Well now that I've got the Sambar I thought I'd install those Libero lights I bought on ebay from Germany If you don't know the Libero is a LHD German market Sambar with a 1L motor. I think it only can as a van. Being LHD the lens pattern is right for our roads but that is about the only thing. You can sort of see it in this pic, the LHD lamp is on the left. It's hard to see in the pic but it definitely is different. The bolt patterns are different slightly and the Libero has an adjustable beam pattern that has an actuator arm coming out of the back of the light units that needs to be immobilized and shortened to fit in the Sambars light buckets. The libero you can adjust the beam height form inside the cab while driving, that way if you have a heavy load you don't blind oncoming drivers. inside he unit is a reflector that is aimed up and down by the actuator. The lhd light again is on the left and the Sambar light on the right. I used the green timmerman to immobilize the actuator then I cut it off above the timmerman clip. Here's a pic of the light pattern where then left beam is still the RHD unit and the right is the LHD one. One angry beam pattern! Here's what the beam pattern should look like on our roads... actually the left beam is a bit low but at least the darts are pointing the right way. I didn't do a step by step of the job because I didn't want you to think I actually know what I am doing. All in all I think anyone who is mechanically inclined could do this swap no problem. I'm sure oncoming drivers in the country will thank me for it. I hope you enjoyed! Tom.
I also got to thinking last night that I may lockwire the reflector in place so it doesn't move or aim down if I hit a hard bump. I noticed that even with the arm immobilized the reflector still moved around a bit if you pushed it with your finger. Something I'll have to try at any rate.
What I ended up doing was putting a bit of lock wire around the plug for the bulb and attached that around the one side of the frame where the black weather guard bolts to the truck. It took a bit of fiddling to get the length right but that way I didn't have to compromise the rubber seal on the back of the lights or drill any holes in anything. What was happening to me on the left hand light was the black weather guard that bolts to the truck was pushing the light forward when i tightened it down, screwing up my beam pattern. The lock wire just held it right back so it won't push forward when tightened down. Now my beam pattern is even and not too low or high, and correct for our roads!!
Thats pretty cool. I assume they pass inspection? What exactly are they looking for in the inspection (Headlight wise). Are the Libero lights hard to find?
The libero lights are real hard to get. I hunted ebay.de for a year before I could get a set shipped here from Germany. We don't really have a problem here in Ontario with the stock sambar lights passing inspection like they do in BC and elsewhere but these would pass inspection there I'm pretty sure. They are E3 which is the European DOT and meet the same standard. In BC, I'm pretty sure from what I've read here, that they want DOT lights only. The difference between these and the Sambar ones is that they direct light to the right shoulder and up and not to the left and up. The UP part of the beam is so you can read road signs clearly. They do this by having different patterns molded in the glass lens so it can't be adjusted out. In the city it is not much of an issue because of all the back ground light from the street lights but in the country the Sambar lights can be quite blinding to oncoming traffic on the backroads. I live in the country so I wanted to be a good neighbor.
mine were easy the dealer pulled the old rounds out and put dot roundas in the town's dump truck from the same dealer had the molded lights removed and a black metal piece of sheet metal installed with rectangle dot lights mounted in looks good and unless ur right up on it and know what it should look like it appears to be factory not sure if i got pix of the headlights when i posted pix of the town truck or not
I'd like to see that. Originally I was looking for a 92 round eye but I couldn't pass up a 24000km 93. I like the looks of the 92 better and of course there is the lights like you said, I had considered that, but man I love my truck. It's a real gem! Now lets see if I can keep it up!LOL
How bad was the bolt pattern difference, wainair? Did you have to do much drilling / large-washer-ing? Would you do anything different if you were starting from scratch? I'm just about to buy a set of Libero lights for my Domingo, and the seller is reminding me to buy the headlight leveling servo motors. There's no point in that, is there? I'd have nowhere to install them.
It wasn't too bad, just one hole to drill each side. I used the headlight to mark the spot and I drilled it out pretty easy, I did touch the hole up with a little rust paint and after that dried a bit of grease for added rust fighting power. If you are brave, good with electrics, and fab-ing mounting brackets you could try rigging the auto-levelers. Not having units myself I really didn't have the option. Subaru probably didn't put the mounts in there in your Domingo. They are not the type of company to put in something unless it was necessary for that exact model of vehicle. You could check though, you never know. It might be cool to have them. You wouldn't have to bastard fix the bulbs with lock wire then! It's worked fine for me but it really is a half-assed fix. I did have to take apart some of the vent ducting to get at all the bolts but you'll see when you get in there. There will be differences in the Domingo anyways. My only advice is take your time and have fun! Good Luck!!
OK, weather's warm enough to work outside, finally got around to looking at my E-code headlights. So from what I can see, the Libero's headlight reflector tilts freely up and down, and the only thing that can hold it still is the actuator arm. The rubber boot covering the bulb will tend to pull it towards level, but that's not really secure. The horizontal aiming bolt is still there, however not at the 'special' driver-side location that clears the steering mechanism. The ideal to my mind would be to thread the actuator arm, full length drill holes in the body install lights with actuators sticking thru cab put some kind of a wingnut on the actuator (a magical one that can both push the arm in and pull it out) then be able to level the headlights from inside the cockpit (manually) A second possibility would be to chop the actuator arm really short don't drill holes in the body somehow wedge the actuator in place (maybe using the screw-down actuator sealing cap?) install lights, test if they're level take headlights off, adjust actuator arm, repeat until level Mechanical-minded people, any better way you can think of?
ah "E-Code" was just wondering about that seeing your working on them again. gonna have before and afters?
OK, that wasn't that bad! I ended up solving the vertical actuator problem by cutting a M5 thread the whole length of it, then embedding a nut in the little nylon insert using sugru, a castable silicone product. Then, with a wingnut on the end (or two jammed nuts) the headlight trim is adjustable with a simple twist! I had to drill two holes on the left headlight socket (one for the headlight mount, one for the actuator arm), and one hole on the right side (for the actuator arm). I made a paper template to transfer the spacing from headlight to car. The un-used left side hole can be plugged with sugru (a good product!). Primed some of the bare metal, then scraped most of it off trying to get the lights to fit. One problem is that the right headlight is mounted right up against the ECU! I had to hack away some of the actuator arm on the right side.
A little snug on the right side, but everything's neat and tidy in the car! The new headlight trim. BC compliance, here I come.
E-codes are admissable for LHD countries. It has been proven that the ECE code is meets or exceeds all DOT requirements and will pass inspection. For taillights it has alsobeen proven that JIS standards meet or exceed DOT, yet I have heard Manitoba wants DOT. I talked to the head cheese of turd mountain there and he was not aware of the JIS / DOT study (which was done by ICBC I think, or likely a third party for ICBC) Pajero's and Delicas we put ECE lights in and pass inspection. But yeah, Ontario doesn't seem to care. The biggest problem is the inconsistency. Even within the same governing body, the rules change from day to day depending on who you talk to and what the weather is like. Recently someone took a Fairlady (RHD Nissan 300ZX) to the local Ford dealer for compliance. The Ford dealer said "It wont pass, its RHD. RHD is not allowed" ...Morons
Hello from Sweden. I have unusual E12 produced in Japan and Electric vehicle converted in Finland, finally battery converted and in daily use here in Sweden. Here is the beauty: http://www.evalbum.com/3811 I wonder if anyone can help me found damaged turn signal / parking light. Unfortunately the car was mishandled by first owner. Those cars are not sold in Sweden… any tips is highly appreciated! Thanks!
Dadimir, that is great! Everyone always asks me if my van is electric... good to know there really is one out there! Your best bet for finding lights is German Ebay. You can buy a beat-up Libero for a few hundred euros, and people are selling parts too.
Thanks for tips about German Ebay, I have already items setup on alert. German car site is also very good as well: MOBILE.DE , but sometimes it is important to get things done ASAP… and just today I got a good offer for the pair of blinks from Germany… There are a total of 350 Subaru E12 converted to EV in Finland:ELCAT This type of car is a perfect donor to be converted to electric vehicle. Just last year our savings on fuel were 2500EUR (3800USD)… but that is another story. Thanks anyway, cheers from cold Sweden!
