Terraplane headlights and battery holder

barrysweet52

I have 4 sets of Terra headlight buckets all with the same cast mounting to fit on the side of the nosecone. Some have a large thick oval plate and others a thick rectangular plate spot welded on the inside of the bucket. Some have 2 long finger springs for the reflector, and others a small compression spring. Curious what year headlighhts they are. 1937 and ?. Also the battery holder is a work of art. Must have been very expensive to make. Much larger than it needed to be. Was there something else that fitted in the end of the holder? There seems to be a gap for something. Thanks, Barry

Jon B

By battery "holder" you mean the tray into which the battery sits? That was fairly simple and in fact just sits in place on the frame. You don't mention the year for the holder, so I am assuming it's late thirties.

As to the headlight buckets, a photo would be quite helpful in identification! The 1937-8 headlights are similar so I assume those are the two years of buckets that you have.

barrysweet52

Here are 2 photos. The battery tray would have been expensive to make because of the way it was made, the number of holes and tabs. There appears to be a gap at the end of the tray. I have drilled out the spot welds to help clean it before its painted. On the rim of the headlight buckets the photos show the 2 ways of holding the reflector in the bucket. I assume the bucket with the smaller spring and clip and spot welded bracket is a 1938 headlight? Is one design better than the other? Thanks, Barry

barrysweet52

Better late than never.

Jon B

Okay, the tray is really a base, that's welded to the frame, I believe. There is a loose-fitting tray that actually holds the battery and it sits upon the base. You can still find NOS trays at Hudson flea markets, occasionally. I don't know what the gap is for, but I need it to hook the hook at the bottom of the hold-down bolt, under the support and through the hole pictured at the right side. (Of course, I might have the hold-down thing wrong, but the bolt fits there!)

The two clips you show in the first picture, are the ones used on the 1937 headlight (and maybe later / earlier ones?). There is a third clip and it sits at the bottom (six o'clock position). These always rust out (Duke Marley had a shop make up a bunch, which he sold for years, but his stock is now depleted and the shop went out of business). The bottom clip is a spring clip and has a hole in it, allowing the screw at the very bottom of the shell, to pass through the clip and engage a hole in the welded tab that is riveted to the six o'clock position on the reflector -- which locks everything in place and prevents the lens from falling out.

barrysweet52

Thanks for the reply. I have three 1937 Terras. Two are parts cars. None have the loose tray. My base is bolted down. I bought the car with the battery sitting on the base. It works. Thanks for your explanation. Re the headlights, Im lucky to have one perfect brass screw as a sample. I have several badly rusted bottom clips - they are 2 different but similar designs. Does anyone have 2 clips and a screw they can sell me? Does the clip need to be made from spring steel? The other headlight, the one on the left in photo, must be 1938 or 1939. Thanks Jon

Jon B

I would send out an e-mail to some of the WTN parts vendors, containing a photo of the spring clips you need, someone must have that stuff kicking around.

As to the bottom clip, I fashioned one from "strapping steel" -- that springy steel strap they use to hold crates together -- back in 1972. You would need to have a decent one to use as a pattern of course. But, I was an amateur, and working with various home tools, I was able to come up with a decent spring that worked. There is a fellow by the name of Donald Axelrod in Massachusetts, who sells complete headlights for all makes of 1920's and 1930's cars. He does NOT part them out, but you could contact him anyway with your needs. Possibly he has some of the clips hanging around, especially if they were also used on more-popular cars (than Hudsons) in which case there would have been more of them around. I'm sure you can find his contact info. on the internet. Good luck!

charles4d

Go to a junk yard look for the brackets that hold the battery go to a hardware store buy some all thread that fits the brackets bend the on end over then put threw the brackets for size with nut and washer repeat on other side