camaroneil

hi,
just wondering what you guys in the uk have done regarding the front lights,
on mine, someone has added a TINY light in the black grille either side at the front and these act as sidelights,
they look awful,
any pics and details appreciated,
thanks,
neil



[Modified by camaroneil, 5:02 PM 8/8/2003]

Paul L

I am in one of the colonies but here you go nevertheless ;) .








[Modified by paul67, 1:04 PM 8/8/2003]


[Modified by paul67, 1:07 PM 8/8/2003]

UKPaul

Neil,
Mine has had small lights added like you've described (fixed to the front grills with Tie-wraps!). The only thing I've seen that looks better is a Vette I saw recently with small lights that fitted perfectly between the "slats" in the front grills.
I've hung my rear fog light & reverse light on some stainless rods from the impact bar so that they sit just below the bumper cover. I did briefly consider doing the same thing for the front "park lights", but decided that it'd look really naff & they'd probably get broken anyway. As of yet I've not seen any really elegant way of doing it. The best I've seen so far is between the slats as described above.
After hanging a rear fog light & wiring it up I found out that a rear fog light was a legal requirement from '82 onwards & that I would have passed an MOT without one. I have an '81 m/cycle & at the last MOT (2 weeks ago) the tester said that it didn't have to have a front park light, but if one was fitted then it must work. So I'm now wondering if we really need to fit these extra lights??
What I'm looking for is a pair of rear lights with 2 bulbs - 1 for tail/stop & another one for indicator, ever seen anything like that? That'd give me 4 tail lights with inbuilt indicators :cool:
:cheers:

camaroneil

thanks for that,
paul, i was actually thinking of getting the sealed beam units with the built in side lights,
the only thing is the lights would have to lift up even for the sidelights,
i've no rear fog as mine is a 77,
the rear indicators are orange bulbs in the reversing light part,
neil

Crickett

Do you have to have daytime running lights in the UK? Is that the law? Just curious. :lurk:

camaroneil

no, not daytime running lights,
but we need sidelights, dipped and main beam,
the side lights are more like parking lights, just little 5 watt bulbs in them,
neil

Twin_Turbo

hella sells bulbs that has sockets for H4 lights (hi and lo beam) as well as an extra socket for a small light (what's it called over there? it's called a city light here)
I think those are the ones you mean. The helloa bulbs even come with the correct European E-stamp on them, meaning they have the corect (legal) light beam pattern (image)

theoUK

Paul,
Didn't know about not having to have a rear fog light - where did u hear that? Mine currently has one of those ugly bastard aftermarket things bodged on to the rear crossmember - the sort of thing you see screwed onto the back of a caravan or horse trailer. Very "in keeping"! And the switch to operate it is a big bold orange toggle thing down between the seat and the tunnel. When it's on, the interior is bathed in a sickening orange light. I've not got round to doing anything about it yet, since i know that if you have a fog light, there must be an illuminated switch for it, so i've just got on with it. It would make me very happy to wrench the whole thing off and chuck it into the sea. Can you tell me for sure that I can do that? ( I will ask my normal MOT guy next time its due)
Cheers!
:cheers:

Twin_Turbo

The rear fog light is not mandatory if the car came without one. The same holds true for backup lights, the inspectors here don't know anything about Corvettes and I always passed without the backup lights, who needs 'em :)

Stephen Irons

Chaps

Re the front lights, Thye best option I've seen in something That Ray or Scott groves puts together at Corvtte kingdon. The make a side light assembly that appears stock, but actually has two bilbs, on ethat does the indicator, one that is the side light. Looks great when it's on and meets alll the legals. On mine I have the stoack lights a side lights, and have concealed extra lights behind the grill for indicators, but I'm thinking about the CK route over the winter. I believe that Hella may also do a small bulb holder surrounded in rubber, which would fit into a drilled hole. That may be how Ray/scott do theres. As for the rear fog, mandatory from 82. Paul knowss Adrian Melecan I think? He has a very neat set up for the switch and wiring that he bought at Charlie Browns, as a kit. (not sure who they are now?) I have a couple of the aftermarked lights that I use for reversing lights, hung undder the rear of the car, but well forward, and "blacked" so that walking around the car they are invisible, but work well. Again, I'm planning on converting one to a rear fog. Not required for the '78, but on some of the trips we do, very useful! And I think Paul will agree that its doesn't look obtrusive? The rear indicators in mine are yellow bullbs in the reversing lights. Again, looks stock, but meets the legals. Re legal requirement for front lights, you need to show a white light. A headlight will do, but that means you need headlights on all the time.... That's also the downside with sidelight bulbs in the sealed beam units, as in a Mini. You need the lights up all the time... I try and live with out that.

BB wowbagger

In good weather,i just drive around with my parklights on..The police doesnt seem to mind all that much :cheers: :cheers:

theoUK

This side light malarky confuses me. I know they are a legal requirement in the UK, in fact I did a few summers in an MOT place and remember checking for their operation in "normal(!)" cars. But what gets me is, the police make very a clear point that sidelights are not to be used as a substitute for dipped beam lights, i.e as soon as lighting up time approaches, you should switch on your dipped beam, not just sidelights. So what then, is the use of sidelights? Purely for parking? If they are a legal requirement for a reason, whats that reason?

My vettes lights have been converted from sealed beam to halogen, and if you pull the light switch out to its first "stop" the lights will come on without the buckets raising, hence they shine throught the grilles. I assume this is the same for all others, so why can this not act as sidelights?
:confused:
Enlighten me! (Sorry)

Skeets

Because the indicator lenses on my car are clear, with amber bulbs... i just drilled a little hole in the back of the reflector and mounted a small bulb holder in there with a white bulb for the side light. Unfortunatly, this is of absolutely no use if you have amber lenses as some cars do :confused:

Mind you, i only connect up the white side lights to pass the MOT, then just switch the wires back and have the funky amber cruise lights the rest of the time. I'm sure i'll get stopped one day, but hey-ho.

And Paul... as regards your rear light idea... i have something sort of along the same lines. The outer lights are standard but the inner lights have 3 bulbs (yes THREE) in them. I made them some time ago, and to be honest they were a bit of a bodge up, but they still work ok.

I've got a twin fillament bulb which lights up the outer red piece of the lens, and two tiny halogen bulbs lighting up the clear bit of the lens.. one for the reversing light, and the other one behind that covered with an amber lens..... sounds complex??!!! ... hmmmm!! well, it actually worked quite well, and still does, sorta.. though the halogen bulbs get pretty hot and slightly melted some of my handywork. :smash:

I'd quite like to build a 'new improved' version (when all the other much more important things are done!) .... and the way forward is definatly L.E.D!! you can get a variety of colours, they are really bright, teeny, and use very little power. PERHAPS you could even do something cunning with L.E.Ds for your foglight within the housing of the inner lamps?? might be bending the rules slightly, but who cares :D

PS: i am not a salesman for an LED manufacturer.




[Modified by Skeets, 12:33 AM 8/12/2003]

UKPaul

Skeets,
I was thinking about bodging up something on the inner pair of rear lights, but then I looked again at the invoice for them!! Out of all the stuff I've bought for the Vette, those 2 small plastic parts were the parts that made me sit down very quickly & gasp for breath :( Incredibly expensive, so I'm a bit reluctant to get the drill & superglue out ;) Somebody, somewhere must make what I'm after?
Theouk,
A friendly Policeman that used to regularly pull me up on my bike to "check that everything is in order, sir" told me that sidelights were fitted so that the vehicle was lit up when parked on a dark road, or when being driven in murky conditions when main headlights weren't needed. But it always bugged me.... what fool would leave a car with it's lights switched on for a few hours when the car was running Lucas electrics? Anything could happen!
When I set my light switch to the 1st position the park/side lights come on but I'm not sure that the main beams come on :confused: I'll check that out.
I was told that a rear fog light isn't required on a car manufactured before 1982, unless the car had one fitted as standard. That was told to me by the head honcho of the MOT testing station next to where I work. I checked the info with another place & they verified it as correct.

Stephen's reverse lights are very non-obtrusive as I can't remember even noticing them :)
:cheers:

theoUK

I'm very tempted to pull that ugly light and its ugly switch. However, what would i use to blind people behind me with as I drive along at 40 on the motorway a slightly dark (but not remotely foggy) evening? God that pi$$es me off!
Still, I think it might be coming off before the next MOT, as it looks so out of keeping. I know it's a safety thing etc etc, so in the fullness of time I'll look out for a slightly more inconspicuous solution. As i said, my lights have been changed over to halogen units, so I don't know if they operate as standard, ie if all vette's dipped lights come on in the first position of the switch. The wiring has been done by a blind mental patient, by the looks of it, with loose hanging "chocolate block" connectors everywhere. It's on my list of things to tidy, but I don't know if I dare touch it, cos once I've started, I'll no doubt end up having to rip it all out and start from scratch..

JHL81

Hi,

Maybe you just need to find a sympathetic MOT tester, I have had my Vette for about 6 years now and it still has the original set up. The MOT guy wasn`t all that interested so long as they all lit up and I have never had any problem with the police either.

J.

Skeets

Hmmm, yep Paul.. i know what you mean, they are a little bit pricey. Mine are the originals and were looking a bit tired anyway so i didn't mind hacking them up.
:smash:

The outer ones i replaced however..... i think i payed about £50 each, or something crazy like that! :eek:

Talking about friendly policemen.... one pulled me over when i first bought mt car, as it still had the US spec rear red flasher/brake light set-up.... lord knows how the previous owner got away with that?!

Theo... I've also had the original sealed beam lights replaced, and mine don't come on with the side lights? I'm sure it would be an easy fix if you wanted the side lights to come on, on their own.

theoUK

Oh yeah, I'm sure i could sort it out, but the wiring is such a mess under there that I need to set aside quite a lot of time to do it properly. Having said that, it looks fecking cool with the dipped beam lights shining out through the louvres. And in the city, with streetlights, i can ponce round for ages like that!
How :cool: am I?

Skeets

Nightrider! Brrrrmmm! :reddevil

theoUK

:lolg:
I don't have the Hasselhoff hairdo, unfortunately(!)
Or the status in the German pop music scene.
Or turbo boost.
BTW, what was wrong with ur cruise in the end?

And before letting the knightrider thing go:
For ten points, can you tell me what KITT stood for?


[Modified by theoUK, 1:11 PM 8/12/2003]