How To: Make your own fresh air headlight cover!
05-04-04, 06:37 PM
#1
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How To: Make your own fresh air headlight cover!
Here's how you can make your own fresh air headlight cover for less than half the cost of buying one from Mariah, RX-7.com or another commercial source. With all the materials, you'll probably have spent less than $50. Don't worry, it's not hard, but take your time and make something you can be proud of! I just made one myself, and it turned out really well. Just go to an auto wrecker and get a spare cover and get the following: fibreglass cloth and resin, disposable paint brushes, some foam, a can of bondo, some spray paint and primer, sandpaper, waxed paper, and a sharp knife. Carve the foam block until it's the shape you want. Make sure it'll fit by taping it to the cover and putting the lights up and down a few times and check the foam for damage (to get around this problem I made a raised scoop, instead of a sunken in duct and as far as I know I'm the first one to do it that way). Then put it on the cover where it'll be when done, cover it in waxed paper and fibreglass it using the disposable brushes (practice first). Once it's dry cut off the excess, sand it down, strip the spare headlight cover to bare metal and cut the hole in the spare cover (make the hole small, then slowly enlarge it until it fits, it’s much harder to add metal). Use the resin and some scrap cloth to secure it to the cover and then bondo, prime and paint it. I used Duplicolor spray paint and it turned out with a surprisingly shiny surface. There you go, you've got a new intake for a fraction of the cost of a commercial one and it'll be unique!
05-04-04, 07:18 PM
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I'm in the middle of making one at the moment aswell. instead of using fibreglass i bought a small universal ricer vent, cut the shape out of the spare headlight cover to match and fixed it in place. I started sanding with a 600 grit wet&dry and then a 1200, you cannot see or feel the join at all now. After one coat of primer its looking quite good but is going to need more fine sanding before painting. I know people generally feel that this mod does nothing to help cold air to get into the engine, i just thought it would be a good little project to do and like Black91n/a says it makes the car unique.
05-04-04, 07:37 PM
#5
Since I dented my headlight cover putting my engine in I am planning on doing something like this.
Not very hard. I could probably even make a template to produce them in FG.
Hmm. Maybe I'll pull it off tonight and make a mold to mess with. I have nothing else to do if I can't test run the engine.
Not very hard. I could probably even make a template to produce them in FG.
Hmm. Maybe I'll pull it off tonight and make a mold to mess with. I have nothing else to do if I can't test run the engine.
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05-04-04, 09:54 PM
#9
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Dood that looks great! How did you fasten/attach the ricer vent to the metal cover?
A air vent headlight cover combined with the air box below should work well together.
A air vent headlight cover combined with the air box below should work well together.
05-04-04, 10:06 PM
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What I meant was where did he get the plastic part from? Not the completed product. I realize he molded them together(kinda obvious via pictures). You missread. I was indescriptive.
05-04-04, 10:40 PM
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i got the headlight inlet and the air box and the KN on my turbo and it has a noticable difference to me.
i got the headlight inlet and the air box and the KN on my turbo and it has a noticable difference to me.
05-05-04, 12:13 PM
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I've got some pics of mine, but the file size is huge and I don't have any photo shop software. I'll see if I can pick some up today for cheap, and post some pics later on today.
Has anyone ever seen a raised scoop? I'd like to know if I'm the first to do so, because that'd be so cool to be the first and to have it be unlike any other one out there!
Has anyone ever seen a raised scoop? I'd like to know if I'm the first to do so, because that'd be so cool to be the first and to have it be unlike any other one out there!
05-05-04, 12:34 PM
#21
Can we please have the dimensions of the opening of the vent/inlet?
I hope this is and a cold air box are not your answer to getting cool air to your engine. There is more you will have to do to get this to benefit your car.
I hope this is and a cold air box are not your answer to getting cool air to your engine. There is more you will have to do to get this to benefit your car.
Last edited by 1987RX7guy; 05-05-04 at 12:49 PM.
05-05-04, 01:15 PM
#22
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Nice fab work. And I love a DYI attitude. However, I read on here that the headlights are in a low pressure area and don't supply a lot of air. The person who posted that supposedly saw a diagram of some of the wind tunnel test done on the car.
05-05-04, 07:15 PM
#24
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it looks good. but one problem....VERY small hole. That may put some cold air in . but I would try making the whole much bigger then it is. luckily your not getting the air oil from that cover otherwise you would be starving the engine from air.
Nice work tho. I might do somthing similar to my headlight cover. you gave me the idea. Bravo
Justin
Nice work tho. I might do somthing similar to my headlight cover. you gave me the idea. Bravo
Justin
