Pull up to the house, and turn off the gas on the acetylene generator, and the lights stay on while you tote your groceries into the house. - 1914

The round gas headlights on the model t run from acetylene gas. The square marker lights run from kerosene.

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For the round headlights, the gas is made by dripping water onto calcium carbide pieces, which causes a chemical reaction, creating the gas. You can buy calcium carbide in a small can, or in a 55-gallon drum. We recommend the small can, as we can imagine conversations with homeland security are not too fun. The generator, seen above, has a water tank as its top section. There is a needle valve in center of the bottom controlled by the knob on top. This controls the speed of the drips, and turns it off. The calcium carbide goes in a basket which sits in the bottom. The water drips on it, and the reaction creates the gas. The gas travels to the headlights via a hose, and a splitter so it can go to both headlights.

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​The gas headlights have a glass reflector in back, and a two flame configuration. By that I mean that there are two flames in the headlight, at 90 degrees towards each other. This configuration causes the gas to burn in a disc shape. The flames are arranged front to back so that the disc shape faces the front and the reflector. The disc shape, anywhere from the size of a nickel to the size of a quarter, lets more light out than a standard flame. The flames need to be lit with a match.

 

It has been said that turning the needle valve closed as you pass the right tree on the way home, allows you to burn off the gas just in time for your headlights to go off as you pull up to the house.

 

At car shows, lighting the headlights is a crowd favorite.