Headlight conversion (homebrew sleepyeyes)
 

I decided to make this post since I had the camera handy today, and there's not too many details as to how to do the "sleepy" headlight conversion.

I did this in my own garage with pretty basic tools (dremel with a cut-off wheel and a drill) in a matter of a few hours using mostly just scrap materials from around the garage.

Obviously you need to take the headlight assembly out of the car, remove the headlamp, cover and the headlight bucket.

I started by making a hole in the headlight bucket (driver side) this is where the pushrod was once attatched.



http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0220091538.jpg


Then I made a "slide" bracket:


http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0220091540.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0220091550.jpg

Then I trimmed the bracket, made a bend, drilled a couple of holes and screwed it in to the bucket. Remember you can adjust the length of the hole in the bracket to achieve different heights, but the bottom of the hole must remain near the stock location to keep them from flapping up at high speeds or burning the motor.


http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...220091601a.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0220091601.jpg


The ball joint stud form the pushrod has an unthreaded section that fits the bracket nicely and delivers a smooth action. I would recommend some loctite for the end of the nut.


http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...220091610a.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0220091611.jpg



Made some more brackets and fitted some lamps:



http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0220091806.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0220091807.jpg


grabbed the cover and ran outside to check the fitment:


http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...220091732a.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0220091735.jpg



good first try, everything clears and operates as it should.


http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...0220091736.jpg

I read the headlight conversion section here on the forum and came across the modified motor switch but was dissapointed to read that it makes the headlight go all the way up before returning to the closed position, and I thought there must be another way, and did this. I know there are many laws concerning headlights, so I must say that I'm sure none of this would be street legal anywhere, I just wanted to merely post that it can be done relatively easy and cheap.

I think that came out pretty nice....
Made me go HHMMMM....


L8R

I can guarantee those lights are worse than stock and will blind people. Your on the right direction with the kit but seriously change the lights to something better

Very cool man! I remember RotoryBrain and Garfinkle did something very similar to RotaryBrain's car a few years back and it looked great once they finished it. I wish I had some finished pictures, but here are a few when he was still working on them.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...05553_7437.jpg
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...05555_8054.jpg
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...05556_8360.jpg
Don't worry about Don... he's too busy "looking good" he doesn't even realize I'm taking pictures(that's HDP) :rofl:
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...05554_7735.jpg

Sweet! Are you splicing into the factory harness or no?

Like I said I did this with spare stuff sitting around my garage, I dont intend on using those lights on the street, they WILL blind any oncoming traffic (I used them for a short while on a 1st gen that I made a sleek headlight kit for - oopsy), and yes you can splice the lights into the factory harness with a quick trip to radio shack. I merely wanted to make the mechanics of the sleepy headlight available to all.

After I get a proper set of lamps, I will probably fab a fiberglass shroud so I may post a "how to" for that as well, but today is too cold....

Nice. Thanks for sharing. I always thought that something like that would work. I think that is how the low profile / sleepy kit works on the Miata.

Nice! That's exactly what I was thinking :)

A bit ghetto maybe but the result looks nice. Kudos

For those searching in the future, it is 'Rotorbrain' that memphis is referring to in his post ;)

:lol: at the HDP comment btw :D

haha... opps. Thanks Rich.