Dave999
Well-Known Member
My car is Australian of American origin and i drive it in England
3 standards for lighting involved
in the US you can have red flash of tail lamp as a direction indicator
in Australia and the UK it should be Amber at the rear
in the UK and australia it could be white at the front but both changed to Amber at the front in the 60s UK and 1973 Australia
the indicator should be a dedicated lamp in the UK but in australia the indicator could be part of the side light and the side light could could be white until 73 and must be amber after 73 and would flash as an indicator in both cases.
confusing isn't it
basically its a minefield, that you only navigate successfully here, because UK police only really pull you up for these things if you are being an idiot, its not worth the paperwork otherwise.
My car has a pre 1973 Australian standard setup for lights. i.e the best/worst of UK and US standards.
My side lights and front indciators are in the same unit, and both were designed to flash white. i.e a standard offset bayonet twin filamnet bulb is used for candle power side lights and a slighty more powerful flash for indicator.
both white and not totally legal
I've been running around with the bulbs painted in amber tinted 2 pack clear coat, which was slowly burning off.
lumination in general front and rear was also a bit rubbish and made me kinda invisible amongst modern steet lighting and traffic in London.
I've also had an issue where the flash of the indicators has got faster and faster as the years progressed and recently had reached a point of about 90% on 10% off. double or triple the standatd flash rate.
so i went on a shopping trip
for my front side/indicator i purchased a set of "switchback" LEDs. 1157 offset bayonet 2 filament
white side light
amber indciator
if side light is on and indciator is triggred side light is automatically switched off
when the indicator is cancelled, the side light is auomatically switched on, after a pause for 1 flash
1157 offset bayonet negative earth .
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/produc ... 7ae2&_ss=r
for the rear indicators, i have a single filament 1156 bulb. normal bayonet single filament
so after measuring the depth of housing I had to work with, i got these
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/produc ... 6968861514.
and of course i needed an appropriate flasher unit.
my car has a 2 pin flasher, and no emrgency flasher so i purchased this, and i only needed one
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/produc ... 1097903213
Things to note about the flasher. It is designed for UK classics with common negative earth set up. Although the 2 contacts fit the Aussie connector perfectly. arranged as an L shaped 90* angled, spade pair. The allocation of (X) Live and (L) to indicator switch, is oposite from the connectors orientation i.e X and L in the exact oposite from where they need to be. I suggest this will be the same for UScars as mine had a US made parts store two pin flasher in it before upgrade.
The flasher unit is also mugh bigger and needs a dedicated earth
This meant it needed to be mounted under the dash, in a new position, becasue it didn't fit the orginal clip/recess welded onto the dash upright.
I had to make two small wires to cross over the connections . basically two female spades 2 male spades and assocaited rubber inuslators
I had to drill a hole in the under dash structure for a self tapper and a spikey washer to clamp the earth lead contact
I used cable ties and the natural V in the dash support structure to hold the flasher in place and wired it up.
had I been doing this on a dismantled car i would have welded or screwed down a metal mounting bracket to use with the rubber strap that comes in the box with the flasher.
That wasn't going to happen when working through the ash tray aperture and the holes in the top of the dash when the pad is removed.
in this position the flasher makes quite a good loud and sonorous click through the dash box that reminds me of a 70s Ford
if i had the hands of a small child and arms with an elbow in the middle of my wrist i would have just swapped the female connectors in the connector block..but a full dash removal was not part of the plan
needless to say, success...
The front side lights are as bright if not brighter than my dipped headlights
the side light swiches out, and the idicator takes over perfectly, within a fraction of a second and switches back afterwards
at the rear if i'm turning left or right you can see me from space....
while i was at it, i stuck in a set of LED 1157 RED/RED tail/stop bulbs i had purchased off ebay ages ago.
These too were very good and give a nice red glow. however they feel cheap iand light weight in comparison and the detail from the order about brightness/ luminosity is obvioulsy a fabtrication when the output is compared with the quality bulbs i got from classic car LEDs. The classic LED bulbs are 600 Lumin the red tail ones are supposed to be 700/900 and they are obvioulsy not. lies lies lies and decite.
so the ebay purchases will get replaced with these
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/produc ... 0ce8&_ss=r
On the whole, a couple, of hours well spent.
provided they last
supposed to have a 50,000 hour life compared with 5000 for a bulb... we'll see.
benefits uses about 1/10 of the current that the original bulbs used and much brighter, In theory are shake proof shock proof.
suggest lamps should have good lens gaskets becasue you just added more eletcronics than you had in the cluster before.
apolgies about the rear indicator photo, trying to catch full flash and the brightness just messed up the auto focus every time.
Obviously I've listed a UK supplier but the good LED bulbs are all sourced by them from HSUN Lighting Co.,Ltd i'm sure you will find suppliers everywhere if you choose to upgrade/change you car and the part numbers are in the listings.
No idea on legality anywhere other than here in London, and i'm legal, provided i don't fit HID headlamps in an old car with a lens designed for Haologen beam pattern. no plans for that..
Dave
3 standards for lighting involved
in the US you can have red flash of tail lamp as a direction indicator
in Australia and the UK it should be Amber at the rear
in the UK and australia it could be white at the front but both changed to Amber at the front in the 60s UK and 1973 Australia
the indicator should be a dedicated lamp in the UK but in australia the indicator could be part of the side light and the side light could could be white until 73 and must be amber after 73 and would flash as an indicator in both cases.
confusing isn't it
basically its a minefield, that you only navigate successfully here, because UK police only really pull you up for these things if you are being an idiot, its not worth the paperwork otherwise.
My car has a pre 1973 Australian standard setup for lights. i.e the best/worst of UK and US standards.
My side lights and front indciators are in the same unit, and both were designed to flash white. i.e a standard offset bayonet twin filamnet bulb is used for candle power side lights and a slighty more powerful flash for indicator.
both white and not totally legal
I've been running around with the bulbs painted in amber tinted 2 pack clear coat, which was slowly burning off.
lumination in general front and rear was also a bit rubbish and made me kinda invisible amongst modern steet lighting and traffic in London.
I've also had an issue where the flash of the indicators has got faster and faster as the years progressed and recently had reached a point of about 90% on 10% off. double or triple the standatd flash rate.
so i went on a shopping trip
for my front side/indicator i purchased a set of "switchback" LEDs. 1157 offset bayonet 2 filament
white side light
amber indciator
if side light is on and indciator is triggred side light is automatically switched off
when the indicator is cancelled, the side light is auomatically switched on, after a pause for 1 flash
1157 offset bayonet negative earth .
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/produc ... 7ae2&_ss=r
for the rear indicators, i have a single filament 1156 bulb. normal bayonet single filament
so after measuring the depth of housing I had to work with, i got these
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/produc ... 6968861514.
and of course i needed an appropriate flasher unit.
my car has a 2 pin flasher, and no emrgency flasher so i purchased this, and i only needed one
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/produc ... 1097903213
Things to note about the flasher. It is designed for UK classics with common negative earth set up. Although the 2 contacts fit the Aussie connector perfectly. arranged as an L shaped 90* angled, spade pair. The allocation of (X) Live and (L) to indicator switch, is oposite from the connectors orientation i.e X and L in the exact oposite from where they need to be. I suggest this will be the same for UScars as mine had a US made parts store two pin flasher in it before upgrade.
The flasher unit is also mugh bigger and needs a dedicated earth
This meant it needed to be mounted under the dash, in a new position, becasue it didn't fit the orginal clip/recess welded onto the dash upright.
I had to make two small wires to cross over the connections . basically two female spades 2 male spades and assocaited rubber inuslators
I had to drill a hole in the under dash structure for a self tapper and a spikey washer to clamp the earth lead contact
I used cable ties and the natural V in the dash support structure to hold the flasher in place and wired it up.
had I been doing this on a dismantled car i would have welded or screwed down a metal mounting bracket to use with the rubber strap that comes in the box with the flasher.
That wasn't going to happen when working through the ash tray aperture and the holes in the top of the dash when the pad is removed.
in this position the flasher makes quite a good loud and sonorous click through the dash box that reminds me of a 70s Ford
if i had the hands of a small child and arms with an elbow in the middle of my wrist i would have just swapped the female connectors in the connector block..but a full dash removal was not part of the plan
needless to say, success...
The front side lights are as bright if not brighter than my dipped headlights
the side light swiches out, and the idicator takes over perfectly, within a fraction of a second and switches back afterwards
at the rear if i'm turning left or right you can see me from space....
while i was at it, i stuck in a set of LED 1157 RED/RED tail/stop bulbs i had purchased off ebay ages ago.
These too were very good and give a nice red glow. however they feel cheap iand light weight in comparison and the detail from the order about brightness/ luminosity is obvioulsy a fabtrication when the output is compared with the quality bulbs i got from classic car LEDs. The classic LED bulbs are 600 Lumin the red tail ones are supposed to be 700/900 and they are obvioulsy not. lies lies lies and decite.
so the ebay purchases will get replaced with these
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/produc ... 0ce8&_ss=r
On the whole, a couple, of hours well spent.
provided they last
supposed to have a 50,000 hour life compared with 5000 for a bulb... we'll see.
benefits uses about 1/10 of the current that the original bulbs used and much brighter, In theory are shake proof shock proof.
suggest lamps should have good lens gaskets becasue you just added more eletcronics than you had in the cluster before.
apolgies about the rear indicator photo, trying to catch full flash and the brightness just messed up the auto focus every time.
Obviously I've listed a UK supplier but the good LED bulbs are all sourced by them from HSUN Lighting Co.,Ltd i'm sure you will find suppliers everywhere if you choose to upgrade/change you car and the part numbers are in the listings.
No idea on legality anywhere other than here in London, and i'm legal, provided i don't fit HID headlamps in an old car with a lens designed for Haologen beam pattern. no plans for that..
Dave
Last edited:
