Paul Hatfield

Nice looking light Jeff!

I think the old saying is something like "Even a blind squirl gets lucky once in a while." Well, I must be a blind squirl. Very dirty box, but inside it I found pure beauty. Box is cleaned in the photos. It was covered in brake dust from an old shop. As in like 50 plus years of brake dust. If I touch the box any more, it will be in a zillion pieces. However, the contents were/are fantastic! Didn't get the full foot pump assembly, but all other pieces were still in the box. Smiling today! Paul

Great picture!!

I am restoring my under dash ashtray- photo is below. I still need to paint in the letters on the knob. But,,, there is an ashtray currently on Ebay that the seller claims to be NOS. I have no affiliation with the seller, just thought someone here might appreciate the item. If your interested, it is Ebay number 400355387438. Again, the photo below is of mine I am restoring, the NOS one is on Ebay and I have no affiliation whatsoever. Paul

Hmmmm- I may have just answered my own question. I have another housing that is all rust, housing and bezel, no paint left. It has the two studs coming out the back side with both studs broken off. Looks original as all heck, and it did have a good glass lens though. Anyway, I removed the black plastic portion from the one shown above and tried it in the old rusty housing. Too small. OOPS It is nice that this one had a stainless steel bezel, as that kind of matches the trim at the front of the truck, but I think the housing is a repop Guess that leaves me still searching.

I have a question regarding tail lights and specifically the rare passenger side one. I have been collecting parts for my restoration, and in the process of purchasing some old lights, I have come across the more common drivers side light with the window to shine down to light up the license plate. Then, I came across and purchased the housing shown below. It is has the same window opening at the bottom of the housing, but there is a very vintage/original looking black plastic insert in place instead of the glass. The plastic part fits perfectly, and does not look homemade. The black plastic blocks the light from shining down, as would be desired on the passenger side. Is this housing an original passenger side tail light??? It came with the lens that is shown below with the polished stainless steel (not chrome) bezel. By the way, the bezel looked terrible but I was able to get this appearance after much polishing. This design would allow both sides to use identical housings, but one side would have the glass window and the passenger side would have this insert. Opinions? Paul

Anybody else with a photo of their truck in the snow?

Great steering wheel Brian! Thanks for sharing the picture Paul

One last winter outside--- Photo of my project sitting outside in the snow attached. It was warm here (Seattle area) on Thanksgiving- 56 degrees while going home in the evening from our daughters place. Two days later it looked like the North Pole. Paul

Wow Ed! Share some shots of these great parts??

Brian- Pictures, pictures, pictures, please

Hey Mark- NOS Mopar windshield washer sounds fantastic. Any photos to share??

Nice fog lights Keven! As for my hood ornament, it is clearly not perfect, but I attribute that to time and shelf wear. I can see no "road rash" on the very front of the ornament that would normally be seen from "a lot of road time". Anyway, that is not my main point. It is that NOS can be fun and beautiful, or it can also have shelf wear, corrosion, and other ailments. Paul

And,,,, Sometimes NOS is not perfect. Attached photos show a hood ornament that I was sold as NOS. It is darn nice, but not perfect. Shelf wear can be seen and it is not as shinny as a fresh re-chrome would be. There is also one pit you can see in the painted area. I am very happy with the part, don't get me wrong. My point is only that NOS is not necessarily perfect.

Mark- Yes, they are glass, so maybe I got lucky. I agree that the turn signal I purchased is not an original factory part- but I still love it!!! Would like to see photos of others great finds. -Paul

Thanks Brent! As for turn signal switches, I spent quite a bit of time researching them, and I kept changing my mind what I wanted to purchase. Was going to go with a self canceling unit, because otherwise I knew I'd leave it on after a turn Plan was going to be to add a separate Signal Stat Sigflare unit for emergency flashers. The separate Sigflare units are very cool, and almost went that way. Then I found that the 800 had the flashing bulb at the end of the lever and a built in 4 way flasher section. That is what sold me on this unit. The 900 is nice as well, I just liked the unique feature of the light on the lever that comes with the 800 (900 is on the control box). My plan is for separate turn signals mounted on the front fender and three lights on the rear of the truck. One will be just a tail light/license light and the other two will be stop and turn signals. The 800 will accomodate this wiring. I'll be using the tail light lens shown below. Seller said these were NOS also, but I suspect they may not be. Even so, I'm happy with the appearance. Paul

I was recently able to track down and buy an NOS turn signal switch that I had been looking for. I realize it is not an original MOPAR part (purists please don't hate me), but it is the one I wanted to install in my truck (eventually). When it arrived, I was shocked that it was in absolutely pristine condition- just like the day it was made decades and decades before. I'm including some pictures of the turn signal switch and I can't wait for the day the little green end of the lever is flashing at me. So, I am wondering if others might like to share photos of an NOS part they have found. Some of this stuff is just amazing to me. Paul

BINGO! Thanks Bob! Paul

Mike- You may be correct, but it's been to long for me to remember. I do think we used it for parking the truck on hills, which would mean that we turned the ignition off after setting the switch. Perhaps in that truck it was wired to have constant power to the switch, which might not have been stock. All this was back in 1969 when I turned 16. I later sold the truck for $300 but it sure was fun to have during High School. Paul

I was reading this thread and remembered 40+ years ago my Dad teaching me about the 51 truck we had back then. He told me that when parking on a steep hill to put my foot down on the brake hard, and while holding the pedal down, throw the switch. Said it was good insurance over using the parking brick we kept in the bed of the truck Anyway, I looked in the parts manual, and on page 1-14 there is a section for a "BRAKE HOLDER". See 1-43-1 part number 1266 969 Could this be in fact a factory option?? Paul

Wow, great progress!! Interesting method of lifting the cab. Was the process smooth and stable?? -Paul

I believe it would be very easy to do on these early visors. Simply remove one cotter pin and pull the visor arm out of the bracket. Second step would be to slide it into the correct passenger side bracket and insert the pin above the spring and washer. -Paul

The bracket is something I could also get made. My company has a small aluminum foundry producing sand cast aluminum parts. However, the up front cost would be tooling and match plates, then the cost of making the casting, then the machining for the back side and holes, and then the chrome work. Not something that could be sold for what people would be willing to pay unless it also fit a Ferrari! Guess I am lucky to have one myself, and perhaps some day another drivers side visor with the same vinyl will show up. It would easily transfer over to the passenger side bracket, giving me a nice pair. -Paul

Now if I could find some more of that material (vinyl?), I'd make up a passenger side visor!

Here is a photo of the back side of the drivers side bracket. There is a cotter pin above a washer and below that a spring. This forces the arm up into the bracket. I believe that if the cotter pin was removed, the arm and visor would switch over to the passenger bracket. Paul