FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Can anyone tell me if there is a LEFT and a RIGHT hand Chrome headlight surrounds ???

There are Left and Right Tail Fins which have LH and RH cast into them, but I can;t find any castings on the headlight surrounds.

Any help much appreciated !

Cheers

Mark

Shtit, I hope not! I just grabbed the best two I could find, got 'em chromed and whacked them on.
Seriously though, I couldn't spot any differences in the half dozen odd I had.

Just noticed the other day too ,Have a look at the ridge on the top stinky ,they seem to be a little angled.

There are two different types of headlight surround castings, but not for the reason you mention :o

If you've got a collection of them, have a look on the inside of where the lower screw fits and you'll see there are variations in the cast ribbing.  OTTOMH I can't recall which is which, but one of them suits LUCAS headlights and one suits BOSCH.  The latter has the word "Bosch" cast into it somewhere.  The other has no lettering.

I'm not aware of there being a LH and RH variant of these, but as always I live and learn...

cheers
RET

The Bosch ones have the name cast into back to the right hand side of the bottom mounting hole

Left and right are the same

One type has a single slot in the rear lower casting, the other has two slots.

My Nov 59 FC originally had the single slot type.

As far as I am aware there are no LH/RH Headlight surrounds.----- Now here is a question for the observant.------What is the difference between1958 & late '59 Tail Fins?
Cheers Old-Blu.

Easy  ;D

Late '59 has a small indentation for the fin extension. Ask me how I know?

BECAUSE I GOT TWO OF THE EARLY TYPE RECHROMED AND WENT TO FIT THEM TO MY LATE 59 FC. ARRRRGGHHHHHHH :P

A slight file and all was OK.

Cheers,

Craig.

P.S: Hi Kevin, good to see you back on here.

There is another difference between h'light surrounds. On the leading edge, some have square edges and some are more rounded. (Does this make sense?)
Regards
Alex

Heres another interesting little quirk with holden panels that goes un noticed to even a trained eye.
On the FB an EK the guards are different. One has a relatively flat run on the top of the guard from the windscreen to the headlight peak whilst the other has a noticable curve over.

EK are straight FB curved ,almost like the dyes were just worn.

Had anyone else ever noticed it ?

at the risk of extending this discussion a little too far...has anyone ever noticed there are two sizes of FE indicator surrounds? A bit hard to photograph but this shows a comparison at the ridge on the top....one is clearly 4-5mm deeper than the other. I have a few of these so don't think its a problem with wear and tear. Also the profile from the front is slightly different. Odd eh?

Jonno

Jonno, no worries about extending this thread.  I started the thread,and am really enjoying finding out about all these little quirks....makes for very interesting reading....and I,ve learned a few things aswell !

Mark

Hi guys,
here's the info on the headlight surrounds :

1/  There is no difference between left & right    
2/ There are 2 types :1/  Lucas  which have 2 slots at
                                      the bottom [1 slot on either
                                      side of the bottom mounting
                                      hole] as Craig has mentioned
                                      & has a rounded front edge as
                                      Alex has mentioned.
                                  2/ Bosch  which have  1 wider slot
                                      directly under the bottom mount
                                      ing hole and has a squared off
                                      front edge.
Also what I have found is try the surround on the guard first before rechroming as some surrounds fit better than others  who knows why.

hope this helps Regards Mick  :)

Not Happy Jonno!    ;D ;D ;D

I wish you hadn't pointed that out.
I went and checked the pair of indicators I have had re-chromed and wouldn't you know it, they are different.

Likewise Jonno,

I took six I had acquired to the re-chromer and asked him to pick out the two best and go for it!  :'(

They should be ready in a week or two.

Can someone work out for me....... what are the odds of the Chrome Dude picking 2 matching surrounds that also suit "Hilda"?  ???

Emu

Having been down this path 3 times already with show cars - here is the benefit of my experience.
Select a pile of good headlamp surrounds with as little pitting as possible.
Match them to the guards to find the best fitting surrounds for left and right.
Mark each surround L & R
Now file each surround and / or build up the guard to achieve a good fit
Then have them chromed
My last FC had surrounds with 1mm gap right round the guard and had approx 40 hours each spent on them.

Ken

Stinky/Emu,

maybe you guys need to arrange a swap? This should work fine...unless there are MORE than two variants!

Jonno ;D