the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

I've been looking into getting the RE sleek light kit for some time and just wanted owners opinions on the kit. Lighting, quality, pro's/con's etc...
Better than the stockers or worse?
Oh and post plenty of pictures if you've got them, of the lights them self and beam pattern, etc...

Tim Benton

iTrader: (1)

Beat me to it. I was thinking the other night that I was tired of the stock lights at night (pattern, brightness, etc) and remember Chuck having a video of his hid option on his site. The link to the video's gone now though. Anyone else bolt the lens cover down?

Tim

jimlab

From what I hear, the improvement in lighting is great. However, the quality of the kit leaves a lot to be desired. The one I saw had sloppy fiberglass work on the pods, cheap stamped brackets, and cheap hardware. The Lexan/plexi covers are flat and must be bent to be affixed to the pods, and the black painted outline is irregular and sloppy looking. They leave a significant amount of the hardware and light assemblies exposed and look generally tacky in my opinion.

rotorbrain

i was worried about that kind of response. . . im looking into a set of those lights. . . are the non HID lights an upgrade to stockers?

my stockers have seen better days with less slung rocks so im looking to get something else.

im sure the RE lights could be modified to look better, now that i think about it.

paul

rotoboy661

lighting is better than the real re sleeks

jimlab

Almost anything is better than the stock lighting.

They could. I've already perfected a better bracket system for the lights that is more stable and requires only a Phillips screwdriver to adjust their aim as opposed to a screwdriver and a wrench for lock nuts you can't really see or easily get to in some cases.

Wingsfan bought a pair of what are probably Rotary Extreme pods off ebay and could use them as-is with my brackets, but I have a different light set that I bought to analyze and I'm planning on making a new pod using similar mounting provisions that will cover all the hardware and most of the lights, Corvette style. For sake of simplicity, we'll probably end up using genuine Amemiya covers, since they match the contour of the hood very nicely, although I've found a plastics company in Tacoma that can make molded covers to my specs.

jimlab

Better than the original RE sleek lights with the IPF "landing gear" lights, but RE Amemiya has improved the kit significantly since.

GOOFYROTOR

original RE sleek IPF lights are very bright with HID unit even brighter when all fours are "ON".

J_J

Hey guys, if you are looking to upgrade your headlights for better lighting, I'm still coming out with my FD HID upgrade. A new engine is being put in my car at the moment so I haven't been able to work on it.

prew

iTrader: (9)

I have seen someone just make a cover for around the lights themselves so that you dont see the hardware anymore. It really cleans up the look. And like you said getting the actual RE-Amemiya curved lense is a must imo.


steve

jimlab

The originals didn't have an HID option. They used an H3 bulb and had very shallow housings.



Keep in mind that I've owned almost every sleek light kit made for the FD at least once, and some twice.

prew

iTrader: (9)

The new RE-Amemiya kit looks alot better than the old one.



But at $1550 its still not HID. How much would it be to convert this kit to HID?


steve

J_J

Probably not a good idea for those housings if they use H3 bulbs. The cutoff isn't going to be that sharp with fog light/driving light housings. It's best to use HID bulbs in conjunction with HID projectors or headlamp housings designed to accommodate the 300% extra light output of a true HID bulb.

travisorus rex

I think Jim has the right idea. The genuine RE Amemiya light covers fit the car so well. The lights could easily be swapped in favor of something else.

RedR1

iTrader: (5)

Let me just say, im not a bodywork specialist, im giving yall input from someone who pays to have things molded and painted, etc etc.

I got one of the original headlight kits from rotary extreme when they first came out. Waaaaay back in the day. *disclaimer*I know initial runs do not have all the bugs worked out. . . . . . *end disclaimer* I purchased mine thru the RX-7 store thru Jason, and had to wait quite a while for them at that. A little too long of a wait for me having spent that much money, but I have bought stuff from M2 before, so this was expected. Initial impression when I opened the fedex box:

The housing for the actual lights was. . .well. . . . .quite fragile in my eyes (by flicking a little hard on the thinner edges, i could actually chip some pieces off....), and the squares that were cut on the outer most part of the housing (towards the rear) were cut out very poorly. On the right side, it was cut too far over and actually made half a square, as it was too close to the rear portion of the housing. It's hard to imagine, but here is my best desription of it:





That was just my initial impression, it was cut pretty poorly. Maybe his crew was in a rush to fill orders, etc etc, who knows. Everything else was cool, comes with Hella lights, etc. I got the standard kit, not with the HID option, as I needed something better than stock at the time. After installation, the housing also sticks a tad bit above the front bumper. Not much, but if you are as **** retentive about your car as I am, its too much. First I thought it was the bodyshop's fault, but after seeing more Rotary Extreme headlight kit equiped cars, i realized it wasnt. It does not sit as flush as the RE-Amemiya kit. The lighting, however, is MUCH better than the stock flashlights that orginally came on our cars.

Final impression: It was worth the $700-800 I paid for it a few years back. . . . . Would I do it again? Sure, as it was great, especially for the price. Lighting was my main concern (compared to what little kits were available at the time). Im sure they have better build quality now-a-days tho, as the rush to get them made have died down substantially, and Chuck's parts have quite a dramatic improvement in quality comparatively. . . . but who knows right?

To put it into retrospect however, I have the authentic Amemiya headlight kit on order. Sure, i'll take a hit on lighting for a more flush look, but thats just me.

RedR1

iTrader: (5)

I hope this helped in some, way, shape or form. Feel free to ask any other question, and i'll be glad to answer them to the best of my ability.

Scrapiron7

As far as light quality goes, it's a big improvement over the stock setup. Alot more visable lighting on the road. Build quality was good. The front of the pods looked great. The backside, which you don't see when mounted, was acceptable. All the mounting hardward, brackets, bolts, etc. was included, and chuck had excellent directions.

Originally I tried to use 3M doubled sided tape to hold the Lexan covers on, but that didn't work at all. It lasted for about a week before the corners started coming up, and due to the thickness of the tape, water was able to get on the tape and I had to remove the covers.

After talking to Chuck, he recommend 3M Acryilic Plus tape. It was expensive, but I've had the covers on 6+ months and they haven't moved an inch. I do occasionally still get moisture under the covers if I am not careful at the power wash.

Overall I am very satisfied with the product and quality and I would definitely recommend them to somone looking for improved lighting.

Here's a decent shot of the lights from the front of the car:

RedR1

iTrader: (5)

If you look at the edges of the kit, on the inner most part of the front bumper where it meets the headlight housing. . . .thats what i meant about the fitment. Im glad it wasn't just my car

the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the all the input, please keep it coming!
Bricke, it looks like you painted the light housings and everything else black? I would do the same or paint it the same color as the car. One thing I'm not big on on the kit or the Hella's is how one is orange or brown and the other black, when people leave them like that it looks like a kit. When everything is painted to match it looks much more OEM IMO.

I've heard a lot of people complain about the covers on the Rotary Extreme kit, being very flat or of low quality. Couldn't you simply bend them as Jim suggested or take a blow dryer or heat gun and use the stock head light cover to get them to fit better? How about painting the head light covers the same color as the car?

Scrapiron7

I painted the housings black. I have a friend in town with the same kit on his CYM and he painted his to match, and it didn't look right IMO. Chuck suggested painting them black, so I took his suggestion. That was the only thing I had painted. The smooth lines on the covers were already there, nothing else had to be done.

The covers are definitely very flat, and if you place them on the pod, the top outside corner will not sit flush. That's why I was told to use the 3M Acryilic Plus tape, and it works like a charm. I've seen a few people use screws to hold down the covers, but that looks tacky IMO.

4CN Air

iTrader: (7)

the mounting brackets are junk, the paint on the covers chips away, lighting is great and so is the price

The brackets just really don't seem like Chuck's typical quality, but I guess the goal was to keep costs down and improve lighting, which he did successfully.

4CN Air

iTrader: (7)

Mine don't stick up above the bumper, but there is a slight gap bewteen my hood and the lights, this picture makes the gap appear larger than it is because of the angle

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

Somebody needs to simply fabricate a better-looking, all-covering inner pod for this kit, and then a lexan/plastic cover that isn't glued or stuck along the top surface (necessitating the black silk-screen or paint on the cover), but rather wraps in and attaches inside, i.e: the C-west lights. If you look at most OE lights (like on an Aston Martin, or even the '99 signal lights, there's a seamless meeting of "glass" and housing, and all of the "guts" are covered.

If someone could execute these to be finished like the '99 signals, you'd be in business. I also can't help but think that it would be asthetically nicer if the outer light was smaller than the inner... it would be more sophisticated looking. Many high beams i've seen on factory cars are very small, like fog lights... even if the inner pod covered some part of the high beam housing.

AgentSpeed

I bought a set from Chuck a few months back. I thought they looked great and the set was well worth the money. Unfortunatley I'm thinking of going a different way now but I'd still recommend the kit to anyone.

the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

Those look like IPF lights, from the original RE-A kit?