What I thought was a direct replacement wasn't... Help!
 

I just got my 87-93 LX tailight lenses in the mail. I prefer the LX tailights to the GT ones. I have an 85 GT and I thought that the switch would be a direct fit. I get them in the mail and they don't fit. Did I get misinformed about this. Does anyone have any ideas about what i can do. Do I need to go get a set of the housings also. I didn't want to because I thought you could just trade lenses. Its cheaper that way anyway.

you need the black housings that bolt to the car..if it was you that asked a q' about this b4 i made sure i made that point..the 85's have the balck section by the plate right?either way if they dont stick right on then you do the the matching 87-93 housings

Don't the 85GT's have the tail lights that look like the 93Cobra's except they dont have the horizontal black lines?
If so, im sure you can find someone that wants them and trade them the whole assembly. Alot of people will take the lens and paint the black lines on to look like cobra tail lights.

thats right they look like the 93 cobra's. They are in good shape except for that horizontal line. It has a grey horizontal stripe. The paint is worn looking. Thats an easy fix though.

Heck, I'd trade you by mail, but I need mine in all the time as it is my only mode of transportation and I couldn't have them out while waiting on yours to get here.

I'll ask a friend if he'd like to trade, I think he was wanting a pair of them. And his car is down for the winter so it wouldnt matter them being out for a little while...

My mustang is not my only means of transportation. If you are interested in trading I can send them out and then you could send me yours. If you are interested let me know. I can take some pictures this afternoon and post them for you. Then you can decide if you want to trade or not.

sounds good to me.

are they still attached to the housing or have you taken them off already?

I took one of the old lenses off to put the lx lens on. The housings are still on the car. If you are interested I'll take them off and photo them too. I don't mind if you are interested. I never miss an opportunity to take the car apart.

Uh-oh....... fiveohpatrol or 7000rpmisheaven I'm hoping one of you can help me out. I just purchased a set of 85 tail-lights off of eBay and they should be arriving any day now. The taillights had some lines painted(?) on them so they look exactly like the 93 Cobras. They are pretty sweet looking, but now it sounds like they won't be a direct replacement for my 89 LX lenses. Any advice you can offer?

Thanks

Yes I am interseted lets see some pics.

89 Cobra LX, did you just buy the lens's? if so you'll need the housings as well. I think 84,84,86 are all the same, but dont quote me on that

same problem
 

It sounds like you have the same problem as I do. You are going to need a set of 85 taillight housings and I need a set of 87-93 housings. I wouldn't mind trading. I'm not looking to make a profit from anyone at MW. This may be a better deal for 89 cobra than it is for fiveohpatrol. Since 89 cobra only needs the housings and my lenses are not in perfect condition. But I'll post the pics this afternoon and we can discuss it then.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was just the lenses. I'll know for sure when they show up. Damn!

If you and 7000rpmisheaven don't work something out I may be interested in those housings.;)

???
 

Well, I emailed the guy that I got the housings from and he advised me that any housing from 85 on would work. I'm not real sure what I'm going to need. I'll keep an eye on this thread for the next few days and let you guys know what I need when the lenses come in.

i dont know if this will help but i have 85 tail lenses installed on a 92 lx and all i did was pop off the old lenses and poped on the 85s i did not swap the whole housing they were an exact fit

werent the 85 lenses already very similar to the later model LX lenses?

Why are you changing to the same thing?

Actually, the 85 lenses are very similar to the 93 Cobra lenses. Much crisper looking IMO.

chatcher is absolutely right, they are a DIRECT fit. I just cut off the sealant sealing the lens to the my original '84 lights and put some '90 GT lights on. It was a straight swap. If you look at my '84 LX link in my signature you'll see that i got later model lenses to work on my car. the '79-'82 lenses i believe are the type that are different than the '83+ lenses. LX's and GT's from '83 to '84 i believe had the black stripe in the middle and '85 or maybe '86 and up are the solid LX type on both GT's and LX's. In '87 the GT's got the louvred style lights until '93 and the LX's got the plain blocky type from '87 to '93. The cobras got the '83, '84 (not sure about '85 or '86) style tail lights that look ALOT like the cobras except without the 2 extra mini stripes to the top and bottom of the large black stripe accross the lenses.
basically anything from '83+ should be direct swaps because all of the tail lenses are in the same place.

They fit after all
 

I took the sealant out and it fits. I learned something new. I am releived that I don't have to get new housings. I was told that it was a direct replacement. When I saw that the LX lenses are not as tall as the 85 GT ones I freaked and thought they didn't fit. O well. I guess i won't have to trade with anyone. If anyone is still interested in my old 85 ones let me now(one small crack, otherwise crack and scrape free).