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Mine dont work for starters, second they're not aerodynamic when up, third they kinda kill the lines of the car when up. Anyone have any ideas on a legal way to get rid of the flip up headlights on a 'bird? The smallest lights I can think of would be from an earlier GP or a Geo Storm(they're the same lights, some other GMs used these same lights too) but they're still kinda big. According to a guy selling them on ebay "The mounting housing is 6 inches wide X 3 1/4 inches high and 4 inches deep to the back of the bulb connector.The actual light itself is 5 1/4 inches wide by 2 1/4 inches high". I did a search and found someone who did it with non-dot approved lights but I wanna keep my car legal. Any fresh thoughts on this topic?
Unfortunately there isn't a lot of room to work with. You probably found my setup that wasn't DOT legal in any way shape or form. If someone made a plexiglass replacement for the whole assembly you might be able to cram a set of DOT lights under there.
Yeah but there is'nt alot of room to work with on any car with flip up lights. We're an enterprising group we have to be able to come up with something.
Check out this RX7:
Normal:
[img]http://www.3rdgenrx7.com/images/blk/nose.jpg[/img]
Non flip up:
Is that sweet or what. Ive seen similar set ups on everything from 'vettes to fiero's, why not us?
o.k. I dont know why the first pic is making you click on it to see it but most of you know what those cars look like stock...if not click away.
Last edited by TheRealBlkBird; 02-09-2008 at 03:58 AM.
Reason: explained in body
I doubt any of those setups are DOT legal. I have never seen a good looking one for a Vette, they all stick up and make the car look like a frog basically. Why not a Thirdgen... well, because the newest that it wold be possible on are 19 years old (91/92 has a different setup and basically no room). There isn't much of a market for 1,000 dollar aftermarket headlights.
The set up on the RX7 is DOT legal, it uses those Hella lights(which Im actually not fond of). $1000 lights? You gotta keep an eye on ebay. They pop up on there quite often and for quite cheap(for other cars, that is). Look at that ugly set I gave the link to in my first post. Dirt cheap.
Here's a C4, I dont know if the lights he used are DOT approved. Kinda look like driving lights, and they're ugly too, but its another example of what could be done. Just do it with lights that are already DOT approved.
The problem is that no lights of that height are DOT approved. Height in a non projector allows for control of the beam pattern that the DOT is looking for. You might be able to find some really small DOT projector that would work.
The problem is that no lights of that height are DOT approved. Height in a non projector allows for control of the beam pattern that the DOT is looking for. You might be able to find some really small DOT projector that would work.
I dont like projector lights. I wanna stick with rectangular lights like in the fiero pic.
Last edited by TheRealBlkBird; 02-09-2008 at 04:27 AM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
I dont know, I'll do a little digging and see if I can come up with anything. It seems like one of our members would be good enough with fiberglass to come up with the basic shell similar to the fiero's and for alot less then $500, heck I might even give this a try. Then like you said, the question would be what lights, then top the whole thing off with a clear piece of plexi and you have yourself a pretty cool set up.
Im a member of a fiero forum from waaaaay back, Im gunna see if I can post a question and see what the measurements of their headlights are...
To be honest, when are the headlights up anyway? Night time and maybe in the rain. Both times you are not going to need the aero as you are probably not racing it hard in either condition. Also, the rain doesn't leave too many people looking at the aesthetic beauty of your car's lines as it finds running to their cars trying to stay dry. The aero loss from your headlights being up is negligible. If you are trying to pin down that level of aero from your car, that would mean you have taped off every crack in the body panels, dropped the car to a non-drivable height, and no longer drive the car on the street. Otherwise that aero loss is unimportant even a little bit.
The problem I see here is not with the fact that the car is too ugly and non-aerodynamic when the lights are up as it is with the fact that the motors die and leave them up all the time. Fix the motors with the metal gears and the car looks great with the lights down and they come up when you need them to.
To be honest for me, I find the car's ugly with the headlights up. Period. Forget aerodynamics. I just think flip up headlights are ugly whey they're up on any car with flip up headlights. Notice in my posts Ive shown an RX7, a 'vette, and a fiero, Id probably show more if I could find more that have been converted. So if you dont mind the look, hey good for you, Im looking for something different and I know I cant be the only one.
Well, if it is a personal preference only and you just hate the flip up lights, they have the Camaro :-p But seriously, it all depends on how much fab work you are willing to do then. To make it functional, DOT legal, and still look good is going to take more than just glassing up some buckets and slapping in undersized fog lights with a lexan cover. I would imagine one way to do it would be to get into the bumper some. Cut the opening allotted in the bumper for the standard flip up lights down more to allow bigger lights while maintaining the hood line. It would be best in that case to make a splash mold of the poly bumper so you can make a fiberglass bumper skin to work with as you would be hard pressed to work with the poly bumper to do glass work. Besides, if you made a fiberglass bumper and no one else has started making them yet assembly line style, you could start selling fiberglass bumpers as an after-market weight saving add on . Just one possible suggestion.
It'd be fairly easy to mount a set of hella 90mm projectors on and 82-90 car, they'll stick up more on a 91-92 car though. The 50mm ones seem like a cool idea. I would definitely like to get my hands on some of those.
Well, if it is a personal preference only and you just hate the flip up lights, they have the Camaro :-p
Actually, I never undestood why the Camaro's did'nt have something over their lights. Not only for looks but this time for aerodynamics too. Yeah, I thought about modding the bumper, seems like too much work. I guess I need to remove a headlight entirely and get down at ground level and see how much room there is to work with, without getting into the bumper, which I dont want to do. I cant imagine the Fiero set up working and something similar not working on a 'bird.
To be honest, when are the headlights up anyway? Night time and maybe in the rain. Both times you are not going to need the aero as you are probably not racing it hard in either condition
My thoughts exactly
The only time I care is for racing at night
The track is always lit up so i just run the foglights
Quote:
Im gunna see if I can post a question and see what the measurements of their headlights are...
The are the same as the 82-90 Firebirds
Even the upper half of the housing is the same and interchanges
The lower half is different and swaps the motor sides IE Dr --> Pass
This was for a more compact package
Quote:
Actually, I never understood why the Camaro's didn't have something over their lights. Not only for looks but this time for aerodynamics too.
It would still look better. If you're happy with your flip up lights, you really dont need to respond to this thread some people like to modify things.
I think what it comes down to is getting a lens molded to fit the car, after that figure out what kind of lights would fit in the lens. I need to take some measurements but I dont have my car its at a shop i want and try to draw something up in autocad I know someone who works at a plastics shop that does custom molding for windshields and and other stuff maybe he can help.
The are the same as the 82-90 Firebirds
Even the upper half of the housing is the same and interchanges
The lower half is different and swaps the motor sides IE Dr --> Pass
This was for a more compact package
IF this is true would'nt the Fiero kit in the picture be a drop in kit for the 'birds too?
IF this is true would'nt the Fiero kit in the picture be a drop in kit for the 'birds too?
It IS true, I own birds and Fieros. I have used both parts to repair each
I doubt it would drop in as the location of the light is different, the shape of the hood, slant of the hood
Also
The Bird has a cover mounted to the top of the light
The Fiero pushes up a flap door
Well...are'nt you special. If the door is the same, the shape of the opening on the hood has to be the same, that's just common sense. But I contacted Norman directly(Ive owned Fiero's too) and he said they've tried it and it wont fit in. No , I did'nt think it would be a direct swap but I thought with a little modification it could be made to work but Norman said it would be easier to start from scratch. Let me ask you, if you have no interest in this modification, why are you so interested in this thread?
Well...are'nt you special. If the door is the same, the shape of the opening on the hood has to be the same, that's just common sense. But I contacted Norman directly(Ive owned Fiero's too) and he said they've tried it and it wont fit in. No , I did'nt think it would be a direct swap but I thought with a little modification it could be made to work but Norman said it would be easier to start from scratch. Let me ask you, if you have no interest in this modification, why are you so interested in this thread?
Surely you weren't being an A$$ enough to be responding to me. Can't tell because you weren't ballsy enough to quote WHO you were referring to. Instead, you post a blank reply.
I'm up for mods. If something does show up better that I like, I'm all for it.
Surely you weren't being an A$$ enough to be responding to me. Can't tell because you weren't ballsy enough to quote WHO you were referring to. Instead, you post a blank reply.
I'm up for mods. If something does show up better that I like, I'm all for it.
I think he was referring to the guy Pocket's response higher up.
what about if you have fog lights, put a signal light in the fog light housing and a 4th gen sized headlight where the signal lights are. weld camaro hood corners over the flip up area?
ive seen zr1 vettes with driving lights down low.. maybe just do somhing down there and do away with the upper ones altogether.
what about if you have fog lights, put a signal light in the fog light housing and a 4th gen sized headlight where the signal lights are. weld camaro hood corners over the flip up area?
ive seen zr1 vettes with driving lights down low.. maybe just do somhing down there and do away with the upper ones altogether.
Headlights down as low as our fog lights are, would be "technically" illegal, and could fail inspection. I think our limit is 23", center to ground.
Besides, I can't imagine much good light output, on the road, with them being that low.
I've upgraded the output of my 87 fog lights, but as far as distance goes? They are nothing compared to my headlights. Granted, my headlights are upgraded too, but still....
isnt there a guy on here that has a headlight setub on his ta thats got a headlight the same size as the signal, but just fills the space in the gap of the flip up? and theres also a guy with 4th gen style fogs in the bumper....
isnt there a guy on here that has a headlight setub on his ta thats got a headlight the same size as the signal, but just fills the space in the gap of the flip up?
Surely you weren't being an A$$ enough to be responding to me. Can't tell because you weren't ballsy enough to quote WHO you were referring to. Instead, you post a blank reply.
I'm up for mods. If something does show up better that I like, I'm all for it.
Considering your post is 4 up from my response, I dont see how the hell you think I was talking to you. I did'nt think I would have to be "ballsy" enough to quote someone when Im responding to the person who made the last reply. Ive been on tons of forums and never had a misundestanding when Im talking to the last response without putting them in quotes. Im sorry but I did'nt see anything in your post worth responding to, Im not a fan of the "lazy eye" look, going way back to my Fiero days.
Last edited by TheRealBlkBird; 02-10-2008 at 08:00 PM.
Redaif's car looks bad *** but totally illegal, atleast where I live. Something like the Fiero's kit above that removes and replaces our headlight itself and replaces it with another DOT headlight might fly here.
Considering your post is 4 up from my response, I dont see how the hell you think I was talking to you.
Yes, I was 4 posts back, but the one the posted 'I like the sleepy eyes mod better.'
Quotes negate any chances of misunderstanding. I've been here long enough to see PLENTY or cowards respond to a post from the page before them, and you hafta interpret which person they were referring to, because they don't have the guts to quote. So easy to hide behind screen names on the 'net.
If I misunderstood, I apologize. I just couldn't find anyone else to posted the preference after me, besides the quote of mine.
Considering my post talked about the shape of the headlight and then went on to talk about Norman who's kit me and Pocket were discussing I thought it was self explanatory. Where any reference to your post was made I have no idea. Trust me, Im not going to hide behind anything. My post was made in response to Pockets post and Im not hiding behind anything, I just did'nt think I needed to quote him to make that clear.
Just to show I have no hard feelings and to put another idea out there, here's and example of the "lazy eye" mod, its on a Fiero but if Im not mistaken this car is the first car to have done the mod.
isnt there a guy on here that has a headlight setub on his ta thats got a headlight the same size as the signal, but just fills the space in the gap of the flip up? [/url]
car has undergone massive construction since then. i now have hids too.
Those look awesome but I have to pass an annual safety inspection which would mandate that the lights be DOT approved so I'll have to use headlights from another car and make those fit if I go forward with it. Ive got myself wrapped up in a different project right now anyway. Id love to see pics of your latest incarnation of your project though.
i did this mod about 4 years ago with my 93 probe just alot of molding and sanding and such but when it was finished looked like nissan 300z head lights also some one on the probe site did some that looked like acura integra headlights...all you really need to do is make a mock headlight bucket fiberglass it smooth it out cut round headlight buckets out seal your lights in the buckets get your lexan clamp it to you headlight lid slowly heat it and tighten the clamps to form the lexan to the body/hood shape mod the new buckets for the lexan and seal it all up..i have some pics of the start of mine i'll have to dig them up and post them..thought of doing it to my firebird cause i cant find a headlight module anywhere
Firebirds have a different contour altogether from Camaros. No way ANY Camaro hood will EVER fit a Firebird. The flip up headlights is the least of the difference.
From the strut mouns rearwards, they are the same. From the strut mounts forward, the Firebirds are a few inches lower.
they make an ss hood for a firebird.. a member posted a link to it, but i cannot remember the site.. i was thinking of putting this hood on my bird, i just hadnt found anyone who did it yet..
they make an ss hood for a firebird.. a member posted a link to it, but i cannot remember the site.. i was thinking of putting this hood on my bird, i just hadnt found anyone who did it yet..
. Just one possible suggestion. 
Yeah, I thought about modding the bumper, seems like too much work. I guess I need to remove a headlight entirely and get down at ground level and see how much room there is to work with, without getting into the bumper, which I dont want to do. I cant imagine the Fiero set up working and something similar not working on a 'bird. 
Can you believe those are homemade? 
, I did'nt think it would be a direct swap but I thought with a little modification it could be made to work but Norman said it would be easier to start from scratch. Let me ask you, if you have no interest in this modification, why are you so interested in this thread?
