US rear lights

[vaughan]

Hi folks,
Does anyone know if the US all red lens rear lights are legal in Uk.
I still have them on my 70 westy,
Any info appreciated
Cheers
Ade

 

[sparkywig]

They're not legal for use in the UK, but take it for an MOT, see what happens.

 

[Coda]

I think if you have separate orange indicators you might be ok? But flashing red indicators are a no-no for sure.

 

[mike202]

This link is useful. Basically post 1965 you can’t , so for any baywindow bus the answers ‘no’

https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/your-questions-answered-do-test-stations-have-the-discretion-to-pass-historic-american-vehicles/

That’s for indicators but what some people do is change the back up lamps to be indicators with orange bulbs then you can keep the red lenses [emoji3]

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[vaughan]

Thanks for all comments, I've got the small oblong white lenses above can I put an orange bulb in those ??

 

[mike202]

They’re the back up lamps or reversing lights I mentioned. Someone who has done it may be along to tell you more.
You need to reorganise the wiring to suit of course.


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[lemur]

Yep, I've moved my indicating 12v+ signal to the reverse light holders. fitted orange bulbs (well they are silver actually but flash orange).
It's quite a common thing to do I believe. The MOT man was happy with that.... And for good measure I mounted a fancy schmancy period Hella auxiliary lamp on the rear bumper, as dedicated reverse lamp.
The wiring was a bit head scratcher IIRC- think there's a diagram on theSamba.
Liam

 

[vaughan]

Thanks Guys, great info , much appreciated I'll get them sorted

 

[Moseley]

As Mike has said above, have a good look at the original wiring diagram and the various posts regarding the modification of moving the indicator flash to the reverse lights. The original wiring (on a 68, but I presume is a similar concept for other years) means that the brake light signal feeds into the indicator circuit at the dashboard relay. This needs to be removed, and a new cable run from the brake light switches to the tail lamp. The indicator wire can then just be moved from the red lamps, up to the ‘reverse’ lights.

I think that is summarised correctly?!

 

[Clem]

I’ve read that if you paint the bulbs green then they flash orange from behind a red lense? Either way, sharing a bulb with a brake light isn’t a good idea in modern traffic. Run the indicators in the reverse light units - looks original, tidy and safe.