Since I have to have the turn signals visible from the side, about the only place I can do that is on either side of the nose. Anybody whose view is more than 20" above ground level should be able to see them, so it makes sense for me to make them do double duty as side markers. If I were using clamshell fenders, I'd simply have put those teardrop-shaped combination signals/markers on top of the fenders (
á la Lotus) and been done with it.
Now, I actually own a copy of the full government vehicle inspections manual for my jurisdiction. Well, I
did own one, but it's currently "unavailable" (lent out, misplaced by the borrower, and not seen by him for the past several years). It is literally the "bible" for vehicle standards and inspections in this province, but I can't refer to it. Those manuals can't be obtained by anyone who isn't a currently-government-certified vehicle inspector, which I was (among other things) before I retired (I was a police collision analyst & reconstructionist for the last 15 years of so of my career).
Every detail of every standard to which we must adhere was in the manual (it was about 1,000 pages, in a huge binder). Things such as maximum inset from the longitudinal sides for mounting lights, range of permissible light emitter heights above ground, acceptable candlepower ranges for bulbs, foreign lamp types acceptable, etc. etc. were all in there. Unfortunately, the standards can't even be viewed online.
So, I'm having to go strictly by what I remember! When in doubt, I'm taking measurements from commercially produced cars as references. At least if I'm asked, I can point out other vehicles I've referred to.
I don't know about other jurisdictions, but here in BC, Canada, vehicle inspectors have an enormous amount of leeway in their application of the standards. It can range everywhere from the inspector simply checking that all the signals, brakes, lights, steering etc. work & the frame and alignment look good, all the way up to demands for working, professionally engineered ABS, airbags, electronic stability control etc. installed & certified.
Don't get me wrong - I don't want the car passed if it's unsafe in any way (overlooking the obvious constraints of the basic design of a Locost, of course!), but it's impossible for a home builder to meet all of the
possible standards - even many (most?) production cars don't meet them
all.
It's all about finding the right balance in an inspection facility, where common sense still exists & genuine "car guys", with 10W-30 for blood, run the show. Hopefully, the place I've found fits the bill. They certainly sound that way - I showed them pics of my build so far, and they were very excited about doing it. They even said they'd inspected two Cater...ms in the past few months, and they loved 'em.
Sorry - short story made long, but the point is that I'm trying my darndest to make sure I meet every standard I reasonably can, and placement & design of lighting are instantly visible to anyone looking at the car, so it's best they look correct at the start.
If need be, I can add extra side marker lamps, as horchoha has done, but I'm trying to avoid extra lights & extra wiring if I can get existing ones to perform all the required functions.
These are the front lights I got. They're very small, but quite bright. The globes & filaments of the bulbs inside actually extend out into the inside of the lens, so the lamps emit light well over 180 degrees. Eventually, I'll be converting them to LED bulbs, like the rest of the car will be but, currently, aftermarket LED bulbs are not approved in BC, so that will have to wait.
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Scratch building, at continental-drift speed, a custom McSoreley-design framed, dual-Weber 45DCOE carburated, Zetec-engined, ridiculously fast money pit.
http://zetec7.webs.com/