Clear Front Indicators/Sidelights

[lotusgirlmarie]

I"ve been called worse

[wolfie308]

[quote="lotusgirlmarie"]They are complete units. The lenses are glues to the reflectors via epoxy resin for a strong watertight seal. they're had pretty cheap though. You can usually find them on ebay for around $20. The fronts are amber and the rears are red on all of the afore mentioned cars. I also just realized that on some of the fed Esprits use these side markers as well. Primarily on the early S4 models I.E. before 94 1/2.

Crikey.... now I see how you're so well informed.- huge respect. Checked the 2 eBay links and it's difficult to tell but they they look a bit different probably because on the Ferrari they're fited flush and on the Esprit they appear to be sitting prouder of the body work.

I can now see they are handed, but is there any chance that the fronts and rears are the same just with different coloured lenses( do we get that lucky?)

Checked photos of an '98 Fed Esprit with my clears and you're right they are different.

IIRC when I checked with my local dealer the Esprit Fed sides would cost about £26 each + tax = £60. If front and rears were basically the same units it might be viable .....just !

Luckily I have a Lotus main dealer only 2 miles away, so I might have to pop in and quiz them.

Elanlover, I DO like the idea of the flashing LED sides...a lot.

p.s.....They are however poor for a lot of fronts and rears due to the relatively narrow angle of max brightness and design/finish of the reflector . For sides, that sounds an excellent idea

[Elanlover]

I"ve been called worse

Yes, but not with a goodly amount of respect!

can now see they are handed, but is there any chance that the fronts and rears are the same just with different coloured lenses( do we get that lucky?)

The parts manual seems to indicate they are identical except for colour. But, that's only diagrams, not specs. I'm betting LGM has the answer though!

Elanlover, I DO like the idea of the flashing LED sides...a lot.

p.s.....They are however poor for a lot of fronts and rears due to the relatively narrow angle of max brightness and design/finish of the reflector . For sides, that sounds an excellent idea

I recently went through a pretty exhaustive research project when I looked into upgrading to LED stop, driving and turn signals. I was able to get a perfect set for the Elan that produces virtually the same amount of light as the incandescent bulbs do. They look great! I also discovered that the side marker lights (which, on the fed Elans, only stay on and don't blink) can be esily modified to stay on as normal operation would sugest but blink when the turn signal is on. Under the "Projects" section I posted the details under the post title of "LED Brake/Tail/Turn Light Conversion"

p.s. still waiting on a reply to an e-mail I sent you the other day regarding clear lenses from Blair Melton

[lotusgirlmarie]

The side markers are all the same size for all of the afore mentioned models. The only difference with the Esprit version is that it comes with a huge, IMHO, black rubber gasket to make it sit out of the bodywork. The Diablo ones fit perfectly as I have one on my Lotus after one of my fronts cracked. Here is the Fed Diablo to ilustrate:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lamborgh ... dZViewItem

...and the Ferrari355

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ferrari- ... dZViewItem

and the fed lotus Elan

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lotus-5- ... dZViewItem

All with the same side indicators on the bumpers. Kinda scary to think about all of the similariteis between the exotic cars. Rare cars = shared parts.

[donsladek]

Elanlover wrote:

Richard, can't speak for anyone else but I'd be wanting clear lenses all around for the side markers. I'd stick in my own LED bulbs as I plan a slight mod to have them blink in conjunction with the turn indicators which they don't do now.

I'm interested!

Don Sladek

[wolfie308]

LGM comes up trumps again ........a few new items I hadn't considered/ wasn't aware of the crossover of parts. I guess most of you know the rear cluster on the S.4 Esprit came off an '85 Corolla?

Reckon I could do a nice job on those Lambo fronts - they look pretty similar to the S.3 Esprit which looks stunning with my clears and to date I have only supplied one U.K customer to date with these. I think sales would be so low that I'd be able to I'd supply numbered certificates with each set. LOL

The round amber Lambo rear turns look to be fitted with 2 screws.......excellent - easy removal for copying

Out of curiosity, what factory markings are on the side markers? Interesred who makes them. The M100 fronts are marked 'Rubbolite' and the Esprit fronts with 'COBO' (although some used a slightly different 'LUCAS' variety. Blimey, we are getting in to minutea here !!

So.... first step is for me to find from my supplier what I need to cast casings. I suspect the mould making technique will be the same, just using a coloured resin of a different type for the casing. Should be a doddle.....Ha Ha.....as the guy who gave me first instruction in this black art said casting clear was the hardest thing of all......and he wasn't wrong !

I'll also check price and delivery of sidemarkers with dealer on Monday.

Don't suppose someones got a mint spare pair they could loan?

It's a quite exiting project for me as if I get it right, I can apply the process to a number of other side marker requirements where none currently exists in the market.

Due to the fact that I may have to make 4 moulds per pair after first cutting the units apart, this is not going to be a quick,easy or cheap to do, but I will try to keep the price within reason specially as part of a complete set.

I read somewhere I think that there were about 550 Elans supplied to the US - does that sound about right?

Oh yes, regards the KIA rears - thought I read on the Renault Alpine forum that the KIA rears are not a perfect fit and need some additional fibreglass work - I'll try to dig out a pic I've got somewhere.

Wife's shouting to get on with the decorating, so I'll catch you later.

Richard

[wolfie308]

Found the pics of the Kia rears on the Alpine which shows how they don't quite fit. The rounded off corner has to be filled with an additional piece to fill the gap. Not ideal I would have thought and you have a great big round amber turn

[Elanlover]

Found the pics of the Kia rears on the Alpine which shows how they don't quite fit. The rounded off corner has to be filled with an additional piece to fill the gap. Not ideal I would have thought and you have a great big round amber turn

Well, fortunately for us, the Elan's body has that little curve. The Kia light fits perfectly in that area.

[Elanlover]

Found the pics of the Kia rears on the Alpine which shows how they don't quite fit. The rounded off corner has to be filled with an additional piece to fill the gap. Not ideal I would have thought and you have a great big round amber turn

Well, fortunately for us, the Elan's body has that little curve. The Kia light fits perfectly in that area.

http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/download.php?id=2234

[John_W]

Is this doube-post night?

Is this double-post night?

John
John

[donsladek]

Richard,

The Federal sidemarkers have the following markings on the lenses (same front and rear):

SEIMA 45.38
SAE AP2 76 DOT

Hope this is useful.

By the way, it looks like SEIMA was a part of Magneti Marelli in Italy, and they are now known as Automotive Lighting GmbH.

Don

[wolfie308]

Hi Don,

Sorry,sorry about that double post.....must try harder.

Thanks for the info on markings and seems to also confirm again they're identical units. Very interesting about SEIMA.....now makes sense with the Ferarri/Lambo fitting.

Richard

[lotusgirlmarie]

Yep. Hence the use on soooo many "exotic" cars esspecially in the USA. Similar pedigrees will dip into the same pot every so often. 'Tis the way of the world.

[wolfie308]

Evenin' all,

Today I checked with dealer who said the front markers were out of stock and were awaiting advice on lead time....no surprise there then eh?

From best I could ascertain from their schematic/part diagrams, the fronts appear to be the same and I have ordered 1 of part no. AO82 M6359F.(they are shown as x2 for a front pair in the dealer's parts book)

Maybe somebody 'over there' could double check?

Have also ordered different resin to cast the backing part today, so will be ready to commence trialling a soon as I can get hold of a new original.

Thank you for your enquiries/orders for fronts and rears and hopefully I'm up to date with P.M's as well.

Will keep you posted of progress........watch this space,cos I'm on the case

Richard

[Nobby]

Hi All,

I’ve just replaced my entire Elan indicators lens to clear, the last being the rears. see attached as these look fantastic.......I’m sure you'll agree..

Big thanks to Richard at Protocast ( www.protocast.co.uk
contact@protocast.co.uk ) for supplying these quality lens and quickly so they were fitted for this weekend...

I used PaulN instructions that were spot on. I would recommend spraying the assy as you can see the black through the lens so its worth the little extra effort.......you decide

Nobby

[wolfie308]

Nice one Nobby

My preferred final touch would be probably fitting Philips Silvervision bulbs just to complete the clear look(the ones I include are a bit dim but give you the chance to see the difference between an amber and a silver).

However, you might find that with the Elan cluster, you get best illumination from the amber.

Out of interest, links below are pics I took of my Esprit clusters with my standard ambers and then with 25 LED bulbs from directly behind and from the side angle.

All pics were taken with same camera settings in each position and in the same ambient light within a couple of minutes of each other. Certainly with these it looks like the incandescant bulb works better(it's the brighter from both angles), but of course this might not be the same with Elan unit and other types of of LED bulb.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/w ... _15621.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/w ... _15611.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/w ... _15601.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/w ... _15591.jpg

And here's a couple of my 944 conversions with amber and silver bulbs. You can see it very much depends on the housing/lens pattern how visible the bulb is.

As with all my most exclusive lenses, I am keeping a register of owners with clear rears, and each pair is numbered. Nobby you are No : 006........who will be 007?

Pics from you other guys who have already fitted would be much appreciated if you'd like to post them or mail them to me thru my website.

I'll chase up my dealer re the side markers this week as I'm keen to use this as a trial for other projects inc U.S Esprits

[wolfie308]

OOops again,

Well it's getting late, but here's the 2 links I missed off from previous post

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/w ... erbulb.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/w ... erbulb.jpg

Just shows how visible the amber bulb can look in certain units

[donsladek]

Richard,

On the Federal marker lights, one other item to consider - the marker lights are also retroreflective. Don't know if you've had any experience with this in your cast parts, but it would be a plus if this could be incorporated.

Don Sladek

[wolfie308]

Hiya Dan,

Not sure exactly what you mean by retroreflective, but link below shows close up of my 944 top clear fog, which is cast from reverse lenses.

These have a much sharper and deeper cut pattern of lenslets on the rear face than most other lenses I produce. Is this the sort of thing you mean?
Actual size of this is approx 13 x 7 cms to give you an idea.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/w ... 944fog.jpg

A problem I have encountered, is where there is a pattern on part of the rear face of the lens, but there is a 2nd plain layer forming a space between the 2 surfaces. The link below shows the result. I had this mould made by a 'professional' mould maker before I started making them myself. Unfortunately, neither of us realised this until I made the 1st lens from the mould.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/w ... _15761.jpg

As a result, you can see from the pic that the lens patterning on the end tab of the clear lens has disappeared. Had we cut out the rear 'skin', the pattern on the back would have been reproduced. So I ended up with a pair moulds that I wasn't totally happy with that cost me £300. A costly lesson which I most certainly learned from.

Does that answer your question?

Cheers,

Richard

[Nobby]

Hi Richard,

I agree fitting of the silver bulbs would finish the job.

I did try those supplied and like you mentioned thought they were a bit dim.

I shall pursue some Philips Silvervision bulbs as suggested and give them ago.

However I'm well pleased with the result and I'm sure others shall follow.

All the best, Rob