I’m slowly returning my euro car back to euro spec, it was a US imported car. Has anyone swapped the US side marker lights back to Euro indicator repeaters? Is the hole in the wing/fender the same size? Straight swap or is there extra work. Much prefer the look of the small Euro lights.
I’m a bit confused by your question, but the US marker lights are found both front and rear. They are large rectangular lights which require a large rectangular hole in the fender. The euro cars only have marker/repeaters on the front wings, and they are small round lights that require a much smaller round hole. So if I’m understanding your question correctly, yes there will be substantial body work needed to weld up the rectangular holes, and drilling needed for the Euro lights. Obviously paint work will be required. Good luck on your process, I also love the look of the round euro markers.
You will soon discover that your main problem with removing the larger US sidelights is the pair of smaller attachment holes on either side of the larger lamp thru hole. The pair of smaller holes in the fender are required to secure the US sidelights to the body, and these will need to be welded and filled as they will not be covered and/or hidden by any smaller round sidelights. So, sadly, no plug-and-play easy options for any of us on this idea. DM
Hi Dave, nuts. Regardless, that’s the info I needed. Much appreciated. Back to the drawing board! Lloyd
These are the three types of side markers were used on the 308, I believe the first photo is the US style side marker, and the other two are for the euro cars. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
As an experiment, I once bought a pair of your second picture's lights and tried to fit them to my USA-spec car. I unfortunately found that this style of factory sidelight, which does not incorporate a reflector-style lens as does the USA style, was not tall enough to cover my factory fender holes. By the way, the USA style sidelights were also fitted to Fiats of that era, and likely other cars as well, so replacements are cheap as chips and are easily available at Fiat parts vendors. DM
Lloyd - If you are simply seeking a "different" look, I've discovered a pair of options, both of which exactly match the 308 USA body holes. The first uses the side lights for non-USA Fiat X1/9's. A ribbed black backing plate with a small round lamp in the center: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login There's an X1/9 parts guy out of The Netherlands who makes these reproductions, and they fit both front and rear 308's with no modifications whatsoever required. Me, I did not keep them on my car as I was bothered by the end of the pair of mounting studs being visible once mounted, as you can see in my second picture.
And the second option uses the side lights from some particular old Lada model. This one is the same configuration as the USA OEM side lights, but instead of their face being flat, they have a raised center piece. OEM on the top (first picture) and Lada on the bottom: Image Unavailable, Please Login I found these Lada lights in both clear and in amber, and since they're Lada parts, they were cheap! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login For my old X1/9 I ultimately went with clear Lada lights, fitted with amber (front) and red (rear) LED lamps behind: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login I fitted the clear Lada lights to my 308 just as a trial (sadly, no pics were taken at the time), but ultimately decided to stick with OEM instead. So, yeah, you DO have some easy bolt-on options to play around with! DM
Finally, for posterity, and anticipating any possible "where can I get those?" inquiries for the stuff that I showed in my post no. 9 above, here ya go! X19Parts Holland | Lights Obviously, no affiliation, offered just as a FYI. But observe the non-Ferrari-tax inexpensive prices! DM P.S. - Note some of their other lights as shown on other pages - likely some Ferrari commonality could be found ...
Some days f the side markers I collected over the years from Fiat, Lancia, and Alfas Image Unavailable, Please Login
It was really just part of a slow steady move to return the car to a full euro spec as well as dealing with deferred maintenance form 30 years of storage. Just for looks really, the small repeaters just look more delicate and in keeping with the overall design to my eye. I don’t want to get the welder out just yet so they”ll have to stay as US lights for now. Didn’t spot the Fiat source, slightly embarrassing as I served my time in Fiat/Lancia dealership in northern England! I’ll move onto replacing or tucking the front bumper next instead. All the info is much appreciated. Cheers fellas.
Isn't the Euro side marker wired to the signal flasher as opposed to the night running light of the US version?
Yes, confirmed, this is indeed the way it was as I understand it, as delivered by the factory. But note that it is very easy to convert these side market lights to flash along with the turn signals via the (easily reversable) floating ground rewire trick. I've already done this to my own USA-spec 308, front and back, many years ago. Highly recommended. It is easy to believe that there are many YouTube or similar videos out there showing the details since the concept applies to most any car on the road today; it most certainly is not a uniquely Ferrari mod. DM
Do you remember where you sourced the signal wire from? The US side marker light has its own feed terminating at the marker.
You would have to ask the US Dept of Transportation. I would be interested to see the (safety) data that supported the decision, if it even exists. Side marker lights became mandatory for model year 1968 on all cars sold here.
Mine had some modifications done, which I'm reasonably sure were undone in the US. Smog pump added, and then removed. The only evidence left is welded in, then welded up exhaust bungs in the headers. US front bumper, but Euro rear bumper Side marker lights I have a feeling that speedo was swapped to MPH, but the sender not as it seems to read fairly accurately if you consider the MPH numbers to be KPH. Or it could be the speedos are just wildly inaccurate. It has the feeling of a car that they did just enough to, to get it through a test, then removed at least some of it at some point
The factory US spec front side lights are further ahead than the euro light, 3 inches if memory serves me correctly. The Euro light is just far enough ahead to clear the inner fender and a US spec light wont fit that location, so a converted car will have the holes in the wrong position as well. Not to mention the socket hole is larger as mentioned earlier.
So they had to weld up the holes, drill new ones and then repaint? Quite a job! I checked images of my car and you're exactly right. The side marker lights are mid fender.
Big job and where you end the new paint is hard when there's no seams. Colour match is another problem.
