Vintage Frankenstein-ed lights, beacons and light bars.

JennyCop

Member
Jan 19, 2012
2,021
Sunny Arizona
Hi Guys,


This thread will be a thread to post any light that has been "Frankensteined"(Altered,customize, assembled with non original or spare parts, etc...) This was Jdh's idea I just stole it and set it in motion. All credit goes to him.


Please post all your Franken-beacons and fraken-bars here.
 
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Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
Thanks for starting the thread.  Closest thing I have to a franken-beacon is a vintage old 174 beacon that's neatly tucked away in the old style Federal beacon dome and skirt and labeled "Darley Champion".  I'll try to get a pic of it sometime soon.
 
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JennyCop

Member
Jan 19, 2012
2,021
Sunny Arizona
This is my Frankenbolt, the pictures are from the eBay auction I purchased it from. It is a Mars Skybolt with a Federal signal Beaconray F1 dome on it. The dome was too wide that it broke the retaining ring. Obviously its previous owner thought it was nothing a little electrical tape and sheet screws can't fix. It has since been restored back with correct dome and I plastic welded retaining ring.

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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
OK Jen....since this is my abortion of an idea :bonk:

Here is my modified light.

Guess what it is :crackup:
Smart vector parts used to make a vision that doesn't need a brain... 
 

Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
Jen:  I think I may have a couple of Skybolt clear domes somewhere if one of them would help.

Maxim: Are those 174s under the 14 domes and housings?
 
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Jen: I think I may have a couple of Skybolt clear domes somewhere if one of them would help.


Maxim: Are those 174s under the 14 domes and housings?
I started with a standard Mod 11 and removed the twin bulb holder and shaft. Using the 14's motor, the gears of a 174 and the bulb holder of two 176's, I moved the motor 180* to create a functional 174 in a 14 chassis. Independently, it works perfectly, but it didn't oscillate the full 95* chained to the slave unit. But an aluminum rod appears to be a promising solution.... Right now, wheat harvest and soybean planting has my tinker time restricted.
 
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Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
I started with a standard Mod 11 and removed the twin bulb holder and shaft. Using the 14's motor, the gears of a 174 and the bulb holder of two 176's, I moved the motor 180* to create a functional 174 in a 14 chassis. Independently, it works perfectly, but it didn't oscillate the full 95* chained to the slave unit. But an aluminum rod appears to be a promising solution.... Right now, wheat harvest and soybean planting has my tinker time restricted.
Steve Loftin who's a PCS member from OK had some pix posted a while back that, I think, were from Houston F.D.  One of the batt. chief cars had a homebrew bar with twin red 174s and a Q in the middle.   Possibly from HFD's website?
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Back in the 90s when I was in my lab waiting for the right lightning bolt to reanimate my lightbars.. these were born.. oh.hahahahahahahah! (maniacal)  It's alive!!

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wmreader

Member
Aug 3, 2012
253
ETex
Can some of the old timers on the board look into their picture archives and post the late Darrell Wilson's homebrewed strobe/LED flatlighter? It was an excellent example of how to do a perfect Frankensteined light. It had two 500 series 5mm LED modules mounted over the pair of strobes in the original housing. He made it in the early 2000s about the time LEDs were first hitting the market and it was a shrewd move by Darwil as it was a very clean, professional, and effective setup. It would have been a big seller in the market and he should have tried to get Whelen to mass produce it in exchange for some of the profit.
 
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Apr 28, 2012
1,038
Knox County, ME
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Can some of the old timers on the board look into their picture archives and post the late Darrell Wilson's homebrewed strobe/LED flatlighter? It was an excellent example of how to do a perfect Frankensteined light. It had two 500 series 5mm LED modules mounted over the pair of strobes in the original housing. He made it in the early 2000s about the time LEDs were first hitting the market and it was a shrewd move by Darwil as it was a very clean, professional, and effective setup. It would have been a big seller in the market and he should have tried to get Whelen to mass produce it in exchange for some of the profit.

dwilson.jpg

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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
DefianceEngineCompany said:
TwinSonic LED Upgrade

That's a nice idea to blend old tech with new. If it was me reconditioning the lightbar, I'd have put independent AeroDynic rotators with red filters on the outboards and then have the same aluminum sheet brackets for the surface LEDs for the inboards and V mirrors next to the LEDs to reflect more light from the rotators. Now that'd be one cool new on old TwinSonic ;) !
 
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stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
I do not, as of yet, own any Franensteined lightbars or beacons, but I will post these two I found on the old interwebs.

First up is actually a pretty clever chop job on an Aerodynic.  It was reported as having been made by a volunteer fire department for an ATV.

afarm4.static.flickr.com_3153_2446426946_b42fe792f6_z.jpg

The second looks like someone was trying to update or improve the effectiveness of a lightbar.  It is reported to be a NAPA OmniChief with a pair of Whelen strobes added.  Not a bad idea, but the lenses on the strobes were reported to be amber, so I expect that diminished the effectiveness of the strobes.

ai16.photobucket.com_albums_b33_wagon455_Adventures.jpg

Also of note, either NAPA used independently driven rotators in their version of the OmniChief or someone swapped in new rotators.

I found these bars on the following thread.

http://z9.invisionfree.com/The_Caprice_forum/index.php?showtopic=307&st=0
 
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Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
Wow!  I haven't seen Darrell's name mentioned in a long time.  He was a good friend. I bought a few things and did quite a bit of siren trading with him "back in the day".  It was sad that the old ticker gave out so suddenly and w/o warning.  It was quite a shock when Mary called.

I wonder if Mary might still have that bar.

Thanks for that John.   Darrell and Mary together.

That thing is bright.
 

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
Skip, it blinks on, then off, on, off, on, off...  :haha:

I know, a video is lightbar porn. :dielaugh:

I remember that fake Flashball from a previous thread, it was done quite nicely.
 

Richard P

Member
May 23, 2010
1,031
Sudbury, On
Although these are great custom builds, these are custom lights shown, not franlensteined. I think frankensteined is more "butchery" like unlisted pancake light tossed in a dominion light.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Although these are great custom builds, these are custom lights shown, not franlensteined. I think frankensteined is more "butchery" like unlisted pancake light tossed in a dominion light.
I think we are all going to take this a bit differently.  I had taken it to mean, not pretty but getting the job done.
 

Skip Goulet

Member
Feb 23, 2011
4,241
Midland, TX
If Federal Signal had ever made such a thing, NYPD might have bought them.
When I was just a school kid I got acquainted with one of Federal's longtime assistant managers.  When I would talk to him or write to him I would often ask him, "Why didn't Federal build (this kind of light or siren)?" And his answer was often that Federal, indeed, did build prototypes of the sort of siren or light that I mentioned: for example a doubletoned version of the Q, but their marketing people just didn't think that that particular model or version would ever go over.   Now I still wonder what a double-Q would've sounded like.

So there's a chance that Federal may well have considered that bar, too, just didn't ever market it.
 

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
Yes, Skip, I would not be at all surprised to find a prototype of just about anything imaginable.  Remember the Federal 185 that showed up?  A prototype model 184 Power Light with 5 PAR-36 bulbs.  That would have made for a wild light show, but I expect marketing found little demand for such a thing, especially considering that this was a late 1980's development and at that time the market was embracing strobes for the benefits of lower maintenance and less amp draw.  Who knows what the engineers at Federal, Whelen, Dietz, Signal-Stat, etc, came up with, but never entered production.
 

Wigwam700

Member
May 25, 2011
1,009
New York Adirondacks US
Thanks for starting the thread.  Closest thing I have to a franken-beacon is a vintage old 174 beacon that's neatly tucked away in the old style Federal beacon dome and skirt and labeled "Darley Champion".  I'll try to get a pic of it sometime soon.
 Well Un Tuck it Skip!

1-NAPA 488 with a Stratolite 77 Clear lens

2-Dietz 711 with a Stratolite Red Lens

3-Federal Beaconray 173 with a Dominion Blue Dome

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