[Mk2] [Generic] Project quads - flush headlights !

[gazrev1tubby]

Hi everyone, as some of you know i've been after flush headlights for a while now. After searching for an age, i've discovered that there are no 'off the shelf' kits available so I set about making my own .

Hopefully i'll be able to reproduce them for other people if there's enough interest although it's still very early days but i'll keep this thread updated as I progess :th:

Progress so far :

Found an uber rare set of fg buckets and copied one for trial purposes



Sourced the projector lights (only bought one so far to keep costs down in case it doesn't work ):




Cut light holes and mocked up how the lights will fit :



Roughly trimmed to fit and a mock up of how they'll look on the car:





I still have lots to do but looking good so far :th:

[Si_Crewe]

How do the beams get adjusted?
I was thinking about this and it might be best to mount both lights to an alloy plate and then adjust the plate.

Also, from what I've read, the hard part is making a shaped perspex/polycarbonate cover for the lights.
I seem to recall there's a guy somewhere who makes something similar and he reckons only one in three covers turn out acceptably curved.

I guess the trick might be to lay the polycarbonate over the top of the original light top panel then heat it up so it relaxes against the panel.
Not sure about how you'd bond it to the fibreglass pod though.

[gazrev1tubby]

How do the beams get adjusted?
I was thinking about this and it might be best to mount both lights to an alloy plate and then adjust the plate.

Also, from what I've read, the hard part is making a shaped perspex/polycarbonate cover for the lights.
I seem to recall there's a guy somewhere who makes something similar and he reckons only one in three covers turn out acceptably curved.

I guess the trick might be to lay the polycarbonate over the top of the original light top panel then heat it up so it relaxes against the panel.
Not sure about how you'd bond it to the fibreglass pod though.

You've got the whole lot in one mate !

The lights will indeed be fixed to a seperate panel that will be adjustable and the covers will slip in over the lights. As for the perspex/polycarbonate covers, i'm thinking the exact same idea about using the original metal covers as templates but if it doesn't work i'll see what they look like colour coded without covers.
Worst case scenario is I will make a mould for lenses and get a moulding company to make polycarbonate covers.
The lenses would have to be bonded to the fg buckets but all the fixings are going to be external so it shouldn't be a problem

[Razor04]

These are the daddies:

http://www.envyperformance.com/index.cf ... ct_ID=7316

Ask sport fixed headlights full kit £406 bit pricey but you get what you pay for

[Rogue]

These are the daddies:

No, these are the daddies...!













Sadly not economical to produce... There are some build pictures here if they help with your project, but I'm pretty sure we'd do it differently if we did it again:

http://roguemotorsport.com/images/misc/shocklights/

[Razor04]

I was just about to agree and ask how much

[craig]

Nice effort gaz although for me, nothing beats the orginal pop ups

[lemonyfresh]

Nice effort gaz although for me, nothing beats the orginal pop ups

+1 gotta love the novelty factor of them
(Is it sad that i still go "ooo" in my head when they pop?)

[Dale_V]

+1 gotta love the novelty factor of them
(Is it sad that i still go "ooo" in my head when they pop?)

nope not sad, I still do the same after all these years. whan you turn that switch you just HAVE to look down the bonnet and watch them pop up

[craig]

+1 gotta love the novelty factor of them
(Is it sad that i still go "ooo" in my head when they pop?)

nope not sad, I still do the same after all these years. whan you turn that switch you just HAVE to look down the bonnet and watch them pop up

I do that too

[gazrev1tubby]

Thanks for the comments guys, especially Rogue (Patrick ?) for the pics - I can see how much work went into those although they do look ultra cool

Bit more progress this weekend but the filling/sanding is getting really boring now so i've decided to give myself the night off - although it's getting there

I have to admit, I too am guilty of loving the novelty of the pop ups but I feel they spoil the lines of the car when they're up - flush ftw

[MidshipPilot]

Good for you - I'm all for trying to custom my own parts. ROGUE lights look awesome but who has the time or the tools to spend on a project like that? I love pop-ups myself

[Mike]

Its all about the pop-ups, recently fitted a set of Raybrig clear lenses, its amazing how much better they look now.

[Si_Crewe]

Hope I'm not stepping on anybody's toes but those angel-eye lights look a bit naff to me.

I guess it takes quite a bit of effort to make flush-fitting lights but why then finish them off with $10 ebay LED angel-eye rings (with blue LEDs for extra tackiness) and then fit them upside down?

Personally, I much prefer the look of a couple of projector lamps. Simple and elegant.
I think Rogues production quad lamps look far nicer.

TBH, the main thing that'll grab my interest about a headlight conversion won't just be the way they look on the car.
It'll be some good pictures of the mechanism which shows how the beam adjusters will work and how it's all mounted to the car.

[Rogue]

I guess it takes quite a bit of effort to make flush-fitting lights but why then finish them off with $10 ebay LED angel-eye rings (with blue LEDs for extra tackiness) and then fit them upside down?

These pictures are from about six years ago. You couldn't buy angel eyes off the shelf back then, let alone from eBay for $10! We custom made them in-house from acrylic rod. The customer specified the colour of the LEDs that illuminate them.

[planted1]

you might have seen this before,if not,
it does explain about moulding lexan perspex in your wifeys oven,
a good read
hope it helps

steve

http://www.mr2beast.com/Lights.htm

[Jimbob]

Oh contraire these are the daddies

[craig]

I remember that car ^^ That's the one whereby the whole front end -bonnet/bumper/wings is all bonded together and lifts up as one right?

Serious work gone in there, but which ever alternative I see to the stock pop ups just doesn't do it for me.

All down to individual taste though at the the end of the day

[Si_Crewe]

These pictures are from about six years ago. You couldn't buy angel eyes off the shelf back then, let alone from eBay for $10! We custom made them in-house from acrylic rod. The customer specified the colour of the LEDs that illuminate them.

Fair do's.

Pretty sure angel eyes were around back then though. I bought a pair of proper CCFL angel eye rings for my E34 bimmer back then for a whopping £180-odd.
I see the same sort of thing for sale on eBay now for about £25.
Incidentally, they're now selling acrylic/LED angel eyes for £2.99 on ebay.

Doncha hate it when times move on?

*EDIT*
Regarding that car above, I find it hard to believe that a bunch of tiny lights, with no reflectors, (and half hidden by the shape of the opening) would do much of a job of lighting up the road at night.

Are they some kind of micro-projector lights or what?

[Jimbob]

Yeah I can't remember what they come off but I think they are off an american/japanese car as stock. I'm sure it says on the feature. I looked into them, but they were crazy expensive!

You could say the same thing about the light shed from flush fits. Because of the lines of the MR2 a bit of them sits below the bumper line, hence the frog eye style lights that are popular.

Either way I like the pop ups but in a lower rise than stock as they sit too high.