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The Cat's Meowww


larryconnors

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I just hooked up the hood ornament light on my P15 so that lights with the headlight low beams. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the lighted hood ornament. When you drive you feel like the hood ornament is leading the way and you're following it. I know I'm the only one on my block with a lighted hood ornament. What was the heyday of lighted hood ornaments and what cars had them?

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The original light kit was a narrow 3-4" long piece of metal with a cheap bulb socket on the end. If I had a P-15 and wanted one , in an hour it would be done and lit up. Nothing to them.

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long ago I posted the aftermarket lighting kit common to the era....like Bob said, it is really a nothing thing to make...wiring is simple you have the option of running it off parking circuit, low beam or even high beam as another forward indicator that you have the bright lights on..different colored bulb/bulb covers (yes they are available) will allow you to match your body décor..

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Anybody else remember the big chrome swans with the lighted wings that J.C.Whitney used to sell? The wings lit up in a choice of colors,but for some reason pink seemed to be the most popular,followed by blue and purple.

 

Or at least that's the way it was in the black neighborhood adjoining the neighborhood where I lived in Virginia Beach,Va in the 50's and 60's.

 

Never saw one on a car being driven by a white man..

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I believe mine cost me $1.79 with the bulb included.  GM soft plastic side marker bulb holder and bulb.  Its a 12V amber bulb that on 6v is not overpowering.  Powered it from the coil ign terminal.  Just squeezed it in and wired it up.  I will send you an invoice for the advice, and no I don;t have the part number.

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Cheap thrill. I enjoy the little lamp in my P-15 hood ornament, it is one more thing that sets it apart from other cars on the road. I wired mine to the toggle switch that controls the instrument panel lamps.

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They also made an Indian head ornament with full headdress that lit up.............aftermarket item.

There were other lighted ornaments, but I don't recall what some of them were now.

 

I hooked my P15 ornament light to low beam headlights.  However, I put an allligator clip on the end

of the connector wire..........that way I can change the hookup and turn on the light by itself at a night

time car show or cruise-in.  

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   My hood ornament light is powered from the switch side of the coil. That way I can enjoy it all the time.  I had  49 & 50 Desotos with lit up Hernandoes, also some 50-54 Pontiacs with amber chiefs on their hoods.  

 

I long for a DeSoto with a light-up Hernando.  :)

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  • 8 months later...

The earlier post war Hudsons (46 and 47 that I know for sure) had the white triangle in the Hudson emblem hood ornament light up.  My Grandpa told stories about being extra careful when driving around town (Centralia, IL) at night when they saw that white triangle on the car behind them, because the city PD used Hudsons.

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The earlier post war Hudsons (46 and 47 that I know for sure) had the white triangle in the Hudson emblem hood ornament light up.  My Grandpa told stories about being extra careful when driving around town (Centralia, IL) at night when they saw that white triangle on the car behind them, because the city PD used Hudsons.

 

Centralia, IL huh?  I go there for work quite often.  Not a bad town. 

 

Staying on topic I need to do this for my car too.  Probably going to wire mine to a toggle switch to turn it on and off when I want to. 

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 My hood ornament light is powered from the switch side of the coil. That way I can enjoy it all the time.  I wonder if one could put lights in the eyes of the Ram's head. Then I could wire them to the coil and since I'm getting hard of hearing, I would know if the engine was running.  :D 

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