New SWB Taillights and Turn Signals from Porsche Classic

[Rick Cabell]

I think what Porsche Classic attempted to do was make a light assembly as close to original at a reasonable cost. If they set out to make it 99.9% correct to the original part, time and materials would probably have their units 2-3 times the cost. As far as the color of the front lacking the correct hue, I would assume the plastic color has changed on the NOS units that were made 30-40 years ago as they sit in their boxes. Maybe not...... For anyone to make a unit today 100% identical to original would be impossible. Just like dashes.

[Unobtanium-inc]

I think "in the business" the general rule of thumb for making a good repro is if you can spot differences without the repro being side by side with an original. If you can look at a good repro like these lights from Porsche classic and they look good until you compare them with an original you're missing the point. Unless you're planning on having double turn signals on your car. The whole point of a good repro is not to 100% replace the original, which may not even be possible with modern manufacturing methods, but to make a replacement that will look good on a car, not on a table next to an original, while holding a magnifying glass.

---Adam

[LiveFromNY]

I would assume the plastic color has changed on the NOS units that were made 30-40 years ago as they sit in their boxes. Maybe not......

Perhaps. But they've probably faded and gotten lighter if anything. We've all see what happens to the color of these lenses over time and they don't get darker.

For anyone to make a unit today 100% identical to original would be impossible. Just like dashes.

Have you seen Eric's H1's? Or his fog lights? Maybe not 100% but very close. Eric regularly turns out a reproduction product that can't be told from the original so it can be done.

[LiveFromNY]

I think "in the business" the general rule of thumb for making a good repro is if you can spot differences without the repro being side by side with an original. If you can look at a good repro like these lights from Porsche classic and they look good until you compare them with an original you're missing the point. Unless you're planning on having double turn signals on your car. The whole point of a good repro is not to 100% replace the original, which may not even be possible with modern manufacturing methods, but to make a replacement that will look good on a car, not on a table next to an original, while holding a magnifying glass.

I don't necessarily disagree with a lot of what you said. But let's keep in mind that much of the excitement regarding these new units was indeed about the tiniest of details, a 15mm BOSCH marking. And Porsche obviously disagrees with you or they wouldn't even attempt to recreate the tiny details like the vintage markings on the back of the housings.

I do agree that they're pretty good repros by your standards. I just think some of us have different standards than you and were hoping for more. I mean, from 5 feet away mounted on a car I can't tell the Porsche Classic orange bar hood badge from NOS. And they're certainly pretty. But they've been almost universally panned on these forums due to the details we can see with a magnifying glass.

No dog in the fight for me. I'm not a parts manufacturer or restorer. Just an enthusiast who cares about the little things and I'm not alone. As I said, if you're not one of us with the sickness, these lights will probably be just fine for you. I do want to test how they actually fit on a car but I'm traveling next week so that'll have to wait.

[LiveFromNY]

As this thread has taken a turn, maybe someone can rename it from "New Porsche Classic Catalog" to "New SWB Taillights and Turn Signals from Porsche Classic"?

Mods?

[Arne]

I don't have a SWB car, so my thoughts are probably academic. And I tend to be more in the "does it look good from 5 feet" camp, since parts like these on my cars will get all rock chipped and used up anyway.

So most of the criticisms here—while valid and accurate—wouldn't bother me. But most is not all. That pale amber color is a total turn-off for me. That is something that would bug me every time I looked at the car. Very disappointing.

That said...

If I did happen to need SWB lights, and not wanting to pay for NOS just to use out in the wild and beat them up, I'd still consider these, and weigh it against the quality of John's restored lights with repro lenses. Tough call.

[steve shea]

I just took an old junker lens and carefully filed the lettering off in one area leaving it fairly flat. I used a 6" hard chrome very fine file. Then used a progression of wet sanding finishing with 2000 grit, then hand polishing with Simichrome. I rushed this and could do a much better sand and polish but the results were great. No sign of the letters/numbers and very clear. So if you have to, a little elbow grease would be one solution to the unwanted areas.

[LiveFromNY]

I just took an old junker lens and carefully filed the lettering off in one area leaving it fairly flat. I used a 6" hard chrome very fine file. Then used a progression of wet sanding finishing with 2000 grit, then hand polishing with Simichrome. I rushed this and could do a much better sand and polish but the results were great. No sign of the letters/numbers and very clear. So if you have to, a little elbow grease would be one solution to the unwanted areas.

For the fronts for sure.

I may try this with one of the new PC units. It's won't be perfect because I don't think I can sand away the markings without also sanding away the oval that surrounds them and that oval, without the modern markings, is faintly present on original lenses. But now we're really getting into the weeds and probably too far down the rabbit hole. I can live without the empty oval.

Step 2 would be to remove the lenses, hope that I can remove the pumpkin lens color with some lacquer thinner (as you can with original LWB Euro lenses) and re-color them. I do have some lens paint that is much closer to the correct orange but you do lose some clarity by the time you get enough coats on to make the orange dark enough. I guess I need to decide how much I want to risk cracking a lens during removal and how much trouble I want to go to for a part that still won't be 100% correct.

[John Straub]

The color on the new ones kinda' looks like the faded 50+ year old ones I have on my '65. Just a thought.

John

[Jim Breazeale]

I think "in the business" the general rule of thumb for making a good repro is if you can spot differences without the repro being side by side with an original. If you can look at a good repro like these lights from Porsche classic and they look good until you compare them with an original you're missing the point. Unless you're planning on having double turn signals on your car. The whole point of a good repro is not to 100% replace the original, which may not even be possible with modern manufacturing methods, but to make a replacement that will look good on a car, not on a table next to an original, while holding a magnifying glass.

---Adam

Adam

As a person, formerly, "in the business" and still dabbling, and actually making repro parts, I respectfully disagree with your "rule of thumb". I can only speak for myself. I strive to make the best possible part and try and meet or exceed the quality of the original part. I don't think it is a good idea to speak for a industry that you are not part of and have no skin in the game. I don't think my standards are much different than others "in the business" Eric Linden, among others,come to mind.

Regards

Jim
PS: A shout out to Joris Koning