I wanted to do something about my fog lights. for a few reasons:

1) they were getting dull and weren't really functional. they weren't doing much for aesthetics either, but that's secondary.

2) they were loose and didn't fit correct because the stock mounting brackets were cracked/broken.

3) it would be nice if i could take them out easily, if i go to the track for example, to improve brake cooling because they block almost all airflow into the brake air duct. this is not that easy of a task with the stock fog light brackets.


So i'll post what i did because i'm kind of bored and some people may want to do something similar:

The fog lights needed cleaning up. They were quite dirty and pitted. I did this by wet sanding them with 2000 grit sandpaper and rubbing compound, which had worked well for me when cleaning up my tail lights.



I decided i wanted the fogs to be yellow. noticeably yellow. this serves both a functional and aesthetic purpose. i also wanted an increased light output.
i purchased a pair of Hella Yellowstar 85w bulbs. these have a Dichroic coating on them (causing the bulb to emit yellow light) and have about 2000 lumens of light output. purchased from rallylights.com.



Browsing the internet i found an interesting product. in American Le Mans and other road racing series certain classes of cars (for example the GTS glass) require the lights to be distinct so that drivers can identify the different classes at night. they do this by putting an optically clear yellow film on the lights. this also helps to protect the lights and makes the lights easier to clean. i found this product here: http://lamin-x.com/products-color-film.php#

it can be purchased in rectangular sheets that are adhesive backed. you simply apply and cut to fit.

 

The next issue was the broken fog light mounting brackets and the requirement of being able to easily remove the fog lights. i decided the best thing to do was to fabricate my own fog light bracket.

a trip to Home Depot and i had everything i needed.
- piece of 3/4 inch aluminum flat
- various metric stainless steel bolts and nuts
- 90 degree brackets


(no i didn't use those scissors to cut the aluminum, haha)

It took a bit of creativity and fiddling to get the final bracket, and i won't go into all the details. I first used some cardboard to get a "template" then traced that onto the aluminum and cut. for some reason i didn't take a picture of the finished bracket, but here is a picture of the final test fit. you can see the hole without a bolt in it, that's where the single bolt that holds the fog light goes. i simply have to remove that bolt if i want to take the fog light out.




Since the 85w bulbs are quite an increase over the stock 55w, the last thing i did was to rewire the fog lights with heavier gauge wire and a seperate higher-rated fuse going directly to the battery (from the fog relay of course) to handle the extra load.
This is what it ends up looking at night (unfortunately photos are hard to take at night, especially when it's raining).





i'll try to get better photos sometime, and also some day shots with the fogs off.
it came out as expected, and the fogs are much brighter and a nice yellow.

 

Nice job, where did you get those headlights.

 

thanks. the headlights i actually fabricated myself also, using Hella 90mm modules. i posted a thread about it:
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/my-new-headlights-pics-444342/

 

Nice job!
I like that little granite rock thing from Finland.


-Ted

 

i might try that yellow clear film someday.
pretty sweet job.

 

Hey coldfire, nice setup.

Do the smokies out there care about using those constantly, I was under the impression we (Canadians) weren't allowed to have yellow fogs on unless it's actually foggy?

Just curious.

 

thanks. heh, i didn't notice that in the picture. that is kind of work related.

thanks.
no i don't think i will get any heat from the cops about it. i don't even know if there are any laws about it. i mean, there are people driving around with blue side markers and ****, which is clearly illegal, that don't get in trouble.
i have also bypassed the stock DRL unit so i can turn them off/on whenever i like, so they aren't ON all the time.

 

a daytime shot from autocross with the fogs on:

 

nice!

what wheels are those? Rota grid or are they authentic te37's?

 

sweeeeeet

 

heh, i wanted TE37s. until i worked out the price getting them here in Canada, haha.
they are Motegi Racing wheels, i forget what model exactly.

 

Can you peel the yellow film off if you don't like it? I'm having a hard time believing the intensity of the white will still be there after you yellow it out. Or the yellow will be washed out... Do you have a pic of the fogs with JUST the yellow bulbs in? Maybe 55w will look a bit less washed out. I dunno. I did pick up a set of those yellow hellas though, mine are 55w.. .I just haven't installed them yet. I couldn't turn down the price.

 

it's not easy but you can peel it off, yeah.
i don't have a pic with just the yellow bulb.

and the bulbs i am using are 85w, not 55. so they are quite bright for fog lights.

why do you have a hard time believing? if you look at the photo in the post taken during the day with the fog lights on, it almost matches the colour of the painted parking lot line, to give you a reference.

 

I just placed my order

 

I guess the pictures just suck... I'm seeing one of two things.. Super bright washed out yellow, or super dull dark orange. Maybe the camera just isn't picking up the orange color at night?

Are we seeing the same set of pictures?

 

yeah it's not easy to take accurate photos of light sources, especially at night.
so take those photos as you will, and i'm telling you that to me they are bright, not dull, and a noticeable shade of yellow.

 

Sweet. I'll be placing my order soon as well then.

 

cool. post back how it is with the 55w bulbs. the 85w are bright as hell, but maybe the 55w will give better/deeper colour.