65 New Yorker rear lights: inner red glass domes turning yellow

XenonJohn

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Hi,
As I live in the UK I am working out the best way to create yellow flashing turn signals as red ones are not OK here. I have the one-year only 1965 clear rear lenses, which have the inner red glass domes covering the bulbs. However, I have noticed that my standard red domes are more orange than red and when you look closely, they seem to be red around the sides but almost yellow at their centers. Is this a recognised issue with age on these lamps? You might be able to see what I mean from the photo.
Were the domes painted or stained with something at the factory that degrades or falls off over time? I could perhaps tint them back to red with some special paint or maybe remove them altogether and fit red bulbs......with yellow bulbs wherever I choose to have my turn signals.
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The clear lense package for 65's are rare pieces and do not recommend altering the lenses at all.
Try using Switchback dual color LED bulbs.
They are available in white/amber.
With the park lights on, the white portion of bulb filters through the red factory lense.
With the turnsignal activated they switch to amber color.
Hope this helps
LED Lights, Bulbs & LED Lighting Accessories | superbrightleds.com
Another recommendation is convert the reverse lamps to amber turn signals and use 66 or 67 Chrysler reverse lamps in the rear bumper.
Doing this conversion can be simple,and look "factory" with minimal rewiring.

Hope this helps.
 
Interestingly two of the red glass domes are completely red and the other two are red around the sides, turning yellow at the top of the dome. As you say the clear plastic outer lenses are ultra-fragile and have to be handled with great care. One of mine was totally shattered and held together with clear tape. I managed to get hold of a reasonable replacement which was a stroke of luck, I am aware they are very rare.
 
Over time, heat and the exposure to light or sunlight will gradually "yellow" the red. There is a product used by plastic model builders to imitate tail lights. I have used on see through plastic trim pieces with very good success. I have not used it in years, and have no product information to share. It came in a small bottle suitable for brushing. I am unsure if a spray can exists. I purchased it at a hobby shop, on their recommendation.
 
testors used to make a stop light red. if you could find a transparent candy red spray, that might be ideal.
 
Interestingly the one replacement light cluster I managed to find, that looks exactly the same from the back of the car, i.e. clear lenses, has one double filament bulb with the red glass dome over it, and one single filament bulb for the backup light. On my car, on each side, there are two double filament bulbs with 2 red glass domes, and one single filament bulb for the backup light. The plastic parts are all clear, not red as on later models.
So,
I can remove the outer of the two red glass domes on each side, replace the outer twin-contact bulb holders on each side with single-contact backup light holders, fit amber single filament bulbs into them (which are available) and with some wiring changes I should then get, running from centre of car outwards: Clear backup bulb / twin filament bulb for stop and tail with red glass dome over it / amber bulb which flashing as a turn signal.
All this is reversible, just involves unclipping things and using a screwdriver. Not making any physical changes to any of the component parts.
 
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