Cerbera 3D-printed tornado rear lights (prototype)
Status — prototype. Version 3+ printed, waiting on round LED lamps to arrive.
The Cerbera Mk1’s rear lights are OEM Ford Fiesta Mk3 clusters, which are increasingly hard to find in good condition and were never especially pretty. This mod prototypes a 3D-printed housing with three round LED “tornado” lamps in it — same screw pattern as the OEM cluster, but a completely different look.
Why bother
Section titled “Why bother”- OEM Fiesta Mk3 clusters get scruffier and rarer every year. Original lenses fade, plastic backs crack.
- Aftermarket “tornado” round-LED lamps are commodity items on AliExpress, cheap, and available in tail + brake + indicator variants. Some cars (aftermarket kit cars, Series I Land Rovers with LED upgrades) already use them, but nobody’s built a Cerbera-specific cluster to hold them.
- 3D-printable means the shape can iterate quickly and be shared as a downloadable file if the design settles.
What we keep, what we change
Section titled “What we keep, what we change”| Component | Stock | This build |
|---|---|---|
| Rear light cutout in the bodywork | Standard Cerbera Mk1 opening | Untouched |
| Cluster fixings (screws / bolts) | Standard | Same screw hole pattern preserved |
| Light cluster | Ford Fiesta Mk3 assembly | 3D-printed housing with three round LED lamp holders |
| Lamps | OEM Fiesta bulbs + reflectors | Aftermarket round LED “tornado” lamps (red for tail + brake, amber for indicator) |
| Wiring | Standard bulb feeds | Same feeds; each LED lamp wired direct where the bulbholders used to plug |
Design notes
Section titled “Design notes”- Housing designed in Fusion 360, printed on a bed-slinger (nothing fancy — normal PLA / PETG works because these live behind the smoked cover).
- Layout mirrors the original cluster: larger lamp = tail+brake combined, smaller lamps = indicator + reverse.
- Angling of the lamp face matters — early prints had the LEDs pointing outwards rather than straight backwards, which is not what you want. Version 3 rotates the lamp face flat to the rear plane.
- Same screw-hole pattern as the OEM cluster so it drops into the existing bodywork opening with no cutting.
Version history
Section titled “Version history”| Version | What changed | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| v1 | First rough mockup — got the outer shape and lamp positions roughly | Angles wrong; two lamps in wrong corner |
| v2 | Adjusted angles, moved bigger lamp to the correct side | Lamps still angled outward from rear plane |
| v3 | Rotated lamp faces flat so LEDs point straight back | Fits nicely; ready for physical lamps |
| Next | Fit actual round LED lamps (AliExpress order pending) and wire them up | Pending |
Parts list (pending final selection)
Section titled “Parts list (pending final selection)”| # | Part | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 pair | 3D-printed housing (STL to be published once settled) | Own design |
| 3 per side | Round LED tornado lamps (~30–50 mm diameter, aftermarket / AliExpress) | To be selected |
| — | Bullet connectors + heat-shrink | Standard automotive parts |
Status
Section titled “Status”| Design | v3 printed, screw-hole pattern verified |
| Lamps | Not selected — AliExpress round LED lamp round-up in progress |
| Wiring | Not yet — waits on physical lamps |
| Installed on car | No |
If you’re picking round LED lamps for one of these, dimensions to aim for are ~30–50 mm diameter each, red for tail+brake combined, amber for indicator, and ideally something with a 12 V input already regulated. Drop suggestions in the comments of the YouTube shorts — this is being iterated on publicly.
Watch the build
Section titled “Watch the build”- Prototype teaser (16s) — templates on the table.
- Tornado design explained — full walkthrough of the idea.
- Version 2 — LEDs pointing the right way now — iteration update.
Related on this wiki: quad headlamps mod · Cerbera model overview.
Compiled from in-progress build notes. This is an experimental mod that isn’t installed on a road car yet — if you’re building your own, verify legal type-approval requirements for aftermarket rear lamps in your country.