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Tell me what you think
https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34492		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  Jopapa [ Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Tell me what you think
Just for the sake of being different:

Alot of newer vehicles have fog lights mounted inside the bumper. I always liked that style as it provided a nice, clean appearance. What would you guys think of having a pair of round fog lights mounted in a factory Duster bumper? Here's a pic of my front end for reference...
Image

I'm thinking I'd like to cut the holes just outboard of the "pads", about halfway between those and the mounting points. I'd then weld a piece of 5/16" steel tube so the light would sit about 1/2" or so inside the lower portion of the bumper. The reason for the 5/16" steel would be to help stiffen the bumper in those areas, since it looks to me like removing any material would negatively affect the integrity of the bumper there. Also, I'd patch the jack notches for a cleaner look and get a scissor jack instead of the factory jack (which I still have and is it great shape, hint hint) to keep in the trunk.

So what do you guys think? Cool or douchey?

Oh yeah, once all this is done I'd get the bumper rechromed so it'd look clean and like it was meant to be that way. Only the bumpers, "PLYMOUTH: trim on the grille and bead areas of the wheels I plan to get will be chrome as far as the exterior. Everything else will be powdercoated gloss black.
Author:  Reed [ Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:44 pm ]
Post subject: 
Douchey. If you are willing to go through that much work and expense, I would suggest removing those ridiculous factory bumper guards and fabricating a push bar/fog light mount that would bolt to the stock bumper guagrd holes. I like bumper guards on most cars, but the late A-body guards looks obscene. They are just too long for the car.

But that's just me.
Author:  Jopapa [ Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:47 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Douchey. If you are willing to go through that much work and expense, I would suggest removing those ridiculous factory bumper guards and fabricating a push bar/fog light mount that would bolt to the stock bumper guagrd holes. I like bumper guards on most cars, but the late A-body guards looks obscene. They are just too long for the car.

But that's just me.
I've thought about removing the guards, but honestly haven't made up my mind if I want to do it yet. On one hand, I like the unique look of 'em, but on the other, I think the car would look alot sleeker without 'em.
Author:  volaredon [ Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:20 am ]
Post subject: 
I thought one of the 70s AMCs had something like this (Matador coupe maybe?) and I thought it looked stupid on that; I don't think it would look much, if any better, on a Duster. just my opinion. your car=do what you think would look right to you. I like the fact that someone's still driving an old Duster, vs all this new crap, in the 1st place!!!
Author:  bbbbbb9 [ Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:48 am ]
Post subject: 
Rectangular professionally done would look cool.

Round not really, and round not done right would be horrible.

I'd make sure the opening has about a half inch folded inward at a right angle to the face of the bumper too, to make it look professional
Author:  Jopapa [ Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:14 am ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Rectangular professionally done would look cool.

Round not really, and round not done right would be horrible.

I'd make sure the opening has about a half inch folded inward at a right angle to the face of the bumper too, to make it look professional
That's the plan. I like the idea of rectangular, horizontal lights over the round ones. Hadn't even thought of that. Rectangular might better fit the aesthetics of the car.

I do plan on having the steel "folded" in (I'll actually weld some plate in at a right angle to the hole so it'll look like the bumper was designed that way). I don't actually do it myself. I'll have a local fab shop do it so it'll have a much better outcome than I think I'd be able to get. It'd be great if I could allow some adjustability for aiming the lights as well.
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:26 am ]
Post subject: 
Douchey by dint of being era-inappropriate to the styling of the car. And what's more, fog lamps are generally pointless. They are meant to be used in foggy (or rainy/snowy) weather to help you see the edges of the road close to the car so you can safely make your way through foul weather at very low speeds. That is all fog lamps are designed, intended, and able to do (unless you get a giant, costly, well-made set of 9" diameter fog lamps, but where're we going to put those on a Duster without them looking like Mickey Mouse lost his ears?). Leaving the fog lamps on at all times does not improve lighting safety performance — in fact, it decreases the driver's distance vision and causes glare to other drivers — though many people do so in the mistaken belief that they can see better this way at normal road speeds in dry weather. See here for more information.
Author:  Jopapa [ Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:40 am ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Douchey by dint of being era-inappropriate to the styling of the car. And what's more, fog lamps are generally pointless. They are meant to be used in foggy (or rainy/snowy) weather to help you see the edges of the road close to the car so you can safely make your way through foul weather at very low speeds. That is all fog lamps are designed, intended, and able to do (unless you get a giant, costly, well-made set of 9" diameter fog lamps, but where're we going to put those on a Duster without them looking like Mickey Mouse lost his ears?). Leaving the fog lamps on at all times does not improve lighting safety performance — in fact, it decreases the driver's distance vision and causes glare to other drivers — though many people do so in the mistaken belief that they can see better this way at normal road speeds in dry weather. See here for more information.
Yeah I only use them in the conditions you describe. We get alot of fog here in the fall (there's usually a good couple weeks of it being pretty thick, which leads to air stagnation watches), and occasionally in the spring months. I had also figured they make it easier for oncoming traffic to see you from farther off in those conditions. Oh yeah, winters mean alot of heavy snowfall here too, at least for the last couple years. We had Snowmageddon this last December and set a 24-hour snowfall record on the 16th. By then I'm usually driving the truck though. I've never looked at fog lights for just the bling factor, but as a necessity in conditions that I often find myself in here (and in the mountains).

As far as era-inappropriate, that was my intention to add a modern aesthetic touch to an old car :P
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:03 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Yeah I only use them in the conditions you describe. We get alot of fog here in the fall (there's usually a good couple weeks of it being pretty thick, which leads to air stagnation watches), and occasionally in the spring months.
Put in good headlamps and fog lamps will be less necessary.
Quote:
I had also figured they make it easier for oncoming traffic to see you from farther off in those conditions.
Nope...it's a common misconception, but that's not what they're for. If they do that, they're *grossly* misaimed and producing dangerous levels of glare.

There are good fog/foul-weather lamps available, but I can't see many of them integrating neatly into the bumpers...unless...h'mmm. y'know, it's just possible there might be a particular decent rectangular fog lamp that could be surface-mounted on the front face of the bumper, requiring only a cutout to clear the back of the reflector...send me an e-mail.
Author:  00spy [ Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:27 pm ]
Post subject: 
Jopapa,
What I would do, is try different stuff with that picture on the computer, and find what might look good ,and what does not and go from there.



Dave
Author:  Reed [ Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:43 pm ]
Post subject: 
This is my suggestion:

Image

It would be fairly simple to do with a tubing bender. You could mount whatever shape lights you wanted to on it, even more than one pair! :wink:

Yeah, I know, I lack Photoshop skills.
Author:  GENT [ Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:38 pm ]
Post subject: 
Now that I can SEE what you are talking about Reed,I like it! Kinda like a cop car.

Dan- Whats a good replacement headlamp for my 67 with improved performance? My stockers are lacking.
Author:  Jopapa [ Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:57 am ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
This is my suggestion:

Image

It would be fairly simple to do with a tubing bender. You could mount whatever shape lights you wanted to on it, even more than one pair! :wink:

Yeah, I know, I lack Photoshop skills.
That's actually what I was planning for driving lights. Originally I was thinking of getting combination units that could be switched between driving and fog lamps (shared housing, but separate reflectors and beam units) and mounting them there, but didn't have a whole lot of luck sourcing a good part. That's what led me to consider driving lights where you've marked on the pic, and fog lights mounted inside the bumper.

Dan, the headlight upgrade is hopefully coming soon (once I modernize my charging system) and I'll be going through you for that as well as the headlamps for my truck. Email coming about the lamps you mentioned....
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:23 am ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
That's actually what I was planning for driving lights. Originally I was thinking of getting combination units that could be switched between driving and fog lamps
There is exactly one combo fog/drive lamp that's worth messing with, and it is almost 9" in diameter. The mini dual units are trash. Also, driving lamps (auxiliary high beam lamps) want to be mounted up at headlamp height, while fog lamps want to be mounted as low as possible, for each type of lamp to have a fighting chance of doing its job well.

If you're after driving lamps, and for some reason don't want to mount them directly to the bumper, you could install a cast aluminum Carr LightWing, which mounts to the front of the bumper and combines a central licence plate bracket with leftward and rightward wings for mounting auxiliary lamps.
Author:  Jopapa [ Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:12 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Quote:
That's actually what I was planning for driving lights. Originally I was thinking of getting combination units that could be switched between driving and fog lamps
There is exactly one combo fog/drive lamp that's worth messing with, and it is almost 9" in diameter. The mini dual units are trash. Also, driving lamps (auxiliary high beam lamps) want to be mounted up at headlamp height, while fog lamps want to be mounted as low as possible, for each type of lamp to have a fighting chance of doing its job well.

If you're after driving lamps, and for some reason don't want to mount them directly to the bumper, you could install a cast aluminum Carr LightWing, which mounts to the front of the bumper and combines a central licence plate bracket with leftward and rightward wings for mounting auxiliary lamps.
Yeah for the driving lights I plan to mount those directly to the bumper, on top and just inboard of the guards. No worries about drilling into the bumper at all.
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