Lighting -
“Wow lights, now it looks like a real car Dad” Says the kid
Full Rear Lights and Shiny New Paintwork
Yes well I guess it does even if there is no power to make them actually work. With an 80mm hole saw the clearance holes were cut. After this a round file was used to cut three slots one for the bottom spigot and two for the mounting screws. Using standard 95mm lighting lenses with their associated back mounts in a rather unorthodox way the lights were mounted.
Rear Light Cut Out
The light unit was passed through the cut out and with the back mount behind the cut the mounting screws were used to clamp the light fitting into place. The spigot and two mounting screws then prevent the light unit from turning.
Lights and Back Mounting.
This process was repeated for the brake, indicator and fog lamps only leaving the reversing lamps. For this there is a change of unit as small LED units will be mounted either side of the number plate. Finally a number plate light will need to be fitted above the plate.
Close Up View of Light Cluster.
(Oh and did I mention the shiny new paint)
The rear fog light became an issue as it touches the tank. To get around this the fog light surround was machined down to fit into the existing fog light recess.
The Original Housing. Parting & Chamfer.
To reduce the diameter the housing was put up on a lathe and using a parting tool the back section was removed and chamfered. Finally the housing was bonded into the recess and a LED type fog lamp installed. The LED type keeps the depth of the lamp to a minimum.
Fog Light Fitting.
Up front the headlight cut outs are made ready for glazing. Using a small depth gauge, set to 20mm, a recess is marked out around the inside of the headlight area to give a rim for the Perspex to fit to. Also the rim will allow the headlight moulding and assembly to fix to. After marking all the way around the headlight area the cut out is made by hand, because there is no possible way a jig saw can be used due the the shape of the headlight cones. So many minutes (under statement of the week) later the cut outs are ready.
Headlight Cut Out.
Next job is to cut the high impact Perspex so that it fits into the headlight area and onto the recess. This is accomplished by first using a dark marker pen to colour around the headlight area. Now when the protected Perspex is placed up against the headlight area the outline of the required glazing panel can be traced onto the Perspex. Now the cut can be made using a very fast speed jigsaw. Using countersunk M4x25 set screws the glazing is fixed in place (later silicon sealant will be used to water / dust proof the glazing). The length of the set screws will allow the headlamp assembly to use the same mounting screws.
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