Custom Lenses (anyone try doing it?)

[LH23H2R]

I've long maintained that turn signal / hazard lamps should be ambre-coloured on the taillights .
To me , red signifies "STOP!" , not "caution" ; a flashing red light for a lane change makes no sense to me .

With this in mind , I've always wondered what it would take to make custom tail light lenses / wiring / bezels to accomodate an ambre-coloured turn-signal / hazard lens for old(er) , classic cars .
Making said lenses *appear* to be factory-produced would be the trick .

Has anyone here made custom lenses --cast plastic or otherwise-- for their car ?
If so , how did you go about it ?

Thanks !

 

[slantsixdan]

If what you want to do is change the rear turn signals (and not the tail or stop lamp functions) from red to amber, then you have a very good point. Rear turn signals are required to be amber in most of the world, and have been for decades. In North America, red or amber rear turn signals are permitted. The latest NHTSA research shows you are up to 28% less likely to be struck if your rear turn signals are amber rather than red, all other factors being equal, in situations relevant to the turn signals. This translates to a 5.3% crash reduction benefit overall and across all situations, which is better than the 4.3% long-term crash-reduction benefit of the central high-mounted stop lamp mandated in 1986.

It's not difficult to separate the stop and rear turn functions. The problem is how to rework the rear lamps to provide an amber rear turn function that works. Some reversing lamps are adequate to the task if fitted with an amber lens or bulb, and some are not. See here for how I did my '62 Lancer using Australian amber lenses in the original reversing lamps and moving the reverse light function below the bumper with '62 Valiant reversing lamp assemblies. See here for how I did my '89 Dodge pickup (contains link to YouTube video). See here for how I did my '71 Dart.

 

[LH23H2R]

SlantSixDan - Thanks for the links ! Great work there ; absolutely perfect ! (super clean '71 Dart and Lancer , too ! ).

Your points are exactly what I was trying to convey ! Thanks much for adding to this topic :glasses7:.
Another benefit to ambre signals / hazards is that if some oatmeal head leaves 'em on , the flashing isn't as offensive and irritating as flashing red lights are (!!).

I've actually looked at the back-up portion of the reflectors (centre-of-three lenses , each side ) on my '72 Coronet (which the taillamp lenses look *almost* exactly like the '71-'73 Dart lenses ) and contemplated the same thing .
I wonder if I can modify '71-'73 Dart lenses to fit the Coronet's bumper...the reflector lenses are all crazed from the southwest heat ; no repro's available...

Another *trick* is to add ambre bulbs ( 1156A , 1157A , ad seq. ) to red lenses as it makes the lights a little brighter .

I'm sure that you've seen the truly custom tail lamp lenses on the RTS 1971 Road Runner , right ?
Red / Ambre / Green !
Pretty slick ... just like the (superior) Cibie headlights on the RTS '70 Road Runner .

 

[RedFish]

I dont know what car you are refering to. many of us have a single rear fixture with a red lens. No simple solution there. Mold your own clear lens then install red and amber bulbs would require seperators inside the fixture so it emits both red and amber simotaniously ( spelt? ). Then the size of the brake light is reduced. The brake light on a 68 B'cuda was too small from the start.

 

[slantsixdan]

You need to be careful how (or if) you do this mod. Many reversing (back-up) lights are too small and dim to serve as adequate turn signals no matter what bulb you might put in. On some cars, this just is not practicable to do without adding extra lights, and on some cars you really can't add extra lights cleanly. An amber turn signal is better than a red one only if all other factors are more or less equal, and an amber light must be 1.6x brighter than a red light for equal conspicuity, because of how the human visual system processes different colors of light. In some cases, it is best to leave the rear lamp system original unless you are prepared for re-engineering and restyling.

Also, it is not correct that putting an amber bulb behind a red lens makes the light brighter. It makes it dimmer. The amber glass transmits less light than the clear glass. An 1157 bulb produces 32/3 candlepower (bright/dim mode). An 1157A or 1157NA has exactly the same filaments but amber instead of clear glass; it produces 24/2.2 candlepower. That's a 25% reduction in intensity vs. the clear bulb. See here for bulb substitutions that actually do increase intensity.

I haven't seen the RTS '71 Runner in person, but I have seen at least one photo-illustrated writeup on it. Green would have been the correct color for the taillamp function for a variety of reasons having to do with the physiology and performance of the human visual system (depth perception, etc.) but that ship sailed long, long ago and we are stuck with red.