Restored Code 3XL 42" Clear with Stingers

[motorolamaniac]

Here we have the first lightbar I attempted a restoration on for a fellow collector, Wolfman, here on the board. I took this on several months ago with hopes of trying to improve it a bit and get some more experience on the older sealed beam XL bars.


It originaly was as you see it but with red and clear bulbs only, mismatched bulbs in the stingers and very yellowed and hazed lenses.


I completely disassembled the entire bar, cleaned and rewired, and wet sanded and polished the domes. The domes were the biggest suprise because the really came back to life.


I sent the speaker grille out to be polished because it was dull and stained badly. The stainless strips on top of the lenses were in the same shape, but some light wet sanding took care of that problem.


Last, we decided to use the red and blue halogen Harley Davidson Pursuit lamps opposite the GE7400 clear bulbs and in the stingers. (The red stinger is a 4416r for now). The bulbs really gave it that pop under the clear domes and the colors are very nice: deep red and nice clear blue.


The bar was delivered back to Wolfman last evening and I promised pictures would be posted of the completed project.

 

[TritonBoulder47]

Very nice moto!!! I bet wolfman is very please...


Now, how about a video...? LOL

 

[motorolamaniac]

Very nice moto!!! I bet wolfman is very please...


Now, how about a video...? LOL

I do have a short one done with my 10amp power supply but it does it no justice. After I saw how it was SUPPOSED to look using full power I have get a new one next time I get back to Dave's shop. It is very bright and effective, I can tell you that.

 

[toon80]

Very impressive job! I don't recall seeing that setup ever before with clear domes. I guess this is where went those XL domes you posted a while back:


http://www.elightbars.org/forums/showthread.php?7397-Restoring-some-XL-domes


It's always good to see the outcome of a long haul project like this one, especially with this result!

 

[toon80]

...

 

[stansdds]

Very nice!

 

[dmathieu]

I'm impressed!


Dan

 

[ark_firefighter]

A job well done ! Can't wait for the video

 

[fireball3]

nice work, this "XL" is splendid, and it seems like new!, polishing of domes is successful


Beautiful restoration!

 

[ERIC6913]

yes jeff, looks great! glad i could help you out with that grille. david will be very pleased.

 

[motorolamaniac]

yes jeff, looks great! glad i could help you out with that grille. david will be very pleased.

He was thrilled to say the least. The grille made the bar, no doubt. I didn't want to give the bar back!!

 

[HillRock]

VERY well done sir, the bar looks as if it just rolled off the line at Code 3. The Code 3 XLs by far my favorite bar of all time. Great job!

 

[FedSigFan]

Wow that's beautiful. I bought an XL once, it was compeletely destroyed in shipping. And the Post Office never paid me back even though it was insured. They even kept the bar. Unreturned phone calls, lots of promises... but no check. I have awful luck with my local USPS.

 

[toon80]

This is one of the bars which makes you giggle like a little girl when you get it ;-)

 

[wolfman]

Sorry, I would have posted earlier but I've been in my garage drooling all over it! I can't say enough good things about Moto's restoration of this bar. They say you can't shine feces, well let me tell you, he can! I was close several times to tossing this bar out because I thought it was in that bad a shape. Moto saw it sitting in the shop and said that it looked like it had potential, especially being a 42" version of the bar. I gave it to him with the pretense that he was going to 'try' to get it looking somewhat decent for my collection. His pics don't do it justice, the resto is amazing! Want to send a shout out to Eric for the assistance that Moto got with the speaker grille polishing, it's unbelievable!


I promise some videos of the bar once I get the shop cleaned up a bit. I'm still on the fence if I want to add the H4449R Harley bulb to the stinger, or convert everything over to 4416 red and blue bulbs. I'm loving the nice deep red and blue colors from the Harley bulbs, but the 4416R in the stinger has a real nice pop to it.


Again, thanks to Motorolamaniac for MORE than job well done! And thanks for all of the great comments on the bar!


wolfman

 

[rick h.]

Beautiful lightbar

 

[kitn1mcc]

thats a well done job


hope moto get a a good beer and steak for that

 

[CrownVic97]

...the bar looks as if it just rolled off the line at Code 3.

I agree! Amazing restoration on that XL!

 

[lotsofbars]

This bar is phenomenal! I just got myself a 56" Code 3 xl with the same configuration, minus the stingers and all the colored sealed beams are red. They're great bars, and with a little elbow grease, mine may soon look almost as good as that!

 

[LP6000]

SWEET bar! I just aquired a 57" bar off a local rescue truck that will be sometime on my F-150. Love the XL9000!

 

[signal12]

such a beautiful job on a beautiful bar!


you should be proud of yourself.

 

[crescentstar69]

That bar is the cat's ass!

 

[bfd740]

That looks great. We have those light bars on our engines (the longer version with 3 sets of lights and 2 siren grilles) and the mechanic took those rotators out and replaced them with the single-bulb version (MUCH brighter, especially the red). Ours were pretty much the same thing, with the 45* inboard rotators and the stingers. Nice job, looks great!

 

[motorolamaniac]

I want to thank everyone for positive the comments on the bar. It has some known local history as well, so it was great that we were able to preserve that.

 

[bfd740]

They have a "mechanicalness" about them with the inboard 45* rotators

 

[LP6000]

Is there a "factory correct" sync for the rotator pods, or is it random? Just want mine to be correct...

 

[wolfman]

I finally got around to taking a video of this in action (got a new phone w/ good video capabilities). Here you go, enjoy!!!


wolfman

 

[motorolamaniac]

Who needs LED's when you have bars like this. LEDs may be bright but you will NEVER get the action of a rotators, ocillators, stingers. This bar has a really nice punch to it for sure.

 

[Newberry13]

That bar is amazing. You would never guess that it's as old as it is. I would still use that beauty!

 

[calebsheltonmed23]

I want that bar! NICE!


Caleb

 

[stansdds]

I agree, rotators are outstanding warning devices, but bars like that XL require a lot of amps. That is a nice restoration. :thumbsup:

 

[fireball3]

Who needs LED's when you have bars like this. LEDs may be bright but you will NEVER get the action of a rotators, ocillators, stingers. This bar has a really nice punch to it for sure.

+1 :thumbsup:


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Moto,> What is the method and by what means to polish the speaker grill, to get a good result!


Thanks

 

[motorolamaniac]

+1 :thumbsup:
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Moto,> What is the method and by what means to polish the speaker grill, to get a good result!


Thanks

To get a mirror like shine like this grille, I send it to a board member here and he in turn takes it to a polisher who specializes in polising automotive trim and metals. You can use a good quality automotive all-purpose metal polish to bring back a shine to some stained or dirty trim parts.