74 Tail Light Placement

My tail lights look like something... well I don't know, just twisted. The guy before put, what looks to me, YJ tailights with the bottom cut out of the pass. side to do the wiring. I've seen some 5s with round tail lights and some with square. What was the standard for the 74? :?

Here's what the Driver's Side looks like:

Sorry I don't have an up-close shot the pass side just this back one:

I know.. rust. Besides the tail lights themselves, does the placement look ok? He put them on with 2 rust loose screws.

 

I believe they were origionally mounted higher on the body and were round. A PO had replaced mine as well with the YJ style square lights.

This is the night I brought it home.



This is the best pic I have of the lights after it was running. I had to replace them because they were corroded to the point the lights no longer worked.

 

Yeah, I've seen them so many ways I'm not sure what was stock anymore. All the round ones mounted flush w/ the fenders, I've seen on 71 and older.

 

On my 73 they are round and higher, above the gas cap area

 

Are they level with the fenders or do they stick out?

 

If you head to my website:

http://members.shaw.ca/karl.norrena

There are some butt end shots of my '74. It is all original - I have documentation dating from almost its birth. The taillights are round and mount to ring that is about 3/8 tall that appears to be spot welded to the rear quarter. There are no holes in the taillight housing except a lense on the bottom of the drivers side that is supposed to light up the license plate and the light socket.

Karl

 

Cool, so his are in the right place. Mine are mounted where the backup lights should be.

 

iamgeer, your '74 looks exactly the same as my '75, which looks exactly the same as my buddies '74! But ours aren't spot welded - there are two bolts that go through the body which hold the lights in place. The smaller diameter replacement taillights from Omix-Ada will fit the existing mounting holes.

So yes CJ5StayingAlive , your taillights are in the correct place but aren't the original style. And it looks like your backup lights are missing too! Better keep it in the forward gears

 

Karl's light placement and taillights are correct from what I can see in the pictures. IIRC there are 3 holes in the body for the lights; one for the wires, and two for the threaded studs that stick out from the taillight housing. Those taillights are hard to find. They are the "last round taillight" seen on this page: http://www.film.queensu.ca/CJ3B/Dating/Taillights.html

BTW the low placement is unfortunate becasue it's (comparatively) easy to smash 'em.

 

My 74 tail lights are just like iamgeer, except mine are flush mounted.

By the way, I like your dash gauge arrangement.

 

Thanks guys! Good to know that I don't at least have holes in the wrong spot! LOL It's easier to put more in than take them out. So the round brake lights are NOT flush and thus stick out a bit. Now the reverse lights... those look like they are flush. Anyone have the measurements from how far down on the fender and how far across they go? I'll just get my local body shop to drill the hole, and I can wire the sucka up.

- J.

P.S. Thanks jrh0558! Now if I can get them all working it will be even better! LOL

 

The tailights on IAMGEER are stock, however they are not welded. Like the other guys said there are 3 holes 1 for the wire and 2 for 2 studes that mount them to the body. The backup lights are not flush mounted. Here is a rule of thumb: Jeep NEVER mounted any light flush with the body. The reason I say this is when one looks on EBay you see several CJ's like this but it is not stock. The B/U lights on IAMGEER also appear to be stock. The B/U lights are available from 4WD hardware however the taillights GOOD LUCK. If you do find someone that reproduces them let me know. I'm sorry I don't have the measurements for you. Their should be existing holes in the body though if it is original.

 

The round lights are stock on my 73 also. Does anybody know where to get replacement lenses for the lights?

 

Those lights and the mounting location and holes are also stock on the 1971 model and some late model 1970 models.

 

Just a maybe dumb thought... I don't have the original tail lights on my 73. The holes are there and I still have the B/U lights. Anyhow I was in the junkyard the other day and noticed a postal Jeep, a 72, it had 3 screw lenses on simalr shaped buckets or cans. However they were mounted flush or recessed. They appeared to have the proper shape but were too rusty to use. But if they were the correct dimensions one could easily spot weld mounting bolts to the inside back of them. Another dumb thought how about the front park/turn signal lights? Do they have the proper shaped and dimentioned can. Like I said I don't have any original tail lights to compare to so I could be totally wrong on this hunch.

 

74 model tail lamp & B/UP lamp placement as follows:

Top of the B/UP lamp is 3 & 1/2 inches from the top of the panel. As far as RT or LT they are centered directly over the round t/lamp. Also note the round tail lamps are NOT flush mounted. The lamp housing mounts directly to the panel.

 

I believe the M38 military Jeeps had flush mounted tailights, just not any CJ's, right?