passenger tail lamp addition (safety Q)

[Brubaker]

I would rather not permanently add a tail light to the passenger side. In that situation do most folks just stick with one, or add some type of a temporary tail lamp attached to the bumper?

[Bruce Adams]

I purchased AA battery powered, magnet mounted lights with 32 LEDs that do a nice job when highway driving.

[Bill Goddard]

You have a teacup tail light car. Would you think any less of it if the original owner had gone back to the dealer 6 mo after buying it and said " put a light on the other side for safety sake". Put the light on permanently for safety sake and adopt that senario. Bill G

[TerryH]

I agree with Bill. Unless you are showing your car I would not drive a Model A around with the one tail light. Properly done, the second light quickly looks like it belongs there. I would also suggest going to LED's......then you are really much better off than the stock one light.

[Mike V. Florida]

Magnet?

[Bruce Adams]

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Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

Magnet?

Hi Mike,
Yes, it is a $17 lamp with two two inch magnets that I put on after, say a night parade where I have to drive on LIE or parkways for an hour or more at night, just to brighten things up when I am doing fifty and THEY are doing seventy.
I hang two of them at those times.
Some just trust the magnet on the bumper, but I ad a zip tie for extra assurance.
Yes, I also have LED taillites and a third brake lite.

[2manycars]

I mounted two rectangular trailer lights under the body. They are not very visible if you are standing right behind the car, but at normal driving distance they are very visible, and are large enough to be easily seen. I use the original light as a tail light and licence plate light, and the underbody lights as tail lights, stop lights, and turn signals. It was cheap, and very visible when needed, without drilling the fender.

[Clydes 31 P/U]

Search "wireless trailer lights" on your computer. I saw some at TSC the other day I didn't pay too much attention to them so I don't know if they will work with 6 volt system or not. Might be an option. Clyde

[Special Coupe Frank]

I like the LED strip-lights, such as the one made by Brakeliter...

I have one mounted on suction cups in the rear window of my Coupe

Personally, I believe that the high-mounted center stoplight is more effective in today's traffic...

Besides being small and somewhat dim, the OEM lights are placed rather low on the body... a rear-window mount gets that bright LED light "up in the face" of the driver behind you...

I like Vince's center-mount ( see link in #6 ), but if it were my car, I would put it up high in the spare tire, again favoring the "in your face" approach.

Let's face it - many modern drivers are "distracted", and the remainder are just not very bright...

I would like a more "period" looking envelope for my LED strip-light, but until I find / make one, the Brakeliter strip in the rear window is a good solution for me...

[HoarseWhisperer]

Originally Posted by Bruce Adams

I purchased AA battery powered, magnet mounted lights with 32 LEDs that do a nice job when highway driving.

Bruce,

Where did you purchase the AA battery powered, magnet mounted lights?

[Brubaker]

It's really the drilling of the fender that I would prefer avoiding. The suggestions are very much appreciated.

[Glenn C.]

If after you get the correct bracket for the right hand side, mask off the location where the light should be located......measure and re-measure, to be sure everything is positioned perfectly, you should'nt have a problem. I know your apprehension well, as I experienced the same feeling when mounting the right hand light on our Town Sedan. After you have centrer punch marked and drilled the pilot holes....use a step drill, to inlarge the holes to the correct size. Three for mounting, one for the tail light wire.

[Special Coupe Frank]

Originally Posted by Brubaker

It's really the drilling of the fender that I would prefer avoiding. The suggestions are very much appreciated.

Can't blame you there...

The Brakeliter LED strip-light attaches to the rear window either with suction-cups or double-stick tape. It also has the LED array split into left & right halves, so you can wire a number of ways - including turn-signal function.

I have mine set-up as just a full-width stop-light strip.

I was toying with an idea similar to Vince's (mounting a center-stop light on the rear spare), but I was thinking of revamping an old Model T headlight I have in the garage, putting some red theatrical gel and maybe a sheet of "Frost" behind the glass headlight lens... might do this yet...

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by Special Coupe Frank

...
The Brakeliter LED strip-light attaches to the rear window either with suction-cups or double-stick tape. It also has the LED array split into left & right halves, so you can wire a number of ways - including turn-signal function...

Do you have yours at the top or bottom of your rear window? I am planning on putting one on my '31 PU, just wasn't sure what the best location would be.

[Bruce Adams]

Originally Posted by HoarseWhisperer

Bruce,

Where did you purchase the AA battery powered, magnet mounted lights?

I purchased them at STRAUSS STORES in NYC for $17.
I have seen them at AAA Travel Centers.
They are called BLAZER LED EMERGENCY LIGHTS on the Internet.
I see they sell for a wide range of prices as follows.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CCkQ8wIwAg#

[RTC1930]

I also really want a passenger side tail light but am hesitant to take a drill to the fender. Its not show car but just about everything has survived 80 yrs without a single hole drilled for heaters or accesories, etc... Although im making an exception next week to install the seat belts. I currently run the brakelighter strip in the rear window but truly feel the passenger light is needed though, at the very least for symetry. Im hoping to make a bracket this summer so I can mount it to where the bumper support attaches to the frame and have the light in the approximate symetric location. Its probably going to look like crap and i'll end up drilling it in the long run but worth a shot.

Bob NJ

[Paul in Colorado]

Originally Posted by CarlG

Do you have yours at the top or bottom of your rear window? I am planning on putting one on my '31 PU, just wasn't sure what the best location would be.

I mounted my LED strip light at the top of the window on my 1930 coupe, so that it could be seen when the rumble seat is open. I often carry passengers, usually a pair of large stuffed bears, but sometimes people. I removed the inside rear window garnish moulding and ran the wires beneath it and behind the rear upholstery panel. I also mounted an aftermarket tail and stop light on top of my folded trunk rack.

[Brubaker]

"I also really want a passenger side tail light but am hesitant to take a drill to the fender. Its not show car but just about everything has survived 80 yrs without a single hole drilled for heaters or accesories, etc... Although im making an exception next week to install the seat belts. I currently run the brakelighter strip in the rear window but truly feel the passenger light is needed though, at the very least for symetry. Im hoping to make a bracket this summer so I can mount it to where the bumper support attaches to the frame and have the light in the approximate symetric location. Its probably going to look like crap and i'll end up drilling it in the long run but worth a shot."

Bob,
That's exactly where I'm at. Let me know(or post some pics) how it turns out. Good luck. Bruce

[Special Coupe Frank]

Originally Posted by CarlG

Do you have yours at the top or bottom of your rear window? I am planning on putting one on my '31 PU, just wasn't sure what the best location would be.

Carl,

Mine is at the bottom of the rear window... I have toyed with the idea of having it at the top... just haven't tried it out yet.


Frank

[Tom Endy]

My 31 Vic had only the tail\stop light on the left side as delivered from Ford. I could not bring myself to drill holes in the right rear fender for the installation of a light. For a number of years I had an accessory stop light attached to the bumper bracket on the right.

Recently I installed a better remedy. I made a bracket that attaches to the right bumper bracket, installed a mounting bracket from a 32 Ford, and a Model A lamp assembly with LED lights in it.

It may drive the purests crazy, but it is functional and can always be removed.


Photos attached, I hope.

Tom Endy

[Brubaker]

Thanks Tom.......I'm off to the Early V8 FB 'Swap Meet'.

[CarlG]

Tom,
What did you use for a hitch receiver?

['29wagon]

be seen , go with l.e.d.'s for heavy fog locations .

[FL&WVMIKE]

................ QUESTION ................

Do the judging standards allow for the R/H tail-light and/or seatbelts ?
Not all high-point cars are "trailer-queens".
Thanks,
MIKE

[steve s]

Originally Posted by RTC1930

I also really want a passenger side tail light ...

I was determined to have side lights; an all black car without side lights in modern times, when most drivers don't even remember cars not having side lights, strikes me as a recipe for disaster.

I mounted trailer lights in place of the teacups; the right side light bracket was already there.





Took a big hit on authenticity, but it's not my first, and at least I'm alive to hear the giggles. I think it actually looks a bit better than in the photos, and much better than any Jerry-rigged temporary setup. But, on the same theme, and while ya'll are tsk-tsking, here's what I've done in the front--motor cycle turnsignal/parking lights that show up nicely from the side.



I try not to drive at night, but when I do, I really like folks to be able to see where I am. Works in the rain, too.



Steve

[Brubaker]

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Steve, I bet at some point Henry Ford may have thought 'out-of-the-box' too. More power to you for being an individual. I think it looks alright.

[Peter J]

My 29 coupe has the tail light coming from the body and is a teacup. Snyders said the rt. side mount won't work with a teacup type only the drum lights. Has anyone modified these for the teacup units?
Pete

[RJ]

I have a logolite center light in my Sport Coupe and last year I added the passenger side light.On the passenger side light I couldnt bring myself to drill out the ender ,so I made up a bracket out 3/4 thin wall tubing and other small pieces o crsteel . the project took about 4-5 hours to make up and install. if you cant make something up the bite the bullet and add the light to the fender. Iam now runing 3 LED,S in the back and wish I could add flasher to the rear?

[SSsssteamer]

On our 1930 phateon, I installed a tea cup light to the right fender using a left hand tail light mounting bracket. It took several hours of work, changing it from a left mounted bracket to a right mounted bracket. It took a bit of torch work and re-heating, but the results were worth it.

[Special Coupe Frank]

Originally Posted by Peter J

My 29 coupe has the tail light coming from the body and is a teacup. Snyders said the rt. side mount won't work with a teacup type only the drum lights. Has anyone modified these for the teacup units?
Pete

I think the issue is that the with the drum-type stop & tail-light, the back of the bracket is actually the back-part of the lamp assembly, holding the sockets & bulbs, where-as the "tea-cup" and later lamps are a complete bolt-on unit - the bracket is just that - a bracket, no lamp parts.

That said, you might be able to modify the 1928 Drum-style RH bracket to mount a tea-cup lamp, but that's a pricey way to go - I 'd want to be sure the end result would look good before I started modifying the bracket.

[Peter J]

While we're on the subject, I would like to put a rt. tail light on my 29 spec. coupe but Snyders says it won't work on a teacup tailight. Has anybody modified the mount for a teacup type rather than the drum type?
Thanks,
Pete

[Ray in La Mesa]

I wanted to mount teacup tailights on the back of my pickup but not on the fenders. I took two '28 body mount drum light brackets and bent the bottoms 90 deg. to bolt to the bed rail where the original p/u light would mount, ( I have bumpers on the back so the p/u light would be behind the bumper) .To mount the teacup to the drum bracket I took a piece of material from a Model A frame 4 1/4" long and wide enough to match the diameter of the mounting face on the back of the teacup light. I then made two 90 deg. bends, the first ,1'' to match the bolt pattern on the drum bracket, the second, 3/4" to clear the license plate bracket of the teacup light, the rest of the length matched the mounting holes and bracket face of the teacup light. Painted black, you hardly notice it.

[Brubaker]

Pardon my dredging up an old thread, but thought this directional/turn signal light was interesting. I'm a firm believer in a bright LED stop light (window mounted), but this may be a fun add-on.

[Kahuna]

Brubaker
Did you ever drill the fender?
Jim

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

When you add a R/H tail light, there's always some A--HOLE that says it's CROOKED!
One Guy asked me, "Did someone STEP on your tail light"?----"NO, stupid, I don't even have a RUMBLE SEAT"!!
Bill Pissedoff

[redmodelt]

While yes I see this is an old posting, the one thing I would add is, just having a tail light on the right side might not cut it. Cop could pull you over for non op brake light!