US Tail Light Conversion

GTsteveMkII · Jun 18, 2018

Hey guys,

I'm sorry if this has been covered already (I've asked this question in both the Austalian and European section with no luck) but I'm just looking for information on what is involved with swapping out white "euro" tail lights with the red American ones? I'm no auto sparky but I'm willing to give it a go if I can find some sort of directions as to what I need to do wiring wise to get those three brake bars and sequential indicators to work. I've managed to find a guy in the US who is doing the swap with me and my new red tail lights should be here in a few weeks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Steve.

benanderson89 · Jun 18, 2018

A LOT is involved.

To boil it down: You need a new controller board between the car and the lamps as well as Amber LEDs installed inside the housing to meet regulations. You need to send it off to a proper fitter (there's one in Poland who's pretty popular, I believe) who will retrofit the lamps and send them back to you at a pretty hefty cost.

US to Euro is much easier, as all he has to do is swap the plugs on the end of the loom. The other way around, not so much.

If you've already sent your lights off then you'll probably be without tail lamps for a very long time.

Someone else on the forum can tell you who the Polish fitter is, but be prepared to pay a fair whack of cash to get them done.

Most just say "sod it" and put red vinyl tints over the lights as a compromise.

Kristian87 · Jun 18, 2018

GTsteveMkII said:
Hey guys,

I'm sorry if this has been covered already (I've asked this question in both the Austalian and European section with no luck) but I'm just looking for information on what is involved with swapping out white "euro" tail lights with the red American ones? I'm no auto sparky but I'm willing to give it a go if I can find some sort of directions as to what I need to do wiring wise to get those three brake bars and sequential indicators to work. I've managed to find a guy in the US who is doing the swap with me and my new red tail lights should be here in a few weeks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Steve.

Hey Steve, this one is on my list too...

There is a guy over here (Adam Price) that has done a lot of conversions. I only know of him trough Instagram (@apmustangcustoms), but I believe he is on facebook too. I know he has taken OEM US taillights and thrown the sequential kit in them for guys in the UK. Seen a lot of his work and he has a good rep. I don't know what is involved personally but he would be the one to ask. Whether or not he will give you the info is another question!

Had a bit of a brainwave on this myself over the weekend, for anyone else thinking of this - to get the authentic OEM red USA taillights...

1. buy USA taillights.
2. get them to Adam & swap the internals & fit (standard UK functionality, but in red USA lights - i'm not fussed about the sequentials)
3. sell my USA functionality, clear lights to someone in the US!

GTsteveMkII · Jun 18, 2018

benanderson89 said:
A LOT is involved.

To boil it down: You need a new controller board between the car and the lamps as well as Amber LEDs installed inside the housing to meet regulations. You need to send it off to a proper fitter (there's one in Poland who's pretty popular, I believe) who will retrofit the lamps and send them back to you at a pretty hefty cost.

US to Euro is much easier, as all he has to do is swap the plugs on the end of the loom. The other way around, not so much.

If you've already sent your lights off then you'll probably be without tail lamps for a very long time.

Someone else on the forum can tell you who the Polish fitter is, but be prepared to pay a fair whack of cash to get them done.

Most just say "sod it" and put red vinyl tints over the lights as a compromise.

Hi, thanks for the reply [MENTION=13479]benanderson89[/MENTION], much appreciated.

This is really looking like it's way more work than it's worth. I was hoping it would be a simple plug change and a little fiddle with the wiring. The US lights already have the amber boards installed inside all three sections though so I'm a little confused as to why I need to split the lights?

Yeah I've got a mate here in Australia who put the red vinyl tint kit on his white lights and it goes look good but I really want those sequential indicators and three bar brake lights.

GTsteveMkII · Jun 18, 2018

Kristian87 said:
Hey Steve, this one is on my list too...

There is a guy over here (Adam Price) that has done a lot of conversions. I only know of him trough Instagram (@apmustangcustoms), but I believe he is on facebook too. I know he has taken OEM US taillights and thrown the sequential kit in them for guys in the UK. Seen a lot of his work and he has a good rep. I don't know what is involved personally but he would be the one to ask. Whether or not he will give you the info is another question!

Had a bit of a brainwave on this myself over the weekend, for anyone else thinking of this - to get the authentic OEM red USA taillights...

1. buy USA taillights.
2. get them to Adam & swap the internals & fit (standard UK functionality, but in red USA lights - i'm not fussed about the sequentials)
3. sell my USA functionality, clear lights to someone in the US!

Thanks [MENTION=14295]Kristian87[/MENTION], I'll check him out on Instagram and ask the question there as well.

I'm feeling pretty bummed about this now. I thought it would be a simple swap my AUS tail lights for his US lights, but of wiring and boom done. Not looking so much like that now. Especially as the tail lights I've managed get my hands on already have the sequential capability,

Thanks again.

Kristian87 · Jun 18, 2018

GTsteveMkII said:
Thanks [MENTION=14295]Kristian87[/MENTION], I'll check him out on Instagram and ask the question there as well.

I'm feeling pretty bummed about this now. I thought it would be a simple swap my AUS tail lights for his US lights, but of wiring and boom done. Not looking so much like that now. Especially as the tail lights I've managed get my hands on already have the sequential capability,

Thanks again.

Yea it's annoying that it not a simple plug & play swap. But it can be done. I'll have a set one day!

Pilgrim/uk · Jun 18, 2018

Adam is good he did my front DRL`s hr does do sequential lights puts a switch to turn them back to stock too not sure if hes got set of red ones he does a kinda swap ,he preps a set then you turn up he swaps them ut uses yours for next person
quality work tho
Brad

benanderson89 · Jun 18, 2018

GTsteveMkII said:
The US lights already have the amber boards installed inside all three sections though so I'm a little confused as to why I need to split the lights?

At last check, but someone feel free to correct me, US lights do not have amber strips inside them. They're all red, all the time. There is no requirements for rear turn signals to be amber in the USA and Canada. The break lights just flash.

This is why you need to break open the lights and put in new LED boards.

Chappers · Jun 18, 2018

i did this from Exotic pony mods, it was a DIY kit and quite involved, i had to cut open the lights but it was quick to do once you got into it.

see result here:
[ame]

i've been meaning to do a write up on here but just haven't got round to doing it yet.

but it looks great well worth it!

with the EPM kit you can have 7 different lighting modes, i went with sequential lights with all 3 light up for braking and priority to indicators

[ame]

goldengooner · Jun 18, 2018

GTsteveMkII said:
Hi, thanks for the reply [MENTION=13479]benanderson89[/MENTION], much appreciated.

This is really looking like it's way more work than it's worth. I was hoping it would be a simple plug change and a little fiddle with the wiring. The US lights already have the amber boards installed inside all three sections though so I'm a little confused as to why I need to split the lights?

.

The amber lights are not fitted on the US cars, why would they be?
I have a US spec car, and to pass the IVA I had to have the amber boards fitted. After that I had the Red boards put back in.
I am now running 2 FULL Light systems
US
and
UK
I have a switch by my steering wheel, to switch them, if I need to.
This was done for me as I drove Richard Boatwright nuts, as he imported the car for me. Don't think this has been done on any other car
I love my Red sequentials

goldengooner · Jun 18, 2018

benanderson89 said:
At last check, but someone feel free to correct me, US lights do not have amber strips inside them. They're all red, all the time. There is no requirements for rear turn signals to be amber in the USA and Canada. The break lights just flash.

This is why you need to break open the lights and put in new LED boards.

yep, spot on

Wobs · Jun 18, 2018

[MENTION=31973]Chappers[/MENTION]

Do you have three orange flashing lights with your indicators or two reds and one orange ?

And does anyone know what the difference is between V3 and V3.3 of the Exotic Pony Mod light mod.

Chappers · Jun 18, 2018

Wobs said:
[MENTION=31973]Chappers[/MENTION]

Do you have three orange flashing lights with your indicators or two reds and one orange ?

And does anyone know what the difference is between V3 and V3.3 of the Exotic Pony Mod light mod.

I have 3 orange and 3 Red give me 5 mins I'll quickly get a better video

Wobs · Jun 18, 2018

Chappers said:
I have 3 orange and 3 Red give me 5 mins I'll quickly get a better video

:cheers:

I might go for one of those then as I hate only having 2 red brake lights per side on mine and sequential would be great

Chappers · Jun 18, 2018

Wobs said:
:cheers:

I might go for one of those then as I hate only having 2 red brake lights per side on mine and sequential would be great

Yeah its a daunting task to cut open the lights but if you know your way around electronics and general tools it's fairly straight forward.

I used a Stanley knife blade attached to a soldering iron to cut the plastic. Worked a treat! Just one area is quite tricky.

If I get a spare half hour I'll make a how to guide for it. :thumbsup:

My vid is currently uploading to YouTube... Bear in mind it's on my phone so can't do any fancy editing :cheers:

US Tail Light Conversion

GTsteveMkII

Well-Known Member

benanderson89

Hooneriffic

Kristian87

Super Moderator

GTsteveMkII

Well-Known Member

GTsteveMkII

Well-Known Member

Kristian87

Super Moderator

Pilgrim/uk

Well-Known Member

benanderson89

Hooneriffic

Chappers

Well-Known Member

goldengooner

Well-Known Member

goldengooner

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Wobs

Well-Known Member

Chappers

Well-Known Member

Wobs

Well-Known Member

Chappers

Well-Known Member