rotorbrain

to some of you maybe. . . not to me.

ive been working on these headlights for a while now, and have finally gotten a lot accomplished. i have the headlights in, and working properly. they go up. . . then back down. . . no upward movement when they are turned off. all of this took A LOT of time and work, and im happy with the outcome. . . hope everybody enjoys!!!

anyways, on with the pics. . . oh, and remember that i dont have the bezels made yet. i want to get them perfect, and thatll take some time, im sure. . .

and FYI:

stock height = 8.25"
rotorbrain height = 5.5"
















ps. . . dont worry. . . the car will be cleaned up this weekend. its been sitting a while, so pardon the mess.

preludesh2000

iTrader: (1)

nice...thats what i wanna do...
is it a kit?, or did you piece a kit together yourself? .... (if so anyway you can make a list)
and what are you planning on using for the bezel cover?...

brad

twin7r1

iTrader: (1)

those look bad ***

PDViper77

iTrader: (9)

those are hella nice

XxMerlinxX

iTrader: (2)

Good lookin'! Reminds me of the Knightsport kit.

R-R-Rx7

iTrader: (24)

check for the relay retra....im quite positive that thats ur problem ...
its in the kickbox

i got a diagram somewhere. if you cant find it let me know and i ll post a pic

thanks

con

XxMerlinxX

iTrader: (2)

What's his problem? I don't see any problem.

Unholy FD3S

I approve

rotorbrain

haha, thanks guys!!!

and im not sure where the problem is either. maybe in my description of their "movement"? what i meant by that was that the headlights operate like stock. i didnt modify the contacts in the motor like the other kits do. i modified the linkage so that the headlights go up 5.5" when i turn them on, and go back down to the bumper when they are turned off. nothing is wrong electronically.

now, if only i could find out how to aim them properly. i know the criteria is a wall. . . flat parking lot, and 25ft, but i cant remember how high the cut-off is supposed to be when shined on the wall. anybody with some info?

oh, and hopefully some guys that took pics at our little meet today will post with some comparison whatnot.

TwilightRotary

iTrader: (3)

very nice headlights (sorry i can't help with your aiming problem)

rotorbrain

a buddy of mine found the info. the reason i could remember how high on the wall it was supposed to be is because youre supposed to measure from the lights centerline down to the ground, then place a mark reflecting that measurement on the wall at 25ft away. then, you aim the bright portion of the beam at the mark. should be simple, right??? heh. . .

oh, and thanks for the compliments!!!

preludesh2000

iTrader: (1)

ive never measured any of that...most of my cars are low ..like the fd ...i just park about 20-25 feet away from the garage door and aim the lights at the middle (straight)...then aim them both downward a little bit....
take it for a ride, where there are no street lights and see if i like it....
your not really going to blind anyone, most cars aren't that low...

also you never did answer....is that a kit or did you piece it together(if so what parts did you use)thanks

brad

rotorbrain

i did this myself. all custom. theyre hella 90mm modules. the total job is VERY labor intensive.

i found a VERY good website on how to aim these. . . they are totally awesome when aimed correctly!!!! ill get pictures of all that later.

XxMerlinxX

iTrader: (2)

I want to do the same thing with some projectors, but I'm scared to tear up my lights.

eightsixlife

iTrader: (12)

hey when your done are you going to make/sell kits? orwould you be able to help us fellow fd owners on how to make one for ourselves?

btw awesome work man, looks really nice!!!

robert

eightsixlife

iTrader: (12)

oops, i failed to read the thread befor posting... lol, looks like youve fixed the problem already... keep up the great work!!!

rotorbrain

yeah, i already have them aimed. . . they are BRIGHT!!! i couldnt imagine what HID would look like!!! maybe ill have to see if i can make them fit later on down the road.

also, sorry about the lack of comparison pictures guys. . . i forgot to grab my camera before i went out to our "mini-meet". . . soon, though. . .

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

Paul! Looks good!

wptrx7

Do you plan on making these to sell or is this a one off?

rotorbrain

that all depends on a lot of things. i normally dont have the time to go out doing this stuff on a massive scale. i work full-time, and i have a wife and kid. my schedule is packed most of the time. i tried doing some custom work a while back ago, but ended up having to stop everything due to my not being able to focus enough time on the project. customers got angry. . . my wife got angry. . . had to stop. i dont know if its worth it anymore. nobody seems to understand that these things take time in order to be done RIGHT.

but yes. . . i could make more if i wanted to. . .

wptrx7

Can you PM me what you think cost would be for another one (without lights, that can be purchased at anytime), I understand that most of it would be your labor.

rotorbrain

the only problem i have in doing this, is that its a modified stock bucket. i dont see too many people having a good time NOT having their headlights for a while. . . and i dont have a surplus of the buckets. . .

Kento

Are you planning a writeup on how you modified the linkage so that the headlight assembly would only pivot so far?

rotorbrain

the stock pivot is around 3:1. i used that ratio to figure out the new linkage length. its very much like stroking/destroking a piston engine. the motor has a crank on it. that crank is what determines the AMOUNT of movement that the bucket has. the rod connecting the bucket to the motors crank is just like a connecting rod on a piston engine. it needs to be adjusted in order to move the lid back down to the stock closing point.

basically, you need to figure out the amount of movement needed for the headlights being used. mine was 5.5". i divided that by 3 (as per the ratio), then divided that by 2 (because the crank is actually HALF of the stroke). that gave me .91 or so. so, i made a piece to fit that measurement, then made the connecting rod adjustable using a coupler nut and threaded rod. . . the finer the better!!! i connected everything up, and adjusted the conrod back down to the stock resting place.

david garfinkle helped me out with the welding. . . since we were limited on time, and needed more hands than one to do it properly. he and i went back and forth on the measurements as well.

the measurements needed for ones own headlights really dont need to be copied from me. . . as light placement might be different from mine depending on mounting process/light selection.

Kento

Cool, sounds easy enough. In taking a quick look at the headlight linkage before when I was trying to figure out a way to limit the movement (not too fond of the "sleepy eyes" connotation), I had a thought that might be a method to try, but you've confirmed it. Thanx!