Turn signal and brake light in teardrop unit.

Question for carowners with the teardrop taillights. Which side of the unit is in your case(s)the brake light? I mean the in- or outside? I changed my red US lenses for the European amber/red ones and discovered the brake lights are on the 'amber' outside. Overhere (in Europe) brakelights have to be red.
And NO..., the units aren't mounted upside down and I haven't changed left and right.

My lights (all red lenses) have the tail light/stop light bulb in the outer (wider)area, and the directional light in the inner (norrower) area of the lens.

Mart,

If you just swapped lenses, and your lights are like most here, then you have a dual element bulb on the large side and a single element on the small side.
In order to have proper red running and brake you'll need to cut out the single element socket and put in a dual socket.

I've read that lenses in cars for the Italian market, although red and amber also, have their colors reversed as compared to the regular Euro lenses. Something to think about.

Mart -

I did the same project as you - switched to a Euro lens (amber/red) and had the issue with the brake/turn signals.

What I did was;

1. Unplug the wire connections to the tail-light assembly.
2. Remove the tail-light assembly
3. Remove the rubber boot on each bulb socket
4. Push out each fiberboard/wire (?) contact from underneath (push from behind socket for fiberboard/wire to exit out top of socket assembly. I just used a thin phillips screwdriver.
5. Switch double-contact fiberboard/wire (brake/tail-light) to inside socket and single contact (turn-signal) to outside socket.
6. Re-assemble and reconnect wiring.
7. Apply small amount of di-electric grease to sockets to prevent corrosion.

Hope this makes sense but it's pretty simple. Took me less than an hour.

OK guys, thanks for your info. Carey, Jim, I will give it a try.
So the original European units differ from the US ones. I will call the classic Porsche specialist to know for sure. Keep you posted.

I just spoke to one of the Dutch 356 specialists on the phone. Guess what... The tail- and brakelight HAVE TO BE at the amber outside of the unit and the turn signal at the red inside.
In Holland cars till 1965 are allowed to have these. I don't care inspite my car is registered as a 1972 Intermeccanica. I've already put them back on (the amber/red lenses) and see what will happen...
Also some usefull info at: http://www.356registry.org/tech/safety_and_tradeoffs.html

Mart -

Thanks for sharing that article - very informative (for me, anyway). Good luck with your tail/brake-light project!

Jim-you're welcome!
(Went quickly through your photo file. Real Speedster fun is what I found!)