My car had mismatched headlight lenses. The right has a dimpled finish, and the left had vertical bars. See picture. Very obvious mismatch, and the first thing my wife pointed out to me about the car. I found a small stash of Mark IV parts someone was hawking on eBay, so bought the entire lot. It included one brand new headlight…with a different lens altogether. It has a dimpled finish with a 3-inch clear center section. So I’ve been on a quest to find a match for any one of my present lenses, or an entirely different pair, so mine are not mismatched. In the interim, last Friday I went to a local glass shop and had the guy cut me two clear 1/4-inch thick, 11 3/16-inch diameter plates. Today I opened up the left light to install the clear lens and to my surprise found TWO lenses in the light. The one with vertical bars was in front of a dimpled one, which matches the light on the right.
The only thing I can think of is when the RHD car was imported from NZ to the US in 1985, customs required the additional lens to deflect the light from blinding oncoming cars. I have no paperwork to back up this theory. Comments?
I have no theory for this anomaly, Rob. The vertical fluting refracts the beam a bit more left and right but it should be applied to both, if it is supposed to be effective. As far as I know, the P100s on the Mk IVs only had dimpled lenses with a clear centre bullseye. From your ultimate discovery, it looks like you have a matched pair with the bullseye so you should be dancing now.
I purchased new reproduction lenses from Genius of the Lamp in the UK many years ago and they were good copies except the dimpling was not as pronounced as the originals I have. My other car had an interesting solution. It had a conventional dimpled lens made from a generic dimple pattern with the centre bullseye cut out, and with plain clear glass over the top. The rims and reflectors can accommodate the extra thickness as you found out. This arrangement is barely noticeable from the outside and it has the advantage that a stone crack will probably only take out the plain layer.
Hey Peter, thanks for the info. I only have one of the dimpled lenses with the clear center. I have 2 with completely dimpled lenses, so that’s what’s now on it. If I can find another original one, I’ll change them out. Regards, George
My SS is fitted with lamps with the MkIV pattern of clear centre and frosted outer region. It’s a pity that you and I are an ocean apart because I need a pair of glasses with the vertical flutes to be correct.
The import theory I suppose is possible.
Mine has the standard UK dipping feature, the left one has a swivel and solenoid and dipped down and to the left, while also shutting off the right one. It came here to Iowa from England in about 1977, and they did not change it. I changed it so the left one dips straight down.
Hello George, the Mark IV car series came with a variety of headlamp arrangements, depending on year and destination market. Single and dual filament headlamps were utilized. Single, dual, or no dipping mechanical actions were utilized. Depending on your car and wiring diagram specification, the left and right hand headlamps and associated dipping may not be the same on each side. These variations could go some way to explaining why a second glass was in place in one headlamp on your car (for regulation or a practical decision).
