Ford F834 Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Jonathan - Chris' is much worse. Apparently the studs on the original fog lamp bezel are smaller than ours and his was moved to the right in the hole before the studs were melted. Yipes! Jim - While I agree that in a blown-up pic where the letters can be studied closely that the "L" has a longer foot on ours than the NOS one. And, the space between the "G" and the "L" is less, and, and, and. But, to answer your question, when you look at it with nothing else with which to compare it looks great. I'm happy with the letters and think we did a good job with matching the font, sizing the letters, etc. And, thanks for your comment about it matching the rest of the dash. I agree. Now, if we could just get a few folks to measure the bead on theirs so we could ensure this next one will be the right height..... Gary, how accurate do you want to be as far as matching the wiper switch panel? The black face of that area is actually recessed below the level of the printed or textured bezel face. We can thin it down all we want but it will never match. It will always look stuck on because it is... just "what if" the bezel was given a flange and rear mounted through a file-fit hole? Too complicated? It would definitely take some finesse to install it but I bet the results would be worth it. 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Gary, how accurate do you want to be as far as matching the wiper switch panel? The black face of that area is actually recessed below the level of the printed or textured bezel face. We can thin it down all we want but it will never match. It will always look stuck on because it is... just "what if" the bezel was given a flange and rear mounted through a file-fit hole? Too complicated? It would definitely take some finesse to install it but I bet the results would be worth it. 🤔 Jonathan - I said earlier that this exercise reminded me of the phrase "Perfecting sealing wax." And no one seemed to pick up on it. So, here's a link. I'm not sure if anyone is really going to want to cut their instrument bezel, very precisely I might add since the lines would be visible, and push the fog lamp bezel through from the back. (If you really wanted it to match you'd have to push the fog lamp bezel through from the front, with the bead covering the cut, and the face of the bezel recessed below the instrument bezel.) I think I'll be happy with one that centers over the switch hole. And I'll be even happier with one that pretty well matches the size and shape of the headlight/wiper bezel. Yes, it'll still look like what it is - stuck on. But, that is what Ford did, so it will be "period correct". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Jonathan - I said earlier that this exercise reminded me of the phrase "Perfecting sealing wax." And no one seemed to pick up on it. So, here's a link. I'm not sure if anyone is really going to want to cut their instrument bezel, very precisely I might add since the lines would be visible, and push the fog lamp bezel through from the back. (If you really wanted it to match you'd have to push the fog lamp bezel through from the front, with the bead covering the cut, and the face of the bezel recessed below the instrument bezel.) I think I'll be happy with one that centers over the switch hole. And I'll be even happier with one that pretty well matches the size and shape of the headlight/wiper bezel. Yes, it'll still look like what it is - stuck on. But, that is what Ford did, so it will be "period correct". I thought about that Gary, having the bead cover the cut, but then there would be no plastic to connect it to the face if it has to overhang. And the cut would still have to be extremely precise even if it did overhang. Done from the back the cut would have to be made with the hole overly small, and then carefully enlarged with a few fine file strokes at a time until it exactly fit. But that is not a job that many would have the patience for... at all! 🤓 Sounds like I need to try it but I won't saw off the 1/4 x 28 studs until I have a perfect fit... ~if I get a perfect fit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 I thought about that Gary, having the bead cover the cut, but then there would be no plastic to connect it to the face if it has to overhang. And the cut would still have to be extremely precise even if it did overhang. Done from the back the cut would have to be made with the hole overly small, and then carefully enlarged with a few fine file strokes at a time until it exactly fit. But that is not a job that many would have the patience for... at all! 🤓 Sounds like I need to try it but I won't saw off the 1/4 x 28 studs until I have a perfect fit... ~if I get a perfect fit... This is what I thought of, with the black being the instrument bezel, red being the fog lamp bezel, and green a plate to hold it in from the rear. The bead overlaps the cut so it can't be seen and doesn't have to be precise. And the face of the fog lamp bezel is even with that of the instrument bezel. And the rubber piece, not shown, would be captured between the red fog lamp bezel and the green retaining plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 This is what I thought of, with the black being the instrument bezel, red being the fog lamp bezel, and green a plate to hold it in from the rear. The bead overlaps the cut so it can't be seen and doesn't have to be precise. And the face of the fog lamp bezel is even with that of the instrument bezel. And the rubber piece, not shown, would be captured between the red fog lamp bezel and the green retaining plate. The rubber piece would need to be the size of the green backer in order to clamp the bezel tightly to the dash panel. That is, if the bezel is the same thickness as the panel, and I don't know if you could go thin enough to make it work otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 The rubber piece would need to be the size of the green backer in order to clamp the bezel tightly to the dash panel. That is, if the bezel is the same thickness as the panel, and I don't know if you could go thin enough to make it work otherwise. Good point, Jim. Oh, I forgot - Jonathan said that the face of the headlight/wiper switch area is actually below the level of the rest of the instrument bezel. To do that the backer, as shown here, would have to have a lip to hit the backside of the instrument bezel. But, we could make the backer into a collar, meaning it would have a hole in the middle that would allow it to fit around the fog lamp bezel. That is basically the same design that Ron and I used for the dash patch - lips hiding the cut and a collar to hold it in. It could look very much like the bead and face of the instrument bezel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 This is what I thought of, with the black being the instrument bezel, red being the fog lamp bezel, and green a plate to hold it in from the rear. The bead overlaps the cut so it can't be seen and doesn't have to be precise. And the face of the fog lamp bezel is even with that of the instrument bezel. And the rubber piece, not shown, would be captured between the red fog lamp bezel and the green retaining plate. If the bead is 0.062" in width, and you split it in half you would have an overhang of 0.031" which is at least something but it isn't much. You still gotta have that hole pretty darn close. It would be cleaner though. To really match the wiper switch panel the face of the fog light bezel should sit below the face of the instrument bezel and the plate on the back would have to be stepped in order to have contact. I think you may be right about going insane with detail here, this is probably best left as an overlay, and any insane individual who wants to integrate it into the bezel is welcome to do so at his own peril 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 If the bead is 0.062" in width, and you split it in half you would have an overhang of 0.031" which is at least something but it isn't much. You still gotta have that hole pretty darn close. It would be cleaner though. To really match the wiper switch panel the face of the fog light bezel should sit below the face of the instrument bezel and the plate on the back would have to be stepped in order to have contact. I think you may be right about going insane with detail here, this is probably best left as an overlay, and any insane individual who wants to integrate it into the bezel is welcome to do so at his own peril 😁 Right on all counts. But, we could get this "sealing wax" perfect! Forget that no one uses it - it would be exactly "right"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford F834 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Good point, Jim. Oh, I forgot - Jonathan said that the face of the headlight/wiper switch area is actually below the level of the rest of the instrument bezel. To do that the backer, as shown here, would have to have a lip to hit the backside of the instrument bezel. But, we could make the backer into a collar, meaning it would have a hole in the middle that would allow it to fit around the fog lamp bezel. That is basically the same design that Ron and I used for the dash patch - lips hiding the cut and a collar to hold it in. It could look very much like the bead and face of the instrument bezel. Gary, you should have a new member request from a guy named Alfie. He has some very interesting information about fog lights with manual transmissions 😳 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Gary, you should have a new member request from a guy named Alfie. He has some very interesting information about fog lights with manual transmissions 😳 Day late and a dollar short: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/New-member-td6875.html Alfie signed up late last night and has already posted. Just not about fog lamps with manual transmissions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts