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E body Light Bar Lens

Posted By: JulesdaWiperman

E body Light Bar Lens - 08/04/09 11:58 AM

Every time I restore a 70-71 e body rally light bar, the lens are always warped, cracked and sometimes missing.
The only way to restore these bars correctly is to remove the lens and in some cases I end up breaking good ones.
I decided to try and make some. I could not find the correct blue/green color plastic so I purchased some clear
plastic sheet and painted it myself. The flash is making the lens look blue but it is not.
It's my first batch so I still have lots of refining to do.
Since I cannot locate the exact size black rivets, I made the holes for some rivets I presently have in stock.
The best color match is the one that is next to the original warped one.I counted the coats I put on each one
so I know the formula. Your thoughts?
Jules

Attached picture 5396311-IMG_1279.JPG
Posted By: 71TA

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/04/09 12:32 PM

I contacted a manufacturer of the colored acrylic. They said they needed a commitment of a HUGE amount to make that color even though they SHOW they make an almost exact match.

Are the rivets really that odd?
Posted By: RedFish

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/04/09 01:00 PM

Yep, mine are gone also. I'm willing to bet you could sell a hundred of those very quickly. I know that's not the "Huge" amount that most manufactures are talking about. Jules, if you make some more send me a pm, I'll buy some.
Posted By: cataclysm80

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/04/09 03:41 PM

Those lenses are the most common problem with light bars. I think there would be a lot more usable light bars available if people could get lenses to repair them.

I think standard cluster uses blue and rallye cluster uses green. (or is it the other way around?)

Keep us posted.

Tav
Posted By: JulesdaWiperman

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/04/09 04:40 PM

I will be making more as I refine my technique.
I will probably offer them on my website as a little side item.
Jim, the rivets are not special. It is just that the exact size is
not available from the supplier I use to order all my hardware.
One could use a slightly longer rivet but I would prefer to be accurate.
Another issue is that the rivet that is close is not black.
I would have to have a bunch of rivets plated.
I also contacted a lexan manufacturer ( lexan will not crack
as easily as acrylic) and he said that I needed to order $5000 worth.
I am not willing to make that investment with uncertain sales.
I would rather sell some sets on my own as a suitable repair item rather
than a 100 point exact duplicate. I have the color down very close.
Jules
Posted By: HemiChallenger

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/04/09 05:19 PM

A $5000 dollar investment is huge considering you cannot sell these things for $250 for a set of four, maybe you could but i would doubt a lot of folks would by them. I think what your doing jules is the best. Test the waters with the market and go from there.

Anyways i dont need to tell you, you know how to do this! Good luck and me and the old man will get a few sets from you!
Posted By: Gavin

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/05/09 11:47 AM

I made my own with some lighting gel that a friend got for me - the colour is dead-on. They were a little thinner than the originals but certainly thick enough.

Pic from my Resto thread

Posted By: JulesdaWiperman

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/06/09 02:59 AM

Nice job Gavin.
Those are 72-74 and the material is not the same as 70-71.
Jules
Posted By: Gavin

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/06/09 11:33 AM

Thanks Jules - are you saying that the light bar I am showing there is from a 72-74 car?

That is odd. I am as certain as I can be that this is original to the car. I've owned it since the mid-80's and when I first took it off around then it did not in anyway appear to have been replaced. Never say never of course, but could it be possible that Ma Mopar switched early, my car is a Feb 71 build.
Posted By: Snoopy

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/06/09 03:58 PM

Gavin
There is a white sticker on the back of the bar, it should have the part number and date code.


Attached picture 5401153-NonRallyeLightbarBack.jpg
Posted By: JulesdaWiperman

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/06/09 04:31 PM

Gavin,
all is possible. You may have a very early 72 issue part.
Jules
Posted By: Gavin

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/06/09 09:08 PM

Quote:

Gavin
There is a white sticker on the back of the bar, it should have the part number and date code.



Lucky I take so many pics!

PS the extra holes were made by me in mid-80's

Attached picture 5401597-lightbar.jpg
Posted By: Snoopy

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/06/09 11:08 PM

2984126 - 70 Barracuda & 74 E-Body Non-Rallye
I didn't know there was a difference between 70 Barracuda and Challenger light bars.
That makes the 70 Challenger light bars unique.

Attached picture 5401739-70-71E-BodyInstrumentPanelLightClusters.jpg
Posted By: cataclysm80

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/07/09 12:46 PM

Yes, 70 Challenger light bars (standard blue 3 light or rallye green 4 light) are unique due to the special 70 challenger only dashpad.

The other light bars 70-74 barracuda & 71-74 challenger will interchange without any fitment issues.

The difference is the height of the bar, which is how high the bar recesses up into the dashpad. The 70 Challenger is like 1/4 inch taller or something. It's a small enough difference that the wrong part will bolt up and function if you need it to, but it won't fit the dashpad quite perfectly.

I've got a picture around here somewhere...

Tav
Posted By: RedFish

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/07/09 01:00 PM

And the non Rallye light bars use a thin colored plastic lens that fits inside the light can, but the Rallye light bars use a thicker plastic that attaches to the light bar outside of the light can.
Posted By: burnt_o_matic

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/08/09 01:15 AM

To those that have seen a lot of these lenses -- do you consider them to still be color stable? Have any aged to be lighter or darker than others?
Posted By: JulesdaWiperman

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/08/09 02:14 AM

From my experience, the color seems to be stable.
Mainly warpage and cracking issues.
Jules
Posted By: denfireguy

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/08/09 09:26 PM

Quote:

I made my own with some lighting gel that a friend got for me - the colour is dead-on. They were a little thinner than the originals but certainly thick enough.



An advantage of using lighting gel is that it is designed to work the quartz lights generating intense heat. Rosco gel is the most popular in America. It is very color stable and stands up to the heat without stretching, melting or fading. It is available in a lot of colors. Do you by chance have the color number of the gel he provided you?
Thanks,
Craig
Posted By: 71vert340

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/10/09 03:42 AM

Does the acrylic blue or green tint sheets that McMaster Carr sells come close to the colors? I notice it's about $6 for a 12" by 12" sheet depending on the thickness ordered.
Posted By: Snoopy

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/10/09 04:17 AM

The biggest concern should be how well the plastic holds up to heat. Those little bulbs give off a lot of heat and they sit very close to the lens.
Posted By: RedFish

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/10/09 01:20 PM

Thickness is an issue. I've seen lighting gels and they are like the thickness of plastic sheet protectors. These would work in a Non Rallye light bar. The plastic in a Rallye light bar is thick, I'd say about 1/16 of an inch thick.
Posted By: cataclysm80

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/10/09 02:14 PM

If you need the gels to be thicker you can layer them with a piece of Plexiglas.

Tav
Posted By: Gavin

Re: E body Light Bar Lens - 08/17/09 11:04 AM

Quote:

Quote:

I made my own with some lighting gel that a friend got for me - the colour is dead-on. They were a little thinner than the originals but certainly thick enough.



An advantage of using lighting gel is that it is designed to work the quartz lights generating intense heat. Rosco gel is the most popular in America. It is very color stable and stands up to the heat without stretching, melting or fading. It is available in a lot of colors. Do you by chance have the color number of the gel he provided you?
Thanks,
Craig



Sorry Craig, no I don't have it - I think he had a couple of offcuts lying around and sent me a couple of colours - one was too blue, but the green-blue one was perfect.

Gel is available in different thicknesses I believe. It may be that the max thickness is still not the same as the original, but for mine is was close enough. The main characteristic required to do with the thickness is that it doesn't wrinkle and is self supporting to some extent - these were.
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