Ok I got my Mariah mode 4 bumper in and I realized that along with the flares this car needs flushmount lights. I had talked about doing them once before but just havent for various reasons ie: laziness. Now its time to get off my *** and make some.
For the lenses lexan is gonna be a hell of a lot better than plexiglass. Plexiglass is gonna scratch and dull too fast, not to mention crack. I also know that I'll need to trim the edges in black obviously from the backside of the lense but I havent figurd out whether to mask them off and use black paint or cut to fit black vinyl. I think the vinyl will give me problems with air bubbles. Any one have any ideas?

For the buckets I had originally planned on using fiberglass. BUT, after much thought about time, supplies, and the work involved I think sheet metal is gonna be better due to it being more durable and easier to work with. Plus I can make changes to the design faster. Question is gonna come in at what thinkness is gonna work best. I dont want the metal to be too think or it'll be heavy and hard to bend. Too thin and it'll warp and end up looking like ****.

Finally, the lights....this is one where everyone is gonna have an opinion. Some like hellas and piaas. Some want hids for cheap. Me? I just want some damn headlights. For the price I think I'm gonna run 4 driving lights. Two set low and two set on high. Have all 4 on when I want the highs. I'm not picky, and considering what I'm coming from I feel the 4 drving lights would be sufficent. I had 2 on my kawasakis race fairing and everyone said I looked like daylight coming down the road.

So now I just have to get the dimensions so I can start.

 

Might as well start making 2 pairs and then send the other pair to WI (IE: Me)

Keep us posted on the project or at very least a how-to

 

Got a small start today. Its been raining off and on. It stopped long enough to at least get something done.

 

Today I drew up a basic design for the lights. When I went to go get my measurements I realized that my rough sketches didnt calculate for something I didnt know at the time. For the headlights to sit where I want them I have to cut the car up a lil bit. Had I searched more about the CP kits I would have already known this as thats how they were made. CPs kits could have been made a lil better too for my liking. Their overall finish looked rather slapped together for my liking.


So now I'm gonna have to cut her up. Not really a worry to me as it may be to some cause welding is what I do. I can cut it out and put it back later if I want.

On a side note I called to get pricing on sheet metal. I thought I was gonna faint. One 4x8 foot sheet is 80 bucks! The price of metal has skyrocketed. 4 years ago that same sheet of metal was about 30 bucks.

 

wheee, reference pics:




Whenever I make anything from sheet metal, I always do mockups with cereal box cardboard. This way I can cut the pieces to how they need to be shaped easily, and actually make a cardboard model of the part I'm making before I go and cut up sheet metal.

 

That's a nice set up there Box Man; totally agree with the mock-up thing, saves time and materials.

That looks similar to how the frame for my sleepy eye headlight mount looks on paper!

 

That's a CP racing light. I think I could make a much nicer one if I felt like it, but I love pop-ups, and would rather invest my time in making something interesting with my spare header panel. (recessed lights in the header panel?)

 

I use mock-ups too. I just use plain old poster board, and those pics are the ones I found during my search. Thats why I said I didnt feel the finish of the CP ones were of the best quality.

Today I got the installation instructions from Mariah for the bumper. I got the bumper used and after a quick mockup I found that a lil massaging was gonna be in order. After reading through everything it looks like I'll be doing a lil more cutting to the front of the car. So I'll just make myself a weekend of it.

 

I would love to se a good caliber "dual" headlight pop-ups for our cars. NSX style - in one piece.

Not the best picture, but you can see what I mean.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/NSX-policecar.jpg