CFD MARS Skybolt Lightbar / Video added-
- Thread starter fireball3
- Start date
toon80
Member
JohnMarcson
Administrator
fireball3 said:
Usually both are red to the rear, although I have seen amber in the back behind the green on a restoration... unsure if that was just an inaccurate restoration though. Most Chicago area depts that use the officer side green do so only on the front.
emtanderson51
Member
Amber would have been incorrect .. back then the only color the CFD used was red clear and green.
JohnMarcson
Administrator
Respondcode3 said:
That's kinda what I thought. The amount of clear varies, but I don't think i've ever seen any amber in a historic capacity that wasnt a restoration.
I'm interested in what restoration you're talking about? Is it of a CFD vehicle? As far as this area is concerned (Chicago/Midwest), the only CFD restoration with a Mars bar is Dave's 74 Monaco, which is the one pictured. The only other vehicles that are regulars on the car show circuit in northern IL with the full Mars bars are Chicago Police restorations
1972 Dodge
1973 Dodge
1974 Chevy
1977 Dodge
1986 Ford
1972 Dodge
1973 Dodge
1974 Chevy
1977 Dodge
1986 Ford
I 26
Member
There is no pornographic image in the world that can provide the same visual stimulation that you have presented here.
I can't help but notice that in some of the photos the 888 seems to have a clear, red-bordered bulb, and in others it appears the bulb is solid red? Is this a trick of imagery or did you do some swapping?
Other photos of the 888 seem to have the same color patterns in the bulb - was it manufactured this way or does the coating fade from years of heat?
I can't help but notice that in some of the photos the 888 seems to have a clear, red-bordered bulb, and in others it appears the bulb is solid red? Is this a trick of imagery or did you do some swapping?
Other photos of the 888 seem to have the same color patterns in the bulb - was it manufactured this way or does the coating fade from years of heat?
ex416
Member
It is a Clear high top Par 36 with a red halo. Those are original to the 888. Newer ones are a standard par36
fireball3
Member
I 26 said:
No, There are no tricks in the photos, simply because when I received the 888, the bulb was burned out and to verify the functioning pending, to order the original bulb, I have therefore replaced by a GE 4416R.
The original bulb is Westinghouse 7416R, once the bulb obtained (Thanks JD.), I again replaced in the 888, and again makes pictures, and images are combined.
Cyril
fireball3
Member
ThanksRespondcode3 said:
toon80 said:Now, all you need is to restore a Dodge Monaco and you'd be all set
Wigwam700
Member
I 26
Member
What is the purpose in the red halo on the 888 bulb? Doesn't the white just drown it out anyways?
ny04350
Member
For your viewing pleasure, more Mars Light bars for the thread...including the rear of the CFD 74 Monaco bar...all taken at the Chicagoland Emergency Vehicle Shows from past years.
Respondcode3 said:
Now that's a nifty setup! The beacons would look nice with some of the blue inserts, since Chicago PD units had all blue lights. I've never figured out why CFD ran the green lights, like on this bar, but my small ambulance service bought a '67 hightop Olds ambulance that had come from Lyons, Ill., close to Chicago, and it had a large green tunnel light on the driver's side. Since that wouldn't fly in Texas, we replaced it with a large red sealed beam, which gave the car four red sealed beam tunnels in front and two in rear, with a solid red 175 beacon on top. And to top it off, a big B&M Super Chief siren over the cab! I've heard that Ill. required green on ambulances, but I wonder why Chicago used green on their command cars.
Illlinois never required green on ambulances. The green light on all CFD appratus is a traditon that goes back to the 1920's. The commisioner at the time James Corrigan's family owned a shipping line and had a nautical backround. He used the red and green for port and starboard and adopted it to fire apparatus. To this day it is a tradition in the Chicago area. The same was true for Chicago firehouses.
fireball3
Member
it is certain that a clear bulb will have the same result! I personally do not know!.I 26 said:
it is interesting to know the history of the CFD, thanks for the synopsis!Respondcode3 said:
--The bar before the conversion as I have received-->
Wigwam700
Member
Respondcode3 said:
That is a great piece of information, any photos of the original trucks with the green?
:yes: thanks!!!!!!Todd
JennyCop
Member
fireball3 said:
-whiping drool off my keyboard and face- :salivate: This is my new Favorite thread! Wow! Nice I am so jealous!
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fireball3
Member
JennyCop said:
Welcome aboard, Jenny! That center mounted 888 reminds me of an old Mars DL8 that we had on an ambulance in the early '70s. The DL series was a figure-8 light w/o the extra "wobble" of an 888, and was a bulb-reflector setup. This old light had been 6-volt, with a standard auto. turn signal type bulb. It had a solid red glass lens. We put a 12-volt #1019 bulb out of a Jr. Beacon Ray light in place of the old bulb and mounted the light on the front center of the ambulance roof (an old '60 Chevy wagon BTW). Surprisingly enough, we ran that old light for a long time and it never hurt the old 6-volt motor: but did it ever get up and move! One night we were transporting a patient from the local racetrack when all of a sudden a sheriff's unit jumps in front of us to escort us. This guy took off like a scalded ape, and it was all we could do to keep up with him. When we finally "landed" at the ER and got our patient unloaded, we came out and I went to thank the deputy for the escort. Turned out to be someone I knew! So when I thanked him, he chuckled and exclaimed that we didn't need him because that blasted "wobbly light" was so bright that he was doing all he could to stay ahead of it w/o it blinding him. He really liked it and so did we!
fireball3
Member
Skip Goulet said:Welcome aboard, Jenny! That center mounted 888 reminds me of an old Mars DL8 that we had on an ambulance in the early '70s. The DL series was a figure-8 light w/o the extra "wobble" of an 888, and was a bulb-reflector setup. This old light had been 6-volt, with a standard auto. turn signal type bulb. It had a solid red glass lens. We put a 12-volt #1019 bulb out of a Jr. Beacon Ray light in place of the old bulb and mounted the light on the front center of the ambulance roof (an old '60 Chevy wagon BTW). Surprisingly enough, we ran that old light for a long time and it never hurt the old 6-volt motor: but did it ever get up and move! One night we were transporting a patient from the local racetrack when all of a sudden a sheriff's unit jumps in front of us to escort us. This guy took off like a scalded ape, and it was all we could do to keep up with him. When we finally "landed" at the ER and got our patient unloaded, we came out and I went to thank the deputy for the escort. Turned out to be someone I knew! So when I thanked him, he chuckled and exclaimed that we didn't need him because that blasted "wobbly light" was so bright that he was doing all he could to stay ahead of it w/o it blinding him. He really liked it and so did we!
:haha: amusing anecdote!... Thanks
Cyril
fireball3 said:
Thanks, Cyril! What I didn't mention was the rest of the emergency equipment on that old wagon. Behind the Mars light was a short-skirted 17 beacon. On the front corners of the roof were a pair of blue single-faced Carpenter lights, and there was a pair of the big 6" Unity red sealed beam lights on the bumper. We had an alternating flasher connected to the flashing lights with a criss-cross pattern, where the bumper left light flashed with the right roof light, etc. The siren, a 77GB Doubletone, went on the right fender, and was that old thing loud! It had been rebuilt and had an oversized motor that really made it scream. One of our guys worked as a projectionist at a movie theater that was at a busy intersection and right on the path we took to the ER we frequented. One night he had to work and didn't go to the races we worked on Friday nights. The theater was showing "2001 Space Odyssey" which was quite long and had an intermission. We ended up having to run to the hospital, and because that intersection was so busy, we had the siren totally peaked going into the intersection. The guy told us later that the movie had just broken for the intermission as we were making the run. He said that when we got close to the intersection with that old siren screaming, there were all sorts of little noses pressed up against the plate-glass windows watching us come through! And he said that the siren was vibrating the glass! He was afraid it might shatter, but fortunatley, didn't!! Don't see things like that nowadays....except for the now-more-spectacular displays of the new LED bars! But for it's time, that old wagon was really neat. A pile of junk when we first got it, though. It was eventually replaced with a '63 Pontiac Consort ambulance.
fireball3
Member
Does anybody have any pictures, or, for that matter, a Mars lightbar, that was red/blue? I ask because I haven't really seen any Mars lightbars with a red/blue setup. They've strictly been the Chicago setups. I think there may have been some in Sugerland Express, but I was thinking more of an actual agency that used Mars red/blue.
solid_snake
Member
fireball3
Member
dg0223 said:
Same for me, I have never seen somewhere, a Mars Bar Red / Blue, the only ones I've always seen, are R / R, B / B or RC / RC.
IMHO these bars has been mostly Illinois and Texas.
solid_snake said:
Merci Hervé!
/Cyril
JennyCop
Member
dg0223 said:
My department ran RED/AMBER Mars bars! Here a pic of one! Used red/ amber filters to get the split beacon look! Red to the front Amber to the rear on the drivers side and Amber to the front, Red to the rear on the passenger side! Red/Amber was the common set up for Law Enforcement in Arizona in the seventies!fireball3 said:
I am in the process of recreating this bar!
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JennyCop said:
That is one very loaded bar! I had forgotten to mention previously about the one Mars bar my small ambulance co. had. It came only with a pair of SW2 beacons as are shown in most the bars in this thread. But we added a pair of blue DoRay lollipop lights to the bar, which helped considerably. It originally went on a '66 Ford station wagon ambulance, which had a small motordriven siren on the roof; so the bar went slightly behind the siren. The siren was a Federal WL, which is totally inadequate for actual emergency responses. It was removed and replaced by a Q siren. Talk about making a difference. The bar was eventuallly put on a '63 Chevy wagon ambulance we had gotten from a small town not too far from us. It had a Federal 28 underhood, which we left in place with two red lights behind the grille. Just for fun one of our guys mounted a tiny Federal VL siren in the center of the bar. The VL was the smallest lighted siren that Federal had produced. We hooked up the light on the VL where it alternated with the blue lollipops already on the bar, so that gave us a bit of extra light power. The VL was useless for actual responding, and we did have the 28 underhood which worked quite well. But the little VL was still fun to play with, anyway!
I knew if anybody was going to be able to dig up a picture of a red/blue Mars setup, pc0k894 was the man for the job.
And Jenny, I had set up one of my MX's as an homage to Arizona DPS by having amber filters on one side and red on the other. I have since changed it, but that color scheme seemed to look good.
Thanks, guys.
And Jenny, I had set up one of my MX's as an homage to Arizona DPS by having amber filters on one side and red on the other. I have since changed it, but that color scheme seemed to look good.
Thanks, guys.
fireball3
Member
solid_snake
Member
fireball3
Member