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Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:07 pm

Whats the favorite lighting setup for you guys? I've seen a few. Some use stock lights, other guys mix up different year lights & then some go custom. Also, is there a problem mounting different year taillights on Mark V fiberglass rear fenders?

Whats your favorite...

~Headlights?

~Turn signals?

~Tail lights?

Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:29 pm

I use offroad only lights up front mounted to the bumper. No turn signals I just use my arm(its legal) And buggy style tail lights mounted to rear cage. As far as stock lights on the fenders I dont like the look of them.

Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:41 pm

On my Baja, I prefer wide-eye baja lights, I think you get a better lighting of the road with them. I don't go offroad much in this car anymore. I just run normal halogen lights - at one point I had baja light fixtures on the front of my baja but those got destroyed. Now I just have stock fixtures. Actually the last time I smacked the left front of my baja I made a temporary fix that sort of became permanent - I put a chopped stock fender on that side which does NOT match the fiberglass fender on the other side at all. So my lights are at different heights. Looks kinda funky but seems to work OK though.

As for front fender lights, I run 68-69 ones, they are bigger than the 64-66 style but not nearly as ugly as the 70-79 style. And in back I have 62-67 bug taillights, amber euro style, and not those cruddy repros that fade in about a month, but real hella ones that actually have reflectors that work. My license plate light is, get this, a 1967-only right side bug backup light that I bent the mounting bracket and mounted above the license plate. Oh, and I use a JC Whitney stick-on third brake light in the back window.

Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:36 am

I'm not big on stock lighting either, On my bugeye I used some billet motorcyle blinkers in the front. They are mounted basically in some holes that were there in the body just above ad forward of the shock tower under the fender (for the og wiring to pass thru the body I think). They are dual filament, bright and out of the way of everything.

The rear I used the small lights avail through most suppliers, they are a nice light but use and odd bulb, and are not that bright. I have been looking into the led billet lights for M's to upgrade to but I don't want to break the bank.

And yes about all you can mount for stock lights on the rear fenders are the ealier versions taillights ass the later elephant ears are inset into the OG fenders.

I couldn't find any pics of my front setup but you can make out my taillights in this one:

Thu Jul 28, 2005 8:57 am

Stop by a truck stop....

They'll have a wide assortment of universal lights...

I always mount everything to a bumper in a hoop.

T.

Thu Jul 28, 2005 9:54 am

I prefer not to mount anything to my fiberglass. It just puts more stress on the glass and increases the chance of stress cracking, especially where heavy headlights are concerned. I like to use the buggy headlight buckets (similiar to a KC style fixture) with Halogen lamps inside. I have mine secrurely mounted to brackets I welded to the shock towers. For tailights and turn signals I use a chromed billet Motorcycle light. The ones I use are bullet shaped and work well with a VW bodystyle. Plus, they are very bright!. I also prefer to mount these securely to the chassis or bumpers.

NOTE: To use a single tailight/brakelight and turnsignal requires some modification. An aftermarket turn signal switch or some fancy wiring is needed. On my car I used a series of Relays to allow everything to work through a single dual element bulb. If you do not address this issue, you will be forced to use 4 tailights in total, two for turn signal and two for tailight/brakelight.

SHMO

Thu Jul 28, 2005 10:49 am

I'm with SHMO...

Don't put anything on glass.... every used set we've bought is roached because of this.

Tube or frame mount.

LIGHT FACT.
I'm a nut ball that pulls up behind cops and has them look over my car.... I'd rather be proactive than gamble. Cops get a power kick out of this.

One of the standard answers for "what could I do that would make me a less likely stop suspect"....

"Mount a center 3rd eye brake light.... and have the plate lighted."

I've had them check over spindle front rails.. they notoiced the lights --- not the lack of front brakes.

T.

Thu Jul 28, 2005 12:33 pm

Another tip regarding this issue is to securely mount an air tight container somewhere in the interior of your vehicle, in close proximity to the drivers seat. inside this container it would be wise to keep One dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, half frosted and the other half assorted. "gee officer, I never noticed that. I hope thats not a problem. Bye the way, would you like a donut?" :)

SHMO

PS: very good tip about the lighted license plate. That one is always a good "excuse" for a traffic stop.

Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:47 pm

As i seem to be a cop magnet, and do more driving on-road than off, I kept my lights stock. The cops still slow wayyyy down and check me out thoroughly.
For a license plate light I just used one that seems to be available everywhere (Bow Wow, Shucks, etc...). The chrome is extremely poor quality, so I sandblasted and powder coated.

Oh yeah, and I added a fog light on a toggle switch for a backup light (probably illegal), although it will get replaced by '67 lights when I put in my new trans with a reverse switch on the nose cone.

Thu Jul 28, 2005 3:44 pm

My front headlights are mounted on the fenders but the off-road and turn signals are mounted on the front bumper. On the rear I mounted everything on the rear cage. I used the mini lights for turn signals but had to add some resistors because they drew such a low amperage that they wouldn't flash.

Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:00 pm

Well I have H4s in the stock headlight buckets, and the big mama jamas are Bosch. On my Baja I use the KC style headlight buckets,like SHMOS, with H4 bulbs. For the center lights I use some old school Cibie, that I have had since 1985. For the rear I went to Pepboys and looked in the trailer light selection. Later,Mitch.

Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:55 pm

Frosty...

What are you running for the rear cowl... I love that thing!!!!

Cop suggestion...

Ditch your mufflaps --- they scream out "bar fighter"

Nice car!!!!

Thu Jul 28, 2005 6:28 pm

It's just an optional Baja decklid that was available at the time.
I haven't seen many of them around, but i bought the kit a long time ago.
I liked it because it gulps a lot of air into the engine compartment.

The mud flaps I've also had forever.
"Bar fighter" huh? Never thought of that.
I've just always liked Yosemite Sam.
He's the rootinest, tootinest, shootinest hombre North, South, East, or West of the Pacos.

Fri Jul 29, 2005 3:55 am

What do you guys use for welding/mounting tabs?

I've been ordering from a chassis shop... not sure if I'm missing something

Fri Jul 29, 2005 4:10 am

-Frosty- wrote: It's just an optional Baja decklid that was available at the time.
I haven't seen many of them around, but i bought the kit a long time ago.
I liked it because it gulps a lot of air into the engine compartment.

The mud flaps I've also had forever.
"Bar fighter" huh? Never thought of that.
I've just always liked Yosemite Sam.
He's the rootinest, tootinest, shootinest hombre North, South, East, or West of the Pacos.

Thanks for not being offended or starting the flame war ---

Not sure around there... if you were here... things like this put you on the likelihood of being watched. It's the tag line below the toon.

Try being in the VERY Politically Correct MN and try to show a confederate flag... you'll have Jesse Jackson protesting your front lawn.

I love the toons on cars.

I'd put our Johnny Bravo Stickers on our next beast --- this would cause HBB and SHMO to call me a homo (again)

I have the fringe cars in our fleet... all of them have collector's insurance --- I'm on a constant lookout for how far I can push the envelope and have to guard the driving record like it's gold.... With "experimental and reconstructed" stuff like bajas and rails --- it's important to make these things look correct.

Any chance you'd have ANY info on your rear cowl? What it was called? I've been scouring for years and never even heard mention of one being sold.

T.

Fri Jul 29, 2005 8:25 am

Well then, "Back Off", Pal!!! :D
I always took it to mean "Watch out for flying debris".

I'll look for info on the cowl, but I bought it back in the 80's, and don't keep reciepts very well.

For mounting tabs I just usually cut them out of 1/4" plate, bend them if needed with a big hammer, and weld them on

This is on my 'fridge, guess I'm a homo.
Won't my wife be surprised?

BTW, I'd like to protest Jesse Jackson, he offends me.
Not too sure about displaying the confederate flag, though. And I was born in Alabama.
"Just two good ol' boys, wouldn't change if they could..."
YeeeeeeHaaaaaw!!!

Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:30 am

Don't let SHMO and Brad see this --- they'll flame you up.