Smoked Rear Lights

N

ow I don’t like it when Ka Klub members change their Ka for another car, although there is some tiny compensation: sometimes, they sell on some of their modified parts. So when of the Ka Klub members announced she was trading in her Ka, and was selling her smoked rear lights at a steep discount, it would have been churlish to refuse!

It also gave me the opportunity to buy something for the Ka that doesn’t require the following of difficult instructions, or them to be painted or sprayed. Replacing the Ka’s rear lights has been purposely made easy by Ford - easily replaceable parts helps keep the insurance down.

The difference is quite subtle, unless you know your Kas.

To replace a rear light cluster, first you must unscrew and remove the rear trim. When this has been done, you can see the rear lamp cluster, which is held on to the back of the Ka by three bolts.

Unscrew the bolts, and carefully retract the light cluster assembly from the back of the Ka.

Now for Kermit, I decided to use the original lights, rather than replace these only to discover that a bulb didn’t work, so unclip the light assembly and separate the lens from the bulbs.

Then, carefully put the new rear lens surround back over the bulbs, and lock it into place.

Finally, put the entire light assembly back into the hole, tighten the bolts back up, and replace the trim.

This shot was taken during the operation – see, there is a difference!

Important Note About Dark Rear Lights

If you want to use dark rear lights, you must ensure you use the proper light darkening paint and not conventional paint.

This is because conventional paint dims everything whereas proper light paint only darkens it until it is being illuminated from within.

Too dark a rear light will eventually result in somebody running into the back of you!