46/47 taillights on a 32

3

3W Hank

Well-known member
I had 39 ( sold them ) and tested 32 ( both on frame and in inbuilt in the rear panel ) but one told me as I has late 40’s style race coupe, check out the 46/47.
I bought one for test.
I think it look nice, don’t see them to often on 32’s.
I showed to a guy and I held them low in rear ( se picture ) but he said it look crazy so you need to has them in mid of that plate and get distance even vs the curve at rear, that get them clooser, but I think the lower position is look far better.
Your ideas ?

Here is one centred.
 

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You are asking a question akin to "does this dress make me look fat"? If its your car, and you like it, DO IT. If you gotta ask maybe not.
 
Done it many times. In my eyes they look good as they are the same shape as the license plate and rear window. Just my opinion?
 
Red car. Its what they call "printers eye" when everything is spaced symmetrical and it just looks rite.
 
There's a reason why you'll often see tail lights mounted in roughly the same position - regardless of which particular light is used. It all has to do with weighting and proportions.

Putting them down low in the corner will make that corner look heavy and unbalanced with the rest of the panel.

Don't drill any holes until you have the car completely mocked up.
 
Thanks guys.

Nothing wrong to ask others opinion and I leaved the 32 and 39 ideas so this might appeal me, let’s see.
 
Maka a cardboard template of the light and tape it to the body and stand back and look at it. Another popular option was the '50 Pontiac tail lamps
 
I studied this for a long time before I decided to cut those holes. On mine I used '39 taillights because that's mostly what they used in the '40's and that was the era I was building. I have hundreds of photos of '32 Fords from the '30's-'50's I've copied from the early dry lake's racers. My dad like the look of the ones I did on my Brookville body, so he had me put them on his original '32 roadster. It about killed me drilling those holes in an original roadster. The guy up the street liked the look too so I cut the holes in his Brookville roadster too. I don't mind cutting a repro body, but my dad's original body was hard thing for me to do.

Probably more than ten-years years ago I went on mission to the LA Roadster Show looking at rear lights and license plates and I decided The SoCal Speed Shop's '32 Roadster's layout looked the best. One thing though is it did not have a license plate light because that would have cluttered the look. I took measurements off of it everything. Out in the swap meet area there was a NOS '39 rear fender for sale so I made a template from its light hole. I figured I might as well cut the hole using an original hole pattern. One thing I noticed is the reproduction '39 taillights mounting studs are not all mounted exactly in the same spots. They were probably hand drilled and they didn't get the studs in exactly the correct spots. The screw that holds the lens is not drilled in the same spot either between the two lights. It wouldn't matter mounted on a fender, but those lights need to hang exactly the same height on either side of the license plate. Something to check before you drill the holes.

I put my license plate and the '39 lights on a copy machine and made a paper copy of them that I could cutout and tape to the panel and then stare at it for hours. I decided SoCal Speed Shop's layout was pretty good; except like I said they didn't have any rear license plate light and that bothered me. It gets a little crowded to mount the light above the license plate, you could go with one light each side of the plate but that clutters it up too. I finally came up with my own idea. I welded a plate to the rear spreader bar to mount a club plaque on, which I was going to do anyway. On the back side of that plate, facing backwards, I mounted the license plate light, so it shines up on the plate. You don't see it because it's behind the club plaque. I ran the wire to it thought the rear spreader bar with grommets so it real clean looking. I just need to finish the car; I get sidetracked on other projects.
 
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I found this roadster and actually I think it look better lower than at mid, thats my eyes.
Karl is correct.
 

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I could find lots of pictures, cool car built mid 40's.
Rearlights familiar to 46/47 but not really. What was it ?

I do not, the dash look like a combo between a Aburn 32 and lower parts 32.
Is my on the wrong way ?

I has a Aburn 32 dash but I dont like get my Hollywood panel in it and its to wide to use gauges in a row, so I had the idea to use the upper parts 32 5W std and the lower part 32 5W but use the angle the Aburn has ( I like that 'deep' angle look ) so is this what he did ?
I has the Wings 8 of them, at Abbott now.
 
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