FD3S: Feed Lens Covers for Feed Front Bumper. Who's interested?
05-01-18, 05:31 PM
#54
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iTrader: (3)
Definitely interested in these! I'll take a pair of clear ones if you still have them. Or two pairs.
If no clear, I'll do the purple tint. I'd like to have clear but no biggie. I just need some.
And I have the FEED combo lights. I didn't see any markings on the lights themselves to know which ones they are, other than the Raybrig fog lights.
1. Funkspectrum2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
If no clear, I'll do the purple tint. I'd like to have clear but no biggie. I just need some.
And I have the FEED combo lights. I didn't see any markings on the lights themselves to know which ones they are, other than the Raybrig fog lights.
1. Funkspectrum2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
Last edited by speedjunkie; 05-01-18 at 05:40 PM.
05-03-18, 04:35 AM
#55
SABBC
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1. Funkspectrum2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
10. Galvatron10000
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
10. Galvatron10000
05-03-18, 12:01 PM
#56
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1. Funkspectrum2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
10. Galvatron10000
11. Matthieu
05-08-18, 06:23 PM
#57
Ken, I added myself to the list just in case although you're tracking my "phone order" - Ron
1. Funkspectrum
2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
10. Galvatron10000
11. Matthieu
12. av8r01
1. Funkspectrum
2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
10. Galvatron10000
11. Matthieu
12. av8r01
05-16-18, 03:58 PM
#58
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1. Funkspectrum
2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
10. Galvatron10000
11. Matthieu
12. av8r01
13. Strickrothp
2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
10. Galvatron10000
11. Matthieu
12. av8r01
13. Strickrothp
05-21-18, 07:09 PM
#59
Originally Posted by av8r01
Ken, I added myself to the list just in case although you're tracking my "phone order" - Ron
1. Funkspectrum
2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
10. Galvatron10000
11. Matthieu
12. av8r01
1. Funkspectrum
2. 4g63rotary
3. Wthx100
4. m496
5.Sandrockx
6. Ryuji
7. paul_3rdgen
8.stravinsky finalskyx@hotmail.com
9. speedjunkie
10. Galvatron10000
11. Matthieu
12. av8r01
08-02-18, 06:21 PM
#61
Hey Guys,
I just wanted to do a follow-up update on this. I know it has been awhile and there are many reasons why and I don't want to get into every issue we've ran into with this project.
I will say this... if this project did not require a specific purple tint, this would've been done a year ago. We've had to experiment and try different things because of the special tint.
We initially wanted these lenses to be in Lexan (polycarbonate). The original Feed lenses are made in acrylic. However, Lexan needs to be hard-coated on the face for scratch resistance. If it is not hard-coated and develops scratches, it cannot be polished out. Then it will have to be spray-tinted (purple) on the inside, so this involves many steps to get the right look. Lexan is more flexible and durable than polycarbonate. We were willing to go through these steps. The problem we ran into was polycarbonate did not form well against the mold and dveloped incorrect curvature. It would only work if the polycarbonate had a certain thickness. However, the only thickness that actually worked was too thick for the FEED front bumper as it would slightly protrude out of the turn signal opening. It doesn't need be flush with the bumper, but it can't be protruding out. Because of many experiments with this, we had to go a different route.
Now with acrylic, it can develop scratches over time, but luckily it can be easily polished out. There are niche companies who offer acrylic in purple-tinted colors, which is great because it would help us remove one step from the process. Unfortunately, this company did not offer the acrylic material in the thickness we were after unless we bought a ton of material... basically enough material for 300 pair of lenses or so. We're only aiming to produce 25 pairs at a time because of investment costs.
This leaves us with one option... we have to get the lenses made in clear and send them to a specialist to apply a purple-tint. This is what we did. We produced 25 sets of clear lenses and had them shipped to a specialist located outside of california. Prior to us sending all 25 sets, we sent them a pair to test out and they came back perfectly fine. Everything seemed to be going well at this point.
Last week, the batch of 25 sets arrived and I inspected them with the local manufacturer (the ones who built the lenses). Out of 50 lenses, only about 12 of them came out correctly. Others had fish-eye issues, weird color batching, wrinkles, you name it. It's a nightmare. The sad part of all of this is the 12 that are good, 11 of them happen to be all one side. There was only one decent pair. If we would've gotten 11 good pairs (left and right) we'd be satisfied because at least we could get some shipped and deal with issues of the rest later.
So unfortunately, this is the most updated news we have. We have two issues to deal with now. 1... finding a local specialist who can apply the tint properly. 2... we need to see if we can salvage the lenses that were improperly tinted. The manufacturer is going to try sand the tint off and repolish. Not sure if this will work. If not, they will have to start all over and build more.
We also haven't experimented with how we're going to put a black outline around the perimeter as seen on the Feed lenses. The outline on the original FEED lenses are sprayed on, but it slowly flakes off a little overtime. I was hoping we could at least get a good sample pair we could experiment with, but the manufacturer needs that sample pair to shop around for a tint specialist as a sample to show them what we want. Perhaps I should just get one side for now and play around with some ideas.
I would say this is the worst project we've taken on, simply because alot of it is not in our control. Acrylic/polycarbonate is not our specialty. We didn't shop for the lowest price vendor either. We hired or thought we hired people who would just simply do the job right. We just want to get it done. I constantly chased this project for almost 2 years with an issue at every turn.
I apologize to everyone for the long wait.
Clear lenses are still an option if anyone doesn't want to wait. Let me know.
Ken
I just wanted to do a follow-up update on this. I know it has been awhile and there are many reasons why and I don't want to get into every issue we've ran into with this project.
I will say this... if this project did not require a specific purple tint, this would've been done a year ago. We've had to experiment and try different things because of the special tint.
We initially wanted these lenses to be in Lexan (polycarbonate). The original Feed lenses are made in acrylic. However, Lexan needs to be hard-coated on the face for scratch resistance. If it is not hard-coated and develops scratches, it cannot be polished out. Then it will have to be spray-tinted (purple) on the inside, so this involves many steps to get the right look. Lexan is more flexible and durable than polycarbonate. We were willing to go through these steps. The problem we ran into was polycarbonate did not form well against the mold and dveloped incorrect curvature. It would only work if the polycarbonate had a certain thickness. However, the only thickness that actually worked was too thick for the FEED front bumper as it would slightly protrude out of the turn signal opening. It doesn't need be flush with the bumper, but it can't be protruding out. Because of many experiments with this, we had to go a different route.
Now with acrylic, it can develop scratches over time, but luckily it can be easily polished out. There are niche companies who offer acrylic in purple-tinted colors, which is great because it would help us remove one step from the process. Unfortunately, this company did not offer the acrylic material in the thickness we were after unless we bought a ton of material... basically enough material for 300 pair of lenses or so. We're only aiming to produce 25 pairs at a time because of investment costs.
This leaves us with one option... we have to get the lenses made in clear and send them to a specialist to apply a purple-tint. This is what we did. We produced 25 sets of clear lenses and had them shipped to a specialist located outside of california. Prior to us sending all 25 sets, we sent them a pair to test out and they came back perfectly fine. Everything seemed to be going well at this point.
Last week, the batch of 25 sets arrived and I inspected them with the local manufacturer (the ones who built the lenses). Out of 50 lenses, only about 12 of them came out correctly. Others had fish-eye issues, weird color batching, wrinkles, you name it. It's a nightmare. The sad part of all of this is the 12 that are good, 11 of them happen to be all one side. There was only one decent pair. If we would've gotten 11 good pairs (left and right) we'd be satisfied because at least we could get some shipped and deal with issues of the rest later.
So unfortunately, this is the most updated news we have. We have two issues to deal with now. 1... finding a local specialist who can apply the tint properly. 2... we need to see if we can salvage the lenses that were improperly tinted. The manufacturer is going to try sand the tint off and repolish. Not sure if this will work. If not, they will have to start all over and build more.
We also haven't experimented with how we're going to put a black outline around the perimeter as seen on the Feed lenses. The outline on the original FEED lenses are sprayed on, but it slowly flakes off a little overtime. I was hoping we could at least get a good sample pair we could experiment with, but the manufacturer needs that sample pair to shop around for a tint specialist as a sample to show them what we want. Perhaps I should just get one side for now and play around with some ideas.
I would say this is the worst project we've taken on, simply because alot of it is not in our control. Acrylic/polycarbonate is not our specialty. We didn't shop for the lowest price vendor either. We hired or thought we hired people who would just simply do the job right. We just want to get it done. I constantly chased this project for almost 2 years with an issue at every turn.
I apologize to everyone for the long wait.
Clear lenses are still an option if anyone doesn't want to wait. Let me know.
Ken
Last edited by shineautoproject; 08-02-18 at 06:28 PM.
09-07-18, 07:16 PM
#66
Update:
The lenses were not salvageable. The manufacturer has to build new sets.
On a side note:
I hate to keep anyone's hope's up at this point, but here are some pics of the only sample pair that came out decent. It is slightly thicker than the original FEED lenses and it has counter-sunk holes, which the original FEED lenses did not. This will allow the screws to sit nicely versus awkwardly. In person, the purple color is alot lighter than the pictures indicate.
The lenses were not salvageable. The manufacturer has to build new sets.
On a side note:
I hate to keep anyone's hope's up at this point, but here are some pics of the only sample pair that came out decent. It is slightly thicker than the original FEED lenses and it has counter-sunk holes, which the original FEED lenses did not. This will allow the screws to sit nicely versus awkwardly. In person, the purple color is alot lighter than the pictures indicate.
