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Reply to "Turn Signal lenses"

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So, to follow up here, I just upgraded to these glass lenses, and I can add a few things to Kevin's post.

First, I had no idea how much of a difference they would make in the brightness of the turn signals. If I'd known, I would have done this years ago, as I've always felt the stock VS front signals are almost invisible to other drivers.

I think it's not just that the frosty plastic lenses absorb some of the light, but the glass ones seem to focus the light in a beam. At any rate, this turns out to be a nice safety upgrade, and not just for looks:

SpeedsterGlassTurnLens

And, while this may be one of the easiest winter garage tasks you'll take on, there are a few caveats.

First, if your car is ancient, like mine (12 years now), the little rubber gaskets around the rims of the lenses (you can't see them until you remove the trim rings) will be pretty dried out and frail. And you really need them, as they cushion the lenses once the rings are screwed down tight. So, go gingerly, or have replacements ready (and god knows where you would find them).

Second, my bulb bases and sockets were pretty shmutzy, so clean those up, too, before reassembly. On second thought, this may be why my new lenses look so much brighter!

Next project is installing the rubber gaskets that go between the horn grills and the body. Sierra Madre had those, too, but I wanted to see if these lenses would work out first.

And oh, one more thing about SMC. if their web site says something is 'available', that's not the same as 'in stock'. They had to back order these, and it took about six weeks.

Thanks again, Kevin, for the heads up on these.

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