Questions about roof signs

I was thinking more of a large, oval, homemade gasket so I could change out the light bulbs easier than removing caulk. Perhaps from a black rubber tire. The twelve screws should hold it watertight. What about that?

Terry, the rubber material used for heat-on roofing makes great gaskets and is available very cheaply at roofing supply companies, Home Depot, etc. It's available by the foot, in various thicknesses. It cuts well with a utility knife or scissors.

And you can have any color you want....as long as it's black!
 
Leo tells me the Criterion roof sign light no longer works but he rigged something else. I have not taken it apart to see what's in there but will one day. As long as it works it is ok with me.
 
The roof sign on the 1978 Superior has a die cast outer ring, a rubber gasket, plastic sign material, another rubber gasket, and the sign box made of plastic. It is kind of cheesy, but that is what they used. It appears to be an off the shelf item, however, I could never find the source for it. I doubt that they made them themselves for such a small production run. The plastic has "AMBULANCE" casted into the plastic in red letter, and the background is white. It also seems that it was molded as one piece, since you can't feel or see any mold marks of feel the transition from red letters to the white background.
 
The roof sign on the 1978 Superior has a die cast outer ring, a rubber gasket, plastic sign material, another rubber gasket, and the sign box made of plastic.

Paul -

That is perfect info. Looks like I do need two matched gaskets to get one on each side. No gasket or seal on this one at all, which caused the roof leak, and subsequent rust in the cab. No lights, but the water ran into the electrical panel and filled the red light flashers. I am lucky enough to have a very long standing emergency vehicle outfitter right here in town that hooked me up with a new flasher. I need to figure out how to deal with the rust since it is in a hard to get place behind the lower lip of the light cabinet and will be hard to grind. May have to rust treat into the cracks.

For now I was able to get it into my garage and hopefully out of the Louisiana rains.
 
It was an option to have the sign illuminated.

Correct; about half of the Superiors I've seen had this option. On MM/CB cars, the sign itself was optional and included illumination. The front roof panel on an S&S, called an Astra Shield, came lighted as standard.
 
Jean-Marc

Was looking at your pics of the 67 Pontiac, is that a high top? I am starting in on a 66 Pontiac, I need a windshield. Hi-top. Any ideas?

Randy
 
Jean-Marc

Was looking at your pics of the 67 Pontiac, is that a high top? I am starting in on a 66 Pontiac, I need a windshield. Hi-top. Any ideas?

Randy


Randy -

I just replaced my 1972 Pontiac Windshield through Al and the contacts here on the site. Shipped and arrived in a few days. Beautiful glass.
 
I posted the link to his site here in our vendors listing they do have them. if it is Commercial glass it's the same as the caddy that year. if you stop down to you locale glass shop there books will not list any cars other then caddy Hearse. this is why you get the dumb looks when you shop at home. if they can locate one you can save the fright. this last time I got one from Al I had him put two in the box. same cost so it was like keeping 100 bucks. look to spend around 500 on the glass.
 
speaking of roof signs .....

Does anyone know when the word "ambulance" started to be applied backwards so you can read it in your rear-view mirror?
 
Does anyone know when the word "ambulance" started to be applied backwards so you can read it in your rear-view mirror?
Would have been about 1974, when that was part of the Federal ambulance specifications, including the "Star of Life", orange stripes, and vans/trucks. Some pro-car ambulances had the reverse lettering if they were bought or still in service after that spec came out. I've even seen some where ambitious folks flipped the ambulance sign so it read backwards in later years!

I imagine someone somewhere must've had the idea before then, and I'm sure someone will find a photo of it!
 
Does anyone know when the word "ambulance" started to be applied backwards so you can read it in your rear-view mirror?

About the first time that some low budget ambulance company hired a dyslectic sign painter? :D

By the way, I was just elected Vice-President of the A.D.A...."Dyslectics Against Drugs". Our slogan is "Just say ON". :cool:
 
About the first time that some low budget ambulance company hired a dyslectic sign painter? :D

By the way, I was just elected Vice-President of the A.D.A...."Dyslectics Against Drugs". Our slogan is "Just say ON". :cool:

Not sure and know someone must have that information for you.
 
Randy,

I do not know if the windshiels on the 67 is the same as on the 66, but there are some codes printed on the bottom driver's side of the windshield that reads as follow:

Genuine Autoglass Part
AS1 M383 DOT117
Laminated Shade
___________________
/\/\/\/ D834 TR GS-13
WHPLC /\ /\
__ __
. \ /
S
\/
 
The windshield is differant from 1966 to 1967. 1967 GM has a newly redesigned cowl.
 
Just because a body style changes, doesn't mean that the cowl changes. The best way to know is to look at the dashboard. If it looks similar, then it usually uses the same windshield. Since redesigning windshields and cowls is such an expensive job, and most consumers never notice the difference, the auto manufacturers tended to use the same cowl for many years. An example would be the 1957 Chrysler products used the same cowl and windshield till 1965, when it changed. The 1959 Cadillac Commercial Chassis cowl, windshield, and dash went through the 1964 model year if I remember, before it was changed, even though they changed the standard production car cowl and windshield in 1961. Usually there are drastic changes, so it should be relatively easy to tell when the change was made by looking at pictures of the cars.
 
As promised. Here are the codes on the windshield of my 67 Pontiac Superior.

picture.php
 
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