project 1980 Austin Princess

[Des]

Why not stick two ipads or Kindles with the brightness turned right up on the back, then you can Google images for any lamps you like.

[The Moog]

Or cut out fuzzy felts to fit and then stick LEDs through them.

[Jon]

Courtesy or Spottedlaurel, here's what you need:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7430965@N05/4428155359/in/photostream/

 

I'm sure it'll be a piece of cake finding some rear lights for a low volume Japanese car discontinued 33 years ago and not marketed in Britain. That said, I think Nigel Bickle might have one....

[KruJoe]

[KruJoe]

Better still:

 

 

164 lights upside down might give you the correct angles to fit.

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

the last 2 are no good you'll never find anything like that in a scrappy lol

[KruJoe]

 

(SVX)

[vulgalour]

Krujoe those are excellent suggestions all, and it is nice to see some sexy cars in this thread.

 

Now here's a bit of a wild card for you.  Noticed the Fulvia in the unit and realised I rather like the rear lights.  They're also on a fairly flat panel that is slanted in a similar way to the Princess.  Haven't measured or tried them out on the Princess yet, but I do intend to.

 

 

Of course, if they do fit and look ace they're definitely going to be difficult and expensive to source, that's how these things work.

[purplebargeken]

Somehow I thought the boot lid was straight along that lower edge, didn't realise it had a lip. 

[MikeKnight]

He looked to see how much Fulvia rear lights are.

 

£100+ per side, from Europe.

 

Oh dear.

[vulgalour]

For the right set of lights I'm willing** to spend obscene amounts of money.

 

 

 

**but probably not able

[KruJoe]

Oof, yes!

Those Fulvia ones slant at the correct angle for the side of the car too. It's just a shame they don't have integral reflectors.

I know, Angyl, you could screw a pair of those massive triangular trailer reflectors to the mud flaps!

[Asimo]

Somehow I thought the boot lid was straight along that lower edge, didn't realise it had a lip.

 

Ambassador tailgate confusion?

[tooSavvy]

 

TS

[vulgalour]

First up a useful rough blank template.  I'm considering debumpering so I'm going with a bumper-free template.

 

 

 

 

Next, a rough mock-up of the Fulvia lights.  They work rather well, which is entirely expected because they're difficult and expensive to obtain.

 

[derskine]

 

Phwoar

[vulgalour]

XD

[derskine]

 

Volvo 340

[vulgalour]

Someone suggested Alfetta lights, which amuses me because the Alfetta looks a lot like a Princess from certain angles (no really, it does).  Can't use the whole rear units, they're too tall and this happens.

 

 

But if you only use half of them... ooooo

 

They're a lot of money too, even more than the Fulvia lights, but they do look even better.

[mat_the_cat]

You can get LED 'bulbs' which have both red (for fog) and white (for reverse) emitters. Aimed at people who have only one reverse and fog light unit, but want to have two of each. That way you could get round the fact there appears to be no fog light in the Alfetta units (I do like the way the angles match - if only the outer edge of the Princess lights did so!)

 

Ironically, I have the interior light unit for an Alfetta, but that's of no use to you...

[PhilA]

I would suggest Cadillac Sedan De Ville rear lights from the mid nineties, but they seem to command a high scene tax.

 

 

....or possibly cheaper, Dodge Diplomat lights, turned upside down..?

 

[vulgalour]

@Mat:  Alfetta lenses, as it turns out, are a mere £60 a pair for reasonable ones.  I'm going to check with Chesire Alfa to see if he's got some for a bit less and to see if he can get me some measurements.  Might get lucky.  LED lights behind would be the best solution too, I can get all the lights I need into it then.  The bumper can go back on and I can fit the smart stainless bodied fog lights under it and a reverse light can be cunningly applied somewhere, of that I'm sure.

 

@Phil:  From what I remember, I found the Caddy lights too long.  I'd looked at some earlier 70s squarer ones early in my ownership with the car to do this job.  The Diplomat lights are awesome, they'd likely do the full width, but the wrap around at the side would be really difficult to work into the Princess' lines, as would the slope of them, which is a shame because I like those a lot.

 

 

So far, I think the Alfetta lights are most winningest.

[mouseflakes]

My final effort (for now...)

 

Honda Z. A nice, cheap and easy to source way to get back almost to the original look. Don't ask me why.

 

 

[robinmasters]

First up a useful rough blank template. I'm considering debumpering so I'm going with a bumper-free template.

 

[vulgalour]

Beedlee-beedlee-beedlee

[vulgalour]

Quite apart from the Z lights being practically what's on the car and therefore not really an improvement for me, they also have an annoying curve to them.  I like the shape of the lens surface though, better than just been plain and flat, and Z's are brilliantly quirky.

 

[KruJoe]

To he honest, you're not gonna get much better than (the previously suggested) Viva lights.

 

 

They're 'period', have the right sort of angles for you... 

 

 

...and you could use two sets (cut up) to run the full width, perhaps integrating the fog and reversing lights.

 

 

Best of all, you won't have to turn them upside down!

[Asimo]

French-in these bus-style round lights?

 

 

Anything will fit with enough wob! These are Lucas sealed beam headlights and Ford Thames sidelights Isoponed into my Autobianchi

[320touring]

Solution
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/corvette-c3-REAR-PANEL-/131325222954?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item1e9397e02a

[Des]

I've noticed a few modern shit vans and cars on the road today with tall narrow rear lamps,maybe something out there that could be quite natty once flipped sideways.