Correct side and tail lights for 1955 86"?

[JimUSA]

I am restoring a 1955 86" assembled by Grenville Motors (according to bobslandies -- thanks again Bob!) and am trying to determine the "correct" side and tail lights. Seems there is a lot of variation bewteen vehicles. Attached are pics of the current side lights and tail lights.

The side lights look like they have been there for a while, perhaps since birth. However I have seen very few examples of the split amber/white lens (with two bulbs) -- most others seem to have either a single color/single bulb or two separate side lights in each wing.

The tail lights are Hella brand and stamped "Made in Australia." They have three bulbs each including a flasher (the vehicle is rigged with flashers). It also has a separate plastic number plate light on the right side. The tail lights and number plate light seem non-original to me but I am not really sure.

Does anyone know what lights would have been originally installed on this vehicle? I sent notes to the UK and the Poms told me it should have Lucas L488 side lights and "pork pie" tail lights. But maybe the Aussies did it differently -- I certainly have run across other differences with the CKD models and the Poms don't seem to want to deal with questions on these.

I do want to rig the vehicle with flashers and don't want to have the brake lights flash. Any suggestions from the Aussies on what would have been appropriate lights? Or maybe I stick with the lights I have?

[russellrovers]

I am restoring a 1955 86" assembled by Grenville Motors (according to bobslandies -- thanks again Bob!) and am trying to determine the "correct" side and tail lights. Seems there is a lot of variation bewteen vehicles. Attached are pics of the current side lights and tail lights.

The side lights look like they have been there for a while, perhaps since birth. However I have seen very few examples of the split amber/white lens (with two bulbs) -- most others seem to have either a single color/single bulb or two separate side lights in each wing.

The tail lights are Hella brand and stamped "Made in Australia." They have three bulbs each including a flasher (the vehicle is rigged with flashers). It also has a separate plastic number plate light on the right side. The tail lights and number plate light seem non-original to me but I am not really sure.

Does anyone know what lights would have been originally installed on this vehicle? I sent notes to the UK and the Poms told me it should have Lucas L488 side lights and "pork pie" tail lights. But maybe the Aussies did it differently -- I certainly have run across other differences with the CKD models and the Poms don't seem to want to deal with questions on these.

I do want to rig the vehicle with flashers and don't want to have the brake lights flash. Any suggestions from the Aussies on what would have been appropriate lights? Or maybe I stick with the lights I have?

hi contact me for infomation

[S3ute]

Hello.

The lights on your truck are ring-ins that certainly wouldn't have been on it when it was built. Someone presumably fitted them to get indicators on it and/or probably because the originals may have been considered too weak to see properly or broken.

Jim at Russelrovers will set you right on what it should have, but the advice you already got from the UK seems to be correct.

It would have had single Lucas sidelights on the front guards and the so-called 'pork pie' lights on the back which are a dual tail and brake light. Earlier Series 1 vehicles had the 'D' light - these were common on a lot of English cars in the 50s.

Cheers

[gromit]

JimUSA,

Pictures below show my unrestored (but modified) 1956 Series 1.

Pork pie tail lights.



Lucas sidelights.



Indicators would have been added because they were not standard at the time so could be various styles.


Colin

[Hebe]

Hi,

I found that the rear "Pork Pie" lights were the most expensive parts to restore my Hebe. That's because they were so very difficult to find and I got them NOS on eBay. At the time there were no full reproductions made.

However, you are lucky. I'm a member of the (UK) Land Rover Series One Club (www.lrsoc.com) and see now that they have full reproductions for sale.

I haven't made pictures yet of the back of my restored Hebe. Will do that shortly and post them on my website, www.landroverseries.org.

I decided to remove the later (non-original) lights and indicators. I made the parking lights (side lamps) on the front my indicators. And for the back I did not want to mess with my original NOS pork lights. However, I think you can fit an extra indicator bulb inside. You just have to check if that would be sufficient to get it legally on the road in the US. My solution was to get LED indicators and place them next tot the pork pies. I still have to organise two removable brackets for those. That way I can remove the non-original lights when I want to. Say for club days or museum events.

Someone else here has put motorcycle indicators (lights on sticks) on his Series 1. These were attached to his bumpers.

On my website you will find the pdf parts books etc. That will show you drawings of which parts you need for your year etc.

Maybe you can show us how your project is getting along.

Good luck

Kris

[JimUSA]

Thanks to all for the advice (and pictures)! I have decided to spring for some NOS pork pies for tail lights (the kids really don't need to go to college anyway...). I have also purchased some Lucas L488s to put in the front to act as indicators, swapping out the existing split amber/white lights.

I am thinking of using L488s in the back as indicators as well vs. messing with the pork pies. I know this is not original for the 86" but I have seen some pics with the L488s next to the pork pies (usually slightly below and to the outside) and it looks pretty good. I haven't cut the holes yet so I can still be talked out of it!

[JimUSA]

Oh, and in response to the suggestion by Kris attached is a pic of the current state of the project -- as you can see I have a ways to go before I need to worry about the lights. The goopy stuff along all of the weld seams is lots of extra waterproofing added by the guy who fixed my chassis.

The rebuilt engine and gearbox are somewhere on the patio -- hopefully those go on next. And I sure do have a lot of boxes of parts sitting around!

[JimUSA]

And just one more thing -- Kris I also joined the UK Series One Club and one of my first official acts was to send a note to the Club Shop guy Derek asking about pork pies.

His reply: "If I was able to buy any lenses then I would be able to make up some lights as we keep the rest of the lamp but I am unable to get any..."

So I found another source for the complete lights, but if you know where to get lenses maybe Derek could help.