The CF Bedford Rebuild Begins

Part 20: The rebuild starts - tail lights

Originally wanted round lights for the back, and found some (Nissan Skyline tail lights), problem was there were to big, to wide for the place I wanted to put them and also to deep, meaning I'd loose all the inner pillar. So went for my second choice, well third or fourth ;o) I thought about (and hunted some down) Mk4 Zephyer tail lights again or even Pontiac Firebird or even Chevrolet Camaro.

The LED lights I choose are from Hella and are Australian rated, which turns out is a higher rating than ours (New Zealand) so are good, down side is I have to prove this. Thank goodness for the Hella catalogue.

Above left, making the tail light template. Deciding on the width between the lights went from 30mm to 25, to 20 until finally decided on 15mm gap.
Originally I was going to mount the lights from the inside so no mounting holes were visible but as the lights only have a few millimetres on the edges trying to get it to seal could be a big job, so opted to just mount from outside.

Above right, The first tail light template was made up of bits but as I planned to make the center ridges even I decided to get a bit of panel steel pressed (folded in a press - tighter bends). It was done in one piece so both sides would be the same.

Above left. The tail light frame bent made life a lot easier but still involved a lot of fluffing around making the corners. The tail light rubbers measure 30mm across, these recesses are 32mm so I don't have much room for error. As you can see in the picture the lip for the LED tail lights isn't the biggest.

Above right. The taillight base finished off but no LED lights in for this picture (base just sitting in the hole, is not welded in yet). The inner edge is taller as it's sunk back 40mm where as the outer edge is only 15mm. Ideally they should go towards the side of the van more but Bedford vans actually have a weird shaped corner, you'd think it was flat than curved but has a taper in the back panel.

Originally I had a red/amber/white (white reverse) but the white was actually an interior light as they don't make a reversing light in this style (I bet they will once I'm finished). So what I have done is added a spot light under the rear of the van on a headlight motor, so when in reverse the spot light swings out and there is light. The light combination I am now having is red/amber/red

This is the tail light welded in, I don't like it and will probably change it (again), even if it's just changing the center bars, maybe just curve the deep end a little.

Even had a thought about making the inner edge (the outside one) straight but if I do this it could turn into an optical illusion as the outside would be flat with curved edges but the depth part would have three curves.