Modified '69/'70 taillights for use in England

[Cooperman]

I have a question for all you electrical wizards; I'm sure it's not something that's been asked very often. I need to separate the rear turn signal and brake light wiring on my '69 Charger taillights. Let me explain...

I know that most American vehicles have turnsignals and brake lights that share the same bulb, but here in the UK, an amber rear turn signal is required by law for any vehicle produced after December 1965. Reflectors are also required for our annual inspection, the MOT test. What I intend to do is modify a pair of 1970 lights as they already have the reflector. I'm going to graft an amber lens from a modern vehicle into the inner of the three lamps, the one that is currently taillight only. By the way, I don't have backup lights. My car is a '68 with a '69 tail panel... 

I bought my car with the harness removed and in a cardboard box. It's falling apart, been chopped around and is in dire need of replacement. So, as I need to rewire the car anyhow, my question is... Do any of the aftermarket loom manufacturers (EZ Wiring, Painless, Ron Francis etc) support independent rear turn signal and brake light wiring? Is the Mopar specific harness from Painless suitable for modification? I guess I could use the front turn signal wiring to switch the rears. Any clue about the stoplight wiring?

Any ideas fellas? 

[RDR838]

You will only need one more wire - the one for the brakelight, I guess that should be no problem if you need to build a complete new harness anyhow.

Are you really sure you'll need amber turn signals in the back? I have never seen any Mopar or other american car of that era in England with amber turn signals. Did you ask that question in the moparuk.com-forum? I'm sure you'll find a better solution than changing the taillights!

Over here in Germany we have a similar inspection called TUEV. It's a nightmare compared to your MOT, we aren't allowed to do ANYTHING to our cars that is not stock! But for the turn signals, because there were european cars in that era with only one tiny red taillight, we are allowed to have red turn-signals.

My 'inspector' made me do one change though: I needed to have only the outer lights to be brakelights, the inner ones turn signals. So it is obvious that I'm braking even if I have the turn signal set. (I changed that back no later than five minutes after being home from the inspection!) - However, I needed to have one extra wire from the brake-switch to the taillights for that. It's still in the car so that I can reconnect it for the next inspection!

I can't imagine how bad and wrong an amber part from a modern car would look in a Charger! I'd say you should just give it a try, complete the car, go to that inspection with red turn signals and change it then after you're told you'd have to. No, first try another inspector! That's what we do in Germany if we think the guy will be a problem!

Good luck!

RDR838

[charger Downunder]

Can you do this i used the reverse lights they operate as both reverse lights or turn signals,you can buy amber lens dye i painted the globes you can also paint the lens. i moved them outwards as they had to be a certain distance from the edge.
Since you dont have back up lights they would be easy to add.

[kab69440]

I bought my car with the harness removed and in a cardboard box. It's falling apart, been chopped around and is in dire need of replacement.

Any ideas fellas? 

A readily available 87-90 Daytona tail lamp harness has the same number of bulbs as your second gen. The center marker pigtails could be singled out for use as turn signals. It also has pigtails to turn your rear reflectors into marker lights. The newer bulbs are a 1000% improvement over the old stuff. It will require a bit of Dremel work on the housings, though. You will need to modify the holes to accept the turn-in style bulb sockets. Oh, and you also need a bit of soft material to make washers out of, as the die-cast Charger housings are only half as thick as the plastic Daytona housings. I used foam seals from the discarded caps of 5-gallon water cooler refill bottles. In the end, it works real slick and has the added benefit of not costing a fortune. 

[RDR838]

Looks great and very stock!

btw: charger Downunder is right: You'll need to make sure the turn signals are far enough towards the sides, I'd guess the inner lamps wouldn't be accepted as turn signals. Over here I even heard of people with '70 Plymouths have problems with the front signals!

Cheers!

RDR838

[Cooperman]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I don't intend to run back up lamps, so that's out.

RDR838, I understand the need for turn signals to be close to the outside of the car. I was intending to use the inners only because the '70 reflector masks part of the outer and centre parts of the lamp. I would prefer to run red, but I feel I should make an attempt at keeping it legal.

They are definately aware of it over on the Mopar UK forums;

http://www.moparuk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14670&highlight=belts

And my Charger only has lap belts, so I need to get 'creative' there too...