Just thinking about getting started on the restoration of my 1941 fire truck. I thought I would track down the few missing pieces so I have them on hand; luckily this truck is very complete. The mirrors that came on it when I bought it were obvious newer addition west coast style mirrors. I contacted the Chief of the small department that this engine initially served and he sent me this photo of my truck in front of the hall, probably from the early 50’s. In this photo you can see the truck has long armed mirrors with round heads. I will want to track down a set of these for my restoration. Would these style of mirrors been original chev heavy truck mirrors? How hard do you guys think it will be to track down a pair of these for my fire truck? Any suggestions on where I might find a pair would be greatly appreciated!
A good place to start would be in the parts wanted forum down in the swap meet section of these forums. You can also get lucky on Ebay once in a while.
That mirror is standard issue for all trucks of that vintage. The left one is easy to find, the right was an option so it's far less common. Reproduction pieces are available, the stems need a bit of grinding to fit over the hinge and the mirrors are only 5" where my original is 6".
Just thinking about getting started on the restoration of my 1941 fire truck. I thought I would track down the few missing pieces so I have them on hand; luckily this truck is very complete. The mirrors that came on it when I bought it were obvious newer addition west coast style mirrors. I contacted the Chief of the small department that this engine initially served and he sent me this photo of my truck in front of the hall, probably from the early 50’s. In this photo you can see the truck has long armed mirrors with round heads. I will want to track down a set of these for my restoration. Would these style of mirrors been original chev heavy truck mirrors? How hard do you guys think it will be to track down a pair of these for my fire truck? Any suggestions on where I might find a pair would be greatly appreciated!
That is really cool that you have an actual image of your truck when it was in service. Although the image is grainy, it looks like the truck may have had 1/2 side mirrors. The bracket for the small trucks can be readily found aftermarket. Check some brackets and see what you think. As for the mirror itself, they were 5 inch round mirrors attached by a single stud in the center. The mirror head is also readily available in the aftermarket world and is the same from the late 1930's into the 1950's. Larger deco trucks used a different mirror bracket that attached to the upper door hinge and had a separate mirror arm that telescoped. I can get you some images if desired.
Another question regarding the old photo of my fire engine in this thread; the siren was missing when I got it. In the. Photo you can see some sort of bullet shaped siren on top of the cab roof dead center; can anyone help me identify this siren so I can track one down for my restoration?
It appears to be a Federal EP-1, Sireno M1 or similar. Each was in the mid-price range. Sireno's was painted or chrome-plated; Federal didn't offer a painted version. Federal's occasionally appear on eBay. They were touted in the 1949 catalog as being "For those who want a siren that looks like a siren." A smaller version was made by Sterling beginning in the 19-teens. The thought (though not stated in print by the manufacturer) was that the wide opening on the front - the projector - would help propel sound farther forward. The fact is that the sound comes from the rotors, behind the projector, and the projector's contribution, if any, was to introduce more air into the rotor/stator assembly. Federal said in their 1972 catalog, "Whether a projector (which is actually the intake) makes it a better performer or not (we believe it helps) here it is. Although losing ground in popularity to streamlined versions, there are many 'die-hards' who will consider no other." They faded from view not long after as sales of their "Q," and B&M's "Siro-Drift" and "S-8" continued, with electronic sirens dominating the market. Glad to email photos of any.
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