The Greatest Find I've Committed to.....

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
I will let the video speak for itself. 10 hour round trip, but you'll know why ;-) . Updates to come as things progress ^_^

 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
That is a MAGNIFICENT find for $100! It looks MINT! Kinda irked you got it out of my state though haha, I need to step my game up!
Heh...I was wondering if any Minnesota members here had seen it or not yet ;-) . Even the two Mars Lights groups on Facebook didn't have anyone putting this ad on blast o_O .
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Original ad when presented.
 

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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Just found the ad. DAMN that thing is NICE! Congrats brotha!
The gentleman Bill said he had a few tire kickers over the last week the first time he listed the ad, but no one wanted to commit. He said if you were on your way, he'd hold it. He was a man of his word and held it for me as I was coming eastward to pick 'er up. So, thank you, Bill!
 

I 26

Member
Sep 9, 2010
315
Vancouver, Canada
Not downplaying your find, but what exactly is it about the AB that makes it the centerpiece of a collection? I love this light too, but is the demand artificially inflated or is there a quantified reasoning behind this piece?
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Not downplaying your find, but what exactly is it about the AB that makes it the centerpiece of a collection? I love this light too, but is the demand artificially inflated or is there a quantified reasoning behind this piece?
They are getting extremely hard to find in top notch shape, and it's the uniqueness of the design & operation of this unit that make it stand out and becomes a valuable collection item. Plus, they were a common sight on Chicago Fire apparatus and vehicles in the mid-60s to early 1980s. In fact, Illinois was almost exclusive for any and all Mars light products. Sure, they were used in some other states too, but Illinois had the distinction of being primarily Mars country, with Federal Signal right beside them in competition for the emergency vehicle market.
 

cmb56

Member
May 22, 2010
746
Norrköping, Sweden
Nice find.
Well worth the gas money to get there and back.

I saw that one of the clear sealed beams was a flood light so I do not think it was completely mint but close.

I do not know if you are familiar with this light but be careful when you remount the bezel.

Tighten the screws in a cross pattern to make an even torque.
It is easy to get the lens to crack if you do not do that.

Yours is a late one due to the chrome base and late lamp holders.

My own is a early one with now polished base instead of the original gray paint and with the earlier lamp holders.

In any case, lucky you.

Michael
 
Jun 18, 2013
3,709
PA
nice, if I had the time I'd be out scouring as well... sigh
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Nice find.
Well worth the gas money to get there and back.

I saw that one of the clear sealed beams was a flood light so I do not think it was completely mint but close.

I do not know if you are familiar with this light but be careful when you remount the bezel.

Tighten the screws in a cross pattern to make an even torque.
It is easy to get the lens to crack if you do not do that.

Yours is a late one due to the chrome base and late lamp holders.

My own is a early one with now polished base instead of the original gray paint and with the earlier lamp holders.

In any case, lucky you.

Michael
There are 3 bulbs that aren't correct and will be remedied. And thanks for the tip on the bezel & dome. I will be most careful with this AB ;-)
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
So, got to working on the AB a little bit today. First order, get that odd wood base and homemade fab metal mount that was mounted to taken care of. I carefully took the dome bolts off in a cross way pattern like CMB56 mentioned, to keep even pressure on the bezel until it was the last two bolts on the outside edges. The dome was sticking to the gasket a little, so I carefully edged under it with a small flatip until it all became loose, then removed the dome. Here's what it looked like on this odd mount.

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The wires came through the center and out the side of the wood. Definitely home cooked stuff, but it worked, I guess.

Base free of it's wooden captor!
20190718_164604.jpg

Took the tractor bulbs out, one been painted red and both had sheet metal screws to secure the wire leads.
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There's a red 4464 in the rear oscillating assembly that needs to go into my spare bulbs pile and replaced with a red 4416, but it runs very quiet when I tested it on 12 volts, 6 amps, with all bulbs disconnected of course.
20190718_165702.jpg

Next step: Clean all the dead bugs and dust off and out of everything!
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Well that sure is an interesting way to mount it. What did they have it on?
I don't know for sure. The fellow I got it from received it that way from an auction years ago, so he just left it like that. It's not a OEM bracket, that's for sure, but definitely well done to mount the AB to that wood, lol :p!
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
It was older than I thought.
Yours have the older lamp holders.
The same ones used in the RB.
Later ABs used the lamp holders as used in the SW-2.

Michael
I figured it was once I noticed those too. The serial number stamped into the badge is "0701" & on the oscillator assembly plate it's stamped "701" on one side.
 
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JazzDad

Member
Aug 5, 2011
5,165
USA
That is the JDI Copse® mount.

Copse - noun
a thicket of small trees or bushes; a small wood.
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Isn't that your swivel bracket mount when used with 2 washers, 1 on the top and 1 on the bottom??
Is that black bracket a stock part? It looked crudely made. If it is, I guess I'm keeping it with my AB
 
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Wailer

Member
May 24, 2010
2,290
Canada
Another bar worth looking for is the Mars Aurora System mini bar. I've seen a video of one with a clear dual sealed beam oscillating light in the middle and two red single sealed beam oscillating lights on either side. It looks kind of like a mini Aurora Borealis.
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Thanks for all the positive replies so far, y'all. I am just buttoning up the Aurora Borealis today and pics and video will be coming real soon. Stay tuned, fellow light nuts :D !
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Another bar worth looking for is the Mars Aurora System mini bar. I've seen a video of one with a clear dual sealed beam oscillating light in the middle and two red single sealed beam oscillating lights on either side. It looks kind of like a mini Aurora Borealis.
This feller right here! Model 400 Aurora Borealis ;)
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Ok, so just got everything situated for final touches with the AB today, but I didn't have time to do a video yet. I want to show the final results when I get a video done. So here's some teaser pics and video from a couple days ago when I was changing the darn hitch pins that hold the older style bulb retainer clips to mini bolts and nuts. Much easier for bulb change outs. The retainer clips are off, so just the oscillator assemblies are by themselves. Anyway, enough chatting, more pics and stuff!20190725_204421.jpg

20190725_204429.jpg

 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
As promised, everyone, finished pictures & video of my AB. Enjoy!

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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Thanks! All my oldest bars in one spot, lol

I've actually thought about that too with an amber 4416. Might need to try that tonight, see how it looks.
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Decided to go with the oldie-but-goodie configuration. It's what the ABs in "The Sugarland Express" had, and that's the movie I first was made known of their existence. So, yeah, red to the center oscillator again ^_^ .

20190730_195122.jpg
 

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