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

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?

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.

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

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

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!

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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?

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

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.

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.