I am missing the passenegers side spotlight that was on my 52 fire truck and want to find a replacement, is there a difference between right and left and if there is I am assuming it is in the face of the bracket that attaches to windshield pillar and if so is that something that can be solved by simply removing and possibly flipping over or something or are drivers and passenegers side completely different animals, thanks

 

Believe it...or not, you can still buy the exact same spotlight from Unity.

Not only do they have the spotlights, but all the mounting brackets...and etc.

unityusa.com.

 

And just to expand on what Bill said, the lights are available, and you will probably have to go to Unity for a bracket kit (expensive @ ~ $75). And no you can't just flip the mount over, because the hole is at a compound angle and will not sit right. But the lights are the same.

The lights are readily available on e-bay and at car parts swap meets much cheeper than at Unity.

There are a few different types but for our purposes, there is a 5 inch and a 6 inch.

You will need a #66 bracket and (usually) an "A" 4" shaft. I would imagine your fire truck has 6 inch lights.

Bulbs are available in 6 volt and 12 volt from GE and are number: GE H7635 (halogen) for the 6 inch (12 volt). You can get those bulbs from "The Light House" at:

http://www.thelighthouseinc.com/asp/default.asp

Here is the link to Unity:

http://www.unityusa.com/Revised%20Ne...0spotlight.htm.

The brackets are also available at C&G Ford Parts:

http://www.cgfordparts.com/index.html

If you need specific parts for your lights I have an exploded drawing with part numbers. It may be in my gallery "Line Drawings" but I'm not sure, I can 't get into them - just converted to MS Vista

I completely disassembled my lights, shafts and handles, and am VERY familiar with how they work and some of the more common problems......And I do have a few parts but not many (and no brackets).

Here's a few pics of my 51 with the 6" lights:

 

Julie, I read those ebay ads for spotlights all the time. Usually...the ads say "Rare NOS spotlight, just found in someones attic."

Uh huh...in most cases, they are using the J. Paul Getty method of using someone else's money to make money.

In other words...they run the ads, then when someone buys one, the ebay sellers then go and buy it from Unity!

Or...the ebay sellers are selling the type of spotlights one usually finds at swap meets. You know, like...

With/without the combination of: busted bulbs, pitted to death handles, cracked and dis-colored plastic *****, dented housings, chewed on by rodents wiring, with/without the mounting brackets.

The other problemo when buying at swap meets is...Usually the seller and the potential buyer have no klew...at all...what the spotlight is off of.

btw: What am I doing on FTE at this time of day? All of the Judge Judy shows are re-runs.

 

hoping not to hijack the thread... but are there some troubleshooting tips for these?

i have one that will pop a fuse, not sure of what is inside that can cause this.

 

That could always be the case Bill, But if you buy from Unity the lights are over $125 and that does not include the mounting bracket - which is over $75.

I'm not going to pretend there are not people ripping others off on e-bay. But I bought one of my parts lights for $35 on e-bay and I don't think the seller spent $200 at Unity to sell me a $35 light.

The others I bought at parts swap meets.

And yes you have to have some semblance of a brain when buying used parts. Know you e-bay sellers and know your parts at swap meets.

So, if you know what you are looking for, you should be able to find a decent working light at a large car parts swap meet (like the San Diego 3-day) for less than $50 in VERY good condition. I saw 50 to 60 of them - most working, some dirty, some dinged, some incomplete, etc.

These are not the space shuttle....It's a light bulb attached to a socket and a switch - no internal wires other than in the bulb housing for ground.

If you want the new quality and warranty of new parts for the price, that is just fine - but depending on ones needs or desires there are many other satisfactory options rather than buying new at high prices.

Case in point: Look at the pictures of my spots above - like new. I didn't pay over $50 for either one of them. The right hand mounting bracket I had to buy from Unity was more than both of those lights with the two 5" light housings (they interchange easily) I bought.

One last comment: all the Unity spotlights are the same irregardless of what model car they were mounted on. Only the mounting bracket is different. That number is stamped on the bottom of the bracket. For our trucks 48-55 (56 is different) it's a #66 like "Route 66" not too hard to remember. There are optional longer shafts you can get for the lights if needed, otherwise, five inch, six inch, roof mount, all the Unity spotlights are the same - the logo tags may be different (some may say Unity, some Ford, some nothing) but the lights are the same.

 

The lights are powered in a strange fashion, using the shafts to carry current rather than wires. This is so they can rotate unlimited in 360 degrees both the light and the shaft - and not bind up wires.

There are contact tabs at each joint that is help taught up against the other part with a spring. The only wires are the power wire from your power source to the switch, and a power wire running off the center shaft to the bulb socket and a ground wire running from the bulb socket to the light bulb housing - both in the bulb housing.

If you have a spot and it's popping fuses, then chances are good that your feed wire going to the switch has had the insulation rubbed bare and is shorted to the handle or the switch contact is touching the switch housing.

Only other option is the power wire up in the light bulb housing has rubbed a bare spot as well and it is touching the housing to short.

 

I'll agree with Julie on the grounding out issue. I rewired my roof mounted spots at the switch. melted off the original solder, and reattached new wiring. I have a complete set of four original Unity spot and flood lamps. I accidentally blew the bulb in the left one though. Don't know how, but I managed to accidentally touch it to a 12 volt power source, not knowing the switch was in the on position.....must of been the kids playing with the lights. Know anyone that needs a set of four orginal Unity lights?

 

But that was before you quit smoking, right Joe! Tee hee (sorry couldn't resist)

Hope you are still doing well Joe and staying smoke free - Cigarettes and wiring - you hang in there and DO IT!

 

Sorry for having missed all the posts to this thread, it seemed for some reason that all of a sudden the responses to my threads were being kicked over to my spam folder and dont know why. Anyway I was able to call unity and they have the correct bracket and it is 50 bucks, I think that is alot of money so I may ( and probably will ) make one out of a solid chunck of aluminumnumnum. It dont have to be authentic looking at this point but I am sure it will look fine if I spend a little time. Thanks again for all the responses.

 

BTW the passeneger spotlight did not come with the truck, evidently it had been removed at some point from the rest of the parts but I was able to buy a real neat light from e-bay, it has a smaller spotlight maybe 4.5 inches but has a mirror on the backside, I called unity and gave them the model # and they said that unity did this up until the early 50s for some auto manuf. that did not provide outside mirrors as an optiion. Its in great shape with no pitting and I give 50 bucks. Much better than buying new in my opinion

 

Yep, those little brackets are eeeeeexpensive! Unfortunately, you will be hard pressed to find one loose at a swap meet or on e-bay without a light attached to it. Funny, but if yo are at a swap meet and find a light with the #66 bracket, they will probably sell you the whole thing for less than $50.

That smaller light is probably a 5 inch and what you have on the drivers side is a 6 inch.

Those light mirror combos are selling for some real bucks (like $75 for one in good shape) used on e-bay

 

I took off the Unity lights from my sister's Explorer before she sold it. Originally it was a San Francisco PD unmarked car. Unfortunately, the lights are 12v and the bracket won't fit my Panel. However, they're nice to have around just in case...

 

i am just now following up on this thread...

Thank You for the reply... i will check things out a bit further with this info.

 

You can put 6V bulbs in them, but you'd still have to pay the $50 ea for the brackets, unless you can find a couple somewhere....Drivers side is much more common.

Ghall, let me know if you need any more help!