Seven Tweeks clear rear lights

[martin b]

Cheers Linds

Seems the LED bulb is the way to go

Thanks for the update

 

Martin

[Pierre Gillet]

Linds,

The tail lights of my pearlescent ruby 40 th Anniversary have been ledified last year and I do not like very much the orange colour of the plastic part of the lights as it does not match the red of the body work.

I would think that a full red light would better match the car than a clear one. Do you think that it is possible to replace the orange part by a red part ? Since the LEDs behind are orange, the perception of the light will still be orange.

Cheers,

 

 

Pierre

 

Edited by - Pierre Gillet on 13 Apr 2008 10:37:55

[lindsseventweeks]

I don't know if you can get such a light? It may be possible if you had 4 covers to separate them and make up your own red lens. I would be suprised if the amber light could be achieved through a red lens, you could try turning the lens round the wrong way to see if it works.

Sorry I can't be of any more help,

Linds.

[Foggy]

Just as a matter of interest and following on from the theme of which "red" bulb is best. I have now fitted the LED's from Linds and have to agree they are a marked improvement over the coated bulb originaly supplied.

 

Has anyone noticed the clear rear lights on the new R500? Wonder what CC are using for bulbs?

 

Foggy the Silver Seven !!

[Pierre Gillet]

Thanks Linds.

I had tried your way, rather unsucessfully as the plastic broke.

The parts are strongly glued together.

I think that I will let it the way it is for now.

Cheers,

 

 

Pierre

[Mick Day]

I've been following this thread with a little interest. On my other car I decided to check all the bulbs & found the front indicator bulbs just fell out when I removed the lens. These are amber bulbs behind clear lenses. I thought the bulb holders were faulty but checked with some spare bulbs & noticed that these had offset pins & fitted perfectly.

 

ABC Design gives the required information :".........Only one coloured bulb is legal for use in Europe. This is the amber indicator bulb with offset pins, so designed so that it can't be fitted to a normal 180 degree pin bulb socket by mistake. This bulb is designed for use in front and rear indicators where the outer lens is clear rather than amber in colour."

 

So don't buy amber bulbs with pins at 180 deg as they won't fit the bulb holders for regular everyday cars like Ford. For old cars like Caterhams, with Land Rover front indicator pods, you'll need the aftermarket type amber bulbs with opposing pins if you must have clear lenses.

 

Personally I prefer red & amber lenses, & no doubt in a few years time this will be the "New Look" fashion accessory we'll all have to buy! 😬

 

Edited to make things a little clearer.............................

 

Edited by - Mick Day on 16 Apr 2008 23:26:18

[lindsseventweeks]

I don't know if the bulb holders have always been manufactured the same, but on my Seven the only type of amber bulb that will fit front and rear indicator holders are 180 degree opposite pin, so I would have to disagree with Mick.

 

Does anyone else have offset bulb holders for the front indicators?

 

Is it possible that during build, the rear light cluster could be wired either way meaning that people would require the opposite bulb fitting? i.e. on my own car the indicators are 180 degree opposite pin and the stop/tail light fitting takes offset opposite pin.

[SLR No.77]

When I fitted amber bulbs & clear lenses to the front indicators I used a small cutter in a dremel to create an L-groove for the offset pin - definately not 180º opposed on the amber bulbs I used.

 

Stu.

[lindsseventweeks]

I'm getting confused! - it's been a long day...

 

Does that mean that you had opposed pin connectors before cutting them?

[SLR No.77]

IIRC the standard bulb holder has the L-grooves (slots) to take the pins directly opposite, ie. 180º. To fit the amber bulbs they either need to be forced in (and hope for the best!) or make a new slot for the second pin. I think they're probably around 135º offset. The offset is around the circumference of the bulb, not "staggered" as rear/stop bulbs are.

 

I've just done a search and found an e-bay seller with more details:

Non E-marked amber bulb

E-marked amber bulb

 

Hope this helps

 

Stu.

[lindsseventweeks]

Thanks - I've got it now

[Mick Day]

I don't know if the bulb holders have always been manufactured the same, but on my Seven the only type of amber bulb that will fit front and rear indicator holders are 180 degree opposite pin, so I would have to disagree with Mick.

I think the answer here is that the only way amber bulbs will fit in the front indicator pods of a Caterham is if the pins are at 180 deg as the bulb holder is an old design, pre-amber bulbs & clear lenses. The bulbs may be e marked but probably manufactured clear, e marked & then amber coated. So they're sort of pukka. I'm not getting at anyone as most of our 7's have little "design" eccentricities, but when fitting amber bulbs to cars with clear lenses, from say Ford & others, the pins are offset otherwise you'll have the same problem I had.

[Sandy]

Another way to fit either would be to grind off 70% of one bulb pin with a dremel - Ive seen this on my tin top where colored bulbs with the 135 degree offset had been used.

One pin and the remaining of the second creating a friction fit holding them in place effectively

[Foggy]

Put the silver one's in mine (98 Roadsport) and they went in as per original 180 degree fitment.

 

Foggy the Silver Seven !!

[c7kjt]

Have there been any developments on an E-marked Red bulb?

 

If this isn't resovable in a road-legal (pedantic MOT) manner, is there the possibility of making a light cluster as per current but with just a clear section to replace the amber part?

 

I assume all the right bits (red half, clear half, red reflector) exist at some stage in the manufacture process, is it just a case of glueing the right combination of bits together?

 

Kevin Thomas

The 7 Gallery... with added BBCi

The home of LIMEY

 

[Johnty Lyons]

The new R500 has clear rear lenses so Caterham must have sourced red twin filament and amber 21w bulbs.

 

---

jj

N.I. L7C AR 🙆🏻

Membership No.3927.

240BHP 1900cc K Series 40th Anniversary

 

[Foggy]

For what its worth, I have just put my car through its MoT with the Seven Tweeks clear lights and red LED type bulbs without any drama's whatsoever!

 

Foggy the Silver Seven !!

[Big Brother]

I think the dramas may happen if your car ever needs to be "officially" inspected.

 

My worry is that in the event of a rear end accident, some pedantic pen pusher will rule your insurance void as you are running with un-approved and non e marked bulbs

 

 

Steve

 

 

SE7EN-UP!

---

_{If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.}

---

 

[lindsseventweeks]

C7KJT - So far I am unaware of an appropriate red bulb but am still looking. In theory it would be possible to produce a clear indicator section glued to a red tail light but in order to persuade the manufacturer to produce this product a very large order of several 100-1000 units would need to be made. Any offers?

 

I've read a few comments about the similarity of the R500 lights to Seven Tweeks own. I can confirm that it is in fact the exact same light and I wonder if they have acquired this from my production run. Also, although I'm not certain, the red bulb they use can't be legal - but I would love to be corrected, as I would love to get my hands on a legal red bulb too!!

[Ash.Bailey]

I'm not bovvered anyway.

 

Ther clear lenses look terrible on my caravan so I'm refitting the original coloured versions

 

If ^It aint ^yellow, wonky ^and wobbly................ 😬

 

[The Pikey]

Clear lenses on a caravan.. thats a first on me. Anyway I really like my clear lenses.Thank you Linds.

 

 

Jason

 

Currently, I am qualified to plead ignorance.

 

[simonbell]

I've just ordered a silver (red) bulb off ebay for a fog light.....

 

Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R

I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here