34 pickup headlight bar

gearheadbill

gearheadbill

Senior Member
I understand that talk about cutting up our old cars/parts is probably frowned upon here but....has anyone lowered/dropped the headlight bar on their 33-34 pickup? Since my pickup has been a hot rod since the 50's I don't think another slight modification will hurt and the truck will sure look better IMHO.
 
Not sure if the '32 bar will work or not, but you can buy a dropped '32 bar. If it doesn't work you need to build a jig for the stock bar to bolt on to it. Then use the rosebud tip and your gas welder to heat up the bar. Heat the part of the bar between the headlight cups and the end of the bar. Get it cherry red and then push down. Be sure to have some stops on the jig, so you do not bend it too far. Do one side at a time and the stops will also help keep it even.
 
Pretty sure a '32 pickup bar will not work on a '34 pickup. I have a chromed dropped original 34 pickup bar that came with my pickup project along with a stock one. I have not decided which way to go? A little devil on one shoulder is saying hot rod and my dad the restorer is on the other saying leave it stock.

Make sure to leave your fenders loose before bolting on a '33-'34 pickup headlight bar or it will not fit. If you start looking at fenders you will see where people have enlarged the holes or even drilled a second set of holes for the headlight bar. That is because they tried to install the bar last. Install it to the fenders before you tighten the fenders and fender brackets to the frame

They heat and stretch those headlight bars just like dropping an axle. You need a jig to do it.

There were a couple of articles on the subject. "Dropping the Deuce headlight bar" August 1996, American Rodder and November 1978 Street Rodder. That's going off a list of articles I keep in the computer. I would verify the article is in the magazine before purchasing one just in case my records are wrong and I did not type in a wrong date. It happens.
 
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I bought this stainless bar from Speedway and put a small peak in it. It fits fine.
I made a fixture on my 1 inch steel table and bent the bar forward aboit 1 3/4 inches. It didn't take much to move it the required amount. No heat necessary.
Flathead fever is correct about makng sure the fenders/braces are a bit loose.
My fist attempt at mounting was difficult but when I loosened things up the bar went right on.
 

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Thank you Sheldon,
I wish they were all as easy to do as this one was.
It was an honor and a pleasure to be able to build it.
 
I built the yellow and the red extended cab 34 pu's for Speedway back in the 90's. On the yellow one I used a dropped 32 bar as described above and on the red one I found a dropped 33/34 bar which we chromed. The 33/34 bar fit a little better. Building a fixture to drop your bar is not that difficult.
 
Krylon32 said:
I built the yellow and the red extended cab 34 pu's for Speedway back in the 90's. On the yellow one I used a dropped 32 bar as described above and on the red one I found a dropped 33/34 bar which we chromed. The 33/34 bar fit a little better. Building a fixture to drop your bar is not that difficult.
Click to expand...

Revisiting this thread. Krylon32...would you give me an idea about this fixture; what it would look like?
 
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