When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
my friend took the lenses off his 70 vert to change a burned bulb and the marking were from a 68 but the lenses were 70 is that right... I did not have the answer for him the car has never been hit and they are the original owners .... Can that be
If you are talking tail light lenses, I don't believe that would be possible as '68 and '70 lenses were not the same. If side markers, it's possible if they were of the same design; GM would continue to "use stock" until it was depleted; and production batches could become mixed.
P.S. Many tail light lenses have dates from the prior calendar year, as they are coded for manufacturing date, rather than model year date. But, two years back would be very unusual...unless they were of the same design.
A 68 uses 4 of the same lenses. The 69 used the same on the outboard rear lamp. As 7T1vette stated ' use until depleted' is probably the case. Does the other rear lamp have the same markings? If it is only one, maybe 1 got broke and a previous owner got a good price on the one, since it fit , it works. Over 47 years a lot has happened to our vettes. T
Somebody put 68 lenses in your friends 70. They are different.
For some reason, a wrong lens was installed by a previous owner. They may not have been able to find a 70 lens, or maybe they grabbed one at a swap meet, and didn't even realize it was the wrong one. The lenses are almost identical, so I can see how it could happen. The tail lamp housings they go into, are the same from 68-73 (except the 72-73's don't have the fiber optics fittings).
I've seen mismatched tail lamps in a lot of 68-73's, over the years. Most owners never even notice.
The top picture is the 68-69 tail lamp lens, the bottom is the 70-first design 71. Can you tell the difference? It's the lens pattern between the inner and outer stainless rings, between the screw holes.
68 and 70 out board rear lens are the same design, and Easy Mike is correct
No they're not.
The 68 red lenses are marked as Guide 68 and were used in all 4 tail lamp locations in 68. The same lens was used as the outer lamps in 69's.
The 69 back up lens is marked GUIDE 69, and was only ever used for the 69 inner, back up lamp.
70 tail and back up lamps are marked GUIDE 70, and were also used for part of 1971.
Second design 71 tail and back up lamps were marked GUIDE 71, and were used through the end of 73 production. These lamps are easy to distinguish from the 70-first design 71 lenses, as they have a dome shaped center, instead of coming to a point like the 70-71 lens.
The 68 red lenses are marked as Guide 68 and were used in all 4 tail lamp locations in 68. The same lens was used as the outer lamps in 69's.
The 69 back up lens is marked GUIDE 69, and was only ever used for the 69 inner, back up lamp.
70 tail and back up lamps are marked GUIDE 70, and were also used for part of 1971.
Second design 71 tail and back up lamps were marked GUIDE 71, and were used through the end of 73 production. These lamps are easy to distinguish from the 70-first design 71 lenses, as they have a dome shaped center, instead of coming to a point like the 70-71 lens.
yes they are, I did not say any thing about the backup lens,
68-70 have the point in the middle
yes they are, I did not say any thing about the backup lens,
68-70 have the point in the middle
I'm sorry, but they are not the same. The 68 and 70 red tail lamp lenses, are two different lenses.
Look at the two pictures in my previous post. They do both come to a point, but the reflective pattern molded into them is different, and the 68-69's say GUIDE 68 on them, the 70-71 says Guide 70.
They also carry different part numbers in the Corvette Parts Book. The 68 tail lamp lens is part number 5959891, while the 70 lamp is part number 5960551. Below is the page from the 1970 Corvette Parts Book, "Group 2.682 LENS, Tail Lamp" showing the two different tail lamp lenses. One for 68-69, and a second one for 70. The asterisk next to 70, indicates that it's a new part number and listing in that book.
I don't know if I'm misreading what you wrote, but Guide started making tail lights for Corvettes in 1953, FWIW.
The 53 Corvette did use lamps made by Guide, but GM had been using Guide lamps, long before they put them in Corvettes.
The Guide Lamp Co invented the electric automobile lamp. GM was one of their first customers in the teens, and acquired Guide in the 20's. GM divested themselves of Guide about 20 years ago, and Guide went out of business about 10 years ago. GM has been making their lamps in China for the last 15-20 years.
02-24-2017, 09:12 PM
68 rear lights in a 70
