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Tail light monitors 76 Eldo vert

Started by Ranger magnum, June 01, 2019, 02:14:59 AM

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Ranger magnum

Did all 76 Eldorado convertibles come with the rear tail light monitor? There was a broken bracket on my car, but I can’t find any trace of the fiber optic cables. I’ve seen some cars with the monitor, and some without. My owners manual implies that all cars had this feature.
1958 bel air rat rod
1963 Impala wagon
1964 Impala SS 409
1965 Impala SS 396 convertible
1976 Cadillac Eldorado
2003 Mercedes AMG CL55
2015 BMW M6
2004 Dodge ram 4x4 Cummins Dually
2003 Fleetwood 38' Diesel pusher
2017 Can Am side by side

The Tassie Devil(le)

If you have the bracket, then there should be the ends of the Fibre Optics floating around in behind the back seat.

You should be able to trace the line from the back of the tail light where the harness enters the body, and then follow each side up over or around the rear wheel inner fender hump.

I found mine on my '72, and adapted a Coupe monitor stand to fit by seat back, and carefully joined the optical cabling using heat shrink tubing and an electrical line joiner to stabilise the joint.

Took a couple of times to get a good "flow" of light.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

hornetball

I found mine on the floor when I took the rear seat out.  Housing is fine but the bracket is broken off.  Planning to make a replacement bracket with JB Weld and aluminum, repaint it and get the fiber optics up to snuff.  This place has fiber optic lighting tools and supplies:

http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/

I've got a couple of lines on the front that need work too.  This is one of those cool Apollo-era features of the car that I really want to get working.

Ranger magnum

#3
It is a cool feature! I restored the front system and got the lenses in the fenders squeaky clean, to the point they are easily visible during the day.

I’ve looked around the back of the car but haven’t found anything yet, though at the time I wasn’t looking for the monitor stuff specifically.

I’m assuming because I found pieces of the bracket that the rest should be somewhere close.

Did the use of a parade top necessitate the removal of the monitor? The previous owner had that top (but it wasn’t with the car when I acquired it). The cars I have seen with the parade top also seem to not have the monitor.
1958 bel air rat rod
1963 Impala wagon
1964 Impala SS 409
1965 Impala SS 396 convertible
1976 Cadillac Eldorado
2003 Mercedes AMG CL55
2015 BMW M6
2004 Dodge ram 4x4 Cummins Dually
2003 Fleetwood 38' Diesel pusher
2017 Can Am side by side

The Tassie Devil(le)

#4
If the car was fitted with front monitors, then it was also fitted with back ones.

When I made my custom mount, I made it so that it could be removed easily, then replaced.   It is Mk 1, and was made really fast before I went on a trip to the mainland, but never got around to finessing it.   Have to replace the hard board of the seat back as it is all broken and the upholstery is laced into place.

The problem with the hard boots is when people don't really care when they fit them into place, which I would surmise is why they get broken.

I will have to get better pictures of the mounting when I pull the rear seat out to perform a slight modification to the channels for the rear seat belt sashes to make it easier to fit the hard boots.   Which is going to be really soon.

Bruce. >:D

PS.   The reason for the different colours of the seat and side panel is they the seats are out of a '71, and only in there whilst I get around to reupholster the original '72 seats.
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe