32 headlight bar

hb32

hb32

Well-known member
Trying to figure out why my headlights don`t seem to fit right on the bar and pointing up. Turned it around but very close to grille. Can someone tell me the clearance I should have between bar and grille?
Thanks
 
The first and most common design bar fit real close to the bars. Later bars had a curve to move them out. A lot of grills are worn from the bar rubbing.
 
Thanks for the quick reply Andy.
How close is real close? I can barely get my fingers between the commercial grille and bar.
 
Don't know about the commercial grille but on the passenger grille the "close" version is about 3/16" the "wider" one was about a finger's width.
 
OK and looks like the previous owner installed it backwards to mount the Model A headlights. He also enlarged the holes to fit square shank carriage bolts.
 
The original bolts were special and had a carriage bolt type head BUT they were angled or the head was angled. Hope this helps.kc
 
Kerk said:
The original bolts were special and had a carriage bolt type head BUT they were angled or the head was angled. Hope this helps.kc
Click to expand...

That I did know kc. Were the holes in the bar round or somehat matched to the head of the bolt as well?
 
Andy said:
The holes in the bar matched the bolts. It is kind of football shaped.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
Looks like I should have bought the one that just sold on the barn last week :o
One more thing to add to the list.
 
The clearance on my 32 BB is 3/4 inch between the headlight bar and the commercial grill. It is possible however, to mount the bar backward and to have the lights pointing up (don't ask!)
 
The easy way to determine which way the headlight bar goes on is to look at the hole for the V8 emblem. The holes have to be lined up vertical for the V8 emblem to fit properly.
 
On my deuces the mounting cups have a forward tilt when mounted properly. Both cars have dropped stock bars. I have several spares and with the bow toward the front the cups tilt forward to allow headlight alignment.
 
I believe that you can obtain the correct special bolts from Michael Driskell at 3rdgenautomotive.com.
 
Newdeuce303 said:
The easy way to determine which way the headlight bar goes on is to look at the hole for the V8 emblem. The holes have to be lined up vertical for the V8 emblem to fit properly.
Click to expand...

Mine is a commercial "B" without an emblem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top