VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Trucks and Vans fog lamps

What would have been the correct after market fog lamps for a 1936 1/2 ton? And the correct switch?

An "after market" fog light would not be correct for any year.
Chevrolet did not offer a fog light in 1936. !937 was the first year a fog lamp was offered.

The other answer is that any fog light could be used as no fog light was an approved accessory for your truck.

What ever was sold at Western Auto or JC Whitney would be prefect for it.

I wonder what this Guide light fits ? the box is dated March of 1936...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-1936-CH..._210&vxp=mtr&hash=item2ebb83c3f3

That is a 6 11/16" 1937-1938 fog lamp. Notice dates are patent dates.
In 1940 Guide sold that same lamp as well as several others. Were available through United Motors Service dealers
The number is not a Chevrolet accessory number but rather a Guide number. Guide sold several fog lamps that were the same as what Chevrolet offered including the big passing lamp in 1940 and 1941.
The 1936 accessory book shows no fog lamps.
The 1939 parts book shows a 1929-1936 fog lamp.It was a smaller lamp that could be installed on the earlier models but was not available (from Chevrolet) in 1936.

Anyone have any guidance for fog lights for a '54/55 1st? What diameter am I looking for? Does it matter if they're Guide or BLC or some other brand?

If placed per the accessory guide, I need to move the front license plate, which then blocks the running light. Maybe I do away with the front plate?
Thanks,
Lyn Gomes
1955 1st Chevy Truck[s][/s]

The 1949-1954 fog lights were 5" if I remember correctly. They were Guide brand (which was a Division of GM) and had a oval plate on top of the light body that had the Guide name on it + the size of the lamp. They also had a 4 diget part number. If I remember I will look at some I have in the basement tomorrow.
They mount to the inside of the park lamps and a license bracket mounts in the center above the bumper.
There is a picture of Roger James 1954 PU in the May 2010 G&D.

1949-1954 truck fog lamps were not all the same.

1954 & 1955.1 truck fog lamps were different than the 1947-1953 lamps.

The correct fog lamps for the 1954 & 1955 first series trucks were the Guide 2025-A
5" lamps { GM part #986942 } & were specific to the 1 1/2 year run on these trucks only.



Here is an original pair of them..







License plate bracket on the 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton & 1 ton trucks mounts to the passenger side only.....
Not in the center of the bumper.



Only the 1.5 ton ,2 ton & COE trucks with the larger truck channel bumpers use a front license plate that mounts in the center.





Yes there is a discrepency in the correct location for the fog lamps in relation to the smaller truck front license plate bracket.
The 1954 & 55.1 truck accessory installation instructions actually places the fog lamp directly in front of the license plate...... leaving no place to move the license plate unless it covers the parking lamp.





Looks like it is time to loose the front license plate if you want to run the original fogs in the correct location as mounting the license plate in the center of the grill will look pretty cheesy.

We got rid of the front license plate when we installed the fogs on our '54 1 ton.

A HUGE supemillion gooleplex thanks to Chevnut and Mothertrucker (have I ever told you how much I love that name?)!

I bought a pair of beautiful BLC fog lamps a year ago without doing the proper research - guess that's the price I pay. But now I know what to look for and I can get the right thing and put them in the right place. Thanks again Mothertrucker!

Chevnut - my husband hates that old stack of magazines gathering dust, but I now have a reason for doing so. Can't wait to look it up tonight! Thanks!
Lyn

The lamp body is the same as the 1949-1954 passenger car lamp body but the mounting brackets are different.
I would have thought that they would have made a different location for mounting the license plate as it would be illegal in most states to obstruct the view of the plate.

That is not correct in this case.




############################################################################################

The 1949-1954 car lamp bodies are nothing like the 1954 & 1955.1 truck lamps...
The lamp housings & the bulbs were different sizes.... along with having completely different mounting provisions.


Cars used the 4 5/8" Guide # 2013-A lamp {GM part # 986234} & they mounted to the front bumper brackets.








###########################################################################################


The 1954 & '55.1 trucks used the 5" Guide # 2025-A lamp {GM part # 986942} & they mounted to the front splash apron only.










This shot clearly shows the difference in bulb & housing size between the car & 54 truck lamps.

The small 4 5/8" 2013 lamps were used in 1946-1948.....sold under accessory # 986163.

986234 was new for 1949 and continued thru 1954.

1949 Accessory manual states 986234 will mount on 1949 passenger cars and retro-fit 1948 and 1949 commercial vehicles. The number did not exist in the 1948 parts book.

We are not talking about lamps for 1949 cars & commercial vehicles....

We are talking about lamps that are specific to the 1954 & 1955 first series trucks only.

The Guide 5" fogs GM part # 986942 were only used on the 1954 & 55.1 trucks.... these truck only lamps & mounts were not used on any car... regardless of year.

Ok - let me put it this way . The 1025-A lamps were used on 1949-54 cars and trucks and on 1954-1955 1st trucks. Just the lamp not the brackets. The accessory lamp kit would have a different number due to the different brackets.

he 4 5.8" sealed beam, part #451653 is listed for 1946-1948 all. The 5" sealed beam, part # 451652 is listed for 1949-54 cars and trucks.

The smaller 4 5/8" lights must be almost useless. My 1950 car had the (correct) 5" lights and they are none too bright but do spread the beam wider than the head lights. You could never drive with the fogs only.

Once again... that is incorrect.

Only the Guide 2025 A lamps were used on the 1954 & 55.1 trucks & they were not correct for any of the car models.

That is correct... however I can't think of a worse place to put the plate when it comes to looking really bad along with blocking the cooling air flow to the radiator.

Not thought out very well by GM.



I have seen a few trucks with the license plate moved to the center but.... I have never seen anyone who actually had the nerve to bolt a license plate to the mount after relocating it.

A happy conclusion to this story - found my fog lamps. With the info here, I'm confident I'll be able to wire them up correctly.

Thanks to you all.

I don't mean to stir the pot. I currently see 2 different 2025-A Guide fog lamps on ebay. One has a threaded bolt at 180 degrees (directly from the bottom). The other is maybe 200 degrees and requires the L bracket like the 54-55 1st. Both have the oval 2025-A ID plate on top. Another seller has a Guide Universal Kit with number 929175 on the box. It has the L brackets and 54-55 1st style fog lamp body. The kit also has what may be clamps for bumper arm mounting brackets. The point being, there are add-on Guide kits that contain the parts that GM used on the 54-55 1st. Since the lamps I have seen have the rare 5.0 inch metal-backed sealed beam, which were discontinued around 1954-1955, they are still time period or era correct. Maybe a local GM dealer add-on.

great info for all of us out here ...thank you

Well, MT is right. Some of you other guys are kinda right, too. MT: There is a Guide 2025-A 5" 6 volt with a bolt going backwards 45 degrees (trucks) with shorty bracket, as you obviously know (BLC used them, too). There is also Guide 2025-A 5" 6 volt with bolt going down vertically. (Needs pole-style brackets.) What MT MAY NOT know is that there are two types of Guide 2025-A 5" lights. Some are 6 volt 5" Guide BULBS and some are 12 volt 5" Guide bulbs....looking the same, sort of. (NOS 12 Volt bulbs have a "12 VOLT" sticker on them, and have a soldered-on-the-rear looping wire.) So, MT, that kinda dismisses the whole 54-55 first series thing because those trucks were 6 volt. EXCEPT some GMCs with 12 volt positive ground used these (remember the 12 volt radios in SOME GMCs?)...plus some cars, like Buick, Olds, Cadillac, etc. that were 12 volt by 1954. Easy to tell!!! Some tags were brass looking and some were steel looking. Also, some were one style of STAMPED font, while the other was stamped/black ink printed BLOCK style font. I have NOS Guide 2025-A 6 volt clear and amber lights, and the clear 12 volt lights. I have both types of tags between all of these. I still say MT has this stuff pretty well covered other than the minutia I'm pointing out. Hey, folks: Just listen to MT. Save yourself the hassle and running around. :)