Mustang lighting for UK SVA.

[topbanana2000]

Hi,

I have a 2002 Muzzy GT and will soon be returning to UK from Budapest with it so will have to pass SVA.

Can I get away with the factory headlights (flat beam)and do I have to fit additional sidelights too (is it due to the dual filament bulb for indicator and side lights ?). I have heard that some SVA testers waive the side repeaters issue as the front and back ones are on the corners and are visible from the side. Tail lights, hopefully the Cobra kit will do the trick though it looks tricky and expensive (any suppliers recommended ?). The side mirror bieng not deflecting may be a problem too.

Any advice ?

Cheers

Paul

[LuS1fer]

Mildenhall Auto Centre www.mildenhallautocentre.co.uk do SVA work on a lot of American cars. The flat beams are often passed, the side repeaters are not optional. You have to mount them on the side of the car within 2600mm of the front and between 350 and 1500mm from the floor. The angle of visibility must be 5-60 degrees rearward from the side of the car and 15 degrees above and below. they must be type-approved and amber in colour with no intensity or wattage requirement.

You have to have a foglight wired to an illuminated interior switch clearly visible to the driver. Foglights must be paired, central or offside mounted.

You need orange indicators on the rear of the car, separate from the brake light.

White sidelights must be fitted to the front of the car.

Mirrors are more difficult. Many get passed provided they do not protrude beyond the limits of the car. A friend of mine had his Camaro SS pass without modification on that "interpretation". Mildenhall work with Norwich SVA and know what will and will not pass.

Tyres must match the theoretical top speed.

There must be mph markings on the speedo

>> Edited by LuS1fer on Tuesday 30th March 13:42

[mikef]

Good precis from Lus1fer

Full SVA regs (latest draft) are at www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/publications/sva%20draft%20manual.pdf

I did think of importing my '99 Mustang convertible, but I was also worried about the wing mirrors (although UK importers are offering Mustangs), plus it handled like a dog in the wet, so I traded it in

Cheers - Mike

[topbanana2000]

HI,

The Muzzy arrived from US last week and looks great. I have 2 years to sort the lights out before I bring it back to UK. Is there any rules on placing a 12 or 19 ultra bright LED in the reversing lights (clear when not lit and vey bright when lit). This wouls make things a bit easier for me. They draw 95 less power than conventional filament bulbs so there should be no loading on them and last 100,000 hours constant usage. Does anyone think this would be a runner ? Oh and is there any spec on wattages for indicating and side lights or can be just visible. Think the sides are 5w. The led's are ultra bright and have a very wide angle of view.

Cheers

Paul

[LuS1fer]

Not sure. The sidelights are usually 5 watt and the indicators are 21w.

[ws6]

I've seen LED clusters already on new busses and BMW's. RE: the SVA. The main criteria is the colour, where the light is fitted (hight from the road and distance from the sides) and the angle of visibility. Lumens do come into the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations but don't think it's checked on the SVA. I have seen replacement bulbs that have LED's in them for cars (standard bayonet and wedge types)






one thing to mention if using these for turn signals is that you might need a "load" of some sort to simulate the correct resistance (dependning on the type of relay used) So no power saving there....

[topbanana2000]

Thanks, I will go on Ebay and buy a couple to try. Quite a lot of types, brightness and angle of viz. Not sure what the load or impedance is but will experiment. I just like the lights as they are. Will probably go for the sides in the front fogs and e marked side repeaters from ebay. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has tried this route with leds.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Cheers

[mustangmike]

You need to be careful of LED types with SVA but I know a few that have passed.

I've just completed converting my recently imported 99 and have put all the details/photos here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/m.bailey7/99.htm