Guide Lens/Light Co... Any Info Available About Them?

Aaron · Jun 23, 2009

Out of curiosity because I can"t sleep tonight, is there any info available about the company that made/makes all the lights for our tractors and other vehicles? Is the company still in business? If not, who bought them out? Was there anything of an application chart that they produced that lists what was used on each vehicle? Just curious as I know a lot of things cross over and would love to educate myself. Thanks for your time and viewing.

GeneMO · Jun 23, 2009

I am going from total memory here, and this is a little off topic of what you want, but here goes.

During WWII lots of companies made lots of things they had never intended. Guide made some type of armaments. Maybe M1 Carbines, not the Garands, but the carbines. Not 100% sure.

I think they also manufactured a little cheap, one shot, throw away pistol that was dropped to the French resistance fighters. It was in .45 ACP.

I probably should refrain from doing this strictly on memory, however it seems anymore my brain can retain the useless stuff, but forget where the wife is, or where I sat down the ice creame I bought 2 hours ago ( it's not in the freezer)

Gene

GeneMO · Jun 24, 2009

I spoke too soon. Guide had nothing to do with the M1 Carbine.

They also did not manufacture the little resistance pistol I commented on.

Strike two!!

However I did a search and Guide Lamp manufactured the WWII "Grease gun"

I knew there was something re: WWII firearms and Guide.

Nite,,Gene

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2009

Guide Lamp was a division of GM located in Anderson Indiana. Until just a few yrs ago still making light assys for GM but shut down now.
A aution was held 2 summers ago and everything sold off.

The buildng which was 27 acres under roof was torn down last summer.
Delco also was located in Anderson but also gone now and most of those buildings have been torn down or soon will be.

I was inside the Delco Research building just a few months ago...... they just locked the doors and walked away. You would not believe what they left in there.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2009

If memory serves me, I think that Visteon(sp?) took over most of the remaining Guide lamp biz, and perhaps Delphi also took some.

MarkB_MI · Jun 24, 2009

Guide Lamp was absorbed into the GM division Inland Fisher Guide (IFG). When GM spun off its parts business, IFG became the "I" in Delphi. (The rest of the Delphi name is alleged to be formed from DELco, Packard (Electric) and Harrison (Radiator).

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2009

My dad worked there for about forty years, starting in 1938. He was sent to Dayton for awhile to work in a (presumably GM, because his seniority counted at retirement) factory to balance aircraft propellers. Guide also absorbed Brown, Lipe, Chapman from Ohio in the late thirties. Dad was a buffer, both hand and automatic, for the various chrome plated headlight shells made at Guide. (This was in addition to working an 80 acre farm in Alexandria) I remember taking at least two tours through the plant where I saw them stamping the tractor lamp shells out of brass, on a continuous feed Verson press. A couple of weeks ago, at the Flywheelers swap meet in South Haven, Mi, I bought two chromed Guide tractor light shells and rims, possibly worklamps, since they had holes punched in the rear for off/on switches. Quite possibly my Dad buffed them. Nice bit of memory, seeing that the plant has been torn down.
I was back in town for an Aunt's funeral a couple of years ago. State Road 109 is just a ghost highway now, and Anderson just isn't the same anymore. It's hard to go back.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2009

I noticed the tailight and chrome trim on an early 50s GMC panel truck is the same lense and trim on an early Harley sportster.The back part is similar but one contured to the H-D fender and one slightly deeper and contured to the back of the truck.I saddens me to read the rest of this post.Its too late for American companies and we are already up to our necks in cheap imported junk.Guide was always good quality.All put together with screws and completly repairable.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2009

they are just finishing the grading of the site and it will be seeded this fall I am hearing.

Anderson is full empty buildings and lots where businesses that supported the auto makers once stood.

Muncie just up the road is suffering the same fate. Muncie Gear just its doors. They had been a huge employeer in the area forever.

Spook · Jun 24, 2009

Detroit has the same problems. The Packard building is still standing, although most of it is a wreck. And Packhard went out in the 50's. These buildings used to get sold cheap, somebody would buy them, probably with good intentions, but the revitalization plans ususally didn't work. Now the cities watch what happens when a place goes out, they try to get it demolished right away. And these places are extremely expensive to demolish. One plant I worked at had cement coloumms every 20 ft, each 4 ft in diameter, reinforced steel. That was the ground floor of a 5 story factory building. It took the contractor's a year more than planned to tear it down. At one time the assembly started on the top floor, and used gravity to move the chasises down the line. Then up to the top for the paint ovens. There are some tall buildings there that have good sized trees growing out of the roof, they have been vacant 50+ years. If external_link wanted to really do something for the cities, they would tear these buildings down, sure would create a lot of jobs, quickly.

Guide Lens/Light Co... Any Info Available About Them?

Aaron

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GeneMO

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GeneMO

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Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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MarkB_MI

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Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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Spook

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