Fog Light Bezel, Switch, etc

[Gary Lewis]

Does anyone have an original switch? need to see if we can "match" one from what is available today.....

I'm pretty sure that Jonathan does, and he said he will get pics of it ASAP and post here. And I have an early and a late tank selector switch, which have the right arm on them so we could have the right knob. The hope is that we can figure out how to use the selector switch as the fog lamp switch, although it will take some adaptation for mounting.

But, if someone can find a switch that attaches via a nut on the barrel and has a flat arm to take the knob, maybe that would work.

[Ford F834]

I'm pretty sure that Jonathan does, and he said he will get pics of it ASAP and post here. And I have an early and a late tank selector switch, which have the right arm on them so we could have the right knob. The hope is that we can figure out how to use the selector switch as the fog lamp switch, although it will take some adaptation for mounting.

But, if someone can find a switch that attaches via a nut on the barrel and has a flat arm to take the knob, maybe that would work.

Gary, what is the year break for the early and late tank selector switch? I do indeed have a NOS fog light switch and was going to make comparisons to the tank switch, but maybe I need to compare it with both?

I will try to get you those measurements on the lettering as soon as I can but probably won't be today.

The bead on the switch bezel is flattish but with rounded edges. It is dangerous to say it matches the bead around the instrument bezel because those beads are not all the same. Black weave and 1984 grey weave have very flat square edged beads that are more like the frame around the indicator lights and clock holes. Rosewood and XLS have beads that have a flattened face but with rounded edges (~not a half circle in cross section). The fog lamp beads are closest to this type. The 85/86 grey weave and burl wood have much more slender beads with no flatness to the face (half circle cross section). For those wondering how I know all this about bezel beads, I have spent a bit of time painting them with the tricky mirror chrome paint and each shape and width of bead takes the paint differently... so you figure out quickly to recognize the difference. The fog lamp bead does not exactly match the other bezel beads, but part of it may just be that one side is the whole thickness of the part. Here is another photo that shows the fog lamp bead along side the bead around the headlight and wiper switch area. Notice the radii of the corners are tighter than those of the headlight/wiper switch panel, and the bead seems slightly more slender. I believe this is an optical illusion as the instrument bezel beads flare where they blend with the bezel face making them look wider. That is, where it joins is a slight cove, not a sharp right angle.

[Gary Lewis]

I'm pretty sure that Jonathan does, and he said he will get pics of it ASAP and post here. And I have an early and a late tank selector switch, which have the right arm on them so we could have the right knob. The hope is that we can figure out how to use the selector switch as the fog lamp switch, although it will take some adaptation for mounting.

But, if someone can find a switch that attaches via a nut on the barrel and has a flat arm to take the knob, maybe that would work.

Did a little more playing. Ran the font through a service on-line that said that Kasse FLF is the best font, so downloaded and installed it. And it is pretty close. However, as you'll see, the distance from the left of the F to the right of the P in FOG LAMP isn't as much as on the bezel - even though the height of the letters is what Jonathan measured.

I can probably stretch the lettering to make it longer, but I think that will make it look odd, so am wondering if the letters really need to be different. Anyway, the letters are randomly placed on the bezel, so don't read anything into their position.

And, for Pete, here's a head-on shot. Much easier to compare to Jonathan's pic.

 

[Ford F834]

Did a little more playing. Ran the font through a service on-line that said that Kasse FLF is the best font, so downloaded and installed it. And it is pretty close. However, as you'll see, the distance from the left of the F to the right of the P in FOG LAMP isn't as much as on the bezel - even though the height of the letters is what Jonathan measured.

I can probably stretch the lettering to make it longer, but I think that will make it look odd, so am wondering if the letters really need to be different. Anyway, the letters are randomly placed on the bezel, so don't read anything into their position.

And, for Pete, here's a head-on shot. Much easier to compare to Jonathan's pic.

Gary, the letters look the right size, but the spacing between them is too tight. I think that is the kernel(?) size in type setting lingo? I don't know if there is any way to adjust that but it might help. Also if it could be bolded or similar, as the width of the line needs to be more. The shape of the letters does look really close to the Ford font though! 👍

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, what is the year break for the early and late tank selector switch? I do indeed have a NOS fog light switch and was going to make comparisons to the tank switch, but maybe I need to compare it with both?

I will try to get you those measurements on the lettering as soon as I can but probably won't be today.

The bead on the switch bezel is flattish but with rounded edges. It is dangerous to say it matches the bead around the instrument bezel because those beads are not all the same. Black weave and 1984 grey weave have very flat square edged beads that are more like the frame around the indicator lights and clock holes. Rosewood and XLS have beads that have a flattened face but with rounded edges (~not a half circle in cross section). The fog lamp beads are closest to this type. The 85/86 grey weave and burl wood have much more slender beads with no flatness to the face (half circle cross section). For those wondering how I know all this about bezel beads, I have spent a bit of time painting them with the tricky mirror chrome paint and each shape and width of bead takes the paint differently... so you figure out quickly to recognize the difference. The fog lamp bead does not exactly match the other bezel beads, but part of it may just be that one side is the whole thickness of the part. Here is another photo that shows the fog lamp bead along side the bead around the headlight and wiper switch area. Notice the radii of the corners are tighter than those of the headlight/wiper switch panel, and the bead seems slightly more slender. I believe this is an optical illusion as the instrument bezel beads flare where they blend with the bezel face making them look wider. That is, where it joins is a slight cove, not a sharp right angle.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, the letters look the right size, but the spacing between them is too tight. I think that is the kernel(?) size in type setting lingo? I don't know if there is any way to adjust that but it might help. Also if it could be bolded or similar, as the width of the line needs to be more. The shape of the letters does look really close to the Ford font though! 👍

Jonathan - I'll play with spacing. Like maybe a space between each letter. I already have two spaces between the words.

[Ford F834]

Jonathan - I'll play with spacing. Like maybe a space between each letter. I already have two spaces between the words.

That will probably help Gary, but now that you put the two side by side you may also need to stretch the font if you can. Flicker your eyes back and forth and focus on the "O" in fog. It becomes quite obvious the script you are using is more squeezed.

[Gary Lewis]

That will probably help Gary, but now that you put the two side by side you may also need to stretch the font if you can. Flicker your eyes back and forth and focus on the "O" in fog. It becomes quite obvious the script you are using is more squeezed.

I agree that it is more "squeezed". Unfortunately there are no controls on width, but I did try to stretch it - and it was such a mess I had to close the app.

I'm going to play with it today to try to get it where I think it needs to be and is ready for some dimensions later. Then I can adjust it and, hopefully, make it correct.

[PetesPonies]

I agree that it is more "squeezed". Unfortunately there are no controls on width, but I did try to stretch it - and it was such a mess I had to close the app.

I'm going to play with it today to try to get it where I think it needs to be and is ready for some dimensions later. Then I can adjust it and, hopefully, make it correct.

Unless you can spec the distance between the letters, I believe a different font is needed.

[Gary Lewis]

Unless you can spec the distance between the letters, I believe a different font is needed.

Pete - You may be right, but we can tweak the font pretty easily once I get the rest of it sorted out.

And, I think I'm about there. Here's the latest, but I still need measurements to confirm a number of things, like the placement of the lever opening and lettering since I took them off of pictures and parallax may be a problem. And, on the lettering height and length. But, those things are easy to change.

However, I don't yet have the studs drawn on the back that go through the instrument bezel. Turns out that the holes in the instrument bezel I have are not lined up at right angles to the bottom of the instrument bezel. And, since I don't really know where the fog lamp bezel sits on the instrument bezel I don't know where to put those studs. So, you'uns with fog lamp bezels please give me some direction.

Also, we need to come up with a way to attach the fog lamp bezel to the instrument bezel. The factory used studs, which were in strange locations, that protruded through the instrument bezel and were melted over. I'm not sure how easy that is to do with the material used in 3D printers, but obviously it can be melted so maybe that will work.

Anyway, here's the angle-shot which shows more detail of the 3D:

And, here's a side-by-side. A couple of things stand out to me. First, the radius on the corners needs to be smaller. Second, the letters need to be taller. What do you see?