RobMoore606 Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I was wondering if anyone knew just when reversing lights became standard on the spitfire.My car (1972 MKIV) has reversing lights in the rear clusters and although they do not work, I have traced the wiring to the engine bay where a green wire and a green brown wire not connected to anything I can light them up by conencting them together so at least I do know they will work. Haynes indicates that the reverse lamp switch is located on the gear box on the remote link yet when I took my gearbox cover out I am unable to find one anywhere.So either I have the wrong light fittings at the rear and they should not contain reverse lamps or I have an earlier gearbox without reverse lamp switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyb Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 all squaretail spits - ie. mk4 & 1500 had reversing lights as standard. It's possible your car has had a replacement box fitted some time in the past for an earlier model which did not have them - ie. Herald Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMoore606 Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 Cheers Mike, I had a feeling it was the gearbox that didn't belong. looks like its mk3 or herald.I have placed a switch on the dashboard so I can manually turn them on when reversing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyk5614 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 3472 wrote:Cheers Mike, I had a feeling it was the gearbox that didn't belong. looks like its mk3 or herald.I have placed a switch on the dashboard so I can manually turn them on when reversing.Switch is MOT legal but only if a tell tale light is fitted.My reversing lights don't work at all, but have in the past. Will I fail the MOT if I just say they aren't fitted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JensH Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Reverse light came with mk 3. You might have a gearbox (or just the cover) from a mk 1/2 gearbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodders1 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Reversing lights are not part of the MOT test schedule, unless they are retro-fitted with a manually operated switch when, as jonnyk5614 says, there must be a tell-tale. Basically, they must not be able to show a white light to the rear of the car unless the car is going backwards.My Spitfires reversing lights don't work properly - they come on as the gear lever is moved towards reverse, but then go off when reverse is actually selected. It's been like this for 5 years, but remains on the to-do list until I have to take the tunnel out for a more important job like replacing the clutch. The MOT man makes no comment on my non-functional reversing light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyb Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 although an early cover will bolt onto a later box and vice versa, there are some almost imperceptable differences in the selector mechanism that will result in you not being to select all the gears - ask me how I know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyb Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Easy way to tell - where is reverse and does it have synchro on 1st?Mk4 box was the same as herald/early spit etc. but with synchro on 1st gear. On all of them reverse is to the left of 1st except Spit 1500 where it is to the right of 3rd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire1500 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Just been looking at this thread and I'm quite tempted to leave my reverse lights alone and in their non-working state!Kind regards,David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMoore606 Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 Reverse is left of 1st and I have no idea if it is synchro or not, changes are smooth though.what is a tell tale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyb Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 if you change from second to first does it engage smoothly or does it crunch in with some resistance? If smooth, you have a 4 synchro (correct) box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMoore606 Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 never go to 1st unless im stationary but when i do it feels smooth and there are no crunches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMoore606 Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 this looks like mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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