Head lite rings

[Mike Sal]

Drat you C/K guys.....I picked up a headlite rim at SI last month when I was there that had been marked down due to a blemish in the plating. A good 5 footer, which is plenty good for ole yeller ('55 president sedan). Thinking that all of those head light rings were the same, I bought it.

That it until last night when I tried to install it. The metal bracket at the 12 o'clock position is longer than my pitted original rings. When & why did they change the retaining feature???? Anyone need a nice driver quality ring????
Mike

[Chantony]

Message sent.
Please email back at moisley@bigpond.com
Thanks,
Tony

[ed j ellis]

mike, IIRC the longer bayonet was introduced in 56. the bayonet went into a female slot cut in the front of the fender at 12 o' clock. from 53 to 55 the headlight bucket itself had a female slot at the 12 oclock postion into which the shorter bayonet was inserted. the NORS offered by some vendors come with both size bayonets which are attached to the head light ring with self tapping screws unlike the OE which were riveted. the early model head light buckets with the female slot were easily broken which i guess is why the factory changed the design.

[warrlaw1]

The two I bought from S.I. had the extra piece to go either way. They probably didn't include it with the marked down item, but should have one that came from their source. I've had a few issues with some of the things I've bought from them at full pop... a starter drive that won't drive, a shifter knob that won't screw on, a windshield washer bag that you can't get the top off, a headliner so brittle it wouldn't stretch, a glove box liner that wouldn't fit...I don't have the time to wrap this crap up and send it back to them. Maybe someday I'll get to see the site and drop it all of at once. Oh, well.

[2moredoors]

After I read your posting I decided to install the headlight rims on my '55 President Sedan, I bought them from SI some time ago but kept putting off the job as my old ones don't look that bad (to me). As Ed Ellis stated they came with two bayonets and are clearly marked 53-55 use the short ones and 56-62 use the longer ones. Perhaps SI could send you the correct bayonets for your year. Mine installed quite well but your posting had me worried for a while.
Good luck, just wanted to share my story.

[woodysrods]

Welcome to the SDC Forum. Sounds like you have a lot to offer here.
Good Roads
Brian

[studeclunker]

I hate to display my ignorance, but here goes...

the Headlamp rings you fellows are talking about are the chrome rings that attach directly to the headlamp buckets and hold the lamp in place, right? This is not the piece that attaches to the fender?

Oh, by the by, like Woody said, Ed, welcome to the forum and thanks for the info!

[Mike Sal]

This is in reference to the chrome bezel, not the stainless ring which actually retains the bulb.

Regarding the bracket & the headlight buckle....yes, one of my slotted holes is broken on one side.

Maybe I'll take a bracket off of one of the old rings & drill & tap the new one. to do a swap.
Mike Sal

[1954khardtop]

You could cut a slit in the fender for the later rings tab. That's what the factory did. I have later fenders on my '54 and can see the slot in the fender right over and behind the one on the bucket. Looks like it would be easy to do.