Hmm, I guess swapping the light would be a good compromise then. Since you're keeping the ballast you could always get the light back when you get your own place and convert it back to T12.

Yeah, you're right...perhaps you can get it back once you're older...i.e. then replace it with a T8 fixture...

Yeah i guess i could do that. With all the vintage fluorescents in my family this wouldn't be at the top of the list though LOL. The first lights I'm going to try and get when i have my own place are the three preheaters in the garage at my cousin's grandma's house, since the replacement fixtures and lamps are already in the garage waiting to be installed so i could get those lights for free plus ask if i can have the remaining lamps for when i replace other fixtures with T8s.

The F90T17 would be top ppriority for me!

Same for me too if I ever come across one.

the priorety level of me getting certain lights is based on how long i think my family will be in possesion of the home. Since i'm not directly related to my cousins' grandma, I don't know how I'd ever get the lights, but with the T17s, i'm directly related to those family members and live close by to them so it would be easier to obtain the lights if something popped up. Plus since i won't need to spend money on the new lights as they're already there, it makes sense to do that one first.

My grandpa is obviously a blood relative too but i don't know how much longer the shop will be around plus, he's trying to get NGrid to do an energy star assesment and upgrade the shop's lighting and if they happens, you know the preheater will either get retrofitted or trashed so that's why i'm going to try and get the preheater from his shop now.

Also for a 2X F90T17 fixture, what replacement would be good? a 2X F32T8 fixture with a HBF ballast? I don't know the lumen rating for a 90W lamp, though i think it's close to what a F40's lumens are.

I was thinking... How would this look with McCann Lighting labels?

That might be cool-looking...but yeah try to get this light back later!

I'll start working on them now.

On this light? Good luck...even if you don't get it back you still have the original ballast...

Yeah that's really all i care about since the fixture itself has nothing vintage on it besides the UL label which i'm not concerned about lol. I might not even try to get this back. I think it'd be funny if a future owner of the shop or an electrician took a look at the fixture and said "what? McCann Lighting? Never heard of them! and they're close by in Rhode Island too?" Then they look up McCann Lighting on the Net and find nothing lol. I might actually even make a spec sheet for this light ans stick it inside just for laughs lol.

Well, they might Google the name and find either your website or GoL. If it were up to me I would try to get it back (after you get your own place) mainly because of all the effort you put into restoring it.

You're right! O_O I'm thinking of taking down the ML site though since i don't really keep up with it anyways. Maybe I will try and get it back, since you're right, i did work pretty hard to restore it, but it's definetly not one of my better restorations. So far my preheat industrial has been the best restoration I've done, the paint looking as good as NOS. So far I've made the spec sheet and instructions sheet. I'm going to start on the labels now.

Yeah, I would try to get it back too...I'd even put a note in there to the future owner relating the story of where the light came from/it's recent history that you know, it was originally T12 and was restored, etc. Plus if you get it back, you can re-read that note too...
I really like this light. It's way more vintage looking than my vintage shoplight and has an even larger reflector and "striplight" body...I want my old shoplight to look this good when I eventually paint it (it's still in use even though it's sorta dirty/ugly) and might replace the tired, leaky GE Bonusline ballast with a NOS one...or worst case scenario convert it to T8 to preserve the old ballast...

The reflector is a perfect 12" across the widest part. The end cap is 5 1/2" long counting the end flanges. I agree, a nice light but wait until you see the one that it will be trading places with! It's very industrial looking.

Let's see pics...

It's actually a pretty cool design, I don't think they still make fixtures with this design. Too bad I'm not in the area or I can probably store it for you. Although I might convert it to preheat.

Yeah, I was also thinking a preheat conversion! If I lived in the area I'd take it for ya...or if I had my own place and could pay for shipping I'd buy this light from you...
I actually really like this design...but as Aaron said a preheater is a must-have; I also want to find one...

Hmmm that's a idea! Mail me the fixture and i can store it for you

I think his light might have been made in preheat, the lamphlder brackets have starter socket holes in them. I want a preheat 4' light too but I still need to find a cool enough fixture to stick my ballast in.

This one would be cool enough for that IMO...