Pop-up headlight install

[Peter]

These are the ones I mean. Moon-Ace GT



If I had the cash I would by one of these cars and put it on an all alloy chassis with 2L transverse auto mid engine.

 

[Brett Proctor]

Those look ok but you would think if they are going to copy the sterling or nova and put those inserts in the light area they could of at least filled in the recessed area for the light covers.

Lights might look better if they would have filled in the light opening and have the lights mounted like the bug eyed sprite. Of course because of the style of those lights they wouldn't stick out like the Sprite does


Canopy doesn't even sit level

I kind of like what was done to the lights on that Firebird

 

[Peter]

Those look ok but you would think if they are going to copy the sterling or nova and put those inserts in the light area they could of at least filled in the recessed area for the light covers.

Lights might look better if they would have filled in the light opening and have the lights mounted like the bug eyed sprite. Of course because of the style of those lights they wouldn't stick out like the Sprite does


I think the recess were left to allow the option of covers, I have seen Stirlings with those lights and covers on here.

A lot of larger motorcycle have twin headlights, might be worth a look at.

 

[Brett Proctor]

My son came over yesterday to drop off the grand son for me to watch and I told him about the thought of converting the pop-ups to flush mounted and he liked the pop-ups better so I guess I'm going to continue with the pop-up install.

I guess that seems to be the census of the input that I'm hearing.

It doesn't matter either way to me. I just don't want to change it again once I finish the install.

 

[Nic]

I looked at motorcycle headlights too, most of them seemed too wide to fit the bucket, OR, in the case of a BMW? motorcycle headlight that would have fit, they weren't a mirror image of each other. It would be like wearing 2 left shoes all the time.

 

[Brett Proctor]

Got all the mounts made on the left side so its time to start the install of the light on the right side.

Left light was removed so a template can be made of the cut out







Cut out area marked out




Section cut out



Light installed
Next I need to finish building the other mounts

The cover on the right fits the cars lines better than the left side did.

 

[Brett Proctor]

As you can see on the photos of the lights that there was paint over spray on the lights which means to me that the car was in an accident, so I figured I better take them apart and check to make sure everything was in proper working order.

Upon inspection I did find that the mounting frame on one light was bent. I figured I would first try to locate one before I would attempt to bend it back into shape.
I found a complete light in the wrecking yard that no one had pulled yet. Probably because it had a bad worn out gear in it.

I'm re-posting that post because an issue popped-up today pertaining to the frame that was replaced.

Apparently Pontiac in all their wisdom decided to change the motor mounts on that frame and it wasn't till today that I caught it.

On the 1997 Firebird the motor lays down more than the previous years I guess. The bracket that replaced the bent one came from a earlier Firebird.
So if your going to do this install check out how the motor is mounted.(If you have to mix and match parts)

Now I had two ways to fix this dilemma. I could modify the older frame to match the one I have or I could try and straighten the bent one.
I decided to straighten the bent one first and if that didn't work out I'd modify the older style bracket.

Taking measurements from the bracket that wasn't bent I was able to get the bent one back in to working order.


In this picture the brackets look the same



But when you look at how the motor mounts you can see the difference



This is the orientation of the motor in the older style mount



This is the motor in the other bracket. You can see how much lower the motor lays



This picture is just to show the clearance of the motor to the hood/bonnet line.
I think in the other style mount the motor would still clear the hood/bonnet but not by much.




Got all the mounts made but one. I hope to finish that tomorrow.
Its a good thing I didn't make templates for the mounts to be used on the other side. It would have been a waste of time. Mounts for the right side are different from the left because of the car not being symmetrical.

 

[Brett Proctor]

All the mounts are made.

Next will be building a new hood/bonnet.

As you can see these lights take up a lot less space than the 300ZX lights did.

 

[sector]

Any progress on popup headlights? Looking forward to see how it comes out.

 

[Brett Proctor]

Any progress on popup headlights? Looking forward to see how it comes out.

The only thing left is the fiberglass work and that's scheduled for some time this summer.

I can build the section around the headlights with no hesitation but I'm deciding on what kind of extractor vent(s) I should make in the hood for the exit of the hot air from the radiator. Still going through ideas for that.

 

[Brett Proctor]

Any progress on popup headlights? Looking forward to see how it comes out.

Spent working on the headlights today.
Worked on skinning the top section of the of the body thats around the headlights.

First step was to make a part that would fit in the headlight cover section.

Used a Melamine White Panel Board to make the part





I tried one layer of glass but that was to flimsy so second attempt I used 2 layers and that worked out ok



Applied resin and waited for it to cure. No gel coat was used because I wanted the part to be transparent.




Finished part




Layed the cured glass over the section and traced the area out to be cut



Used a welding filler rod to mark out the edge



Everything rough cut. still need to mark out the edge by the wire



Everything trimmed




Adjustments to the light cover will have to be made for it to be flush with the body lines

 

[letterman7]

If you had asked I could have cut you covers from a fiberglass sheet and saved you those steps...

 

[sector]

Looks really good. I like that angled shape of those headlight covers.

 

[Brett Proctor]

Other side was made by just flipping over the finished piece and making a reverse image of it. That way both sides will be the same.

Later today I'll get a picture of the frontal view so you can see what it looks like with both sides done.
This will be used to make the molds for the part. then the piece will be bonded into place and with a little filler and sanding you shouldn't be able to see where it was bonded into place

Working on blending in the speaker pods into the interior side panels right now.

 

[Brett Proctor]

If you had asked I could have cut you covers from a fiberglass sheet and saved you those steps...

Didn't even cross my mind to have it "farmed out" Rick, Sorry.

I had all the materials here and it took about an hour or two to make. Plus the part will get trashed once I make the mold from it.

Next I need to make the rolled edge thats on the side where the wire is at and bond that in place. Once that is done I'll put some stringers on it to stiffen it up and to help retain its shape and it should be ready to make a part from it.

 

[Brett Proctor]

As mention I need to sink the headlights a little farther into the car. Not a big problem

 

[islandman]

Is the plan to have the surrounds that fill the gap between the pop-ups and the light recesses to remain separate and removable or will these be bonded to the body?

 

[Brett Proctor]

They will be bonded in place and you wont see them once body work and paint is done.

 

[sector]

Any update on the headlights installation?

 

[Peter]

Been two months since last post by Brett, getting worried.*oh my*