...I lucked into someone else doing this conversion and bought their headlight lever for my car...and know of a second person on the same path of converting to 4 headlights, the same crazy idea that the car just looks better that way . Hall sold the bezel sheet metal ($550 for many years) for the 4 headlights buckets (and if in luck, however they made them before they may still be available),  and you should be able to get buckets from any other Carello equipped small headlight car (quite a few of them). Yes, who would have expected, the grill/frame does need to be resized--at least, the intercrimp wire for the grill is available at Howard Wire, widening the chrome frame would take some more effort. You may also want to consider how to keep the delicate chrome trim around the headlight frames (only on the 4 headlight car).

Re: whether this somehow ruins the originality of your car--nah, I don't think so...I'd encourage you to do it just so you could sell me your headlight lever cover, but I'm finally close to making my own . 8ma1074 lost its headlight lever as well, I suppose owners then relied just on the spring to hold the bucket open (and then, like so many folks with 60's Camaros with hidden headlight, get out and flip the headlight up manually when its dark....). But someone out there may like your old pieces.

Motorcar classics has a Goose that has been converted on consignment there. The dealership is in Farmingdale N.Y. There are photos of it in Hemmings. You might want to look at that one, looks well done.

...I guess, the black car (us spec by the market lights, switches up so in the range of a 2 headlight car)...I can't tell if it has the chrome trim at the headlamp bezel. Overall a good looking car, but at $399k I start to look a lot closer on silly things like the cutoff smog pump bracket, a clock that is right only twice a day,  and a little too much gloss on some things...! But that is probably just me....

The Shell (not mobile) plate on the pedal cover is an interesting thing, I remember seeing this on a car in the 8ma700 range (just looked it back up--its at least on 8ma978, 988, and the 8ma001 proto!), ...but the oscillation between Shell and Mobile (this space for rent), especially in this range (at least newer than 8ma900 and up to 8ma1100) the Shell plate is intriguing...again, probably just me

I know of that car..and agree with you. A little backround about my 8MA1066… was disassembled for restoration in Canada when owner died..sat in boxes for 32 years in heated warehouse. Widow finally sold it to well known resto shop in Montreal. They did a 3500, 100% restoration-new glass, suspension, interior..everything. So I have a “ new” Goose with 25,000 miles on it. Won this year at Audrain and Greenwich Concourses. I owned 8MA804 ( 4 headlight) but sold it many years ago. I think originality’s king especially for my car as it appears brand new. Maybe one day I’ll reconsider a conversion to 4 headlight. Also, finding a shop in NJ who would do it right’s a challenge unto itself!



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2 popup headlight conversion to 4 headlight LReply by leea ...I guess, the black car (us spec by the market lights, switches up so in the range of a 2 headlight car)...I can't tell if it has the chrome trim at the headlamp bezel. Overall a good looking car, but at $399k I start to look a lot closer on silly things like the cutoff smog pump bracket and a little too much gloss on some things...! But that is probably just me.... [ View Reply ]

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Warren,What is your opinion of the conversion work? Sounds like you have seen it first hand.
On Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 01:12:00 PM CST, The De Tomaso Forums <alerts@crowdstack.com> wrote:


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New Reply By WarrenW
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| 2 popup headlight conversion to 4 headlightWReply by Warren I know of that car..and agree with you. A little backround about my 8MA1066… was disassembled for restoration in Canada when owner died..sat in boxes for 32 years in heated warehouse. Widow finally sold it to well known resto shop in Montreal. They did a 3500, 100% restoration-new glass, suspension, interior..everything. So I have a “ new” Goose with 25,000 miles on it. Won this year at Audrain and Greenwich Concourses. I owned 8MA804 ( 4 headlight) but sold it many years ago. I think originality’s king especially for my car as it appears brand new. Maybe one day I’ll reconsider a conversion to 4 headlight. Also, finding a shop in NJ who would do it right’s a challenge unto itself!
Warren

I haven’t seen car in person, sorry….

Warren, with cars as beautiful as 1066 with 2 headlights, who needs 4?

Thank you very much for that nice compliment!
The more I think  about it, the less I’m inclined to mess around.. plus they’re only original once!

Decades ago, I talked with Gary Hall about his conversion kit. It was a safety mod, not just cosmetic. It seems that when you jump on the throttle in a 2-headlight Goose with vacuum-powered headlights- especially if the engine has been 'worked on a bit', manifold vacuum drops and the headlights tilt back down. People in front of you think you're winking at them.  Not the sort of thing you want to have happen driving in our unforgiving mountains. Same sort of thing used to happen to ancient GMs with their vacuum powered wipers- they stopped wiping under acceleration!

Understood.. but my 2 headlight Goose’s headlight raising’s via a lever with mechanical linkage…you must be referring to a Pantera mod??!

Yeah, I had a talk with Gary Hall a long time ago on the Goose, where he recommended "Morse boat cables"...geez, does 40 years go by in a hurry...

Attached is a picture of the Goose headlight lever with its top off--the cables here were replaced  (on 8ma1046), but this style of control cable (where the end fitting pin goes directly to the body conduit) seems to be hard to find nowadays...

The gentleman who restored Warren’s did have the new Boden cables redone. So there are still skilled tradesmen out there.

Hmmm… how would you know that??

I have tracked that car since 2009 and visited them multiple times over the restoration of that car.

Denis, why am I not surprised?  But wrt to the cables, yeah, what can I say, I'm the kind of man who would never stop to ask for directions...

But to explain the cable piece, the issue for me is the so called "A" dimension, the length from the end of the actuator rod and bulkhead fitting"...the original cable (green jacket) you can see has a thicker conduit that the actuating pin slides into at the rear, allowing the pin to slide behind the bulkhead fitting. Vs. the common push/pull control cables now (the purple one) instead add a 3rd piece, stacking the retraction area between the bulkhead fitting and the actuator end... Note the original end could mean just ~2" minimum distance between the retracted and and the bulkhead fitting--the newer common cables are more like 4"...

The solution (for a problem that needs more length) for me will be, well, to add more length (!) At least, there is plenty of space on the floor, so to replace that swiveling mount on the lever body by another inch should be an easy solution for me.

So..you must be the Denis Nick told me to contact. Finally.. its nice to hear from you..thanx!! Fo you know any other info about  1066 and/or have any more pics??

Lee, extending is simple. An extension nut and threaded rod, well nothing unsual as you have machinist experience.

Denis, good idea, I'll look into that. at only a 0.25" diameter section for guide tube, the bracket side may have to open up...But I'll give it a look and see if I can avoid bending a bracket

(and oh, these guys call the critical spec the "B" dimension, but the whole of the handbrake lever is only 6" long and the guide tube alone eats up a half inch more than is available when the lever is locked forward....

Good news, space between the seat riser and the middle floor support is 10", so plenty of room in the car to work with.

Does anyone have history on 8MA978, as far as the history on the headlight conversion? This is the Goose that is in New York.
On Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 09:19:04 PM CST, The De Tomaso Forums <alerts@crowdstack.com> wrote:


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| 2 popup headlight conversion to 4 headlightReply by denisc
Lee, extending is simple. An extension nut and threaded rod, well nothing unsual as you have machinist experience.

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Provamo has only the history of its advertisement for sale in 2010, at 14k miles, from Syosset NY Exotic Classics--and looking exactly the same as it looks now--Lee

Does anyone have a opinion on the value when someone changes the headlights from a single to double version? It seems that the goose in New York has been for sale for a very long time.

  My bet, the loss on such a conversion is -10%...and I mean that as a double negative, I would not disagree that such a conversion actually improves the sale.  We have yet to see that modifications to a Mangusta actually hurt the price, from all that I see the market responds to "condition" and not originality.

  There is no critical concours for the Mangusta, and even for cars that have such the final line is really whatever owner wants. For example, Mercedes by the rule book lose points if not in their original color--and yet, Pebble Beach is full of color changes.

  For more common cars (say, old Corvettes or late 60's Mustangs) its a different story--I think because such cars made in thousands per year, the only way to distinguish "beautiful" from "perfect and beautiful" is to read the date codes on the alternator and sweat over whether the orange peel on the paint is just right...I think Denis made the point that those cars are incredibly, impeccably restored--the difference with a Pebble Beach car is whether the 3000 hours to get there goes on a car that is worth $100K instead of $1 million...

The car in New York (8ma978) is asking for a lot of money, when complete project cars are waiting at BHCC for $180k the reality is that great looking cars selling for over $300k, $350k, etc start to thin out in a hurry (and have a bit of competition). Hope they get their price.

But good for us in the Goose world to not take ourselves toooo seriously...! Most people are just amazed to see a Mangusta, and whether there is yellow cadmium used in the engine bay is not a worry...

 

Your comment is very well put. I have made them a fair  offer, but did not succeed. I will have to wait this one out.
On Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 11:01:03 PM CST, The De Tomaso Forums <alerts@crowdstack.com> wrote:


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| 2 popup headlight conversion to 4 headlightLReply by leea
  My bet, the loss on such a conversion is -10%...and I mean that as a double negative, I would not disagree that such a conversion actually improves the sale.  We have yet to see that modifications to a Mangusta actually hurt the price, from all that I see the market responds to "condition" and not originality.

  There is no critical concours for the Mangusta, and even for cars that have such the final line is really whatever owner wants. For example, Mercedes by the rule book lose points if not in their original color--and yet, Pebble Beach is full of color changes.

  For more common cars (say, old Corvettes or late 60's Mustangs) its a different story--I think because such cars made in thousands per year, the only way to distinguish "beautiful" from "perfect and beautiful" is to read the date codes on the alternator and sweat over whether the orange peel on the paint is just right...I think Denis made the point that those cars are incredibly, impeccably restored--the difference with a Pebble Beach car is whether the 3000 hours to get there goes on a car that is worth $100K instead of $1 million...

The car in New York (8ma978) is asking for a lot of money, when complete project cars are waiting at BHCC for $180k the reality is that great looking cars selling for over $300k, $350k, etc start to thin out in a hurry (and have a bit of competition). Hope they get their price.

But good for us in the Goose world to not take ourselves toooo seriously...! Most people are just amazed to see a Mangusta, and whether there is yellow cadmium used in the engine bay is not a worry...



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