By Karl (NZ)
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NOTE: The E-Series Owners Club and the writers of the articles take no responsibility for any damage or problems or grief that may be a result of following one of our articles. Make sure you know what you are doing, are confident and competent before commencing any activity. You do so at your own risk!
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Max Torque Tech
Fairlane Interior Light
This month in Max Torque Tech we’ll show you how to install the interior light found in the NF/NL Fairlane and DF/DL LTDs. These lights are lot more stylish then regular interior lights first found in the EA S Pac. They sport a clear lens which appears a lot classier then the frosted type lens. They have a wider light through for the front map lights and the interior light shines further forward compared to the regular. You won’t find this interior light in a Commodore!
If you can’t source one at the wreckers, here’s the part numbers to pick one up at your local Ford spare parts. There is three parts;
The mounting base - 94OA-13879-AA
The light housing - F17B-13776-ADW
And the lens - F17B-13783-AB
From the looks of it these interior lights have been sourced from an American vehicle by Ford Australia and they have adapted it to match the Falcon’s mounting plate. The regular light screws directly into the ceiling rail with four screws, whereas the Fairlane/LTD light featured here has a white plate which uses 3 different screws to secure the light to the plate.
If you source your parts from the wreckers make sure you get the mount plate and all the screws. The regular screws are different and cannot be used. Also make sure you get the wiring plug and a short section of the loom which is explained in more detail further on. So here’s how we put it in:
Step 1
Remove the normal interior light from your car. Pop the lens off by using a small flat head screwdriver on the rear. Under this you will see the 4 screws securing it to the ceiling rail. Remove these and you’ll be left with the light hanging from the wiring. Snip off the wiring from the light. There are 3 wires, 2 are green with a yellow trace and one is black with a blue trace.
Step 2
You need to modify the mount plate slightly to get a perfect fit. It will bolt in however the cutout in the roof lining for the regular light is different to the Fairlane/LTD roof lining. If you were to install it as is you will get a gap at the front of the light and you will see the mark where the old light used to sit as seen below.
So with your trusty Super Works grinder purchased from Super Cheap Auto for a grand total of 99c you will need to grind the following parts
On the top there are 2 side tabs and 2 rear tabs as shown in the picture with arrows. Both rear tabs need to be taken right off. The side tabs need to be taken back about 10mm. It doesn’t matter how much comes off the side as these are simply locating tabs.
Step 3
Turn the mounting plate over and using the old interior light mark some points to drill the new screw holes. The holes in the old light base are the right spacing so it is perfect to use as a template.
With the points marked drill the 4 new screw holes roughly the same size as the old ones. You will need to grind off the raised bit at the edge of the 2 rear holes as shown in the next picture. This is to ensure the screws sit flat.
Step 4
Now with the plug and section of loom you have you will see there is 3 wires. One is green/yellow, one is black/blue and the other is black. Join the green/yellow wire to one of the green/ yellow wires that is coming from the ceiling in your car. Tape the other one up, it isn’t needed. Join the black/blue to the black/blue that comes from the ceiling. You will be left with one black on the Fairlane light plug. Put a terminal on it and it will be earthed to one of the mount screws. I didn’t have a terminal so I made a loop and did it that way.
Step 5
Time to screw the light housing on! There is only 3 screws needed here and it’s pretty straight forward. Screw locations are as shown:
And with that, clip on the lens and it is done! Enjoy!
Karl (NZ)
