Indicator/parking lense warning | FerrariChat

Indicator/parking lense warning

Discussion in '365 GT4 2+2/400/412' started by Al Campbell, Nov 20, 2018.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Al Campbell

    Al Campbell Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 22, 2013
    571
    Australia
    Just a word of warning to anyone looking to replace their indicator/parking light lenses.

    I'm rebuilding 3 sets of lights & went to fit up the new lenses I had purchased a few years ago to find that 3 of the lenses are useless!
    These lenses are too long to fit the housing & even if they were made to somehow attach to the housing they would not fit in the vehicle without modifying the bodywork (I have tested them on a 365 & two 400i's).

    I am not sure who the manufacturer was of these lenses.
    The lenses have identical markings to the originals I have but are way too long to fit.
    I don't know the original supplier as I purchased two sets (clear & coloured) of what were believed to be original lenses a few years ago from a past member here who believed as I did that they were original. One of the lenses a right hand clear fitted OK & may in fact be original.

    I don't want to see anyone else get caught out by these lenses & urge anyone considering buying lenses to carefully check the dimensions before purchase as I'm sure there would be more of these floating around. :(

    Cheers,
    Al
    Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. wda24729

    wda24729 Formula 3

    Sep 22, 2014
    1,000
    Devon, UK
    Full Name:
    Graham
    That's not even close!
     
  3. Ferraridoc

    Ferraridoc F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 20, 2012
    16,057
    Gold Coast, Aust.
    Full Name:
    Patrick
    Man, that sucks
     
  4. Al Campbell

    Al Campbell Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 22, 2013
    571
    Australia
    Yes, It's been a very expensive lesson for me.
    I just hope no one else gets caught out like this.
    I would love to know who the original manufacturer was.
     
  5. samsaprunoff

    samsaprunoff F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2004
    4,160
    Edmonton, AB Canada
    Full Name:
    Sam Saprunoff
    Good day Al,

    Yikes, I certainly feel for you... as these lenses are not cheap. As for the manufacturer of your lenses... hard to say, but I have only found the following two suppliers that provide these lenses (perhaps there are others?):

    OKP (https://www.okp.de/xtc2/Ferrari/55-Beleuchtung/Blinker/Blinkerglas-rechts-365/-400-412i-weiss-weiss::18736.html?MODsid=93d785eaa7f8dc3c911689808b754c9d)
    - May only supply

    Squadra Nuvolari. (http://squadranuvolari.com/ferrari-products.htm)
    - Remanufacture repops

    Interestingly, I have heard from several people that had issues with Squadra's lenses. In particular that that the Squadra lenses did not fit and/or needed a lot of rework to be used. In fact here is a post by one of the members here with regards to Squadra's 400i lenses that might be of interest:

    https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/installing-squadra-nuvolari-repro-front-lenses.316553/

    Given the above I decided to simply keep my originals and repair the one that has a crack in it.

    Cheers,

    Sam
     
  6. Al Campbell

    Al Campbell Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 22, 2013
    571
    Australia
    Thanks Sam,

    I wish they only cost me as much as the repo's from Squadra Nuvolari - mine were almost double this as they were meant to be OEM. :(

    No amount of trimming, heating bending will get them to fit without major changes to the bodywork - I tried this on the clear lens. I think the only option to try and salvage them is to slice them down the middle & remove 10mm then glue the halves together again. I'm not sure it's worth wasting time on them & they may end up in landfill.

    Cheers,
    Al
     
  7. raemin

    raemin Formula 3

    Jan 16, 2007
    1,825
    Lyon (FR)
    Full Name:
    R. Emin
    Maybe these were cast in a soft mould (silicone one) which expanded due to heat (clear casting generates quite a lot of heat)? The seller would have sold these without even noticing that the size was totally off.

    Maybe you could make your own mould? That's a bit of work, but if you slice these indicators as per your saying (no need to glue the parts together), you could use these as masters and make your own moulds out of them. These hobby-grade moulds are good enough for 10-20 parts. https://www.alumilite.com/applications/automotive-restoration.

    You could also glue the trimmed halves, the clear compound they sell can be used as a crystal clear glue. A can of mould release agent with plasticine would allow you to make a clean job.

    The end result will never be as good as what you could expect from the money already invested but that's a better end than the landfill...
     
  8. Attila400

    Attila400 Rookie

    Feb 7, 2018
    15
    Budapest
    Full Name:
    Attila

    Hi Al,

    Here is a link where these are the most affordable in price:

    https://www.autoepoca.it/page/4/?s=ferrari+400 it was around 600 EUR (both ) plus VAT.

    Code: 2043

    Anyway if you consider to sell yours I would try to fit on mine. I need left- right amber or clear.
     
    raemin likes this.
  9. Al Campbell

    Al Campbell Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 22, 2013
    571
    Australia
    Thanks for the link.

    My conscious would not allow me to on-sell these as they simply do not fit.
    No amount of trimming, heating & massaging will shrink them enough to fit.

    I have traced out original units & heated the crap lenses to form the right curve on the lens.
    The left lenses are worse than the right & are 10mm too long while the right are 4mm too long.
    I have sliced 10mm out of one of the left lenses so it now fits perfectly to the housing but still needs to be glued (have some UV cure clear glue coming to try).

    Cheers,
    Al

    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  10. Attila400

    Attila400 Rookie

    Feb 7, 2018
    15
    Budapest
    Full Name:
    Attila
    Hi,

    This is exactly what I also considered to do with it, I would use these instead of the nice ones... :) Maybe im a cheap guy.

    Anyway if you dont need some of them just sell it to me, I have a friend who professional in plastic,so maybe worth to try, sometimes I fed up with the original prices. I bought too many things nowdays...
     
  11. Ferraridoc

    Ferraridoc F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 20, 2012
    16,057
    Gold Coast, Aust.
    Full Name:
    Patrick
    Good job, mate. The DPO of mine put one new lens in - it appears to be the right size, but of course now looks wonky-eyed. I might organise a swap with a trans (in the chemical sense) wonky-eyed car owner so that we each have matching left and right lenses
     

Share This Page