Installing Squadra Nuvolari Repro Front Lenses

As many of you know- for a very long time the only replacement front lenses for 400/412 vehicles has been the very expensive repros sold by Eirospares and a few others.

Squadra Nuvolari and Lyle Tanner now have very convincing reproductions of the original SIEM lenses- they'll do them in either all clear, half clear/half amber or all amber. At a cost of around $650 a pair they are expensive, but not ridiculous.

My 400i has a very good set of lenses on it with no chips or repairs- but the amber sections are a bit faded and look off compared to the brand new side markers- Plus there are a handful of very small "crazing" style internal cracks-

Well I was assured these are "Exact Reproductions" and identical to OEM in every way- so i ordered a pair. They arrived and lo and behold- EVERYTHING is perfect- SIEM logo, ALL the Euro marks- really concours quality repro-

The big issue is- "Do They Fit"?? Well honestly- No they do not. I mean they sort of fit, but they are just a HAIR bigger in every dimension than OEM- well at least compared to my OEM lenses. I was already into this so my goal was to "make it fit"...something I am accustomed to doing being a serial Ferrari owner.

As you can see from the images below- My old lenses looked pretty damned good- But the new lens has that crisp look that really makes the old lenses look , well, old.
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So the first thing to do is to see how we're going to fit these lenses.

The OEMS as you can see below- have a hollow metal threaded tube- The lens is simply dropped over the metal assembly and two large threaded screws hold it all together.

We can't use this system for the repros- So i went to the hardware store and got some hollow PVC tube and made some spacer pieces as you can see- You need these so you can screw the lens onto the car- without them the pressure of the screw will crack the lens.

I glued them on with Epoxy- But be careful- if the tube moves AT ALL during glue setup the thin sprayed on amber will melt right off.

Once you have the tubes in place yo need to assemble the lens- This is best done with a thin bead of silicone in the channel on the metal lamp unit- When done you'll have a waterproof assembly- and silicone is easy to disassemble should you need to get into it later.

BUT- The lens is TOO BIG.. so first you want to take off all the sharp edges on the flange part that fits into the groove on the metal light assembly- Buy yourself some wiggle room- especially on the sharp triangle part- What I did was get my silicone bead in, then lace the triangle part in FIRST- clamp it with a big clamp- firm enough pressure to hold it- not enough to break it- Now heat the ENTIRE lens for a few minutes with a heat gun- You want the lens to become just the tiniest bit softer so it will bend better- Cause stock it is a different curve than the light assembly. Once really warm (NOT HOT) bend the lens into place- with your thumbs you want to pop the end- the flat end of the lens- into the groove- then clamp and tape it so all the plastic lens ends are set well into the grooves.

ONce setup for 24 hours you have a nice finished lens- as shown here.
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Now a word of warning-

The sprayed on amber is really thing and VERY brittle- Just slight handling pressure flakes it off- At some point I need to get some correct color to paint on mine to touch it up- and I was CAREFUL.

Fitting to the car is even more difficult than assembling the unit- Since the lower flange of the lens is taller- it wants to sit a bit proud of the car- So you really need to work on the way it mounts- I pounded out the OEM plastic sockets and used nuts and bolts to get everything in the right place, then screws it tight.

The lower part of the lens is still too long- But unless you are looking specifically for it it looks fine-

I'm going to let them sit on the car for a while- then see if Squadro Nuvolari can send me some amber paint- then I'll remove them and trim the lower lip with the dremel and touch up the amber- Kind of a lot of work but there's no other option.

I think they look quite sharp- If anyone needs a pair of decent OEM lenses for cheap- OM me.
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The new lenses are the exact shade of the side markers- and match pretty closely the images I have seen from the factory-
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John


Yeah totally- I'm trying to think if there is another lens like this that's so long and fits FLUSH to bodywork with no trim ring-It's really just these and the Daytonas.

I met a guy last year who told me it cost $7,000 to replace the front lens pair on his car- Now I know why- $650 worth of plastic and $6500 worth of labor!

 

Spoken for right now- But if the guy passes I'll PM you.

Had a nice chat with the folks from Squadro nuvolari yesterday- They seemed shocked at the fitment issues and say they test fit every lens prior to shipment- and apparently are supplying these to the big F also.

They are wonderful to deal with- and have offered to have me send my entire assemblies back for them to hand fit- Well i already hand fit them- The big issue now is to hand trim the front- leading edge- of the lens to fit the paintwork- we're close now... so when I'm done it will be absolutely OEM perfect. They're also going to send me some of the amber dye to touch up mine.

if my car showed more wear I think the existing lenses would have been just fine- but since everything else is brand new they were the only piece on the car that was not new- and looked it. The car looks so much crisper now.