Wanted: Blackout Headlight

[Philippe Jeanneau]

Originally Posted by Philippe Jeanneau

Hello Chris,

Thank you, I am still looking for one if you know anyone that can help...

Originally Posted by Philippe Jeanneau

Hello Chris,

Thank you, I am still looking for one if you know anyone that can help...

Frustrated and still unable to find a light in years, I decided to make my own, so here is my attempt to do something that I hope would pass... Going with the few original photos I could find online plus a few scarce current photos of originals which show a few styles, I decided to come up with something that may pass from a distance and almost look like the real McCoy...

So, in order to make this happen, first I remembered having a repro seelite lamp that burned and came unglued on its own! Bingo I thought, I will use the bucket ring and gasket as my starting point...

Having these parts on hand the next thing to do was to remove the old bulb out of the lamp which twisted off... Then I drilled the remainder plastic insert and cleaned the cavity to accomodate a generic socket that would hold a 30 CP bulb similar to the original bulb in size...

After that, I had the task of searching for a hood that would closely match the original in size... I say closely only because I had to approximate the size/scale down from photos... Having said that, I did not want to spend a great deal of $$$ on something that may not work, so I found my candidate here for $45.00- shipped

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174567602100

The next expense would cost as much as the lamp, which meant having a shop cut the lamp's circumference to match the required dimension of the original headlamp... Another $50.00 and I had most of the pieces needed...

After that ordeal and a mishap by the shop where I left my parts (broken seelite ring) I had to figure out the profile/height of the lamp, which may be way off from the original in appearance, but which would be dictated by the height of the bulb against the cover...

So the strip needed out of 0.87mm (20 Gauge?) thick had to be 1" in height to clear the bulb and fit properly... The next step was to cut the length which turned out to be 17-1/16" which I would have to bend and tack together to make a ring...

Finishing that, it left tacking the ring on the inside to the hood and disk... I only did it in 4 sections and about 1" in length so it would not come apart on me... If you rush it, you may distort the metal a little which means you will have to cheat later on with bondo!..;(

Following that, bear with me please I am almost done... It left sealing the inside with caulk, touching up a few imperfections, priming and painting the lamp...

The final step entailed making the plug for which I used a piece of 1/4" rubber, along with GM series 56 terminals plus a short pigtail for the ground wire...

In short I hope that anyone else wishing to have a headlamp blackout lamp can use this as a guide for one, since they cannot be found anywhere or for a reasonable price...