Turn your yellow US turn signals into dark euro turn signals

[compu_85]

US and ECE turn signals on 80's MB (and most european cars) are not the same color... the ECE units are a much darker orange.


Image from Dave's site http://www.w124performance.com/images/W124_headlights/124_turn_signal_lenses.jpg

I much prefer the darker color, and don't like the look of the clear lenses. But for me installing euro turn signal lenses had two problems:
-They're expensive
-They don't have retro-reflectors in them... I park my car on the street a lot so having it be more visible is important

My solution was to change the color of the US fixture. Initially I tried installing amber bulbs which helped a bit but the lens still looked light yellow when the lights were off. Then I read this article on Daniel Stern Lighting:

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

He suggested using DupliColor Metalcast yellow paint to tint the lenses. The results looked very good!
Colourless/White/Clear lamps converted to Selective Yellow

MetalCast paint comes in a lot of colors, including Orange. For $9 on Amazon I had a can delivered to my door.

I stared by taking the rubber seals off of the lights and cleaning them:



I then gave each lens several light coats of paint. For my eye 5 coats was perfect. I kept adding coats until the color matched the rear turn signals. You need to be careful to get the paint into all the corners, the ribs on the lens can make things a bit tricky.

I'm very pleased with the result:



Is it perfect? No. My lenses were a bit cloudy to start with and I didn't take the time to polish them. It was also cold the day I panted the lenses so the paint didn't turn out as smooth as it could have; if you look closely you can see orange peel. But for under $10 I'm happy, and the retro-reflectors still work great (as that pic demonstrates). The turn signals look a tad dimmer when they are running, but it is not significant.

Thanks,

-Jason

[vstech]

do you have a closeup pic of JUST the lens? that'd be great!

[compu_85]

Originally Posted by vstech

do you have a closeup pic of JUST the lens? that'd be great!

I'll break out the good camera tonight and take one

[compu_85]

This picture shows it nicely. You can see a bit of the orange peel look when you at the top middle of the picture.

[vstech]

Thanks for that shot, could you also post a pic of the product you used?
Thanks!

[MBeige]

Looks great! I got my W123 Euro corners for $25 brand new from overseas and my father just brought them with him when he flew over to visit

For comparison, here's one from Dieselchatter's 350SDL taken in the shade but with sunlight in the background, no flash:

[Junkman]

You'd better get after that rust. No sense spending time changing color of lenses if the car is deteriorating.

[gatorblue92]

Those turned out nice. Much cheaper than new Bosch lenses.

[compu_85]

Originally Posted by vstech

Thanks for that shot, could you also post a pic of the product you used?
Thanks!

It looks just like any other rattle can. Duplicolor MetalCast Orange. If you get a can of the yellow you could paint the reflectors in your fog lights to turn them into selective yellow.



I know the rust needs fixed. I hope to get to it this spring.

New euros would look nice, but I didn't want to lose the reflectors or front side marker lens.

-J

[shadetree77]

so anyone used the yellow metalcast to do the fog lights (euro)? just wondering how good it worked; i hear the coating on the reflector is very sensitive

[dcotejr]

This is on my list of 'things to attend to' with my 300SD. Looks good!