Thanks Charley, I will take a look at what is on the shelf.



Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Now that is "trick"... I will have to take a look at that idea. The car has a one wire GM alternator with internal regulator anyway so no VR needed. 



Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

I've been running off the shelf halogen sealed beams in my T Bird for many years. Also ran them in a '56 Ford pick up many years back. No relay and no problems with the stock headlight switch. Large improvement.

Sylvania off at least two types of sealed beams.  One is standard.  The other is a brighter Silver Star.  The silver star draws more power, closer to that of a standard H4 bulb.  They're in most parts stores.



Lawrenceville, GA

FWIW, I've had good luck hiding relays in a hollow voltage regulator. Looks more like stock, even if you have two of them. On a 'bird it's even up by the headlights.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Thanks Charley for the information. All I had ever run were the sealed beams with stock wattage. Wanting to go brighter should mean close to Halogen and of course I would expect more wattage. Of course, I am out of the loop on what all is available these days for the 7" round headlights... I don't even know what those Silver Star headlights are that you spoke of. Some of the rod and custom shops have a relay harness available that can simply be tapped in to your original switch and then back to the headlights with full battery juice going to those lights. That sounds bright to me. 

This will be a 12 volt setup.



Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Haven't done anything to upgrade the headlights yet.  There are LED headlights now, and tried and true H4 halogen.  For sealed beams, there are usually a couple options for brightness and that should allow for the easiest installation.  I use Sylvania Silver Star sealed beams on my Firebird.  They are quite a bit brighter than the standard version.  They do draw more power, close to H4, so relays would be a good idea to go along with a higher powered sealed beam.



Lawrenceville, GA

On the installation of the gravel pan, or as Ford called it, "the stone deflector" I set out the hardware ahead of time, with two washers, a nut, and a bolt per hole. 12 holes across the front of air dams. 7/16" head on this hardware.



I also broke out some of these strips of caulk from 3M - thanks for the tips fellas. This stuff is easy to work with and seems to be industrial strength.



Just put the strips down the length of the air dams before fastening the gravel pan and then lined up all 12 holes to snug down the hardware enough to leave it there until I get the fenders back on.





I also reassembled the headlight buckets with their springs and adjuster screws.



What do you guys use for headlights beyond the original setup? I would like to go the relay route and with some Halogens. Can anyone give some good reviews on what they have or maybe some installation tips?

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

It's been a very busy August - traveled thousands of miles literally and been in several different states. Nope, not vacation either - all work/church ministry related in training people. I have not been home very much at all. This weekend I am "off" like many of us so I decided to hit it hard with the 55 Ford and do as much as I can.

First things first - take a look at the sandblaster nozzle and stopper. Think it's time for a new one?



Found new parts at the local TSC and we are good to go.

On the Gravel Pan, I really wanted to find an Argent color that I could use but did not want to go the spray can route. I favor my gun as much as I can. So what to do? Let's see.... time to experiment and make our own. Here is a photo of the two colors I mated. The top is Rustoleum Aluminum and the bottom is ACE hardware gray.



I put some of the dark gray in with the aluminum a little at a time and voila!







The photo of the headlight adjuster frame and the gravel pan together give you a point of reference. Hard to tell on a digital photo, but the headlight adjuster frame is Rustoleum Aluminum and the gravel pan is my Argent color. I like it, and I like the fact I can spray what I need through my gun.

Then it was on to tackling the passenger side fender. The PO had a pet chipmunk that had wallowed out a hole for the antenna. You can see how this hole was all cobbled into the fender here...



I guess it's not too bad, but I did not want to put an antenna there when I repaint... planning on using just one rear antenna. At any rate, it was time to cobble it back to flush with the sheet metal!

I am no professional welder, but I will show what I did. You professional body men chime in here please. I am sure there is more of this work I will have to tackle at different points soon.

Basically, I took a wire wheel and cleaned both sides of the metal, inside and out.



Then it was on to an air grinder so we could smooth out the hole.



After that, I took a stiff piece of paper and copied the circle shape with a pencil, cut out the shape, and then transferred that to a piece of sheet metal the same thickness as the fender.



After some judicious grinding and shaping, we had a good fit to the hole. So i got out a magnet and put it flush with the fender like so...



One tack weld and away we went with several. You can see from the photos that I blew a few out... if I had more experience I am sure it would have went better.







I would have had it all pretty flush and looking really nice but I got carried away with my grinder - pretty dumb to do actually. Don't follow my lead. It should be pretty easy to fill though with a skim coat when it is time to prep this fender for paint. I would like to get all of my welding done and then prep each piece for primer.

Hopefully I can get more done on this fender soon.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

These thin sheet metal flanges and the rubber was not on the 55 when i disassembled the front end a long time ago. I had to pick these up from another 55. So.... I had to find out that the flanges are specific to each side (drivers or passengers) and of course the rubber guard has to match as well. The originals were stapled, but the new ones came in without any staples. When I got to looking at, the cap screws should keep everything nice and tight so we will forego the staples on these pieces.







I cleaned up some of the grille and gravel pan brackets as you can see but before painting I had to weld up the cracked piece. I guess it will hold, the welds looked like they went straight through.

Got quite a bit to do... hopefully in September I can get down to cleaning up the fenders and getting that body work done. I have ordered the drivers side anti-squeak seal from two different companies, both back ordered - :confused: fun stuff.

About to place an order from C&G, but their dash bezel seals are on back order too. I guess everyone else is like me trying to get things done this month!

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com