Rally Lights

[Healey Nut]

So I’m searching for all the bits to create my rally lights for the 62 .
Rally pods from Dave Hardwick .
I can get the 5 3/4” buckets and sealed beam units from Holden in the UK but they don’t have the chrome trim ring to suit .
Does anyone know a source for these ?
They need to be 7 1/4” at the back where it meets the pod and obviously sized in depth etc to for the 5 3/4” headlight unit .
I’m sure they would be available from other vehicles , possibly a Sprite , MG , Sunbeam etc
Any ideas anyone ?
Cheers .

 

[John Turney]

Can you put 7" units in the pods?

 

[Healey Nut]

Can you put 7" units in the pods?

Nope they were built as copies of the originals for 5 3/4” lights .
see pic in previous posts of original rally car .

 

[BBH]

Have you tried any of the Classic bike outlets .... I came across this one....s3960

 

[Healey Nut]

That maybe just the ticket . I have sent then an email asking for exact measurements.
tks , stay tuned all you rally car replica builders

 

[Healey Nut]

Original rally car pic showing 5 3/4” add on rally pods

 

[Healey Nut]

Have you tried any of the Classic bike outlets .... I came across this one....s3960

Not going to work , it’s not big enough at the rear to flow into the rally pod . It’s 153mm at the rear edge which is 6” in real language . They need to have more of a taper to them like the main headlight rims on the Healeys .
I will keep looking and maybe call Moss direct as they don’t seem to be answering emails .
My alternate solution would be get two old 7” headlight rims and get my metal guy to reduce them and then have them rechromed …..where there’s a will there’s a way .

 

[HealeyRick]

Just looking at my bugeye, those rims are much wider than what comes on that car. They must have been from something standard in the BMC parts bin. Maybe a sedan of some kind?

 

[Healey Nut]

Just looking at my bugeye, those rims are much wider than what comes on that car. They must have been from something standard in the BMC parts bin. Maybe a sedan of some kind?

I’m sure they are , it’s just a lucas part , I just have to track it down .

 

[BBH]

Have a look at Lowlight Morris Minor. They use the 5 3/4 Lucas lamps.

 

[Healey Nut]

Just for point of reference see attached .
Its a pic of the replica rally pods from Dave Hardwick with a 7” standard Healey headlight bucket and trim ring perched on top .
So that’s my dilemma .
I checked into the low light Morris option but they appear to have inset lights so minimal trim rings , I need to have trim rings like the 7” Healey ones but in 5 3/4” light unit size .
I do have a some old 7” ones so I may take them to my metal guy to practice on to see if he can cut and reduce them by rolling them on the English wheel .

 

[HealeyRick]

How about these, they look deeper: > Genuine Lucas 5-3/4" Chrome Outer Headlamp Rim BSA C15 B40 LU534343, 99-0691 | eBay <

 

[Healey Nut]

They look like a good candidate, they have taper and depth so it’s all down to the back edge diameter .
I have emailed the seller for an exact measurement of the rear edge .
fingers crossed .
Tks Rick .

 

[Healey Nut]

So the word from Holden in the UK is that I’m looking for Lucas 552822 and they are “rare as hens teeth” .
It is a good number and I can find reference to it on Google . Its a pinch ring type trim ring but it appears at the moment that it maybe unavailable .
The search continues………

 

[Healey Nut]

More research has found that the trim rings Im looking for were used on the Austin A90 on the centre headlight as shown in this pic . You can see it’s a pinch ring type . They probably used these on the works rally cars as they were readily available .
I found a supplier in the UK that sells parts for these old girls so fingers crossed he may have a source for me .

 

[Healey Nut]

I had no luck getting anything like the originals from the UK . I have some 5 3/4” light buckets etc and some black plastic 5 3/4” trim rings on the way from the UK .
Anyways I decided to have a play with an old 7” Healey trim ring . They are made from thin brass so I cut and reduced it then Re joined it using silver solder .
I impressed myself it’s now a 5 3/4” trim ring .
once the buckets arrive I can assemble it all and see if Im happy with the assembly and results then I can get them rechromed .
It needs a little more fettling and tweaking but for a first attempt I think it’s a good start .

 

[Healey Nut]

So I tried again and 2 attempt with a reinforcement piece was a dismal failure . So back to the drawing board with number 3 . I spent lots of time preparing the joint and decided to go with a butt joint no reinforcement to keep the amount of brazing and heat/warping down .
I impressed myself , this one is good enough for me if my chrome guy says it can be chromed .
now I need to dig around in the spare parts boxes and see if I have a 4th I can do as well .
If this works out they will for sure be expensive trim rings but I will be happy .

 

[Healey Nut]

So I finally got all the components for the replica rally lights for my 62 (Other than the rare as hens teeth trim rings) .the actual lamp units arrived from the UK a few days back after being stuck on some big boat stuck in the Suez Canal .
Ive been playing around with the parts and it looks like with some more fettling of my reduced diameter trim rings and possibly an additional reduced diameter lamp retainer ring to act as a filler I will be able to achieve the look I want .
its not going to be plain sailing or cheap but if it gets the end result I want then thats what matters .

 

[HealeyRick]

Good luck, sounds like the end result will be worth the effort. Making stock parts fit is often hard enough. Once you start modifying, who knows what you'll have to overcome.

 

[Healey Nut]

So I decided to have another play with the parts while I’m waiting on some more stuff from AutoFarm to continue with the car build .
I had to reduce the main outer trim ring a bit more , I also used a 7” headlight unit retainer ring which I reduced in diameter to fit around the 5 3/4” headlight . It acts as a filler ring so you can’t see the gap between the headlight and the main trim ring .
some more tweaking to get the shape a bit more exact but I’m generally pleased with the results so far .
What do you think .