SARASOTA SAM

Years ago i once saw a conversion kit offered ,maybe around 72 to 74.
it offered either complete units or lenses to bolt/screw right in to change the standard lane change indicators on the REAR from red flashing to orange flashing as used in Europe.


Has anyone got any knowledge of this,is it still available,from where??
Anyone got any pictures of this being done??

SARASOTA SAM.

SARASOTA SAM

more info..........

this may have been published in Hot Rod magazine way back then??
it may have been a mod by Motion Corvette??
Recon some one must have done this conversion at one time!
What about you guys over in Europe any ideas???

SAM. :confused: :skep:

77Dream

I saw this kit in one of my catalogs, I believe it was Ecklers but I'm not sure. When I get home I will look and get a part#

BB wowbagger

All the vettes I´ve seen here in Europe has red turnsignals.. :cheers: :cheers:

70 Vette

Sam,

My '70 Vette was sent to Europe for sale there, I bought it from the original owner who was living in Germany. It was sent overseas with the exact same lens' as were used back in North America. I could not find anything different on the whole car from any one that was sold back here. I do not recall reading any articles back in the early '70s that indicated GM had to do this for selling their cars in Europe. There was an aftermarket supplier who offered Euro kits (Mid America maybe), but I haven't seen them advertised in years for C3 Vettes. Some of these aftermarket suppliers may have some old stock left, you never know.

Good luck in your search.

SARASOTA SAM

YET MORE INFO.

iv'e just recently been shown a photo in close up of a 1970 vette rear light system fitted with this mod,boy did it look good. the lenses apeared unmolested so no bubba job here!
Unfortunatley photo was taken in early 80's at a meet in U.K by a guy who had seen this conversion on a couple of Vettes in Belgium and Holland and was going to do it himself but never got round to it and didnt follow up who made the kit or where from.
I agree with above postings Im sure G.M. never produced a conversion nor fitted their exports with this or had to, infact every Vette of this vintage i have seen and thats thousands world wide has had red at the back(exc.photo).
A few of the big specialists offer bubble kits to convert to orange for later vintage cars as well as conversions for later models BUT not for these years as far as i know.Would'nt it be great if they did; im sure a lot of Eoropean owners as well as some U.S. owners would be interested?

So come on you guys especially in Europe lets get a handle on this and find out where we get this conversion from today! What-Y-say.
SARASOTA SAM :cheers:

SARASOTA SAM

99 Hits so far no furthur on yet. can anyone shed a bit more light on this subject? Anyone know if this was avail/or ever done to a 63-67 maybee it was the same manufacturer or surplier who offered 68-72 units?
Sarasota Sam :sad: :confused:

FinnShark

Here is what I know... There is not many original European vettes in Finland, I don't know any from early sharks... But I do know couple original C2's imported to Finland and they have exactly the same red rear lights as you do in USA.
I think that at that time there wasn't a law which said that there have to be amber turn signals. I don't have a clue when that kind of a law is made, it is also possible that this law is first introduced in few european countries and later on it is spread to other European countries. If I had to make a quess I'd say that this law was introduced between -75 and -78 in Finland. On the other hand Groovyjays -79 was imported to German when new and it has red lights... Maybe Groovy has more info on that? Anyway it might be that American cars had some special rules so that they could have red turn signals instead of amber.

Hope this helps... :seeya

Bob Fisher

The typical setup in the UK is to ditch the backup lights and re-wire to use them as indicators, using an orange bulb instead of a clear one. Works OK on mine and gets through the annual MOT test. Bit of a bitch reversing in the dark, though - best to keep one foot on the brake to get some red illumination!

Stephen Irons

I have a little knowledge on this (a dangerous thing maybe!)

As far as I am aware, and as has been said, Corvettes coming over to Europe, pre C4, had the same red turn signals. For most European countries that's fine anyway, or was then. From the C4 on there was a slight mod made to the lights to give an amber turn signal. Of course for the C5 there is a different set up altogether, with amber turn signals and high intensity rear fog lights etc, which I guess many of you will have seen?

Back to the C3. It is a requirement here in the UK that any car first registered in 1966 or later must have amber turn signals, front and rear, and the rear must be independent of the brake and side lights (ie the brake and side lights must not flash with the turn signal) That means we need to do a little modification to be strictly legal. However, the most common option is to put a yellow bulb in the backup lamp, and then do some wiring mods to get this to be the turn signal independent of the brake and side lights. There are some people who add an extra bulb in the back-up assembly, or others, (like me) who add discrete back-up lamps down under the car (blacked out lenses hung down near the spare tub hardly notice) The rear lamp looks standard until it lights yellow… works well! I have heard of, but never seen the mod mentioned. Presumably it is only applied to one of the rear lights on each side, as there would still need to be red side and brake lights? That suggests the amber section replaces the reflector on the inner lamps?

IMHO it would not be as popular as the mod described above, as it would change the look of the rear lights when off, and we do try our best not to do that, while still trying to keep within the law!