powermalex

Ok the paint job is so clean I can't tell what's stock and what has been cut out.
Any on have a before and after of the cutting?

Also I have installed an HID kit on my stock pop up lights.
Can I use them with the Extreme Kit?

mmaragos

I do. I really was not too interested in cutting into the RE pods to make the Hellas fit better. They were impossible to adjust and get them 100% correct.

I have a buyer for the RE kit. Frames are a little cut up, but they still go together with the IPFs.

Not coming out even, but with a hobby like this, when does one?

Oh yeah...Chuck's pod covers are Hyzod.

jimlab

Sure. How's this?

Before...

jimlab

And after...

spyfish007

Jimlab: Why bring up removing the bumper in response to what I said? I said nothing about removing the bumper. As a matter of fact I haven't removed my bumper to install the RE kit.

jimlab

Because fastening the outer brackets used by the RE Amemiya kit "easily" would require removing the bumper. With the bumper on, and the wheel well liners removed, it's not that easy to reach in and tighten the bolt and nut, because the bolt will freewheel within the bracket unless it is held in place, and there's not all that much room to get to the nut, either.

Is there any reason why you insist on being so difficult about accurately describing what is, after all, a really fucked up mounting system?

spyfish007

Actually I always tightened my RE Amemiya kit without removing the fender skirt. I just pulled it to the side and I had the bumper on the car. I don't know why you seem to think that nut was so hard to get to. Also my bolt did not free spin.

Is there any reason you think that installing a headlight kit is that difficult? The only reason I'm being difficult is so others have an idea what to expect and the pros/cons of each kit from someone who has owned both kits.

jimlab

Sure, you could pull the skirt to the side. If you didn't want to remove it, and eliminate the chance of damaging it, you could pull it to the side. The point remains that it is NOT an easy location to access compared to the mounting systems of the other kits on the market.

And I've owned the RE Amemiya kit, the C-West kit, and the East Bear kit.

The C-West kit doesn't require any acrobatics or modifications to mount. In fact, it's the easiest kit to mount that I've seen so far.

The East Bear kit requires only very minor modification and getting to the front bumper from below, which means you'll have to remove something to gain acess to that area to tighten the fasteners used for the two front mounting points.

By comparison, the RE Amemiya/Rotary Extreme kits are much more difficult to install. Many people do not have the tools or the inclination to cut sections of sheet metal out of their car. Not warning them about that is doing them an injustice. So is not warning them about possible difficulties with the mounting system.

I'm glad your install went smoothly. Perhaps you had different hardware than I did, my RE Amemiya kit was bought in 1997. Who knows? My point is, publishing what can be a problem during the install is far more useful to other people. If I were spending $850+ on a light kit, I'd want to know how much I had to modify my car and what sort of difficulties I might encounter. That's not too unreasonable, is it?

ech

There were some questions about using hids w/ pop-ups, and about the amount of modification. There is another headlight kit in the works - a sleepy headlight kit - for those of you like me that want a better lighting pattern and looks from the stock pop-ups.

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...threadid=66574

N-Tech will be carrying it, and it isn't supposed to involve any frame mod. All the details are in that thread.

And I have 0 (zero) involvement w/ its development, just to be clear. Just waiting for it to come out.

1FAST7

is cutting the car like that safe? would you have anything to worry about?

rotaryextreme

iTrader: (2)

Yes, cutting is required and the customers are well informed since the installation page link is there for people to check out what's involved in installing the kit. The installation page is a step by step with photos to help customers to install the kit. If they have more questions, they can also email me.

You DO NOT have to remove the bumper or the fender liner to install this kit. I have eliminated one bracket from the original RE Amemiya housing because I found it useless on stabilizing the housing. This also makes headlight adjustment much easier. I can take out my housings in 30 sec and the headlight assembly in 30 sec as well.

From my expereience of making this light kit, it's impossible to fit the Hella 90mm without cutting the frame if you want to make it flush mount with the Lexan cover on it. There is simply no space. I can move the lights forward to avoid cutting but then there is not enough vertical clearance to clear the Lexan (polycarbonate)covers. I can make one that does not require any cutting using the Hella 90mm lights but then again, it will have either a bubble look like the C West or the twin hump like the East Bear assuming I am using the Hella 90mm lights.

On the side note, if I use a rectangular low beam and move it forward, I can actually make one without cutting anything but I don't know how many people are interested in a headlight like that. Most people want round lights. I don't really want to make something that is not going to sell. Maybe I will make one just for the heck of it after I fulfill all the back orders on this one. But the low beam of my choice of rectangular light only comes HID and the are a lot more expensive than the Hella 90mm. The estimate of this Version II HID light kit that does not required any cutting will be around $1650 which is still cheaper than anything from Japan but not that affordable.

Thanks Jim for the pictures of what's needed to be cut. My car is a daily driver and the enigne bay is very dirty. It's probalby hard to see but everyone should be clear of what needs to be cut looking at Jim's pictures.

It's really hard to make a headlight kit to meet all the requirement due to space constraint and limited light choices. I will try hard to make the Version II to meet all those requirement. I will keep you guys updated.

Chuck Huang

rotaryextreme

iTrader: (2)

What you are cutting out is just a small piece of sheet metal mainly for supporting the stock headlight. It's not for crash safety.

Chuck Huang

jimlab

Ain't that the truth. You did a great job on improving on the Amemiya kit, Chuck. I'm sure everyone will be very happy with your kit and the improved lighting it provides, especially at such a low price.

rotaryextreme

iTrader: (2)

Yup, if the Hella 90mm were a little shorter, it would be possible to make it fully enclosed without any cutting involed. Actually, it's possible to use the CATZ MSC without cutting the frame but the beam pattern isn't as good, it's not the true high/low beam, and it sits in the back too much. I figure people want something that actually provides better lighting so I ditch the CATZ MSC and use the Hella 90mm instead.

If you can find the lights at the following spec, you will not have to cut the frame:

The light has to be 60mm or smaller in diameter and 2.5" long at most. I actually found a Japanse company that makes such a low profile light but they are very expensive. The HID lights are $1000 a pair and they only come in HID.

So factors are style, cost, difficulty of installation, and light effectiveness. I can satisfy style, difficulty of installation, and light effectiveness but when I need to bring down the cost, $1000 HID per pair light choice is out of the picture.

The rectangular low beam is possible to satisfy all your requirement but I haven't found a round one to fit that desciption and reasonably priced at this time.

Chuck Huang

crai6m4ck

so it is a H9? If HIDs were installed you would have to buy a H9 HID kit right?

crai6m4ck

anyone? If I was to but the sleek light kit I would need to buy what HID kit? H9????

Astro

I like the kit alot.
My only beef is the abundance of black outlining on the housing. But im sure it was all neccesary since you said the hella's are long.
I wish there was a kit that looked like the cwest (very modern looking..and no outline on the housing) but less kit-car-ish with some good HID lighting!
damnit jim!
hahaha

jimlab

I'm a doctor, not a... oh yeah, I'll get right on it.

rotaryextreme

iTrader: (2)

There is no retro fit kit for the H9 bulb. We do the HID upgrade ourselves using the Hella components with beam correction and everything.

If you want to save some money and do it the hard way, you can buy HID upgrade for other bulbs and modify the base and glue them onto the H9 bulb base. You might save 100-200 but the result is not guranteed and you might end up spending more because you break something.

Chuck Huang

rotaryextreme

iTrader: (2)

I can send the covers without any trim and you can be creative yourself. =)

Chuck

Falco-X

Did you get your lexan covers to sit flush and if so, how? Mine were major trouble. Also, what did you use to attach the covers. I was happy with the kit with the exception of the covers which I feel sit too high even after tinkering with them. It was more work, IMO, than was sold.

I would like to see if your covers are perfectly even with the hood. Mine are not and I don't know how to fix that problem.

Falco-X

How difficult woud it be to convert from a kit like the Rotary Extreme kit to the East Bear kit? Would it require rewelding on metal that was cut from the frame?

Just curious since I am not at all satisfied with the way my Rotary Extreme kit has turned out.