracket.
 
Mine (from a well known vendor) didn't fit either. Obviously they should fill the space between the cowl panel and the inner bracket. I'll make some that fit myself. Stupid me thought I could save an hour of work by buying the blocks. It's unbelievable how the repo manufacturers can screw up even the simplest of parts......
 
When were these blocks used??? When i was restoring my 180A [MID 1930] I was told by a very good reliable source they were not used..... so i left the repro's out....
 
Peters,

I have problems seeing how you can do that and get the cowl lamps sufficiently fastened without bending the cowl panel.

peters180a/170b said:
When were these blocks used??? When i was restoring my 180A [MID 1930] I was told by a very good reliable source they were not used..... so i left the repro's out....
Click to expand...
 
eystein said:
Peters,

I have problems seeing how you can do that and get the cowl lamps sufficiently fastened without bending the cowl panel.
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I wish someone would take the time to install cowl lamp arms without the gas tank in place so they can see how they work. The blocks are not needed with original parts and were NOT used on most cars. I believe the only cars that ever had them originally were Murray bodies. There are none on my low mileage Briggs bodied Fordor as well as many other unmolested original cars I've been involved with.

There is also a SLIGHT possibility that Ford used them on the line on a rare occasion if they went to install a cowl lamp and found the cowl assembly was out of spec and there was insufficient space between the the cowl skin and cowl strainer (horizontal brace). In this case there would be a space or gap between the cowl skin and flange on the arm an look a bit "unsightly". Pushing the block between the strainer and skin would force the skin outward to butt against the flange on the arm. With that said, there is no Ford record of the block on file so I really don't believe it was a Ford item.

I suspect some of the problems described that indicate the need for blocks are entirely due to the use of poor reproduction cowl lamp arms. With original arms you could cut a large hole in the skin (or remove the skin completely) and you would find that the cowl lamp arm is securely attached to the cowl strainer. It will not wobble and would require notable force to even rotate it slightly.


CarlG said:
I had to shim the blocks to make them tight.
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That illustrates my point exactly. You're arms tightened up properly without depressing the cowl panel and the block was doing nothing.
 
I went one further ..I knew when plating the original arms might build up some plating on the tips of the arms??? So i took a file before plating and hit the corners somewhat just in case it might cause a problem when installing them,... Also you gotta watch when restoring the cowl band "if dented" you don't stretch the stainless steel to bow out.
 
heres how they fasten to the cowl bracket
they have nothing to do with the cowl panel
the nut pinches the arm to the brace very securely
here are views from all angles inside and out
like Peter said ,you must adjust the arm to fit the cowl and band
the brace may be bent in due to someone hitting the lamp
my A400 never had them and it came with 1952 plates
ive seen very few installed out west on original cars
tom
 

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I measured my old cowl blocks the were in my 31 S/W 160B when I bought it. I am not sure if they are orig. or not I also have a new set from Snyders for comparison.

Old New
L 1.775 1.770
W 1.800 1.830
Taper top 1.045 .900
Taper Bottom .940 .750
ID .870 .870
Top to Center
Line of hole .955 1.015

Length of cowl are post (lip to end) 1.050 1.035

Pict are not that clear but may help
 

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My 160-B had very original-looking cowl blocks (i.e. shrunken and cracked). I make a replacement set from a piece of oak, and tweaked the shape so they would just fit between the cowl brace and the sheet metal. But Marco is right- the mounting bolt should pull the end of the lamp bracket tight against the cowl brace without the sheet metal getting significantly compressed against the block.

http://31ford.dougbraun.com/All_Photos/IMG_4270
 
I wonder if the wood blocks were used to protect the body as the hole was drilled in a post production instalation? Bob
 
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