Tail light conversion

[Rochie68]

Has anyone fitted the LED taillight conversion with the amber indicator for 67/68?from Project Mustang? Are they any good? I was just reading the OE set up with brake light flashing for turn is illegal in NSW

[67FBGT]

I haven't as yet, the cost has been putting me off. But I think it's a good safety initiative, will probably do it eventually.

I did put LED conversions into my '67's brakelights/taillights though, they're somewhat brighter than stock, hoping to reduce the chance of some moron running into the back of me while distracted by his/her phone and cup of coffee.

[AussiePhil]

Hey Dean,
I haven't done the LED modification but on my 68 Mustang all six lights are tail and brake lights and the blinkers are in the back up lights, usually orange! Because my cars white I've changed the lens from orange to clear and use orange globes!
But the backup lights are orange also!
Cheers Phil.

[AussiePhil]

Hey Dean,
Nothing to do with brake lights but have a look at Angus Foggs LED halo head lights!
304kph down Conrad straight at Bathurst. I was a Hell corner and it looked spectacular!
Cheers Phil

[Rochie68]

Hi AussiePhil
Beautiful 68
Already done the halo headlight thing.

[AussiePhil]

Great job, I probably need to go LED to save power, l've got a lot of electrical accessories, thermos, brake Vacuum pump, Intercooler pump, electric wash bottle, headlights upgrade through relay, run the horns through a relay also.
All these add up, although not all used at once!
Cheers Phil.

[67FBGT]

OK, so what's the go with this halo headlamp thing? Are they a ring of LEDs or what are they exactly?
Are they legal?
Do they require any wiring upgrades such as relays, or are they plug'n'play?

[Rochie68]

Yes they are a ring of LED’s, can change colours, make them flash. Bought kit from CJ Pony parts. I wired in a switch and relay to control them. As for legality, dont know, have had them for years now with no problem

[SXTY8]

I don't know about NSW, but here in Victoria if the car was made before our ADR's came into being, red rear indicators are legal.
I followed my son home from picking my car up from getting the stripes put on it on a nice sunny day and was surprised how piss poor the standard brake lights were.
I bought my LEDs from someone who advertises on the forum but can't rember who. They were easy to fit with no modifications to the original housing and work great.

[trav68]

As above original configuration is likely legal (depending on state rules) as there is generally no requirement to compy with standards/ADRs after vehicles date of manufacture

That said I have installed the Mustang Project LED tail light conversion (from memory they offer an Aust spec version) and very happy with it. The taillight upgrade, H4 headlights (with relay) and some LED park/reverse lights are all sensible upgrades to these old vehicles to improve safety. Other road users may not be used to the dimmer lights (plus different indicating function) of older vehicles so easy for a mishap to happen in my opinion.

Regards,
Travis

[big al]

In regards to ADR's and the car not having to meet ADR's prior to their adoption.

ADR's came into effect from 8/1972. Prior to that, the design rules were known as "Australian Vehicle Safety Standards".

There has always been various design standards in place, otherwise it would be a free for all, and your vehicle must meet these standards.

Any vehicle whether manufactured in Australia or manufactured overseas that is presented for, or registered on Australian roads must meet the relevant safety standards, or design rules that were applicable at the time of the vehicle's manufacture.

The ruling around Indicators having to be Amber whether they be front or rear came into effect on a national basis from 1/1963, and must now be adhered to as stipulated by the NSW RMS regardless of what the other states apply.

This is also applicable to Historic Registration. It always has been!

Problem is that there are way too many examiners out there that don't know the rules and this makes for a huge headache, for all involved.

I hope this little bit of info helps

PS. Your front headlights are also illegal, and don't meet a couple of standards!

Al

[griff]

Al.  re red indicator lights etc.
here's a screenshot of the NSW RMS imported vehicle standards aug 17 being the latest i could find.  has there been a revision / amendment to this?

[SXTY8]

In my case, the mechanic doing my roadworthy certificate had issues with my car having the red rear indicators and not having an engine number.
I contacted Vicroads and they told me that they could issue an engine number if I really wanted one but it wasn't necessary for the RWC, and that the red indicators were OK because of the age of the vehicle.
But that was 9 years ago and has possibly changed now, but I got my certificate OK then and also 5 years later when I sold the car.
Also I assuming that if you own a vintage car that wasn't manufactured with indicators you wouldn't have to fit them.

[big al]

It's Federal Legislation and all states should be the same

[67FBGT]

So if it's Federal legislation from 1963 that indicators must be amber, then all those replacement all-red taillight lens sets and after-market sequential taillight kits etc listed for sale on Ebay don't and can't comply. 

Looking for my '67, I see at least two suppliers of the amber/red lenses including one in Brisbane. But what is involved with elec-trickery to modify the factory brake/turn function (red/red) to suit? 

[SXTY8]

Yes there is modifications needed to make it work. When I got my 88 Corvette engineered he required amber rear indicators and it wasn't as simple as just changing the lenses because the stop light is bypassed on the side that has the indicator working and you can't have amber stop lights when just braking. Amber front running lights aren't allowed either.
I had to find the correct wire to the stop light switch and cut it and then modify the wiring at the tail lights as well.
I was in the US in 2016 and found it strange that red rear indicators are still being used on modern cars over there. It only takes 5 minutes of driving on their freeways to notice how confusing the red indicators are compared to the amber ones.

[Aussiecv8]

Looking for my '67, I see at least two suppliers of the amber/red lenses including one in Brisbane. But what is involved with elec-trickery to modify the factory brake/turn function (red/red) to suit? 

Who in Brisbane is selling them?

[peter9231]

I converted mine to red/amber.
Fairly easy just run 1 new wire for brake lights.
Add socket and globe for each turn signal and use existing wiring.
Add some thin material (I used plastic) as a divider and silicon in to the light body.
Makes the vehicle much more visible when indicating.
Peter.

[big al]

So if it's Federal legislation from 1963 that indicators must be amber, then all those replacement all-red taillight lens sets and after-market sequential taillight kits etc listed for sale on Ebay don't and can't comply. 

Looking for my '67, I see at least two suppliers of the amber/red lenses including one in Brisbane. But what is involved with elec-trickery to modify the factory brake/turn function (red/red) to suit? 

It depends on how the legislation is interpreted.

But all front, and rear indicators must be amber

[Micks66coupe]

My 66 is running LED converted taillights with amber indicators, just want anyone behind me to know when I'm going to turn left or right. We had a 63 Impala 30 years ago with red brake lights that also flashed as indicators and we were rear ended by a young P plate driver who's Hyundai just impacted the rear bumper. Passing highway patrol stopped when we were out looking at the damage, P plate driver said he didn't see our indicator then I had to explain to the police that as the 63 Impala was imported it didn't have to run amber indicators. P plater got booked for neg driving and we got defected for not having rear amber indicators (I just changed them to amber to get the defect off)

Not saying you can't or shouldn't have red flashing rear indicators, just saying after what happened to us I prefer the easily reversible change to amber indicators.

[unilec5544]

Modified my buckets a while ago, not hard to do and I feel that it's definitely better than original. The later buckets are a lot bigger than the 65/66 buckets so a lot easier.

[unilec5544]

more pics.

[fredm666]

When in WA on my ‘64 I hade the single red tail light, doing everything. Apparently in WA they don’t care.
When moved to Sydney in 2017, just for safety, I installed a triple bulb: the external normal bulb is doing the indicator (red) and the other two are LED tail lights.
At that time I called the NSW department and I had 3 different answers... at the end I decided to keep the red indicators, as per the last answer I received. Never had any issue.
This what I have, bought in AU from a local supplier:
https://www.cjponyparts.com/scott-drake-taillight-insert-3-bulb-pair-mustang-1965-1966/p/TLBA3/
They come also for ‘67/68

[Edz]

I also converted my rear lights on my 66 for safety. When I had a full rego inspection at the ACT RTA test centre I asked the question and was told that because the car was imported with red rear lights it was legal to register it like that. Otherwise we would all have to convert our left-hand drive vehicles to righthand drive as well.

however for safety, like above, I fitted all LED bulbs and rewired the brake switch with one extra wire going to the rear lights for the brakes and made up a divider panel. This is a template if you want to make your own, jut JB weld it in.

[67FBGT]

So what year is your car Edz, and are you saying you've now got amber indicators?

I would like to change my '67 to amber rear indicators. It still has factory red indicators although I did fit a LED kit for improved visibility and safety but honestly I don't think they're all THAT much of an improvement in daylight, not like they're so right-in-your-face that no-one could miss them.

A Mustang parts supplier on eBay advertises a red/amber lens kit complete with LEDs for approx $525 but that's a bit more than I should really be spending right now. 

One could just buy the pair of red/amber lenses, but one would still have to sort out the wiring modifications oneself; fitting extra bulbs and a divider to each housing would be no problem, but modifying all the wiring, hmm, dunno... 

I happened to be following a '66 recently and he had his back-up lamps converted to amber indicators. They seemed fine in daylight, but I thought they were too low. And I was driving a conventional car and I like to hang back so they were reasonably visible to me plus I took an interest in what car it was. But what about someone sitting up high and tailgating in a SUV or 4WD (and who wouldn't give the car in front a second glance) as so many of them do? So I'm not convinced that that is really the answer, plus again I'm unsure whether I'd be able to handle the wiring modifications...

Still pondering...