Fulton Visor

[Kilgore47]

Finally got around to installing the Fulton visor I picked up a while back.  Getting it painted was the biggest hold up.  There is an auto parts store in town that does a good job matching existing colors.  Got a pint and three rattle cans made up.  I tried one of the rattle cans on one of the inside surfaces.  Didn't come out that good.  My neighbor is the paint and body guy of our group so I got him to paint it for me.  Not perfect but it matches the rest of the old survivor.  After it was installed it was time for a drive.  Half way out of the shop it died.  Points again.  Drove it back into the shop with the started.  I know that's not good but I didn't have anyone to help me.  Today I'll pull the distributor, install new points and go for a drive.  Some people don't like the look of these visors but I think it adds a major cool factor to the car.  One down side is that I won't be able to take it to the drive through car wash now.  

[Ivan_B]

Good job On another down-side, these cars have sort of small windows. With the visor, you will never see the stop lights, overhead signs, and even some traffic in mountain areas.

[Plymouthy Adams]

agree on visibility limited but it is not the size of the glass, it is the manner in which it is obstructed...preventing the ability to look up and only be able to see forward..

[Bob Riding]

Looks great. Any installation tips? I have one waiting for me on my '51.

[Ivan_B]

I would recommend taping up a piece of appropriately-sized cardboard to the car, to drive around the block and see how you like that. Seriously. Might save some time and money if you decide that this is not right for you

[Sniper]

They make/made a device to allow you to see stoplights.

 

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Deluxe-Traffic-Light-Viewer,298578.html

[Bob Riding]

49 minutes ago, Sniper said:

They make/made a device to allow you to see stoplights.

 

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Deluxe-Traffic-Light-Viewer,298578.html

I bought one. It attaches to the dash - it will be interesting to see how well it works.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I've been amazed at times and baffled also by the install of these among other fad options.  While they work great for their intention, the times now in my opinion make these more a safety hazard than the cosmetic or cool provides.  Back in the day you had very few stop light compared to now.  Compounded with this/similar visor on a ratter or like built vehicle where the body is channeled, the roof is chopped and the driver now has his chin buried in his chest and any ability to see upward has been sacrificed to looking forward only and it is a strain even then.  You see these guys driving by with this posture of the upper body knowing also that their knees are often sitting much higher than the seat bottom at awkward angles to the steering wheel...the drive is not worth the look but again...just my observation.  

[Sniper]

6 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I've been amazed at times and baffled also by the install of these among other fad options.  While they work great for their intention, the times now in my opinion make these more a safety hazard than the cosmetic or cool provides.  Back in the day you had very few stop light compared to now.  Compounded with this/similar visor on a ratter or like built vehicle where the body is channeled, the roof is chopped and the driver now has his chin buried in his chest and any ability to see upward has been sacrificed to looking forward only and it is a strain even then.  You see these guys driving by with this posture of the upper body knowing also that their knees are often sitting much higher than the seat bottom at awkward angles to the steering wheel...the drive is not worth the look but again...just my observation.  

 

Most of those guys going for that look have no idea how that look came about.

 

Bonneville.

[Plymouthy Adams]

yeah....Bonneville, one run out, one return run......repeat as necessary....lol  

 

Seriously though if they happy I am tickled pink, do I snicker, you bet!

Edited July 8, 2023 by Plymouthy Adams

[andyd]

I installed this Fulton visor on the 41 Plymouth I had, I felt it was a little more streamlined then the other style of visors that were used.....I also polished the alloy end clamps and made a stronger stainless steel centre bracket........and like a dope sold the car.........duh.....andyd  

[allbizz49]

Man, if all you guys do is worry about safety, why even drive these old heaps. One fender bender with a Prius can kill you with metal dashes, big ol' steering wheels and no seat belts or air bags. May as well stay home watching Matlock or Golden girls, it's much safer. To the original poster, good job on the visor. I personally don't like them but if you do, then rock on!

[Bryan G]

Mine had the visor when I got it; I probably would have never added one, but I feel it does a lot to help the styling. I'm 6'2. Only traffic lights are an issue, and those accessory viewers do work. Note: you will get more questions about that "thing on your dash" than almost anything else!

[Dan Hiebert]

Very nice, you'll enjoy having it on there, especially in that Texas sun.  I've noticed these outside sunvisors get a love-hate thing going.  I think they are quite practical for what they were intended for - keeping the sun out of the windshield and keeping the dash and steering wheel cooler.  Our D24 did not have one when we first got it, before I installed it, if I had to use the inside visors, they really restricted my outside view, more so than with that outside visor.  Since installing it, I've never used the inside ones.  I have one of those "traffic light finder" dash prisms, which helps at stop lights, but it has distortion in it such that I have to stop just right and look for a sweet spot to see the light, sometimes I give up and just wait for the car behind me to honk.  Otherwise, yeah, I gotta plan to stop half a block back from most traffic lights to see them without contorting myself.  Not much of a problem in this dinky little town up here, but western NY was "fun".  As far as aesthetics, I thought about taking it off when we moved out of the southwest, but I've gotten so used to it that I think our car looks funny without it, you know, kinda like red rims ?.  Interesting what location does for such accessories, too.  When we lived in Texas and New Mexico, folks knew what it was for.  Up here in Maine, not so much - most think it is to keep snow off the windshield (which it does, but only when parked).

 

[Kilgore47]

I did get one of those prisms so I can see traffic lights.  I have had other old cars with a Fulton visor so I know what driving with one is like.  The first time I took it out of the shop into the hot Texas sun it was like being under a shade tree.  I like it - and all my friends like it.  It adds a huge cool factor to the car.  I admit that when I first took it out of the box I was surprised at how wide it was.  And how much wind resistance it would have - but this is a run around town and cruise the back roads car.  Not for zooming down the interstate at 80 with overhead signs.  I have modern cars for that.  This visor came with two center brackets and it seams solid.  Time will tell.

 

I had no idea that these visors were first used at Bonneville - does that mean that I have a race car now.  Sixty mile an hour speedster. 

10 hours ago, allbizz49 said:

Man, if all you guys do is worry about safety

I live in a small town and know the back roads - that way I avoid most of the lights.  And when I travel to one of the near by small towns I take back roads.  I wouldn't even consider taking one of these old cars to a big city like Dallas or Houston.  

 

21 hours ago, Bob Riding said:

Looks great. Any installation tips?

Get someone to help you.  It's not that heavy but it's bulky.  Use tape to minimize paint scratches.  I ended up installing the end brackets on the drip rail first and then installed the main visor.  To me it was easier that way.  The installation instructions were minimal.  Remove from box and install?.  My main question was where to install the brackets.  I finally found an article that said to place the bottom of the bracket 10 3/4" from the bottom of the drip rail.  That worked out on my car.  Fully assemble the visor and test fit it.  Then take it back apart to paint it.

[Sniper]

15 hours ago, allbizz49 said:

Man, if all you guys do is worry about safety, why even drive these old heaps. One fender bender with a Prius can kill you with metal dashes, big ol' steering wheels and no seat belts or air bags. May as well stay home watching Matlock or Golden girls, it's much safer. To the original poster, good job on the visor. I personally don't like them but if you do, then rock on!

 

There is a difference between being safe and being stupid.  I will leave it to the readers to determine that cutoff.

[Eneto-55]

I grew up in Oklahoma, and I cannot say that I ever saw a vehicle with one of these installed.  I was born in the middle of the 50's, so there were lots of cars from the late forties still on the road.  Even when I got up to High School, several of my friends drove cars from the 40's.  I'm tall in the torso, so I have trouble seeing traffic lights even in modern vehicles.  I almost never use the inside visors because of that, even where there are no traffic lights - I just cannot see up the road as far as I like (which is "as far as I can", to anticipate traffic, etc).  Just a thought I had now, reading this discussion.  Maybe substituting tinted glass or plexiglass for the inside visors would make so I could actually use them.  The Fulton Visors - I'm one of those who is fine with other folks using them, but they are not for me.  Might help if they were see-through (tinted), but I simply do not like the looks of them.  As others have said, "To each his own."

[vintage6t]

1 hour ago, Eneto-55 said:

Maybe substituting tinted glass or plexiglass for the inside visors would make so I could actually use them. 

 

Not to hijack this thread but here's a set of see-through tinted interior visors that another member had made. Pretty nice and look period correct.

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

on some cars I admit these set the car off real nicely, others they can be a distraction....I am likely to put the visor I have here on the Suburban, but it is not the dog bone Fulton style.   It also had leading edge stainless trim that will break up the "overbite...."  The Fulton in the barn will likely hang there till kingdom come.  Overall though, I think it is an accessory that is over overdone on this era car, dual spots, even if faux, skirts and the Hull compass which I will give anyone a pass on the Hull compass I suppose.  Not that fond of the cupcake model compass that is more at home on the boat than the car...but again, just expressing myself.  Nothing wrong with any accessory really, and it is your car.   Just that one of these is JUST like the other and why I never go to car shows to see the cars.  I will attend the cruise in and talk with like-minded people on techie stuff.   Accessories fall into the category of those that French the lights front/rear or antenna etc...just overdone.  The ratters as much as I hate to say it have some imaginative mods, many done without finesse, but the thought is there and to date I have seen but one skillfully built ratter....it had the look of a ratter but look close, it had all the detail and craftsmanship of many custom built/painted rod and really stood out.  .

[andyd]

When I received the one I'd purchased I was at first surprised that it was made from aluminium and was coated in what I recognised as a pale yellow/green coloured primer that looked like it had been there from its original stamping and it made me wonder about the origin of the visors and especially the number that seemed to appear for post WW2 cars.........

...........I have a theory...............at the end of WW2 there was a wholesale cancellation of aircraft orders and I would suspect that alloy sheet orders would have been cut dramatically.........my understanding is that the sheet used in aircraft were supplied pre primed or anti corrosion coated to the aircraft companies like Boeing, North American, Grumman etc so what to do with all this alloy sheet..............

...........well sun visors and wheel spats were a couple of things that could help to use up these sheets.....I've no way of knowing whether this maybe a possibility of what happened or is just my fanciful thinking but I do know that the Fulton Sun Visor I received was definately coated with  this anti corrosion coating...............on the underside and also on areas that I uncovered when preparing it for the burgundy top coat.........I shot the whole visor in grey primer/undercoat and decided to leave that on the underside as it "blended" in with the cars interior roof lining when viewed from the drivers seat...........I never took a good pic of this feature tho' you can just see a part of the roof lining ........anyway............this is my theory but I'd be interested in any comments......here in Oz most of the Oz made sun visors I've seen appear to be made from sheet steel, whilst there were a couple of Oz made aircraft during WW2 the industry here was much smaller and I think would not have resulted in an excess of material like what could have occured in the USA..........andyd     

[andyd]

Plymouthy.......I call them Crap Rods, cars that are trying to emulate something that didn't exist in the first place.......yeh, sure people drove cars in primer and with rust spots(see the attached pic of my Dodge when I was widening the rear fenders) but those features were temporary things on the way to having a finished car that the owner could be proud of............anyway my Oz 2 cents worth........Andy Douglas

[Plymouthy Adams]

Andy, thanks for weighing in, most folks can easily recognize the work in progress...over the work around in progress....always have like the double panes in the rear....my Morris will have that...but they called cargo doors....lol

[DonaldSmith]

I have a "Guode" prism, a knockoff of the "Guide" trade mark.  Also, if the hood is polished, I can see the reflection of the traffic signals.  Small price to pay for being cool.    

[Dan Hiebert]

There's a prior thread from several years ago that touched on this, too.  I'd read somewhere that Fulton "scientifically" determined that the matte sage green color was best for reducing glare.  That yellow-green color on aircraft aluminum is zinc chromate, primarily to inhibit corrosion.  Being aftermarket items, most Fulton SunShields were packaged in that green color, and it was up to the end user to paint the rest of the visor in the desired color.  Fulton recommended leaving the underside green to help reduce glare.  I didn't know that when I installed mine, it had come off a donor car and was painted one color, so I painted mine all one shiny color, so when my hood is clean and shiny, I sometimes get glare from the shiny underside of the visor, too.  The aforementioned previous thread has at least one photo of the green underside from the interior of a car.  I don't think I've seen very many that don't have the underside painted the body color.

[D35 Torpedo]

I'm not usually a visor fan. But these cars have tall windshields. Adding a visor almost gives it a chopped look without cutting a thing. I picked up a visor recently, and have finished straightening and fitting it. So it will be in paint soon. I'm tall, since I reupholstered my seat I sit much higher. Lights are an issue as is.  My solution will be to readdress my seat. I want to move the whole bench back and lower the bottom. It will be worth it. My other concern is in the strength of the visor. It is a five piece unit made of sheet metal. The "wings" don't have a lot of support. I hope it can do 70 mph.