I been Hot Roddin longer than most here. I have run Blue Dots on a lot of my cars,have them on my Track roadster right now. Too clear the air,they have been around for as long as i can remember. I have never been hasseled by a cop. I think its how ya drive in general that attracts a cops attention. Hell my ride right now probably has several infractions,but the cops always give me a thumbs up. If your driving like a fool it is just another "add-on" to a long ticket. Bottom line is , i like em........they are "Old School" .
Sorry guys! I spoke before doing my homework. Most states allow a blue dot in you taillight as long as it is no more than 1" in diameter, providing the vehicle is older than 25 years old. Some states that I looked up required the vehicle to be at least 40 years old. Motorcyles are allowed to have a blue dot regardless of year. Washington state applies to vehicles 40 years or older.
When we pulled into Goodguys in Des Moines last summer, the first thing I saw was a 37 chevy coupe with the decklid caved in. I asked the guy what happened and he said that he was rear-ended that day. I realized I needed to improve the visibility of the tail lights on my 38 coupe. So, I replaced the blue-dots with stock lenses, and used LED bulbs, and it brightened it up alot... the LED's are more concentrated light, but a smaller area. I may go back to conventional bulbs so the entire housing will be full of light. No more blue dots.
I don't personally like the blue dots... purple doesn't look better than red in my book... that said though, i'll black out lights like theres no tomorrow and don't care if it's legal or not. I love how black lenses look on most cars... safety is a concern, but never been rearended yet.... so i'll knock on wood!
Followed a buddy home late one night from a run in a rain storm. He was driving his '39 Ford with "Blue Dots." The purple glow got even worse being diffused by the rain. (seems to screw the judging of distance) I damn near climbed his rear end a couple of times. At a gas stop, we switched vehicles - he drove mine, and I drove his - the next day he "deep sixed" the Blue Dots. He said he never realized how hard his tail lights were to see with the blue dots.
irony in the safety issue? yeah... but our prefered cars don't have airbags either (hell, a lot of em don't even have bumpers when we're done!), my point was only that I understand it's not the safest choice, but that I'd do it anyway...
Just that you don't really care if black taillights are legal or too safe and you're looking for rear fenders for your back-half primered car. Not giving you a hard time-- I like the tinted look, I just saw a funny contrast in your post.
I think if you had tail lights 12" inches around, some people would still get rear-ended. Some folks just don't pay attention.
lol, give me a little time dude, i've owned that car for less than 2 months, just started ripping it apart for a frame off build! come look at it in 2 years and it'll be done sometimes ya gotta buy new sheetmetal when your starting from scratch...
If you look closely there is NO BLUE DOT in the remaining tail light. It had a pair of Blue Dots in it when I bought it ... and they were the first thing I changed. I remember back in the 50's walking in to the little Mom/Pop service stations and them always having a display of tail light lenses for sale ... with the Blue Dot already installed. They were along side the chrome ad on junk, fuzzy dice , naked lady necker knobs and curb feelers. The really fast/quick guys ( mostly the moonshiners ) would not be caught dead with that add-on stuff.
Sorry buts thats BULLsh#t. my HOTRODs had them long B4 lowriders hit the scene, All my rides have had them, blue dots are like white walls, a must!!!
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off"> I have 'em on my '46 Plymouth and have never had a problem with the law. As far as visibilty, the car has the two lights on the fenders and another light in the trunk. With the 12 volt system and bright bulbs, even the blue dots are plenty bright. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Life is short, don't just stand there - do something! </TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
... been running blue dots since the 1970's ... they have always been illegal here in California ... never ever been hassled for them (at least not until now that I posted this ) I think blue-dots are cool ... not trendy ... theyr'e not even in the same category as fuzzy dice, etc. ... then again, what do I know ... I still think cars aren't really finished until they have been painted!
My 60 Comet came with clear turn signal lenses, in the front bumper, from the factory. They were like that in 60/61 and went to amber in 62/63. We used to get hassled by the cops for blue dots, tag covers, tint, etc. ( 20-25 years ago ) when they were bored. Now the area has grown alot and thankfully they're too busy chasing scumbags to worry about the small stuff. A lot of the younger cops don't seem to know too much about those old laws anyway.
Yes, it can be done. I used a Technostalgia LED conversion kit, the type that uses an LED panel rather than just a bulb. They're much brighter than the bulb type. back to the mod for blue dot-What you have to do is add asecond lamp for the dot to make it work. I used an LED license plate bolt from the "tuner" aisle at the local AZ. Then I fabbed up a bracket and a light sheild (to keep the light colors separate) and mounted that inside my housing. I've got them wired so the blue dot only works with the brake/turn signal side of the circuit. They're not on when just the running lamp is on. Here's some pix of the conversion. http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2368955000092261295qrmCdN http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2739260370092261295Qaohye http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2752257200092261295eZVJHY
I lost my last blue dots in the tear drops, relpaced them with plain red and swapped the bulbs for small size dichroic house lights that run on 12 volt. The built in refector really punches out the brake light. Added a small regular park lamp in there for the tail, nice warm glow. Works great. As I've said before, sitting at lights, bright sun on the back of the car, screeching rubber sound....not good.
Show me one person FROM Florida that calls anything a "chalet" or refers to a wreck as "stacking"....That = Limey!
Just because I feel like it, tell me, why would moonshiners paint their wheels red and stand out? Here is the quote. The really fast/quick guys ( mostly the moonshiners ) would not be caught dead with that add-on stuff. I was mostly making a friendly razzing but I'm terrible at letting things drop. doh.
So the cop says to me "Those blue things in your taillights are illegal!" Says I "Why" Cop "Only snowplows can run blue lights, and you could be mistaken for a snowplow!" Hmmm, I look around its bright and sunny, 'bout 85 degrees, no snow and I'm driving a highboy roadster.... Take the talking to from the cop, promise to change them and leave . Didn't bother wasting my time to explain that bluedots are legal on early cars 'round these parts, have been for years... young fuzz!!! And thats my bluedot story!
I've been running them on lots of different cars and trucks since 79 or so. They were hard for me to get back then it seems like. I don't think they're legal here but I've never been stopped because of them. I think they look good at night. My old 50 had them and they look like they've been there a long time.
Ron Francis sells bright bulbs which are many times brighter than the standard 1157/1156's etc and won't melt your plastic lenses like some of the Chinese bright bulbs will. I've been running them in my Model A's Pontiac sequential taillights without any problems-though with seven bulbs it wasn't a cheap switch.
Because in these parts ... back when 40 Ford coupes where common ... RED rims were almost considered " Standard " And did not stand out
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