I disassembled my front fender side marker lamps and noticed that the amber lenses installed are 2 different colors of amber (dark and lighter). Also, one housing appears to be painted flat black, while the other is natural plating. The darker amber lens was installed on the black housing. See pics below.

The “darker” lens matches the reflector more closely than the lighter lens.

Is one of these lenses/housings an “early” vs. “late” style, or were there just two different styles available during production…paint vs. unpainted? Any thoughts on what should be correct for my B21 SPD car?

Has anyone else seen this on their cars?

Several possibilities, 2 or more different vendors, same vendor and a superseded part supplied, worker on the left side of the line had his supply, worker on the right side of the line had his supply?, or it was replaced at some time by a repair shop/dealer?...keep in mind you can only look at one side of the car at a time

When the car was restored years ago the builder had a collection of different parts to choose from including some nos parts.

That what I wondered. Wasn't sure if the black housing was an NOS replacement, meaning it's a later part vs. the natural housing...or vice-versa.

The plastics were from different batches and quality control was way off.

As biggE pointed out the builder had a collection of used and NOS parts at the time.

Rob,

Were one of the lenses installed upside down when on the car?

Also, can you make out the lettering on the inside of the lower one pictured compared to the upper?

Tom

Hi Tom,

The passenger front amber lens and the driver's rear red lens were installed upside down, while the others were in the correct orientation.

This is because the lenses were not designed as a right and left fitment. There is only 1 lens PN for both sides, and one has to be installed upside down to fit in the reflector housing correctly.

Make sense?

I can make out the part numbers, and they are: 3403623-Amber and 3403639-Red. Both part numbers in the amber lenses are the same.


Rob

Yes, just making sure you were aware....

No worries!

Just for fun, check the vendor codes to see if they differ. (five numbers in vendor codes)

Barry,

I just checked and the vendor code is the same for both the housings and the lenses for both types. The vendor code is 46050.

Rob

I see remnants of black paint in the letters on the bare bezel. Anyone I've ever seen on the front of original cars were black.

Thanks, Mike. That's what prompted my first post. Was trying to determine if original cars had black painted housings in the front, or bare.

Rob