Road car tail lights

Dutton · 12-31-06, 05:10 PM

Greetings all,

Chris Melia once wrote that gathering the correct parts for a build is 80% of the challenge. Certainly none of us would argue that point though I've found that discovering the correct manufacturer and part number for the correct GT component is where the time is spent!

Like many of us, I've looked carefully at a great many photographs of our beloved GT. A significant minority show with great detail the rear of the car and of those rear-views, precious few show the back side of a road car.

With thanks to Mark Charlton (who's road car pic in the gallery is the best I've seen, the link of which follows), can anyone advise what brake/turn/backup lights were used on the road cars?

http://www.gt40s.com/gallery/index.php?n=84

Wishing all of you a happy and healthy start to 2007,

T.

Fran Hall RCR · 12-31-06, 05:20 PM

Tim ,

are you looking at the replicating the early 4 light rear end???

Dutton · 12-31-06, 06:04 PM

Hi Fran,

You have to promise you won't tell Donna.

At this point, my interest is only learning what was actually used on the road cars. Any presumed discussions and/or planning sessions with anyone in the Detroit area about a real or alleged four (six?) light rear end would only come up after I've drowned what's left of any remaining good sense with the better part of a bottle of... by the way, did you ever finish off that bottle of Crown?

Fran Hall RCR · 12-31-06, 06:37 PM

Hic!!!Hic!!!...this bottle of Crown??...Donna...which Donna...wink

I have an original tail section with the four light rear end....do you want a quick splash of that rear panel maybe?????

Bob Childress · 12-31-06, 07:12 PM

Hi Tim,

Here are a few close up rear end pictures of cars with 2 and 4 tail lights. Here is a 4 tail light picture of GT40P/1043 with the same lights. The picture you linked to is GT40P/1045. Just a few numbers later is GT40P/1051 now with 2 lights. However I believe 1051 was changed to the 2 light rear clip with flares. The last picture is GT40P/1077 with 2 lights. My picture collection has the same bias; it looks like pictures with a ¾ front view of the car are more common.

Bob

Keith Hardy · 12-31-06, 09:32 PM

Now that is what I would call "great ass" man.

Thanks for that...

Chris Martino · 01-01-07, 01:08 AM

I am in the middle of converting to the earlier version, the lights are Lucas L691 indicator lamp L691 stop/tail lamps from AES UK Ltd. should you need a part number.

Chris

Ian Anderson · 01-01-07, 04:58 AM

I took some close up pics of a MK2 at Le Mans Classic 2006 re the rear lights - they do not look like the ones above

Ian

CraigB · 01-01-07, 05:07 AM

Hi Ian,
the Mk.IIs are a bit odd in the whole GT40 pantheon. They were built up in the USA rather than at Slough in the UK so tend to be fitted with American sourced parts.

The rear lights on the Mk.II (and the Mk.IV as far as I know) are from a 1960/61 Chevy Corvair (no idea why they used GM parts http://www.gt40s.com/forum/images/smilies/confused.gif

)

The gauges on the Mk.II are Stewart Warner/Jones as well rather than the UK Smiths sourced ones.

Dutton · 01-02-07, 12:08 AM

Bob and Chris - you guys rock.

The pics are a huge help and those part numbers are definitely what I was looking for. We'll have to add those to that original components list elsewhere in the forum.

Now, about those back-up lights. Any takers on that pesky little detail?

On a side note, it was 1043 my dad told me about as a much younger man whilst schooling me about attempting to speed away from the police. The conversation included something about not being able to outrun the radio.

As many on the forum know, 1043 was originally purchased by Dave Heerensperger, who at that time owned a couple of small but growing companies in the Spokane Washington area; both Eagle Electric and Pay n' Pak were fairly successful and grew into much larger companies as the years passed. Dad knew DH through the shared passion of unlimited hydroplane racing. I still have a set of drinking glasses which DH gave to my father in the early '70s.

Apparently, one day while on a four-hour drive home to Spokane from Seattle on I-90, DH matted the right pedal in top gear and held it there just long enough to outrun a Washington State Patrol cruiser AND one of their chase planes in Eastern Washington (great roads - long and straight with excellent visibility). Keep in mind that in those days the WSP had some serious horsepower and didn't hesitate to use it given the chance. As I remember the story, the WSP just radio'd ahead, set up a road block closer to Spokane and waited... with a ticket already prepared and, presumably, a court date set for the misbehavior. I wonder if that had anything to do with selling the car to Ralph Bockmier...

Regards,

T.