Yankee Dietz lightbar restore

[Thomas1234]

The dirtier the better! Will this one clean up nicely? Always got that shivering feel when i open up a lightbar!

- Lenses covered with sticky gunk looks nice, no cracks
- mud and rust issues
-side plates..broken!

 

[Thomas1234]

first inspection at my "workspace"

 

[Thomas1234]

dirty!

 

[Mars Light]

Nice project. Do you want to restore the amber domes or do you have some replacement domes?

 

[Skulldigger]

Looks like a fun project.

 

[Thomas1234]

dusty lights..

 

[Thomas1234]

So how rare is this lightbar? did not see much amber versions...

 

[Maxim2Eng]

They were fairly common back in the 70s/80s but were "cheap" enough to find a dumpster when they failed. So today, finding one complete and in descent condition is not so easy, but they aren't rare by any means. Everyone with a Dietz/Yankee is looking for endcaps. I have a Dietz "mini" bar salvaged from a damaged full size bar...I ought to find someone who can 3D print a few pairs for me...hmmm.

 

[Thomas1234]

The good old & new comparison:
A lot of polish, wax, buffing and (wet) sanding, using exactly the same parts.

 

[ERIC6913]

Wow you did a most excellent job there mister!

 

[Mars Light]

Very nice work.

 

[jph2]

The good old & new comparison:
A lot of polish, wax, buffing and (wet) sanding, using exactly the same parts.

View attachment 205181

Holy crap! That's frickin' amazing! That thing looks better than new now!

 

[Scoot163]

Impressive! I have a couple of these in my project pile. Didn't know they could look that good!

 

[Maxim2Eng]

Nice!! The Dietz bar (identical the the Yankee--I think Dietz preceded Yankee) had options of two rotators per pod/side. Jefferson Co. PD (Louisville, KY pre Metro PD) ran this bar sans speaker cover with a Q2B mounted instead!
Outboard rotaters were 80fpm and inboards were 120fpm and the V-mirror was in between...talk about a light show! The domes ware sloped on both ends...don't know if that was special order or the original design, but Yankee domes were sloped only on the outboard side. JCPD ran the EMS service as well--PD hade all blue and EMS had red/blue so tapering both ends made them totally interchangeable. If you need a replacement rotator, I have several.

Alas and alack, the end cap and speaker mount went other eLB members some time ago.

 

[Thomas1234]

@Maxim2Eng thanks for all that usefull info! That Q2B outfit is something!

 

[Thomas1234]

Sharing the end results! the best i could do with Commandant4 and Wax (maybe i will do another round later)

 

[cmb56]

Nice!! The Dietz bar (identical the the Yankee--I think Dietz preceded Yankee) had options of two rotators per pod/side.

No!
Yankee was the original manufacturer and Dietz started to sell the bar under their name when Dietz cancelled the production of the Omni-Chief. Later Dietz bought Yankee and when Federal Mogul bought Dietz the bar become Signal-Stat.
By the way, NAPA has never been a manufacturer of this bar as some persons claim here, only a distributor.

Michael

 

[Thomas1234]

And its even working! Must say i really like those fancy rotators with the inner motor, clever design although with all those wires it can easily short out as i experienced- took my 1 hour to find the short, for now...Turn it on!

 

[Thomas1234]

on top of the amber lenses it states YMPC. Does that mean anything specific?

 

[cmb56]

on top of the amber lenses it states YMPC. Does that mean anything specific?

Yankee Metal Products Corporation.
This markings was on the lens during it's production regardless if it was Yankee, Dietz or Signal-Stat.

Michael

 

[Maxim2Eng]

No!
Yankee was the original manufacturer and Dietz started to sell the bar under their name when Dietz cancelled the production of the Omni-Chief. Later Dietz bought Yankee and when Federal Mogul bought Dietz the bar become Signal-Stat.
By the way, NAPA has never been a manufacturer of this bar as some persons claim here, only a distributor.

Michael

I acknowledge my understanding of which preceded what is limited especially in regard to mid 70s non FedSig (up to 75, JCPD ran a 174 on the roof with a Q2B on the pass side hood). I have tried to find some history of the Dietz/Yankee timeline with little success, and I am eager to help nail it down! That LTD cruiser in the photo was produced from 75-78...perhaps that helps. I know that NAPA sold many non-FedSig lights with their badging, including this bar (I used to drool over that section of the part catalog in the shop of my dad's business...I was 15 at the time).

Regarding SignalStat, if you are referring to the DualComm (ala NYPD), it is a completely different bar only resembling the 911. but these companies merged and bellied up so fast, it was hard to keep up.

Ed

 

[cmb56]

Regarding SignalStat, if you are referring to the DualComm (ala NYPD), it is a completely different bar only resembling the 911. but these companies merged and bellied up so fast, it was hard to keep up.

Ed

No, I mean the 911 roof bar.
When Federal Mogul bought Dietz in 1990 they scrapped most of it's own range of equipment and started to sell the Dietz range instead, including the 911 roof bar.
The DualComm was replaced with the 911 at that time.

The Dietz warning lights 7-11 and 7-40 become Signal-Stat 311 and 312 at that time, for instance.

Michael

 

[cmb56]

I have tried to find some history of the Dietz/Yankee timeline with little success, and I am eager to help nail it down!

Ed

I have not been able to pinpoint this myself yet, even that I have followed Dietz from when I bought my first Dietz 240-1 in 1974 and got the first catalog dated 1966 until Federal Mogul bought them in 1990.
I am not sure exactly when Dietz started to sell the 911 but it should be somewhere in the beginning of the 80s and exactly when Dietz bought Yankee is in the mist.
I might have been somewhere in early to mid 80s. Maybe around 1984-85.
I bought my Dietz 911-56 in 1989 new from Dietz and the lenses was marked YMPC.
After Federal Mogul bought Dietz in 1990 and it was incorporated with Signal-Stat, I bought a set of spare lenses sometime in the 90s.
One for the 911 and one for DualComm, because I was curious of the difference. Of some reason I got two for the 911 even that there was two different part numbers.
Either there was a misunderstanding or Signal-Stat had replaced the DualComm lens with the Dietz one. They was still marked YMPC.

Michael

 

[tsquale]

Awesome job on the cleanup! It came out great!

 

[cmb56]

I have now looked through my Dietz catalogs one more time and I can only say that in the 1981 catalog the Omni-Chief is still available and no "Yankee" 911 mentioned.
In the last catalog I have is the "Yankee" 911 available but not the Omni-Chief.
Unfortunatly there are no date in the catalog to pinpoint the release date of it, so we do not have any means to date the change of light bars.

Michael

 

[Wheels]

The good old & new comparison:
A lot of polish, wax, buffing and (wet) sanding, using exactly the same parts.

View attachment 205181

Wow that looks amazing! Great job! I might have to send you my bar for a good polish too. lol!

No!
Yankee was the original manufacturer and Dietz started to sell the bar under their name when Dietz cancelled the production of the Omni-Chief. Later Dietz bought Yankee and when Federal Mogul bought Dietz the bar become Signal-Stat.
By the way, NAPA has never been a manufacturer of this bar as some persons claim here, only a distributor.

Michael

I still have my NAPA bar and I thought it was unique from the Yankee/Dietz lightbars I have seen over the years. The lightbar has "NAPA" endcaps and dome cutouts with clear lenses for the takedowns, mirror flashes and alley lights. I also noticed the rotators are placed in the center of the bar while the mirrors are at the end near the speaker housing. I also want to point out that the PAR36 bulb holders have the "YANKEE" name stamped on it too.

 

[cmb56]

Your bar have the Dietz model number 17-91147 if it is a 45" bar or 17-91177 if it is a 51 3/4" bar.

The lenses had these order numbers:
Driver side:
77-61410 (amber)
77-61411 (blue)
77-61414 (red)
Passenger side:
77-61400 (amber)
77-61401 (blue)
77-61404 (red)
All with clear inserts.
Front: 1 inboard and 1 outboard
Rear: 1 inboard
End: 1 alley light

We have now realized that Yankee was a trademark owned by Dietz which makes it more logical.

Michael

 

[Thomas1234]

I still have my NAPA bar

Pretty sure it is one awesome bar and interesting config! I saw your movie before, after i bought my bar it was difficult to find some information. As commented on Youtube, why dont you put the rotators on the sides, mirrors in the middle and the flasher/takedown at the sides of the speaker housing?

 

[2004p71]

very nice

 

[Thomas1234]

very nice

thanks mr!

 

[OliverD]

I like it in red with the clear inserts
Thanks for sharing this nice video

 

[jph2]

This thread is probably the most complete summary of the Yankee/Dietz/NAPA/Signal-Stat bars in one place on the internet now. Plus, I never knew the bar was available with cut-outs like in the vid. As Yoda would say, full of win, this post is.

 

[southpaw]

Yep, for a while it was like was the chicken or the egg first.. But excellent information... Good job fellers!

 

[Thomas1234]

Quick DIY fix for the sides, its better then nothing...
it's made from the hard structured plastic that you can find in some shopping bags.

 

[Thomas1234]

Almost a perfect fit, luckaly it doesn't rain in my collection cabinet.

 

[Thomas1234]

Is this also a Dietz?

 

[Thomas1234]

Used on a cop car in Boston.

 

[kerry4951]

Almost a perfect fit, luckaly it doesn't rain in my collection cabinet.

View attachment 205561

I like it...good job. I believe in doing stuff like this. Make something to hold you over till you can find the real deal.

 

[cmb56]

Is this also a Dietz?

I will say, No.
It look to me as an Asian made light bar.
This light bar has reflector rotators, two sets of mirrors on each side, holes in the rear of the speaker housing and a low base plate.
The lenses are not identical either and they are secured with screws.

Michael

 

[cmb56]

Used on a cop car in Boston.

I am not so sure that this car is a real Boston PD vehicle.
Someone with better knowledge of BPD cars might cut in.
I do only remember BPD using Code 3 bars at that time.

The bar look more like a Signal-Stat DualComm than a Yankee/Dietz 911.

This bar do not have any speaker holes to the front which make me believe it to be a prop vehicle to some TV show or movie mounted backwards.

Updated:
After a little search of the internet I found that this car was part of the filming of a TV-movie from 2015 called "Broad Squad".

Michael