"Smoked" rear lights

"Smoked" rear lights

Author
Discussion

pdavison

1,637 posts

278 months

Monday 22nd July 2002
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Just picked up this thread ! I've now sold my S3, but the car looked great with the different rear lights and side repeaters.

I bought mine from a company called Revolution - can't remember whereabouts they are, but I ordered them mail order. They were about £50 for the rear lights and £15 for the side repeaters.

The side repeaters were oval replacements and fitted very easily (no need to seal them).

I will see if I can post a picture of what they looked like.

Cheers

Paul

Qualia

Original Poster:

154 posts

268 months

Monday 22nd July 2002
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I received a pair of smoked rears today from Nomad (see pic above).
I will fit them tonight, but c14ppy's comment causes me slight concern. Any job requiring more than a screwdriver is a real challenge for me
Well, I'm exaggerating slightly....

I'll get the sides and fronts done in due course. As it so happens, I managed to crack one of the front lenses yesterday. I let the car roll into the garage with the engine switched off and was caught off guard by the lack of brake servo assist. Doh!

How does it work with this P Maxi spray? I find it difficult to imagine the resulting colour. Well, i think I'll give it a try since I need to replace one lens anyway. Paul, what solution did you find for the fronts? Spray as well?

Andy

shnozz

27,505 posts

272 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2002
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just going back on this topic - i have decided on a pair of the darkened ones from direct car parts - they are e approved BTW (according to the web site anyways) as i am completely inept i will be letting david batty fit them whilst the car is having its shocks done.

can someone tell me - all these clear/dark whatever side indicators - some of you have oval ones. What car are these designed for as the clips presumably must be same size?

pdavison

1,637 posts

278 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2002
quotequote all
The side repeaters are from a Mk4 Escort and Max Power type accessory shops now sell the oval type from a MK5 Escort with the MK4 Escort fitting (does that make sense ?).

I didn't do the front ones at all, I thought about tinting them with the spray, but having done this before on a mini I wasn't sure the end result would suit the 'S'. Might be worth a try though !

Cheers

Paul

Roy C

4,187 posts

285 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2002
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quote:
can someone tell me - all these clear/dark whatever side indicators - some of you have oval ones. What car are these designed for as the clips presumably must be same size?

I fitted the oval side repeaters from the last generation of Ford Mondeos. The clips are not the same size, so you have to (carefully!) enlarge the holes in the side of the car.

shnozz

27,505 posts

272 months

Wednesday 24th July 2002
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anyone want to make up a batch of clear front indicators for the S? LeeBee, Clive?

I'd be up for a set and would appear others may be interested

Qualia

Original Poster:

154 posts

268 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
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quote:
anyone want to make up a batch of clear front indicators for the S? LeeBee, Clive?
I'd be up for a set and would appear others may be interested


Yes, please! I would certainly get a pair!! (Or two pairs, since they do break easily...)

I now have the Escort Turbo rears on my S3. Looks brilliant, I'll try to take a few pics tonight and post them. But what a pain in the a*se these side repeaters are!! They won't come off without a fight and the new ones won't go on either. I have to see it through now, but I hate it when a 10 minute job all of a sudden turns into a DIY nightmare...

Andy

Podie

46,630 posts

276 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
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Clear front indicators might not suit the S IMHO... might be better with a light smoked effect...

kev s3

212 posts

265 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
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second that

shnozz

27,505 posts

272 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
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qualia - how did fitting the rear lenses go? I am inept with anything mechanical so wanted to hear how you got on - i am thinking of wimping out on it and getting the garage to add it to the hideous bill that I will be getting soon!

was it ok with bonding etc?

LeeBee

773 posts

285 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
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I did think about the clear front indicators ages ago but decided I really like the look of the orange against my Brooklands green paint, I didn't however like the rear lights so that is why I changed them to the smoked versions, I have orange oval side indicators on mine and they were quite and easy fit (just filed out the hole to accept the new ones).I could get clear indicators made but there would have to be enough demand to get the tooling done

Cheers

LeeBee

Qualia

Original Poster:

154 posts

268 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
quotequote all
Shnozz, fitting the rears was no problem at all, and I'm not very good with these things. Each cluster is secured with six nuts and washers - that's it. I got some black sealant from Halfords (£3.50) and re-applied it where the old one came off. It's easy to see where it's meant to go. You have to move some of the carpet out of the way to get to the nuts, but that was easy as well. It seems it hadn't been glued down too much in order to allow access to the lights.

I'll have another go at these side repeaters tonight, this time equipped with a file. What I find strange is that there doesn't seem to be a holding mechanism. Get the hole big enough to squeeze them in and then hope that it's tight enough and they stay in place. Is this the way to do it, LeeBee, or am I missing something??

Andy

johno

8,429 posts

283 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
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quote:

Shnozz, fitting the rears was no problem at all, and I'm not very good with these things. Each cluster is secured with six nuts and washers - that's it. I got some black sealant from Halfords (£3.50) and re-applied it where the old one came off. It's easy to see where it's meant to go. You have to move some of the carpet out of the way to get to the nuts, but that was easy as well. It seems it hadn't been glued down too much in order to allow access to the lights.

I'll have another go at these side repeaters tonight, this time equipped with a file. What I find strange is that there doesn't seem to be a holding mechanism. Get the hole big enough to squeeze them in and then hope that it's tight enough and they stay in place. Is this the way to do it, LeeBee, or am I missing something??

Andy



You're missing soomething...but it is not that easy to see.

The original repeaters are quite long and have a small clip moulded as part of the back section. This holds against the bodywork.

Therefor you cannot just pull them out. You will need to compress the clip before withdrawing them fron the bodywork. If you get right into the footwell with a torch you will be able to see what I mean.

If you are replacing them with Oval ones then be prepared to adapt the bodywork to get a fit. Take care as it is very easy to take away too much GRP when filing as it is quite soft and dissapears more rapidly than you think - been there ...

Cheers

Mark

clarky5150

423 posts

269 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
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NO NO NO!!! Dont start filing away at the body, you might want to replace the originals one day. The aftermarket ones from Halfords and the like come with double sided sticky foam ovals to back them. File/sand the indicator back and attach them with the pad. (This worked for me anyway)

Paceracing

729 posts

267 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
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LeeBee,

I'd definitely be up for clear front indicator lenses, if you found enough demand for them to get them made.

Jas

johno

8,429 posts

283 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
quotequote all
Depends what aftermarket ones you buy as there was no way I could adapt the repeaters to fit the old holes. They certainly didn't have sticky pads !!

Additionally to this thee amount I needed to remove did noy preclude my ability to replace them with the originals. Not that I would 'cos the ovals look far better IMHO.

>> Edited by johno on Thursday 25th July 21:09

Qualia

Original Poster:

154 posts

268 months

Thursday 25th July 2002
quotequote all
In case you would like to see some piccies of my S3 with the new rear lights, go to:

www.fotango.com/cgi-bin/public_gallery_item.cgi?id=172649&index=0&key=

Many thanks for all the advice about the side indicators, guys. It did the trick and I got them fitted. No filing required since I went for square ones, phew...
So, just the fronts then. I hope there's enough interest to get some made, but I'll try the spray soon.

Andy

Podie

46,630 posts

276 months

Friday 26th July 2002
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Qualia - IMHO those new lights look very smart... although I think they'll always look better on the darker colour cars... green, burgundy, blue and grey - might not suit the brighter ones.

As for the side repeaters - what did they come from originally? These days a lot of companies produce direct replacements in different colours and shapes...

Roy C

4,187 posts

285 months

Friday 26th July 2002
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quote:
As for the side repeaters - what did they come from originally? These days a lot of companies produce direct replacements in different colours and shapes...


The original side repeaters are from 1980s Fords (Escort & Sierra).

Podie

46,630 posts

276 months

Friday 26th July 2002
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okey-dokey... www.directcarparts.co.uk/frontindicators.htm

Square (£14.99)




Oval (£12.99)




Both types should just slot in...