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General Converting to Spanish Plates

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General Converting to Spanish Plates

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akandrew

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Hola! I have recently bought a beautiful Barchetta out in Spain. It is currently registered on UK plates so I am in the process of changing to Spanish ones. One of the requirements is that the headlight beams are directed to the right (and not left). My mechanic has informed me that you cannot simply change the direction and that I must buy new lights. I have a feeling that this may not be true and that my mechanic is pulling a fast one.

Does anyone know?

Thanks a million! :)
 
akandrew said:
Hola! I have recently bought a beautiful Barchetta out in Spain. It is currently registered on UK plates so I am in the process of changing to Spanish ones. One of the requirements is that the headlight beams are directed to the right (and not left). My mechanic has informed me that you cannot simply change the direction and that I must buy new lights. I have a feeling that this may not be true and that my mechanic is pulling a fast one.

Does anyone know?

Thanks a million! :)
Click to expand...

I am afraid that your mechanic is right - you will need to convert to new headlamps, you cannot change the projection of your lights........

Some of the guys on the forum have converted from right projection to left - you may find someone here has a set in their garage they are willing to trade.........
 
Prior posts on this forum which've covered this subject in much detail suggest it's fairly simple to refocus the lights correctly after removing them and reversing a "bracket". One person had coverted twice after moving back & forth in Europe and the 'Specialists' DTR or whomever will chg £100 or so to convert your originals without renewing them. So I for one would investigate further in the archives before shelling out.
 
-I've just scoured a prior posting and found this relevant one-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hi, errr this is actually quite easy to do, and ive done it twice!!! bugger.
first i moved from germany to england, then england to sweden thats why i did it twice. You will need to remove both headlamp units, a space alien or capuchin monkey is hand to access the bolts (otherwise you need to take the bumper off, or have lots of extensions for access.
Be gentle on removal cos this can chip the paint around the headlamps.
You will notice in front of the headlamp is a metal plate shaped like ___/ except the ramp is not so steep as i have typed. This has to be reversed. choose your way to do this, i filed mine down and then riveted a new plate for the ramp bit, but use metal cos it has to cope with the heat!!
The main thing to do is measure (or better still make a cardboard template) of the ramp before you cut it down (duh!). then flip it around , balanced on the centre axis of the bulb.

This got me through the uk mot and swedish bilprovningen so it defo works. ben
 
OI CASA!! Copyright,copyright!!!:D

I see you are still using my pic of your B from my bedroom window as your avatar!!:D :D

Actually, dont change it matey..........I still like to look at it!!
 
Hey thanks a lot for your advice, I will contact DTR. Just so sick of being ripped off by mechanics. Being female doesn't help!

Thanks again
 
CasaPaulo said:
-I've just scoured a prior posting and found this relevant one-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hi, errr this is actually quite easy to do, and ive done it twice!!! bugger.
first i moved from germany to england, then england to sweden thats why i did it twice. You will need to remove both headlamp units, a space alien or capuchin monkey is hand to access the bolts (otherwise you need to take the bumper off, or have lots of extensions for access.
Be gentle on removal cos this can chip the paint around the headlamps.
You will notice in front of the headlamp is a metal plate shaped like ___/ except the ramp is not so steep as i have typed. This has to be reversed. choose your way to do this, i filed mine down and then riveted a new plate for the ramp bit, but use metal cos it has to cope with the heat!!
The main thing to do is measure (or better still make a cardboard template) of the ramp before you cut it down (duh!). then flip it around , balanced on the centre axis of the bulb.

This got me through the uk mot and swedish bilprovningen so it defo works. ben
Click to expand...
I'll have to get my mechanic on the case - thanks for finding this for me, you're a star!
 
LittleRedB said:
I am afraid that your mechanic is right - you will need to convert to new headlamps, you cannot change the projection of your lights........

Some of the guys on the forum have converted from right projection to left - you may find someone here has a set in their garage they are willing to trade.........
Click to expand...
Just out of curiosity, around how much do you think should these cost as my guy's quoted me 450 Euros for the new lights.
 
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This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
DTR will only quote to covert your existing headlamps not explain how they do it imo, but am often wrong.
As said there are a few more prior posts which state DTR cost for this service as others were facing the same hurdles in the past.
On the issue of re reg from UK to Spanish plates & price. I too face that hurdle twice over. My costs for a UK reg 125cc scooter to Spanish was quoted at 450 ish Euros (high I thought) I got that direct from a Spanish ITV station too. (That's the Spanish MOT place for thems that are in the dark) I figure a B car must cost 600 Euros ish without the headlamp issue factored in !! So I'll be interested on any costs you receive to re register. I know there are 3rd Parties who specialise in assisting Brits for a fee with UK car issues too but DIY can't be so difficult. My scooter just needs to be presented for inspection with Docs. My Red B is still on Brit plates until the newish UK MOT expires in 08 when I better get pro active or bring it back.

As for that fine upstanding Mr SS and his copyright issues. I'm guilty as charged and all I can say is blood Red is far more attractive than Puss Yellow which is why I continue to tantalise his eyes with memories of his olde fading red one. Though I gotta admit the sheer "immaculacy" of his Yellow one makes up for the wrong colour or would do if it never had imitation hoops. The 3rd light yes. He owns the Perros Cojones of yellow Bs. Huge tool box too, I've seen it !!!!
 
Hey Akandrew, what was the upshot?

I imported my B to Spain two years ago with nothing more than a Halfords sticker on the headlight, passed the import inspection and ITV no problem. Still driving around with the sticker and not been pulled by any Mossos yet. But the next ITV is due in March and so I am interested to see what might happen. 450 Euros seems a bit steep though. My mecanico charged me less than that for fitting a new clutch last week.

By the way, in case you don't know yet, Spanish insurance is extortionate and worse than useless as I am now discovering. My B got hit by a lorry when it was parked :(. The driver left a note but we think that only because he was watched and he accidentally forgot one of the digits of his phone number. However, a bit of detective work and we got his real number from the place he was delivering. Got his details from him (had to get a male colleague involved for that in the end, who said machismo is dead?) but he never reported it to his insurance company. Top tip, call the police for accidents in Spain, even for seemingly helpful notes on the windscreen. We had to come up with all his details including his DNI number and policy number before his insurance company would even accept he existed to accept the claim.

Now they are tracking him down but I suspect I will have to wait at least a year for this to be settled, that seems to be not unusual and I have heard of up to 3 years in complicated cases. Meanwhile, the car has been off the road for 2 and a half months. I am trying to persuade my insurance company to let me mend it but the perito (insurance's agent who inspects the damage and quote) is questioning the quote that my mecanico has given me - which is so dirt cheap anyway we suspect the perito is in cahoots with the insurance garage if he thinks it could be cheaper. I am one day away from telling them to stuff the insurance claim and paying it out of my own pocket as we want to drive to Normandy for Christmas and the clock is ticking.

I nearly cry everytime I look at my B. Smashed right in just above the drivers front wheel.
 
Sorry to hear about the problem. I've found Belgian insurance to be frighteningly expensive too. I'm paying about €1200 for a diesel Seat which would cost about €300 or so in the UK.

Getting a repair after an accident when my car was insured third party was a nightmare and took months. Omnium (fully comp) is better but nothing like as good as someone like Direct Line.

It seems to me like it's a protected Cartel avoiding competition and insisting on the use of agents.

On the other hand we don't have to put up with silly TV ads for car insurance. What is it? Confused Elephant directly from Hastings?
 
LittleRedB said:
:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Almost as annoying as the Ocean finance ads............
Click to expand...

...

I really need to get a job that stops me from watching so much daytime satellite TV :rolleyes:

Then again I'm not sure I could handle the tube at rush hour twice a day - crappy adverts it is ;)

Also, sorry to go so far offtopic, but while we're kind of on the subject of car insurance... when I looked at getting mine a few months ago the cost was really high with insurers for whom I had to explicitly state the car was left-hand drive (if they even offered to insure me at all - many just said "we don't insure imported cars" when I said LHD). But then I went to one insurer which never asked me whether the car was LHD/RHD. I assumed they must know it's LHD as I chose from a drop-down menu something like "Fiat Barchetta 1.8 LHD". Thing is though, it was significantly cheaper than anywhere else, so I'm a little bit mindful that they think it's RHD (by default). Where do I stand on this, do you reckon? Is it wise to assume that since my insurance certificate says "Fiat Barchetta 1.8 LHD" at the top, then they know it's a leftie??
 
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