RX7even Racing headlight kit update
 

I got a few emails a while back from people interested in my headlight kit I'm designing, and I told them I would give an update as they got further along. Well here's the update. I've been REALLY busy, but I've worked on them everyday in some way or another. First off, here is the first picture I showed everyone with the lights just shoved into the stock housing...
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...&postid=464357

Well as I started making the bracket and putting the lights in various places, I realized an offset with one higher than the other would be perfect. Well I overshot it a little bit (see in the photo below), so I think I'm going to close that gap up a little bit on Monday (unless everyone likes it, but I have a feeling it's a little too much). Ok next, I had wanted the low beam on the inside, but as of now, I see no way it'll fit (the back side of this thing is HUGE!), but it fits perfectly on the outside, and the high beam fits perfectly on the inside, so it'll probably stay like that. Here's the picture I took Thursday....

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...&postid=553439

I had mentioned before how easy the install will be, well it'll still be easier than say, the RE lights, but it may require one of the stock stoppers to be cut off (you will be able to easily weld it back on later if you need to, but the light hits it when it goes up, so it has to go), and a hole or two may need to be drilled, but I'm trying to avoid that if possible.

It's getting VERY close to going to an aluminum shop or someplace to have them made up. It's obviously taking a lot longer than expected, but I've shown one of the big RX-7 tuners what I've done so far, and he seemed to like it, and my plans for what I want to do, so it appears the results will be well worth the wait. I'll add more information as it happens or as I remember it. :)

whoa that looks good, love the first one!

I like the first one. The low beam should def. be a projector. I love the way they look from different angles.

I love them. However, If you do make the outer lamp offset, I think no more than about .5" to .75" higher than in the top photo would be ok. I agree, way too much in the bottom photo.

BTW I missed the original thread on this, what kind of lamps are those, the Hella 90mm?

I had been working on a similar setup but temporarily I have stopped working on them since it is somewhat difficult to fabricate things if you don't have the skills. And the other reason is because I knew that you were working on them. That way, I would just have to purchase them from you intead of spending hours on producing 1 set of lights - probably a one-off.

I would suggest that you try to make them as low profile as possible. I think that way they are more aerodynamic and I think they look better.

I have atttached a pic of my design study.


http://photos.netclubs.com/live/phot...lfheigtht1.JPG

Yea, I was wondering what was missing from rx7even's look, it was that low profile/sleepy-eye effect. Ryan, if you can integrate that in your design it would be perfect.

yeah, i agree with most people on this the first pic seems the way to go with both the headlight setup and the arrangement of the hi and low beam. and it would be great if you can keep the headcover as low as possible.

luigi

I agree, keep it as sleepy looking as you can. From your pics there dons't seem to be much of a difference in profile ight now. I'm tihnking maybe getting them to open about half way compared to stock would be great.

They'll definetely be very low profile, I just missed my original mark the first try. When I held them up when I was making the bracket, a 1" height difference seemed to look good, but as you can see it's waaaay too much. Tomorrow I'm going to change it to a 1/4" to 1/2" and it should look perfect and be a lot lower obviously. As it sits right now, the cover is about 2" lower than stock, an improvement, but not even close to where I want it to be. Expect the height to be around where the first picture is at, maybe a tiny bit lower and things work out like I think they will after I move the lights around again. The "sleepy" look is #2 priority on the list after lighting performance, which these lights should take care of. So far I can't do a thing about the low beams on the outside and high beams on the inside. If you look at a picture of the Hella's, you'll see that the backside of the low beam is like twice the size of the high beam, and it just won't fit. I'm still trying different thing's though, who knows.

Sidekick - yes those are the Hella 90mms. I hooked a jumper wire up to the low beams the other day to see how well these lit up, and I have to say the lighting looks VERY nice. :)

Mr. Stock - You're lights look good. I FULLY understand what you mean though about not wanting to spend hours on them just to make one set. I could probably make a rough one of set in no time, but it's nothing I would even remotely consider selling. I'm trying to get these absolutely perfect and also trying to make it as easy to install as possible. So far I'm able to pull my stock lights and put in the new ones in about 5 minutes, so hopefully I'm getting there (of course I've done it like 50 times, so I've found little shortcuts here and there). I started seriously working on them over 3 weeks ago and spend 14 hours the first two days alone on these. I've wanted to launch these things across the shop many of times. :D

Keep the questions and comments coming guys. They keep me pumped and ready to keep working. :)

Ryan

Just wondering, & it may be way too early for you to tell, but approx. what price would you be looking at for a set?

I love that style of headlights, I'd definitely buy a set once you have them all worked out.

At this point, you're right, I have no idea. I'm hoping it'll be around $600-$700, but I dont know yet what all the machining is going to cost. I'm going to try and keep it low though, and I'll probably try and organize a group buy for the first few sets.

Ryan

I wanted sleek lights for a long time, just because they were simple. But, it seems like none of the kits give good lighting, so I am now thinking that sleepy-eye lights like these are the way to go. I am interested in how they turn out. There is a good chance that I'll want some.

Thanks,
-Max

Great! The lower you can get them the better. I've loved the original KnightSports set for a long time, but the price was a little steep.

alignment of the lights
 

Hey Ryan -

Wow, you have been busy since we last spoke. First, I don't see why anyone would want the lows on the inside anyway - don't most dual lamp cars have the lows on the outside too? Isn't the wider dispertion of the low beams better since you use them the most? Just a thought.

I don't understand why you would want to have the inside lights lower than the outside lights. Is that the only way they will fit? If so for asthetic reasons I agree with others that any height difference should be reduced to the least amount possible, preferably zero. Maybe one light could be set in deeper than the other so they will fit? I'm talking out my ass here since I don't know the dimensions involved.

While I always figured I'd prefer to upgrade to HID (lamps, not those bulbs) at some point, I've heard the Hella's are pretty good. Are there even any dual HID lamps out there that could be used for this application if the brackets were made? I know Bill Brennan from the big RX7 list did this but I don't remember what kind of lamps he used.

Scott

Re: alignment of the lights
 

You and I are on the same wavelength right now. The first advantage I thought of to having the low beam on the outside was that it would light up a wider area, although not really by much.

The main reason for having the inside light lower is pretty much asthetic. If you look the Miata kits or the 2nd gen RX kits, the light pods all have a flat bottom, so putting in a kit with the lights level looks perfect. On ours, the bottom is curved, so having them at a different height fits better I think. I did tear the bracket apart and move the lights around, and now have the lights at a 1/4" difference instead of the 1" difference, and I can tell already that this way is the winner. Also, following the curve of the body, the outside light is set back some from the inside light (you can't tell that in Picture #2 because the lights are actually on the outside of the bracket, not the inside where they go, so they'll be set back more in the car too). It's not much, so it shouldnt block the light any.

I'm still looking into HID's too, for these lights. Apparently in Japan they have a kit that fits. It's still a possibility at this point. I had an opportunity to look at Bill's headlights a couple weeks ago. While I'm sure he put a lot of work into it, you can defintely tell it was a one off production. I was looking at the way he had the lights mounted and just had to scratch my head and wonder why in the world he did it that way, but I suppose it does work. I also lit up one of the Hella's against his HID, and it doesn't really appear to be that much different (keep in mind also that it appears he used driving lights for his, the ones I'm using are DOT legal). :)

I have to install a Fluidyne Rad in my car tomorrow, so I'm going to try and take pictures of the install and maybe do a little How-To writeup, and while I'm there, I'll install the lights again and take some pictures of it with the new changes. Should have them up here tomorrow afternoon.

Ryan

I dig em. offset minimal. low-beams outside. sleepy. HID would be nice but not necessary.

count me in! i need different lights!

Alright guys, here we go. I promised this yesterday, but my radiator install took longer than anticipated. Anyway I went out tonight and put the lights in and took a pic just before dark. Here it is....

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...&postid=572547

I'll explain a couple things. First the lights are switched. There's a stopper on the left side of the light that has to be cut or something before the new low beam light will fit. Soooo, I just swapped the lights (the lowbeam will still go on the outside though, I'm not going to change that). The inside light is also sitting JUST below where its supposed to be in the housing, so it will actually sit just a hair higher when it's all done. There's still a bit of finishing here and there to be done on the bracket, but its coming nicely.

Ryan

Lookin good :bigthumb: If the cost is low I might look into them.

Cool - I was going to say bring it up a little bit more.... :bigthumb:

Was going to do this myself, but since yours is coming along nicely...

BTW, any possibility of selling it w/o the Hella low beam lamps? I might be sourcing the Hella HID version of those. It costs more then a HID 'drop-in kit', but buying the lamp version designed around the HID D2x bulb is more comforting...

Thats a good idea since I was looking for a HID system as well.

It's a possibility. However I'm also looking into having HID as an option. Are the Hella HID's set up the same way as the regular Hella's (as in the way they mount)? If so then they should mount in, if not then I'll have to redesign the bracket some to make them work. I haven't seen the HID ones yet so I have no idea. All I've seen so far is the kits that convert the normal Hella's that I'm using.

Ryan

This looks like it is coming along nicely.

I have a suggestion about the vertical alignment, which is basically that the lights should be at just about the same level. The reason I think that "works" is because it puts each light in the middle of the opening. I doctored your picture to show what I mean:

wow, while your at it you can sell the air inlet cover, an all in one package deal. this is great.

All I have to say man, is HURRY UP & DO WHAT YOU'RE DOING! I want those lights man.

& dclin, let us know where you're getting the HIDs from, I'd prefer those to halogens, price permitting.

Their looking good I am Interested - I love the look of stock lights when closed but when open their too tall and don't work very well to boot - I drive a lot at night so I am very interested in a improved lighting setup that works good and looks totaly stock when closed!

I suggest putting a larger light in the inner position. From Maxs view, there seems to be enough room.

Trust me there is NOO more room in there. They are squeezed in there just about as tight as you can get it. I tried it awhile back to have one light larger than the other, but it didn't look good at all. I should've taken a picture of it.

Ryan

hey ryan, i don't know if you read that post about the tailights from a while back, but it was an indirect thank you for my conversion. thanks again. now, for business at hand, that kit is looking pretty damn good. i would like to be put on the list for more info when product is finished and a ballpark price is established. please e-mail me with info and also i would like to talk to you about the mods you've done on your car. i've started a thread (who knows their sh!t...) but it seems no one is reading it all the way or just doesn't care. that's a shame if it's the latter. but if you could get back to me, that would be great. thanks spoolin7@midsouth.rr.com

and here i like the 2 diff sizes :devil: ;)
http://www.urbanracer.com/features/iss3_2001/0043.jpg

but yours is lookin good i really like the hella 90mm's i might swich my low's to them and keep the driving lights with 100w bulbs as my highs///thiese things are bright as hell...

I think I missed the post, but you're most welcome. Thanks for letting me do them. Enjoy them and spread the word, I MAY not be doing them too much longer, but who knows yet. I will keep updating this post (or make a new one) as I get more information on the headlights. I like this post as it gives me ideas of what people are looking for eventhough I've already got everything pretty much figured out. I'm not completely past the point of no return on some things. I'll try and get you an email too once I find out everything. I also responded to your other post and gave a real long response on my opinions. I'll keep checking that and answering anymore questions I can, or if you have a question you think I know, send me an email at rx7even@yahoo.com and I'll try to help you out.

Ryan

Ah the Baconsports kit. :) I have to admit I do like the way yours looks with the two different size lights, BUT, I like the way they look better with them the same size. I don't remember if you have those lights hooked into the stock housing of not, but if you do, good luck getting one of the hella's in there, especially the low beam (you'll see what I mean if you try it). They look small from the outside on my pictures and in other pictures I've seen, but believe me, the bodies of these things is quite large! Even with the totally new bracket I have designed, they BARELY fit in there.

Ryan

boo thats gonna piss me off......

hey ryan, i changed my avatar in tribute to your handy craftsmanship. i thought it was a pretty cool shot. i have it on my wallpaper, too.

Where there's a will, there's a way. Er, sometimes. Good luck! ;)

Ryan

Awesome! They look really good! Thanks for doing that! :)

Ryan

http://www.clearcorners.com/products...0sx1/F_lowpro/

my friend got this conversion for his 240 also...I must say the beam pattern is GREAT! and it looks really good. Much better than the one in the pics above.

http://www.clearcorners.com/products..._lowpro_rings/

they also did the "devil eye" thing like BMW with some really bright LEDs

David

Thanks for those links A-Spec. Those are the exact same lights I'm using, so obviously there is an HID kit for them like I thought. I'll definetely look into this as an option for those that want it.

Ryan

http://www.clearcorners.com/products...gs/Image04.jpg

Now those lights look beautiful!!! Since those are the same lights you are using Ryan is there any way to incorporate that same look?

Little Photoshop fun...
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...&postid=581692

yes the way to do it is to just get regular d2s bulbs and glue/tape them in there! surprisingly it sits at the correct place and the beam pattern is GREAT!

The LEDs are a pain...he glued on many many individual LEDs...good luck.

the lights would look great if you had the middle one sit forward a little more than the outer ones. Have them at the same height.
David

Ryan,

The lights look great. Only question I have beyond how much :) is how close to the nose is that inner light. From the angle on your picture, it has me wondering if its far enough back to avoid heating the paint up.

Probably a silly question since I dont know how hot the lights you're using get, but I had a set of similar lights that you could cook dinner in front of once.

Who's kit are these? I agree these lights look great !! :cool:

I made a headlight kit a couple of years ago, if you want to see pictures go to www.rotordave.com/spyro.htm

These look very nice. I like the slight offset look. Very little in this car is a pure circle or square (well wheels, dials, and other things that spin). Having the lights offset in depth and height looks right to me.

Could you show a picture of what the lights look like from the side or above-behind when in sleepy position? Is there anything, like gaps, that look funny when the covers are 1/2 to 2/3 open?

I sacond putting good lighting patter higher in priority over the lowest possible lid.

keep us posted!

I had one question about the kit. Will this kit allow the lights to still open and close? Or will this be a fixed comversion? Looking good buy the way.

later Gun

They are back far enough and will actually be a hair above the bumper. The reason it looks like it's right on it is because it pretty much is. The lights are switched and the low beam wouldn't fit in the bracket (since I didn't design it to go there), so it's actually sitting just below the bracket (and sticking out more than usual). Who know's, maybe by tonight I'll have a picture of it where it's supposed to be. :)

Ryan

Glue/tape the lights in? Well that's different. ;) I guess if it works though. I'll look into it.

The inside light IS out a little farther than the outside light, it's just hard to tell from that picture. They do need to be staggered a bit though. Having them at the same level just doesn't flow well with the bottom of the headlight opening. We'll see though.

Ryan

Er, well probably, like A-Spec said it can be done. I doubt I'll be selling these as an option, but they could be bought seperately and added on later.

Ryan