American Imported 1968 Cougar MOT Requirements

montydick

New user
Nov 9, 2020
3
1
London
I recently imported a 1968 Mercury Cougar and the DVLA needs an MOT for a fresh import.

My mechanic has enquired with a couple of MOT stations he uses and they both say the indicators at the back need to be orange, the car needs to have fog lights ect.

I don’t believe that is correct, I thought any pre 1974 car didn’t need those kinds of modification if the original equipment was working properly.

Anyone know or have any experience?

Many thanks,

Andy
 
I'm sure you don't need foglamps fitted at all at that age, regardless it's a fresh import.
Jealous much ;)
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Do you have the reversing lamps below the bumper?
Be careful how you rewire it - try to allow return to original; do away with the reversing lights and fit amber bulbs connected to the indicator feed.
When I say be careful, the red taillights may be quite complicated, multifunction rear light, brake light and indicator. It might be preferable to feed the amber bulbs from the feed to the front indicators. It might also be necessary to disconnect the feed to the red indicators at the stalk switch.
That's all if you can't find a more sympathetic MOT tester. Look for a long-established rural independent rather than a fast-fit or similar chain.
When I had a 1989 Thunderbird, the indicators had been fitted in the reversing lamps - I didn't like that as they were just either side of the number plate. So I patched a pair of Ford wing repeaters into the taillight, and had to use a 20W halogen bulb in place of the T10 which are only 5W, but it looked OK. You would also think that the legislation calls for wing repeaters - it really doesn't, for the relevant years it's sufficient that the front indicators wrap around the corner and light to the sides too (post around 1979).
 
I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

I contacted a company who specialises in imports, (to bring a '69 Pontiac GTO to the UK) and it seems that if the vehicle is older than ten years and was not type-approved in the UK originally, it must still be altered to be compliant - in both lighting and emissions - even though it will not require further annual inspections because of its age.

Rather than altering the rear light cluster, the solution seems to be to just knuckle down and fit aftermarket, stick-on amber lights spidered into the indicator looms. You could of course remove them later I guess, since nobody is going to check.
 
Had a look around eg. DVSA website, couldn't find anything definitive (helpful, unambiguous).
Rear fogs weren't compulsory on UK cars until late 1970s IIRC (someone mentions April 1980), so shouldn't be mandatory on a classic import.

However, this thread from a UK Mustang forum, mentions 1965 for mandatory amber indicators.
Again, satisfy the registration requirements then make your own choice.
 
None of it makes any sense. Or at least it's not consistent.

I have a friend with a '79 Cougar XR-7 and he says that he has to have it tested annually. I never asked him exactly what the test involves but he did say that emissions were checked. Apparently, he has to detune the engine to the point that it will move under it's own power to get on the test ramp, but is otherwise undriveable. Er, more than it usually is, anyway.

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I would guess the actual reverse bulb is a 1157 or 1156 bulb or similar. Find an LED bulb that has white and yellow as colors get a socket that fits your housing. Wire the white part of the bulb as reverse lights and the yellow part of the bulb as the turn signals. You should be able to splice into the rear turn signal wires without to much problem.

I would use the bulbs Tony already listed in his post I appearently didnt read [emoji16]
 
In fairness, your suggestion is absolutely what I would do for the rear, Dan. That's really clever, using the reverse lens as an indicator too!

The lights that Tony suggested are interesting for the front though. I'm thinking that you could wire them up as additional sidelights, (which lord knows the C1 units need) but also have them for their original purpose as indicators!

Tony, before I pull the trigger, do you think they can be used like that?
 
...You should be able to splice into the rear turn signal wires without to much problem.
Except that also carries the stop/brake lamp signal.
I used the high-level brake light feed for all three brake lights, and severed the link from the brake pedal switch to indicator stalk, so I could use the rear indicator wiring; as the 1968 Cougar probably doesn't have the high-level brakelight is why I suggest wiring from the front indicators.