What makes cowl lights right and left?

[bobyepsr]

I have taken apart three sets of cowl light in the hope of using the most fixable parts to make one set. Now I have a box full of sandblasted parts only to have found in the Vintage catalog they come in R & L. I'm concerned that the best two bases and the best two buckets wont add up to a pair. So my question is what makes them right and left? Also are the vee shaped retainer clips with the spring hooks available any where? Thanks ,Jim

[Clint Dixon]

I have taken apart three sets of cowl light in the hope of using the most fixable parts to make one set. Now I have a box full of sandblasted parts only to have found in the Vintage catalog they come in R & L. I'm concerned that the best two bases and the best two buckets wont add up to a pair. So my question is what makes them right and left? Also are the vee shaped retainer clips with the spring hooks available any where? Thanks ,Jim

Hard to describe but basically the housing is not symetrical.

Take any housing and imagine an axis through its length (center of opening where the lens mounts and center of hole at back where screw passes for the retainer clip. Now imagine an axis through the length of each of the mounting studs. These two stud axis do not intersect the housing center axis. I believe the center axis is below the stud axis when the housings are mounted correctly on the truck. If you mount either two lefts or two rights on the same truck, it is easy to see when standing in front of the truck as one light will be higher than the other.

The other difference is that the driver side has a shorter wire than the passenger side.