Beacon Ray 17-C

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Sometimes you get lucky...

I have a buddy in Oregon who visits car swap meets frequently, apparently there is a big one this time of year in Portland. He sends me pictures of what he finds and this year was a win.



Tag reads 2P13A4 so going by what @stansdds has listed 12V January 1964 17C




Better picture



The last time they had this swap meet he found another 17C is much worse shape, missing the external lamp and for 3x the price. So this time patience pays off.

I won't have it in hand until he can box it up and ship it to me, I plan on meeting up with him this summer so I might just have him bring it along then.

 

[Mars Light]

Looking forward to see how you restore this beauty.

 

[stansdds]

Well done!

 

[JFRD10925]

$225 not bad. It's good to have friends like that.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

$225 not bad. It's good to have friends like that.

Never pay asking price... lol

On a side note, anyone know the lamp number used on the Par46?

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

So this just got even more interesting. It arrived safe and sound thanks mostly to the pack job my buddy out in OR did for it. I believe the Par46 is blown, so I will need to source a replacement bulb.

However.. look very closely at the 2nd picture. Do you see it?

 

[gtpts27]

So this just got even more interesting. It arrived safe and sound thanks mostly to the pack job my buddy out in OR did for it. I believe the Par46 is blown, so I will need to source a replacement bulb.

However.. look very closely at the 2nd picture. Do you see it?


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That it's a 3-bulb/173?

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

That it's a 3-bulb/173?

BINGO.. basically someone took a 17C and swapped guts with a 173. Now I can do 1 of 2 things.. find a 17 in decent shape and swap internals. Then turn the 17 into a 173. Or I can just go with it, and make a 173-C.

Either way I am good with this light, will need to take it down anyway for cleaning and what not.

 

[stansdds]

Probably a lot easier and more correct to find a Model 17 for parts and make it a correct Model 17C.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

so this gets more and more curious.

I would assume that since the tag reads 1964 the base and dome should be on the smaller size for the 8 1/8. After disassembly and some quick repair the dome and base are the bigger 8 3/8 size.

honestly that is a win for me as I have parts and replacement domes in this size.

But this starts getting me wondering if this is a franken beacon 17C.

I have the guts from a 17 coming to me already.. and I have a replacement dome if I don't refinish this one.

Btw the Unity lamp assembly in the front contained a GE 4001R bulb that I had to resolder a contact point to and it worked.

enough with the blah, blah, blah.

So pictures..



Here it is with the Par46 lamp removed. I figured I would start with the easy stuff first, and go from there. Red Par 46 lamp is working again.



Next up are the 173 guts. These are in excellent shape and I have tested and are working. I put up a quick vid on FB.

My plan is to find another skirt, and install this into that and get a replacement 173 tag.

This solves my hunt for a 173 so 2 for 1.

 

[Maxim2Eng]

Not trying to rain on your parade…I would like to make some observations:
The mounting hole for the Unity par46 seems a bit ragged/crudely done and not centered under the model tag making the steady red slightly off center. Also—I don’t know for certain this is true for all 17-Cs—the hole is usually on a portion of the skirt not under the tag...here’s a link to another eLB discussion on 17-Cs that shows one tag facing the right rear quarter panel and another tag facing the left rear quarter panel:
Post in thread 'California Spec Federal Signal Beacon'
https://elightbars.org/forums/threads/california-spec-federal-signal-beacon.84105

However, it may be you have an early model hastily assembled by FS! According to @stansdds SN decoder, the larger base/dome was standardized on 17 & 173 models in 1968…could they have been available in 1964? I don’t know the answer to that.

Regardless, you have an authentic 17-C tag & par 46 and a 2fer. It’s still a very cool get!

 

[Maxim2Eng]

As an aside, it is (for me, anyway) easy to spot the smaller diameter domes/skirts: The domes appear to have slightly tapered sides and the skirts have a prominent “shoulder” from the dome gasket to the transition to the side of the skirt.

In the link in my post above, the white painted skirt is an early 17-C.

 

[JohnMarcson]

Not trying to rain on your parade…I would like to make some observations:
The mounting hole for the Unity par46 seems a bit ragged/crudely done and not centered under the model tag making the steady red slightly off center. Also—I don’t know for certain this is true for all 17-Cs—the hole is usually on a portion of the skirt not under the tag...here’s a link to another eLB discussion on 17-Cs that shows one tag facing the right rear quarter panel and another tag facing the left rear quarter panel:
Post in thread 'California Spec Federal Signal Beacon'
https://elightbars.org/forums/threads/california-spec-federal-signal-beacon.84105

However, it may be you have an early model hastily assembled by FS! According to @stansdds SN decoder, the larger base/dome was standardized on 17 & 173 models in 1968…could they have been available in 1964? I don’t know the answer to that.

Regardless, you have an authentic 17-C tag & par 46 and a 2fer. It’s still a very cool get!

There were many different "CA" beacon rays, as to what is "authentic", I can't really say. Every time I think I have seen all the official ones someone posts a different one. Conversely, homemade ones pop up all the time too. I'd call it a good score either way, even if it is "put together".

 

[stansdds]

However, it may be you have an early model hastily assembled by FS! According to @stansdds SN decoder, the larger base/dome was standardized on 17 & 173 models in 1968…could they have been available in 1964? I don’t know the answer to that.

Regardless, you have an authentic 17-C tag & par 46 and a 2fer. It’s still a very cool get!

Federal Signal did start using the large dome on some Model 17 and 173's in 1964. Not sure why, perhaps they were having some trouble keeping small domes or small dome skirts in supply. Anyway, the switch to all large dome/large dome skirts happened in 1968.

I think that finding an original 173-C badge is going to be a real challenge, far harder than finding a parts donor 17.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Some updates.. Figured I would work on the skirt and the Unity lamp.



Skirt came out pretty well, overall it really was not in really bad shape. This could probably use a good turn with a metal polisher. I might just do that before I reassemble.

The Unity Lamp, is where I am still tossed as to what I want to do with it.


The front and the ring cleaned up very nicely, the rear of the bell housing is very pitted, right down to the brass. I could go and have this re-chromed, but I think doing so will remove some of this lights character. Even without a re-chrome the light will display very nicely, and my end game was not to show this as new.. but to clean it up and make it correct.


I also have good news on finding a suitable model 17 for a swap so stay tuned.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

HA! it lives..

getting closer need to replace most of the rubber, still waiting on dome.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Figured I would attack the dome..

Gave it the ol "Rob" special..
It still has some minor imperfections, but nothing unexpected from a used dome.
Slight bit of crazing, but again nothing I would not expect on a vintage dome.

Compared to the previous pictures.. turned out pretty well..

 

[stansdds]

Congratulations on restoring a proper Model 17-C, it is looking nice!

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Putting this one to bed.. in a nutshell I have achieved what I set out to complete.

Great weather for this, Spring Melt show was a dud this year so wrapping this one up.







I am really happy I was able to reuse this dome, I really considered swapping it with another NOS blue or a Red one I just received. However I think that keeping to the theme of keeping some "character" in the light it fits the overall condition.

 

[bpollard]

now I have to find a video of one of these in action, from a distance. When I first started we had a Seagrave engine that had two red floodlights very similar to that one, facing to the rear atop the hose bed. You could see those things from a mile away in broad daylight

 

[Skulldigger]

Very nice! Great job, it looks really great ! Is that the original motor? I'm curious because it rotates clockwise, which the original 17's did from 1948 to about 195?. But yours appears to be a 1961 by the A1, but the P in the serial suggests 1964-1968. But, this is from California, so who knows what is different for them. That's why it's called the left coast. Lol.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Very nice! Great job, it looks really great ! Is that the original motor? I'm curious because it rotates clockwise, which the original 17's did from 1948 to about 195?. But yours appears to be a 1961 by the A1, but the P in the serial suggests 1964-1968. But, this is from California, so who knows what is different for them. That's why it's called the left coast. Lol.

Not even in the slightest. The beacon came to me with the internals of a 173, thanks to a friend in TN he sent me a no badge model 17 that fit the 8 3/8 style skirt. Looking at the 17 it was pretty apparent that it was not a newer 17, but to be honest I have no way to date the internals.

So TLDR the 17 guts come from a donor beacon. Which is now getting turned into a 173.. at some point.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Putting this one to bed.. in a nutshell I have achieved what I set out to complete.

Great weather for this, Spring Melt show was a dud this year so wrapping this one up.

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I am really happy I was able to reuse this dome, I really considered swapping it with another NOS blue or a Red one I just received. However I think that keeping to the theme of keeping some "character" in the light it fits the overall condition.

Just the right amount of elbow grease to clean her up but retain the authenticity; well done. What a great find for a couple of hundred bucks!

 

[Skulldigger]

I think we can date your internals to be before 1964 based on the clockwise rotation. I finally found my note and I think the rotation changed to counterclockwise in 1963. Just a point of interest.