Technical BLUE DOT QUESTION

Back in the day they were in use illegally in Pa & Ohio. My buddy had a Christmas bubble light in the center support of the windshield of his 38 chevy coupe.
A side story: He had dual spotlights also & one night the on coming car didn't dim his headlights so John hits him with the spotlight. Too bad for him as it was a Ohio state trooper & John had 24 hours to get the dual spotlights removed .

 

I had a set of Glo-Brite blue dot tail lights on my old -56 Chevy in the late -70's/early 80's. They tended to kind of turn pinkish when you hit the brakes. The car is long gone, but the blue dots are somewhere up in the attic.

Many years ago, one of my best buddies was a dealer in blue dots. At one swap meet I traded him a set of old 348 heads for some blue dots, straight across. A bystander said "You must have really wanted those blue dots!". "No, I didn't want to lug those heavy bastard heads back home again."

 

I've repop (Plastic) blue dots in my 35 Chevy as they are legal here on hot rods but not on other cars. I didn't use OEM glass lenses and had these made instead with lower half being amber for indicators as there too many dumb arses down here that can't recognise or understand what a flashing tail lamp on one side means as they are used to amber. I've always referred to the light emitted as being crimson in colour when the brakes are applied.


My 46 Olds will have NOS Lynx Eye (Glass) blue dots

 

My dad had a 49 Ford chopped and sectioned bright yellow “corvette yellow” primer that had glass lenses and the blue dots were also glass and they were lavender at night pictures don’t do it justice
The thing you have to have true glass lenses and blue dots

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Talk to fourspd2qd. The taillight castings you're looking at look like they carry blue dots without any problems...





I don't know why red Xs are showing up, if they are. His website shows blue dots on a bunch of his lights...

https://www.throwback.design/

 

I have been buddy. He is a real craftsman isn't he? I think the issue is that these lights are a larger casting, he is currently working on a smaller body replacement for the 37 ford tail lights that will also accept my SoCal polished stands. These lights as pictured are too large for my application. His new castings (he tells me a couple weeks away) will be the cats pajamas (what ever that means...daddy-o).

But, according to a PM over the weekend, we may have an idea with ShiftWizzard to add the dots sans the bezels. More on that one to follow. I was supposed to pull my bezels off and see how big the holes are in my current lenses but I got lost in other projects and forgot.

I love this site. Talent, helpfulness, creativity, humor, car porn, French guys, a coupe of trolls to keep us honest and friends with which to banter. Long live the HAMB

 

Couple of problems there I am guessing.
First, blue dots are only effective if as you say, the bulb is in direct alignment with the dot and the viewer. If your dot faces off-parallel a bit, it will just appear like a dark spot on your tail light.
Second, I imagine a lot of the street rod crowd run LED tail light bulbs. Sexy, cool running, long life, but I think you will find they put out a single wavelength of visible light which is opaque to blue dots. The blue color won't pass the red friendly wave length so again the dots will appear as dark spots in the lens.

 

Blue dots and LED's don't mix, like socks and sandals or hot rods runnin Emmitts.

 

True, the blue dots may not work after dark when the bulbs get power in some situations. But half the fun is still there because they look way cool parked, at car shows and rolling down the daylight road. It's still a win, just not a win/win.

 

From Missouri Revised state statutes:

17. For purposes of this section, “blue dot tail light” is a red lamp installed in the rear of a motor vehicle containing a blue or purple insert that is not more than one inch in diameter.

18. A street rod or custom vehicle may use blue dot tail lights for stop lamps, rear turning indicator lamps, rear hazard lamps, and rear reflectors.

 

What's with all the off topic responses? Bandit Billy didn't ask for the legalities of blue dots or opinions thereof. He asked about getting smaller ones.

Guess I missed that part. Curious to see what you come up with.

Huzzah.

 

If I play my cards right, I might just end up with the first pair of the new castings. I might need him to sign them and engrave a 00001 serial number.

 

Hello,

When we got our 2nd 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, we wanted to be seen much better at night. So, I asked several hot rod guys in a couple of So Cal clubs what they thought of the idea. I wanted to put on another pair of blue dot round rear tail lights with brackets for each side of the rear door. I liked the look of the blue light as it made the eye notice something that is not just red. A purplish combination was what most people saw. I located a set of rear lights and was going to purchase them.
This to this? a pair of blue dots?
Then in talking with these guys, they mentioned that a few cars were being stopped by the CHP for illegal rear tail lights. It is only a fix it ticket, but just the same, it is being pulled over for just driving. My wife told me that she will not be a happy camper if she got pulled over in this 40 sedan delivery. She made it clear that nothing is to draw attention of those CHP officers.

Jnaki

Another great idea and look goes down the drain…But, no tickets for the 4 years we owned and fixed up this last 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. Today, in So Cal, I do see these blue dot lights on several hot rods at local car shows, Cars and Coffee events, as well as the Donut Derelicts events. YRMV

Blue dot tail lights:

Courtesy of the California Vehicle Code, Section 24603
ARTICLE 3. Rear Lighting Equipment [24600 - 24617]

Every motor vehicle that is not in combination with any other vehicle and every vehicle at the end of a combination of vehicles shall at all times be equipped with stoplamps mounted on the rear as follows:

(a) Each vehicle shall be equipped with one or more stoplamps.

(b) Each vehicle, other than a motorcycle, manufactured and first registered on or after January 1, 1958, shall be equipped with two stoplamps, except that trailers and semitrailers manufactured after July 23, 1973, which are less than 30 inches wide, may be equipped with one stoplamp which shall be mounted at or near the vertical centerline of the trailer. If such vehicle is equipped with two stoplamps, they shall be mounted as specified in subdivision (d).

(c) Except as provided in subdivision (h), stoplamps on vehicles manufactured on or after January 1, 1969, shall be mounted not lower than 15 inches nor higher than 72 inches, except that a tow truck or a repossessor’s tow vehicle, in addition to being equipped with the required stoplamps, may also be equipped with two stoplamps which may be mounted not lower than 15 inches nor higher than the maximum allowable vehicle height and as far forward as the rearmost portion of the driver’s seat in the rearmost position.

(d) When two stoplamps are required, at least one shall be mounted at the left and one at the right side, respectively, at the same level.

(e) (1) Stoplamps on vehicles manufactured on or after January 1, 1979, shall emit a red light. Stoplamps on vehicles manufactured before January 1, 1979, shall emit a red or yellow light.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to commercial motor vehicles, as defined in Section 15210 or 34500. Stoplamps on a commercial motor vehicle shall emit red light. A commercial motor vehicle shall not be equipped with an amber stoplamp, amber taillamp, or other amber lamp that is optically combined with a stoplamp or taillamp.

(f) All stoplamps shall be plainly visible and understandable from a distance of 300 feet from the rear of the vehicle both during normal sunlight and at nighttime, except that stoplamps on a vehicle of a size required to be equipped with clearance lamps shall be visible from a distance of 500 feet from the rear of the vehicle during those times.

(g) Stoplamps shall be activated upon application of the service (foot) brake and the hand control head for air, vacuum, or electric brakes. In addition, all stoplamps may be activated by a mechanical device designed to function only upon sudden release of the accelerator while the vehicle is in motion. Stoplamps on vehicles equipped with a manual transmission may be manually activated by a mechanical device when the vehicle is downshifted if the device is automatically rendered inoperative while the vehicle is accelerating.

(h) (1) Any vehicle may be equipped with supplemental stoplamps mounted to the rear of the rearmost portion of the driver’s seat in its rearmost position in addition to the lamps required to be mounted on the rear of the vehicle. Supplemental stoplamps installed after January 1, 1979, shall be red in color and mounted not lower than 15 inches above the roadway. The supplemental stoplamp on that side of a vehicle toward which a turn will be made may flash as part of the supplemental turn signal lamp.

(2) A supplemental stoplamp may be mounted inside the rear window of a vehicle, if it is mounted at the centerline of the vehicle and is constructed and mounted so as to prevent any light, other than a monitorial indicator emitted from the device, either direct or reflected, from being visible to the driver.

(i) Any supplemental stoplamp installed after January 1, 1987, shall comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 (49 C.F.R. 571.108). Any vehicle equipped with a stoplamp that complies with the federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable to that make and model vehicle shall conform to that applicable safety standard unless modified to comply with the federal motor vehicle safety standard designated in this subdivision.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 208, Sec. 17. (AB 2906) Effective January 1, 2017.)
(e) Stoplamps on vehicles manufactured on or after
January 1, 1979, shall emit a red light. Stoplamps on vehicles manufactured before January 1, 1979, shall emit a red or yellow light. All stoplamps shall be plainly visible and understandable from a distance of 300 feet to the rear both during normal sunlight and at nighttime, except that
stoplamps on a vehicle of a size required to be equipped with clearance lamps shall be visible from a distance of 500 feet during such times.

 

So often, your treatment by the cops depends upon your attitude.

 

My wife is very proud that she has never been pulled over by the cops. She also makes fun of me for racking up a few tickets from time to time. I told her on my death bed I doubt I will recall the tickets but I sure will recall the fun I had getting them.

 

Is that in the front grill?

 

I have run across smaller blue glass dash bezels w chrome or nickel surrounds. Found in boxes of stuff at estate sales. Think they were probably dash warning lights on early autos or boats or planes. I sold a few on eBay years ago.
I remember reading an article in some 70s rod magazine about a guy getting hassled by a local cop for blue dots. Htel:292603002070e bought a really cheap orange foam type sponge and cut out a 3/16" wide circle to fit over the blue dot lens. Then with a drop or two of elmers rubber cement, it would temporarily hold the piece of sponge on til he got out of town or to the rod run.
Rubber cement does not permanently adhere to glass.

 

Don't know much but I do want to set the record straight on blue dots and LED's. LED's come in a couple of colors. Most for tail lights go with the red LED.... red LED's will not shine through the blue dots. You must have white LED's in order to shine through the blue dot lens. Trust me on that. I have half white LED and half red in my 60 L Camino and the white is the only ones that shine. I'm ok with the mix. So I'm half legal in some states!

 

You can use LED's but they must be white bulb not red. Actually, a red LED the bulb is white but when turned on they shine red. So, LED's work fine but must be white bulb