Hello all!
I’m considering converting my 2 popup headlight Mangusta to 4 headlight. Has anyone done this? Also, any sources for headlight buckets and smaller grille? Lastly,am I nuts??
Hello all!
I’m considering converting my 2 popup headlight Mangusta to 4 headlight. Has anyone done this? Also, any sources for headlight buckets and smaller grille? Lastly,am I nuts??
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...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
On Jan 10, 2025, at 10:29 PM, The De Tomaso Forums <alerts@crowdstack.com> wrote:
== To reply by email, write above this line. ==New Reply By leeaL
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....
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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??
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.