Need info & suggestions on doing headlights & tail lights
on a 37 Minotti Highboy. Photos of your car might give me
ideas and would be a great help.

David

Whatever you decide to do keep some continuity of design from front to rear.
If you use stock type '37 stainless headlights keep some shiny trim around the tail lights too.
If you french the headlights french the tail lights too.
If you tunnel the tail lights, tunnel the headlights too.
I went out and bought a copy of Street Rod Builder because I liked most of what I saw on that '39 Ford (with '40 Ford wiper placement, confused me for a second.) and liked most of what I saw and wanted to "study" what they did to make it work.
But the tunneled tail lights don't work with the excellent headlight treatment. the tail lights should have been flush mounted with no shiny bezel just like the headlights. Or the headlights should have been tunnelled, (not the right answer to me, I like them flush,)
and then there's the shiny exhaust...
Since I'm using that otherwise beautifully chopped and customized car as an example, I'll point out what I would have done different:
I would have, wow, this is difficult isn't it?!?
I would recognize the retention of the shiny grill, hood, and side trim by trimming the Mercedes head lights and flush mounted tail lights with a bezel, much like the exhaust bezel in design. That would tie in with the exhaust which looks out of place down there as is.
OR, I would nose the hood and shave all the shiny trim, making up for it with a "change-color" paintjob much like Bill Cushenbery's Matador, but probably use the chameleon paint instead, just because we have it now.
I would roll the edge of the license plate area with a radius similar to the window openings, instead of just cut and tunnel, In fact I would put a bigger radius on just about every "tunnelled" custom light, antenna or license application I've ever seen. The grill could have the shiny bars, but they would be in a frenched, body color surround instead of having that big shiney block separating the flow of red between the fenders.
I'm kind of in favor of the shiny trim that matches the exhaust openings. there's been enough denuded monocolor cars built already.

Thanks! You make a lot of good points. On the front I will
be using some sort of stancion to hold headlight pots, not
sure if they will be painted or chrome at this point. I am
not even sure what is available.
Please remember I have no front or rear fenders and the body is channeled about 5" over frame.
Thanks again, David

I spotted a '37 minotti for sale on streetrodding.com this morning. send an email to the owner asking how he/she did it.

Big Al, If I'm not mistaken the car you saw on streetrodding.com this morning was built by one of the members here on SRS. I think his name is Wayne Blackstock and he built the car about 2 or 3 years ago.

Dave

Dave
He must build quite a few cars. A friend of mine owns one he built..........a yellow Minotti, white wides, red steelies.
He must be very talented!

Big AL,
Thanks, do you know how to reach this Wayne Blackstock?

David

Wayne is in the Metro Detroit area. The yellow one is the last one he built and he sold it to Ray Schuller in IN. The full fendered cream one with the rootbeer fenders and wild purple graphics was built 2nd to last for Du, one of Wayne's best buddies and is my favorite. The fenderless beige one was 3rd to last and now belongs to another guy in our car club, still in the Detroit area. The first one built, at least I think it was the first, is the two tone green one that now belongs to someone out of state. That must be the one for sale? The one he built before the green one was a white convert but for some reason I think it was a 37 chevy but it's been so long I cant really remember clearly, must be that old folks thing you guys are always talking about! LOL

Wayne cars are pretty close to being sold before they're even finished, that's how awesome of a builder of Minotti's 37 he is. I've spent many a nite in his garage trying to soak up all the info my brain could handle. If you can get a email repore going back and forth with him, consider yourself lucky, you will learn a ton of great info regarding your Minotti.

You don't have alot of profile info listed here so I don't know where you live to advise you as to which shows you might be able to catch up with him and the rest of the guys that own these cars.
--
Your "top-less" cruzn buddy, Denise

http://www.geocities.com/lipstickrun/

OH!
Then you NEED to put something like a '39 Cadillac headlight pod on there and some '38 GM, Olds whatever, several of them used them taillightr pods on the sides of the 1/4s.