1951 Plymouth Headlights

Hello Guys !<P>I just finished the complete restoration of my 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook (4 doors sedan)here in Brazil. Last saturday the car was inspected in order to get an antique car category license plate, according to Brazilian regulations. Here, the car must have more than 30 years old and the originality must be greater than 90% in the inspection criteria, what includes: body, optionals, engine, brakes,transmission, suspension, upholstery, dashboard, fuel system(carburetor, lines, pump, tank,...), electric system and others. My car passed in almost all of them, however the headlight rims made me loose 8 points (it means the car is 92% original). I thought my rims were an optional type available that time. They are not the round plain type I can see in the Plymouth shop manual, they have a kind of shade on the top part of the rim. They actually fit better than the original one, following the fender lines.<P>Do you know if this type of rims were used in early 50's, even if they are not factory made ? I this type of rim is some kind of option used in that time, it can be accepted by the inspectors here in Brazil.<P>Regards,<BR>Julio Albernaz<BR>1951 Plymouth Cranbrook<BR>1928 Touring Chevrolet<BR>1954 CJ3B Willys Jeep<P>[ 04-22-2002: Message edited by: Julio Albernaz ]<p>[ 04-22-2002: Message edited by: Julio Albernaz ]

Julio,<P> In the early '50s there were a couple different head light accessories available in the after market. The first and most popular was the "half moon". This was a chrome semi-circle that covered the top half of the lens. The second was a visor that extended above the head light and may have appeared to extend the upper fender line. From your description, I'm not sure which type you have.<P> The shop manual can be somewhat deceiving in its illustrations. You can usually depend on photographs but they were almost always "retouched" by an illustrator. There are many illustrations in the manual where the illustrator shaded the top half of the headlight which results in a mis-leading appearance. This "artists' license" was practiced regularly.<P> Either one of these accessories may be found in a J.C. Whitney, Warshawsky or other accessory catalog from that era. Also be advised that one or both of these accessories may have been illegal for use in some states. <P> Seems like your inspectors are pretty sharp.<P> Tom

Thanks Tom.<P>My car headlights have a visor on the top of the rim as you described, this visor does not cover the lense. But the visor is not an atachment in the rim, the rim is a single piece containning the visor.<P>I could not find the info about accessories in JC Whitney´s home page, do you know if it is available on the internet ?<P>Regards,<BR>Julio

Julio ~ I seem to recall a '56 Buick I bought back in '56 as having a headlight rim much as you describe. Could your rims possibly be from another make of car. Since all headlight sealed beam bulbs in that era were the same size, it was often possible to switch rims from one car to another for the sake of appearances.<P>Just a thought. ~ hvs <p>[ 04-22-2002: Message edited by: hvs ]

HVS brings up an excellent point. "Hooded headlights" were the styling rage beginning in 1955. Perhaps a previous owner adapted some other brand of car headlight doors to your Plymouth.<P>I wouldn't expect to find what we were talking about in a current Whitney catalog. Besides, I'm convinced those items are not what you have on your car. <P>If you could E-Mail a photo to the webmaster, he could post it here. We could have a ball guessing their origin. <P>HVS: Doesn't your '55 Buick have a subtle little brow on the headlight doors?<P> Tom

Right Tom. After making my earlier post I went to my storage building to look at the rims on the '55. They are more than a subtle little brow. It is quite pronounced and with a single mounting screw at the bottom center, I'll bet you could adapt them to any number of different makes.<P>The brow on the '55 is rather straight across to the point where it comes back to the rest of the rim. If I recall correctly the '56 came to more of a point in the center. Each one sort of matches the styling of the front end of the car. Flat on the'55 and pointed on the '56. ~ hvs

Julio,<P>Greetings!<P>Have been checking this post from time to time, and just saw the photos; very nice car!<P>I guess you folks don't have much trouble with cars rusting out from underneath, do you?<P>It seems that your car might be fitted with headlight bezels from a 1954,'55 or '56 Chrysler product: (Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge or Plymouth or one of the MoPar export models.)<BR>My '55 De Soto has headlight bezels (or "doors") that are slightly hooded and also slight ovoid or elliptical in their outer perimeter.<BR>My other conjecture is that these bezels might have come from a '54 Packard, which also had this slight hood or "visor" look.<P>They're definitely are not like the stock bezels I've seen on '51 MoPars here in the U.S.<P>The stock bezels should be round rings, either stainless steel or die-cast & chrome plated, but no hood or visor.<P>To determine if your "hooded" bezels are genuine "MoPar" or not, look at the backside of the casting; somewhere there should be part number accompanied by the old Chrsyler logo, which was comprised by the letters: <BR>DP<BR>CD, sort of arranged as I tried to do here;<BR>this was the "corporate logo" until they switched to the "Pentastar" in the sixties.<BR>If you find that logo on your "accesory" bezels, that may convince your "judges".<P>Will check some of my books when I get home and I see if I come up with any more details.<P>Best regards,<p>[ 04-29-2002: Message edited by: DeSoto Frank ]

Thanks for the hint Frank.<P>I will check the inscriptions on the back of the rims. A friend of mine told me these rims were used in late 50´s Willys Aero. This could be a true possibility, once Willys Aero was a very popular car here in Brazil in those days. <P>Do you know where I can buy a pair of the original rims in US ? As you can see in the picture, I have been looking for the bumper guards for a long time, but I could not find them, any ideas where I can find them also ?<P>Regards,<BR>Julio

Julio, <P> It has been a long time since I've seen an early '50s Plymouth nice as yours. I'm going to try to complement the ideas that DeSoto Frank passed on to you. If the rings do have the corporate marking on them, they would probably be '54 Plymouth, Dodge, or DeSoto. Most every other Mopar rim from the mid-'50s has some feature or shape that would preclude its use on your car. <P> I was able to obtain some very rare early '50s Mopar exterior trim items from:<P>Al Kvatek<BR>P.O. Box 486<BR>Brunswick, Ohio 44212<BR>1-(216) 355-4085<BR>E-Mail: valvin@infinet.com<P>Perhaps he can help you with the headlight rims and bumper guards. I notice you seem to have yellow bulbs in your front turn signal/ parking lights. Is that a government requirement? <P> Nice car,keep it up! Tom

Julio,<P>I looked at some of my old car books last night and would like to revise my last post a bit; the bezelz which are on your car most resemble the ones from a 1954 Dodge; the '54 Plymouth also has a heavy die-cast bezel, but does not seem to have a "visor".<P>Possible sources for original visors might include "Andy Bernbaum's Auto Parts"; his website is : "www.oldmoparts.com"; he used to advertise NOS headlight "doors: in his catalog; don't know if he still has any, but his site is worth a look; I have gotten some rare goodies from him in the past.<P>Your mention of the Willys "Aero" brought back some dim memories; the only ones I've seen in "real life" were in a local junkyard, and they were pretty rough. I had read somewhere that once US production of the Willy's car was suspended, Kaiser had the tooling shipped down to South America and the cars continued to be made into the '60s.<P>Good luck on your quest!

Thanks Tom and Frank !<P>I will check the sources you told me. About the Aero, there are lots of antique car clubs in Brazil dedicated to the Willys car. They are very common in car events here.<P>During the restoration of my Plymouth, I bought a pair of new tail light lenses in US, but I could not find new parking light lenses for the car. The car is using the original ones, and because the time, they are slightly yellow. <P>I am travelling to US in early june and I will try to buy all these parts there in my visit.<P>Regards,<BR>Julio