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Old 06-30-2020, 12:16 PM   #1
roadrash
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Default Original headlights

1930-31. How to identify re-pop headlight lenses and headlight housings from the real deal?
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Old 07-01-2020, 10:43 AM   #2
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Default Re: Original headlights

I'm not an expert on them but I know others on here can point out an original from a re-pop in a heartbeat.
I think one of the more important things about getting the headlights to function as they should is the reflector, the lens and housing can be re-pops, but the reflector is the key component.
Anyone add to this assessment?
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Old 07-01-2020, 12:07 PM   #3
roadrash
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Default Re: Original headlights

THat was my first guess, no one else has replied. Thant you for your iinput
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Old 07-01-2020, 02:09 PM   #4
john charlton
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Default Re: Original headlights

Repro lenses are clear white glass like a regular window pane . Original lenses have a yellow tint you would see the difference on a vehicle with one of each side by side . English lenses have a violet tint like a model "T" A lot of English cars went to USA with returning USA servicemen so you could see these . English head lamps have no script as they had fender lamps but the lenses still say "Ford Twolight"

John in Suffolk County England .
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Old 07-01-2020, 04:58 PM   #5
Gary WA
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Default Re: Original headlights

Article from How to Restore Your Model A Vol 4 pg88 by by E.Kline and Marco Tahtaras
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File Type: jpg Lens.jpg (49.3 KB, 62 views)
File Type: jpg L2.jpg (75.9 KB, 47 views)
File Type: jpg L3.jpg (51.7 KB, 43 views)
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Old 07-01-2020, 06:32 PM   #6
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English lenses have a violet tint







from the lead in the glass.
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Old 07-02-2020, 06:33 AM   #7
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Default Re: Original headlights

from the Glass Encyclopedia. "Sun-Turned" glass is glass that has changed colour because of exposure to strong radiation. ... When irradiated or exposed to sunlight for a long time, this glass turns yellow. The effect can be seen in the headlamps of very old cars.
http://www.glassencyclopedia.com/irradiatedglass.html
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Old 07-02-2020, 06:53 AM   #8
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Default Re: Original headlights

Quote:
Originally Posted by updraught View Post
from the Glass Encyclopedia. "Sun-Turned" glass is glass that has changed colour because of exposure to strong radiation. ... When irradiated or exposed to sunlight for a long time, this glass turns yellow. The effect can be seen in the headlamps of very old cars.
http://www.glassencyclopedia.com/irradiatedglass.html

So the American lenses used arsenic in the manufacturing process and the British used manganese? And both would have been clear when new?
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Old 07-02-2020, 07:56 AM   #9
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Default Re: Original headlights

"During the mid and later 1800s virtually all American glass companies were using manganese in their glass formula. Around 1915 the use of manganese was discontinued and selenium became the chemical of choice as a clarifying & stabilizing agent."
https://patternglass.com/sunPurple/index.htm

The old lenses here in Oz have a yellow tint (Canadian?). The new repo are clear and lighter, with less flute definition.

Something I've noticed over the years with sealed beam/quartz headlights, between good headlights that used a crystal lense such as the French Marchal (now owned by Cibie), and cheap Indian glass lenses (with not much flute definition) is that for a headlight it didn't make much difference.
French Model A's used Marchal headlights for local content. Marchal later was a sponsor of the Le Mans 24 hour race.

However, for driving lights the Marchal lense and reflector produced a near perfect beam. The Marchal 902 rally light pictured here produces a perfect pencil beam that seems to go for miles, and the 909 a good spread over a long distance.
https://www.bmw2002faq.com/articles....for-bmws-r248/
These days I use a $300 22,000 lumen light bar from ebay for kangaroos.
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Old 07-02-2020, 07:59 AM   #10
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'turning all the night time into the day'

metal spinners can make anything you want but its hard to recreate the 'feel' of 30/31 Allegheny stainless buckets.Sun damaged lenses and aged reflectors have a look,I get that..but I drive at night,need to see..
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Old 07-02-2020, 08:48 AM   #11
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Default Re: Original headlights

Mike Keating has done quite a study on the headlight glass lens. Hopefully he will chime in here and add to this.
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Old 07-02-2020, 01:09 PM   #12
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Default Re: Original headlights

most informative, thank you
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Old 07-02-2020, 01:29 PM   #13
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Default Re: Original headlights

old e and j type 20s turn violet from the lead................... 1920s



I have several
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Old 07-02-2020, 03:27 PM   #14
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Manganese and Glass Production

The chemical element manganese has a long history with glass making. Manganese is naturally found within the mineral ore pyrolusite. Pyrolusite was used by early glassblowers and artists to create purple glass. This purple color was caused by the presence of manganese dioxide. Later chemists introduced pyrolusite into the making of glass to balance impurities. For example, if the sand used to create glass contained traces of iron, the untreated glass produced would have a yellow appearance. The introduction of pyrolusite would balance the yellow tint with purple, causing the final glass product to be clear in appearance.
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Old 07-02-2020, 06:15 PM   #15
roadrash
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Default Re: Original headlights

thank you
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Old 07-03-2020, 11:59 PM   #16
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Default Re: Original headlights

The quality of the Ford script can give you a clue. Also, some originals have a small two-digit number in the center, towards the bottom. I don’t know why that is there, but I’ve seen some (not all) like that.
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Last edited by 700rpm; 07-04-2020 at 12:35 AM.
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Old 07-04-2020, 01:11 AM   #17
Brad in Germany
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Default Re: Original headlights

Starting in mid-1930, German assembled (and later manufactured) Model A's were equipped with OEM headlights made by BOSCH. As far as I know, no one has reproduced those German BOSCH Ford headlight lenses.

Here's what they look like:


There are five variations of these BOSCH/Ford lenses:
- Ford script on outside of lens
- Ford script on the inside of the lens
- Small dot-matrix oval around the Ford script
- Smooth line around the Ford script
- An embedded inside Ford script with no oval line (and no fluting through the script).

All have the word "TOP" at the top of the lens, with the number "200" on the top glass tab (the 200 indicates that the dimeter of the lens is 200 millimeters - a typical BOSCH marking).

It is Ford part number AG-13060 (used mid-1930-1932) where the "G" in the part number indicates that it is a local German sourced part.

Here you can see the different colors of the glass when laid out on a white towel:

The one with the black paint residue was used during WWII as a black-out light....discovered in a horse barn, in back of a country Chateau, in eastern France, with unfortunately no sign of the rest of the vehicle - bummer....if only it could tell its story!

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