32 taillight assembly?
- Thread starter jim1932
- Start date
Mike in AZ
Well-known member
hmmm...is it like the '33-'34??....Mike
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/...ics/Flathead_Electrical_rearlmp1933-34car.jpg
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/...ics/Flathead_Electrical_rearlmp1933-34car.jpg
PeteVS
Well-known member
They count on the fasteners crushing or scratching thru the paint. Some cars (with plastic bodies) have ground wires for all the lights, etc in the harnesses. Seems like a good idea to me, but then again...
deuce lover
Well-known member
I have.The repo sockets are terrible,not round and the bulb never is tight-wiggles all the time.Try to find an original out of a junk light,Model A is the same.Drive the old one out from the outside and install the replacement from the inside.
PeteVS
Well-known member
Jim: Just looked at your photos- I didn't see which taillight is the left one with the clear lens for the license plate. (Maybe it's too early in the morning.) Anyway, that lens is on the top? And the two lens screws are biased in that direction? Is it possible that you have the lights mounted upside down? I could be wrong here?
true blue 32 man
Senior Member
Hello Jim Generally speaking the 32 stainless tail lite body is the same as a 30-31 Model A . the model A has the license lite hole pointing down and the 32 has the lite hole pointing up. the DUOLAMP raised letters on a model A are 190 degrees from the license lite hole. The 32 DUOLAMP raised letters are stamped just in front of the license lite hole. So if you turn a model A upside down it will work but the duolamp lettering will in the wrong place. But if you have a old junk model A lite body you can take the sockets and transfer them to your 32. I sandblast them and tap into location ,then silver solder. You usually can find the Model A bodies at swap meets for 5-10 bucks. I have saved quite a few this way as the genuine 32 lite bodies are rare whereas the model A are relatively easy to find, so make geat "donors". I'v done this because the after market sockets are junk as stated in previous posts. Hope this helps.
jim1932
Well-known member
AW CRAP! This car certainly keeps me humble. Some days my brain just never shows up. Only thing I can say in my defense (insanity plea?) is the taillight bracket on my car was broke when I got the car so the plate WAS under the lamp LOL. Totally forgot about the license plate bracket...wonder where I put it.
Dave, I know that for my car the right hand taillight came out after my car was made (mine was around May), but ignoring that, if I read the book right, I am correct in using a regular Taillight housing? Did they do anything at all to block off the license plate light glass?
Pete, The Duolamp is raised on both of mine.
Dave, I know that for my car the right hand taillight came out after my car was made (mine was around May), but ignoring that, if I read the book right, I am correct in using a regular Taillight housing? Did they do anything at all to block off the license plate light glass?
Pete, The Duolamp is raised on both of mine.
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DavidG
Well-known member
Jim,
Two tail lamps are smart from a safety perspective regardless of when your car was likely produced. Both the right and left-hand brackets were in existence from Job #1 as the right-hand bracket was used on RHD cars. It was only the crossover wiring harness that needed to be created to permit the use of two lamps.
You are correct to use the same tail lamp housing for both sides as that is all that Ford released for the '32 models. No block-off was offered for the license plate lamp opening for the housing used on the side opposite where the license plate and its mounting bracket were attached (right side in your case).
You have any number of options, including just letting the license light on the right side shine up on to nothing. Way back when, someone (not Ford) cast the glass license plate lens in clear red and these turn up from time to time at swap meets and on eBay. I would have thought that such a lens would be an ideal candidate for reproduction, but so far I am unaware of it having been done. Another option, is to paint a an original or reproduction license lens red using the special paint I've seen on eBay (and elsewhere) used to restore faded plastic tail lamp lens. It is a translucent paint and it adheres to clean glass quite well. The only difference between doing that and finding one of those old aftermarket lenses is that the aftermarket lens lacks the stippled surface on the inside of the lens.
You may have missed it in the book (page 6-23), but Ford did release a two-bulb tail lamp housing without an opening in the license plate lens (other wise identical except for the absence of the "DUOLAMP" name), but not in North America and not for '32 models. Having encountered a couple of these lamp housings in Europe along with the clear evidence that they had been attached to '33-'34 tail lamp brackets, not '32 tail lamp brackets, I finally ran across documentation of their existence at the Benson Ford Research Center. That documentation confirmed the circumstantial evidence, namely that their use was confined to '33 models sold in Denmark and Switzerland where (evidently) local automotive lighting standards required separate bulbs for the brake lamp and for the tail lamp. (As you may know, Ford switched to a double filament single bulb for its tail lamps starting with the '33 models along with unique right and left-hand lamp housings.)
The reproduction Model A/'32 lamp housing available without a license lens opening and stamped "DUOLAMP" are is product of someone's imagination and not a replica of an original Ford part.
Two tail lamps are smart from a safety perspective regardless of when your car was likely produced. Both the right and left-hand brackets were in existence from Job #1 as the right-hand bracket was used on RHD cars. It was only the crossover wiring harness that needed to be created to permit the use of two lamps.
You are correct to use the same tail lamp housing for both sides as that is all that Ford released for the '32 models. No block-off was offered for the license plate lamp opening for the housing used on the side opposite where the license plate and its mounting bracket were attached (right side in your case).
You have any number of options, including just letting the license light on the right side shine up on to nothing. Way back when, someone (not Ford) cast the glass license plate lens in clear red and these turn up from time to time at swap meets and on eBay. I would have thought that such a lens would be an ideal candidate for reproduction, but so far I am unaware of it having been done. Another option, is to paint a an original or reproduction license lens red using the special paint I've seen on eBay (and elsewhere) used to restore faded plastic tail lamp lens. It is a translucent paint and it adheres to clean glass quite well. The only difference between doing that and finding one of those old aftermarket lenses is that the aftermarket lens lacks the stippled surface on the inside of the lens.
You may have missed it in the book (page 6-23), but Ford did release a two-bulb tail lamp housing without an opening in the license plate lens (other wise identical except for the absence of the "DUOLAMP" name), but not in North America and not for '32 models. Having encountered a couple of these lamp housings in Europe along with the clear evidence that they had been attached to '33-'34 tail lamp brackets, not '32 tail lamp brackets, I finally ran across documentation of their existence at the Benson Ford Research Center. That documentation confirmed the circumstantial evidence, namely that their use was confined to '33 models sold in Denmark and Switzerland where (evidently) local automotive lighting standards required separate bulbs for the brake lamp and for the tail lamp. (As you may know, Ford switched to a double filament single bulb for its tail lamps starting with the '33 models along with unique right and left-hand lamp housings.)
The reproduction Model A/'32 lamp housing available without a license lens opening and stamped "DUOLAMP" are is product of someone's imagination and not a replica of an original Ford part.
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jim1932
Well-known member
David, I did read that in the book about the ones that were made but not for US for 32. Gave brief thought to getting a black truck one and Getting it chrome plated. Still not right but be a cool conversation part.
So you are saying the Brits would be the best source for right hand brackets? : )
So you are saying the Brits would be the best source for right hand brackets? : )
DavidG
Well-known member
Jim,
Every thing is relative and in this case the parts supply relative to the number of cars sold originally, so even though nearly all of the '32s sold in British Commonwealth countries (except Canada) and all of those sold in Argentina, Japan, Paraguay, Sweden and Uruguay originally had right-hand tail lamp brackets, I suspect that your best bet to find an original would still be in North America.
While some of Bob Drake's reproductions get pilloried on this site and elsewhere (and deservedly so in some cases), his recent reproductions of '32 tail lamp brackets (left and right) are outstanding.
Every thing is relative and in this case the parts supply relative to the number of cars sold originally, so even though nearly all of the '32s sold in British Commonwealth countries (except Canada) and all of those sold in Argentina, Japan, Paraguay, Sweden and Uruguay originally had right-hand tail lamp brackets, I suspect that your best bet to find an original would still be in North America.
While some of Bob Drake's reproductions get pilloried on this site and elsewhere (and deservedly so in some cases), his recent reproductions of '32 tail lamp brackets (left and right) are outstanding.
32inxs
Junior Member
After reading page 6-23 of the Ford book and reading this thread, I see that my right tail light is wrong. Is this a 33-34 light or a repop? Thanks for sharing your knowledge because I never would have thought that Ford would have made a light that way. Maybe saving money?
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DavidG
Well-known member
The '33-'34 right-hand tail lamps normally aren't stamped either and given your lamp's lens and rim, the housing looks to be a 2-bulb/2-socket lamp variety like most Model As and all '32s had originally, whereas the typical '33-'34 lamp has one bulb with two filaments and therefore only one socket. The screws retaining the lens and rim on a '33-'34 lamp are exactly centered between the top and bottom of the housing whereas on a '32 (or "tea cup" Model A) housing those screws are closer to the top of the housing on a passenger car bracket, just like yours.
So, yes, I guess that what you have is a reproduction right-hand lamp housing.
So, yes, I guess that what you have is a reproduction right-hand lamp housing.