M44 headlight doors.. how many different styles are there?

[hndrsonj]

I was mistaken, it is an M34. I will double check the year and manufacturer. I know it has the lower headlight position and the electric horn.

M34 production stopped in the early 50's.

 

[clinto]

I noticed a difference I think I'd noticed before but couldn't quite put my fingers on it until I had two trucks with headlight swaps at the same time.

Both of these are old trucks (60s ish) but left the military in the 2000s, so who knows what they had when new, what got replaced with what when Pvt. Joker crashed into the latrine, etc. But check the difference in headlight buckets.

This style uses the little stainless retention ring like what a lot of 1960s cars use to hold the light in the bucket. They use an outer trim ring that's shallower than the later model below.




I hypothesize this is later, as this is what my '87 M35A2C has and I am pretty sure it's original fenders and such.




This style uses the trim ring as the retainer.


I wish Doyle's M44 book would come out. How many other little differences have we not found yet?

 

[Kaiser67M715]

Just adding my thoughts. the early headlight doors attached to the truck with 6 vibration isolation mounts, the headlight mounted solid the the head light doors, and (from my limited selection) used the stainless trim ring and outer "beauty ring" combo.

The later headlight doors mounted to the truck directly and the headlight buckets mounted to the door with three vibration isolation mounts.

As far as I have seen all the early doors had the cutout for the electric horn, not all the later doors have had the cutout. and since as far as I know, all the doors can be flipped, that only makes three unique doors- early style with solid mount headlights, later with isolated headlights and horn cut out, and later with isolated headlights and no cut outs.

 

[Kaiser67M715]

Clinto, also worthy of noting is that the gasser grill is an inch shorter in height. This reminds me that I need to post a thread on a mod I made to the right door on my trucks. Its so simple and useful you will ask yourself why you didn't think of it.

I thought the gasser grille was taller, because if you used the multi-fuel side hood panels it left a large gap?, maybe I was mis-informed...

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

I thought the gasser grille was taller, because if you used the multi-fuel side hood panels it left a large gap?, maybe I was mis-informed...

Gasser grilles are about an inch shorter, gasser side panels on a multifuel truck will have a gap because they taper down towards the front.
I think I have 4 different styles of headlight doors right now.
Gasser (early 50s), multifuel with high or low lights (from a 1966), multifuel with electric horn (from a 1967), and then multifuel with no electric horn knockout (from a 1970). None with the electric horn knockout still attached right now or else I'd take a pic of them together.

 

[77 AMG]

Yep. The Doc is correct about the 1970 headlight doors having NO knock out for the electric horn, AND the gasser side panels being short on the front up by the hood. I have this EXACT set-up on my 1970 M35A2 other than the small circle being knocked out on the lower side of the nose on the driver side, below the "normal" heater knockout. Oh, yeah- my truck also has the one piece style headlight rings.

 

[MuleMac01]

1951 M275 gasser front end. Before decals.