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Pattern parts again


trigolf

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Evening all,

So today I decided to fit the replacement sidelights that I bought about 10 yrs ago. The original ones were pretty rusty on the back and past their best. Then I noticed the subtle difference in the internal config compared with the original one. As you can see, the new one has no internal divider to stop light spill from the sidelight mixing with the indicator and vice versa. Lucas obviously thought it necessary on the original, so now I'm going to have to make some and glue then in. Grrr...

Gav

sidelight2.jpg

sidelight1.jpg

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20 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

I'm just in the process of doing exactly that, cutting and shaping the lid of a biscuit tin... I'll glue mine in with Tigerseal. I'm just glad I have an old version to use as a guide.

Any reason why your not painting up the old ones ? (wondering as that was what I was maybe going to do on my rusty ones), as you seem to do a lot of that type of restoring, as do I.

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53 minutes ago, daverclasper said:

Any reason why your not painting up the old ones ? (wondering as that was what I was maybe going to do on my rusty ones), as you seem to do a lot of that type of restoring, as do I.

Cos I only have one! I had to brave howling winds and all sorts of nasties to run out to the garage and confirm, but yes I have one old unit - in amazing condition, given that all the rest are holier than Thought for the Day; so it's possible I could swap the wiring over, but that would leave one side super reflective and the other dimmer. I tested one against a spare battery and the orange light from the indicator is just cancelling out the sidelight - however does it matter when driving? It means the indicator is more visible when turning especially with oncoming traffic, and if they don't see that, they'll never notice the white sidelight. I'm going to test the small LED bulb too to see how the light pattern is affected, provided it works as an indicator bulb and activates the flasher unit.

0D88889C-3846-4407-8204-343208C312ED_1_105_c.jpg.277d319a6113420bd99b914f9d1d6a80.jpg

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I don't believe this is an issue of "pattern parts"; rather, it was Lucas who redid the L584 lamp unit. Two significant changes: the obvious one noted here of no "divider" piece, and the fact that there were now LH and RH lenses, much flatter than the rather peaked lenses of the original lamp. (The original lamps were not "sided" as such; one simply flipped over the base to properly orient the flasher part towards the outside of the car.) This might even have been done in the late 1960s, but I'm not sure about that!

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19 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

'm just in the process of doing exactly that, cutting and shaping the lid of a biscuit tin... I'll glue mine in with Tigerseal. I'm just glad I have an old version to use as a guide.

 Colin,

For the benefit of the jury, pics with 'divider' and without. The effect is more noticeable to the eye than my phone camera, especially from an oblique angle. So I think it's worth modding them..

Cue the debate..........😄

Gav

light3.jpg

light4.jpg

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29 minutes ago, trigolf said:

 Colin,

For the benefit of the jury, pics with 'divider' and without. The effect is more noticeable to the eye than my phone camera, especially from an oblique angle. So I think it's worth modding them..

Cue the debate..........😄

Gav

I know, as Andy says, that the later light units had no divider, and those seem to be the predominant version sold these days, but I do like the divider, for no other reason that it's not as common. There I go again.

I tried a few pics a minute ago, just to show how the larger bulb of the indicator drowns out the sidelight - but again, maybe not a bad thing as it will be more noticeable to oncoming traffic rather than a weaker bulb competing with the white sidelight. Sidelight only in left photo below, indicator only to right; both photos just the single bulb illuminated and not both. The indicator almost illuminates the entire thing.

DSCF0873.jpg.a1b901b62d7f51daa925d908fbdfa768.jpg DSCF0874.jpg.550eff0a04c23210e8d3beb31f1bbd3f.jpg

One thing I have confirmed, though... I don't like the LED sidelight...

DSCF0876.jpg.7b67e683df77e950ed84f524df6db3ba.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, Colin Lindsay said:

 I like the old comforting glow of a filament bulb in the sidelights.

I thought I was the only one. I am not a fan of the super bright ultra white LED's in our cars they just look wrong and out of keeping with the car. Even the warm white LED's are still to white in my opinion. As for comments I have come across that the filament bulbs are to dim that's often down to, dirty reflectors, lenses and bad electrical connections causing resistance.

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3 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Ok, it was a simple challenge... in fact the biggest challenge was finding the metal. As it doesn't need to be secured by the sidelight housing, it doesn't need that first angle so can be simply right-angled to the base. Must go do the other one now..

Nice job Colin,

I'm still trying to find a suitable bit of 'tin'' to do the same. I'm fitting Warm White sidelights. But, unlike your 'test' LED, the ones' I've ordered have led arrays on the the side of the bulb as well as the end, so I expect a more comparable light spread similar to a tungsten bulb.

Gav

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I'll let you into the secret...

500g of Mister Cadbury's finest; just the right thickness of metal and a lovely shiny reflective surface. Sadly there's only enough per tin for one, as the container itself is cardboard, the lid is plastic, and only the base is metal, but the household are under instructions to drink the stuff night and day until this current tin is empty and I can make a second one...

73ABED89-8136-4186-AB9C-A24936DE1A98_1_105_c.jpg.91bd00ced7282bb1cc8420c6fbb1f32b.jpg  18D9167E-4AE5-455F-9539-57C859295BB6_1_105_c.jpg.34d17600c788cacb7481996c128d341c.jpg

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 Colin,

I've modded my lights to reinstate the central divider as you have done. We were fresh out of Hot Chocolate tins, so had to use some old offcut of galvanized tin. Anyway, I've fitted the Warm White Leds ( From Classic Car LEDS ) and attached pics of trad bulb versus LED. With MK 1 eyeball, I can't tell the difference, so it still looks 'trad'.

Gav

Warm White LED 1.jpg

Tungsten Bulb 2.jpg

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so there the old nutshell  if its looks the same   why bother ???

we all need something to play with but  whats the upshot of all this ??

wait till your modern with sealed LED silly lamp assemblies you cant fix , have a member with a MG6 lamp corroded with water 

flasher and reverse are bulbs  tail is LED  you have to get the whole assy  its only £260  when a £1.5 bulb would have been adequate

Pete

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1 hour ago, Pete Lewis said:

so there the old nutshell  if its looks the same   why bother ???

we all need something to play with but  whats the upshot of all this ??

Come on, Pete - you really have to ask? The answer is: because it's there. It's not the silliest thing I've ever seen on here, and it did pass an hour or two; and, for some reason, no matter if we don't really know what, Lucas decided it had to be there originally. 

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1 hour ago, Pete Lewis said:

so there the old nutshell  if its looks the same   why bother ???

we all need something to play with but  whats the upshot of all this ??

Pete,

The reason I'm swapping from tungsten to LED's (where legal) is to reduce the load on the 51 yr old loom. Every little helps - as they say. Besides which - a led sidelight bulb costs £2.32 - not much more than a trad tungsten bulb..

Gav

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For myself, the reason for moving to LED`s is to reduce the Current consumption. Probably the only reason, assuming the light output is the equivalent, as Gav said especially in view of the age of the wiring, it cannot hurt. They do also have a projected longer life.

Pete

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