UK Light conversion
11-26-2011, 03:42 AM
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UK Light conversion Hi Guys,
After leaving the USA and returning back to the UK I decided that I just couldn't leave my WS6 behind!!
I know the car is solid so will pass the UK's strict road safety test all apart from the lighting.......
So my main question is are the light circuits in the 2000 Firebird on a Canbus system which makes playing about with the lights a real pain or are they just standard electrics and I can pick up live and earth points from pretty much where I need them??
The rear repeaters need to be Amber (ultra bright amber LED's should work))
The brake lights need to be red - but separate from the repeaters
and a rear fog light in Red which only works when headlights are on and has an internal illuminated switch.
There are a few other things she will need but they are the easy things.
I could just put Euro spec light clusters on but they are the ugliest things to have been put on an F-Body.
After leaving the USA and returning back to the UK I decided that I just couldn't leave my WS6 behind!!
I know the car is solid so will pass the UK's strict road safety test all apart from the lighting.......
So my main question is are the light circuits in the 2000 Firebird on a Canbus system which makes playing about with the lights a real pain or are they just standard electrics and I can pick up live and earth points from pretty much where I need them??
The rear repeaters need to be Amber (ultra bright amber LED's should work))
The brake lights need to be red - but separate from the repeaters
and a rear fog light in Red which only works when headlights are on and has an internal illuminated switch.
There are a few other things she will need but they are the easy things.
I could just put Euro spec light clusters on but they are the ugliest things to have been put on an F-Body.
11-26-2011, 05:44 AM
#2
Hi Guys,
After leaving the USA and returning back to the UK I decided that I just couldn't leave my WS6 behind!!
I know the car is solid so will pass the UK's strict road safety test all apart from the lighting.......
So my main question is are the light circuits in the 2000 Firebird on a Canbus system which makes playing about with the lights a real pain or are they just standard electrics and I can pick up live and earth points from pretty much where I need them??
The rear repeaters need to be Amber (ultra bright amber LED's should work))
The brake lights need to be red - but separate from the repeaters
and a rear fog light in Red which only works when headlights are on and has an internal illuminated switch.
There are a few other things she will need but they are the easy things.
I could just put Euro spec light clusters on but they are the ugliest things to have been put on an F-Body.
After leaving the USA and returning back to the UK I decided that I just couldn't leave my WS6 behind!!
I know the car is solid so will pass the UK's strict road safety test all apart from the lighting.......
So my main question is are the light circuits in the 2000 Firebird on a Canbus system which makes playing about with the lights a real pain or are they just standard electrics and I can pick up live and earth points from pretty much where I need them??
The rear repeaters need to be Amber (ultra bright amber LED's should work))
The brake lights need to be red - but separate from the repeaters
and a rear fog light in Red which only works when headlights are on and has an internal illuminated switch.
There are a few other things she will need but they are the easy things.
I could just put Euro spec light clusters on but they are the ugliest things to have been put on an F-Body.
. Go check out pontiac club uk messageboard and tell them Bene sent ya. There might be some "friendly" MOT testers that can pass your firebird without doing the UK light conversion.
Cheers.
11-26-2011, 06:04 AM
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Thanks for the advice!!
I have seen one or 2 people driving with red indicators at the back and wondered how they got through the MOT.
Still it would be better to have a road legal car then risk the fines etc of not having it correct.
I have seen one or 2 people driving with red indicators at the back and wondered how they got through the MOT.
Still it would be better to have a road legal car then risk the fines etc of not having it correct.
Last edited by FirebirdPhilUK; 11-26-2011 at 10:51 AM.
12-01-2011, 06:43 PM
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I could use this stuff 
I`ve been here without my car for almost 4 months and its driving me crazy .. next is taking care of the absurd insurance quotes I`ve been given ..
bloody UK ..
I`ve been here without my car for almost 4 months and its driving me crazy .. next is taking care of the absurd insurance quotes I`ve been given .. bloody UK ..
12-02-2011, 04:01 AM
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Insurance is OK half the price of the USA for me, went with Highway part of LV. £410 for a year, comprehensive cover (everything), all mods declared.
I have been studying the wiring diagrams, it looks easy enough on paper. I will take some photos as I go, just waiting for customs to clear the car now.
I have been studying the wiring diagrams, it looks easy enough on paper. I will take some photos as I go, just waiting for customs to clear the car now.
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12-12-2011, 03:15 PM
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OK, I have done the UK light conversion - took 10 hours start to end and is the 1st thing I have done on my 'Bird. 2 hours were taking the dash apart and correcting a couple of errors. I think I could do another one in 6 hours easy.
As we all know all the rear lights flash with the direction indicators and flashing red lights in the UK will (read: should) land you in trouble with the Police. So to correct this issue and keep the USA spec light units:
Rear side lights - use the DRL's
Rear brake lights use a feed from the 3rd break light.
This sorts out the main lights and stops them flashing.
Rear Direction indicators - have to be Amber in colour -
I used the small DRL lamp holder on the outermost sides of the rear light housings and put a huge amber LED in. I had to take the left and right "live" feed from the front indicator circuit as the brake light is also fed into the rear DRL's for some reason? and amber lights on breaking are illegal. The flasher unit was upgraded to an electronic one to correct the flashing rate.
Rear Fog light: UK cars have to have a rear fog light - in red, that can only activated when the headlights are on, I used the passenger side reverse light and put in a relay that activates when the headlights are on, then a switch to have a manual control over when it lights up.
Front
The DRL circuit again was used - the side marker became a direction indicator only and not a DRL as solid orange lights at the sides are also illegal. The front DRL/indicator was converted to only being a indicator and a separate set of LED's in white were installed as side lights. Seriously this is only a case of cutting a couple of wires and joining the indicator circuit together - leaving the DRL circuit free to become side lights.
On a US car when the handbrake is released the DRL's activate....... rather annoyingly all the work was done with the handbrake on so this issue didn't arise until I thought it was all done!! Simple fix, remove the earth cable from the handbrake and connect it to a permanent earth. A Canadian car has a light sensor so I would assume shorting this out would be the best bet. Unfortunately the issue with removing the handbrake earth is the car leaves the light on the dash warning you the brake is "on" so some black tape over the LED inside the cluster sorted that issue - I know if the handbrake is on or not - if you don't then you shouldn't be driving!!
Front headlights were adjusted by the vehicle tester so they are aimed correctly for the UK - this is the only thing I couldn't do as there is a special machine for measuring light alignment.
A front license plate was fitted using one of those electric fold away ones to avoid damaging the beautiful front bumper (fender).
I think that's it - sorry it was freezing as I had to do this all outside in the cold of winter here in the UK so no photos. But the car passed the British MOT today so it all worked as it should!! well pleased.
British MOT rule book for anyone who is interested!! http://www.ukmot.com/mot_check.asp
As we all know all the rear lights flash with the direction indicators and flashing red lights in the UK will (read: should) land you in trouble with the Police. So to correct this issue and keep the USA spec light units:
Rear side lights - use the DRL's
Rear brake lights use a feed from the 3rd break light.
This sorts out the main lights and stops them flashing.
Rear Direction indicators - have to be Amber in colour -
I used the small DRL lamp holder on the outermost sides of the rear light housings and put a huge amber LED in. I had to take the left and right "live" feed from the front indicator circuit as the brake light is also fed into the rear DRL's for some reason? and amber lights on breaking are illegal. The flasher unit was upgraded to an electronic one to correct the flashing rate.
Rear Fog light: UK cars have to have a rear fog light - in red, that can only activated when the headlights are on, I used the passenger side reverse light and put in a relay that activates when the headlights are on, then a switch to have a manual control over when it lights up.
Front
The DRL circuit again was used - the side marker became a direction indicator only and not a DRL as solid orange lights at the sides are also illegal. The front DRL/indicator was converted to only being a indicator and a separate set of LED's in white were installed as side lights. Seriously this is only a case of cutting a couple of wires and joining the indicator circuit together - leaving the DRL circuit free to become side lights.
On a US car when the handbrake is released the DRL's activate....... rather annoyingly all the work was done with the handbrake on so this issue didn't arise until I thought it was all done!! Simple fix, remove the earth cable from the handbrake and connect it to a permanent earth. A Canadian car has a light sensor so I would assume shorting this out would be the best bet. Unfortunately the issue with removing the handbrake earth is the car leaves the light on the dash warning you the brake is "on" so some black tape over the LED inside the cluster sorted that issue - I know if the handbrake is on or not - if you don't then you shouldn't be driving!!
Front headlights were adjusted by the vehicle tester so they are aimed correctly for the UK - this is the only thing I couldn't do as there is a special machine for measuring light alignment.
A front license plate was fitted using one of those electric fold away ones to avoid damaging the beautiful front bumper (fender).
I think that's it - sorry it was freezing as I had to do this all outside in the cold of winter here in the UK so no photos. But the car passed the British MOT today so it all worked as it should!! well pleased.
British MOT rule book for anyone who is interested!! http://www.ukmot.com/mot_check.asp
