My headlight conversion
 

So I've had a Midtenn miata headlight conversion in my car for about 5 years now, and just this summer, one of the covers blew off on the highway and was smashed to several pieces by the traffic. The added air coming into the engine bay was nice, but it looked really really bad, and I was never very happy with the light that the flush mount lights gave out. I decided then I should take a crack at making my own. Here's what I came up with:

I used the small square headlights found in Geo Storms / Chevy Camaro cars, had some plates cut, and then figured out a way to mount it all. It's surprisingly very simple, and the light they give out are awesome. I've designed them so there are no holes to drill, and no wires to cut. The downsides are that the lights are in a fixed position, and there are no high beams (I'll be playing with a bit larger 4x6 two stage headlamp out of Firebirds in a few weeks). Anyways, I just finished putting them in, and figured I should throw a few pics up here. They're bare aluminum right now, and I think a nice black powdercoat would make them fit in really well. Although, the bare aluminum does look pretty good. I'm not entirely sure the side plates I've put on are the best thing, but I'll leave them on for now.

http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4880.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4881.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4887.JPG

As I said, the lighting difference between these and the midtenn's are incredible! I took a comparison shot, because I had done the conversion on the passenger side, and left the midtenn's on the drivers side. Here's me blocking the light of the conversion, and using only the midtenn light:
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4876.JPG

And this is with my headlight conversion uncovered:
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4875.JPG

Anyways, just wanted to share :)

Cool. There's a write up about a similar mod in DIYmiata.com using talon/eclipse's assembly instead

Nice job, but definitely want to coat that aluminum trim somehow. And why don't your wheels match, looks like you have off-road tires on the front?

Lol, I have drag radials on the rear, and Pirelli Ice Carving winter tires on the front :) I sold my regular wheels and tires, and bought new rims, but saving up for some rubber. The car is currently off the road until April anyways, so not a big deal.

The front trim is actually two pieces sandwiched together that holds the light in place. The back plate bolts into the old housing, and has spacers on the bottom to push it forward. Then the front plate is held on with three bolts. It works really well.

damn looks really good... what did it cost you?

Actually I'm thinking about selling them as a complete kit - lights, mounts, wires, hardware, etc for $200 Canadian. I'll have to see how well they work on the road etc before I do though.

kind of looks like shit in my opinion. paint it black perhaps?

honestly i would get rid of the surrounds and get some square lights from vatozone that fit the gap. It sort of looks like a crazy frog with glasses.

http://thumb9.shutterstock.com.edges...43833996,2.jpghttp://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4881.JPG

:rofl:

Quickly evolving. I took the side plates off, and painted the front plate black. I think I'll remove the entire headlight assembly and paint the whole thing black (except tops), and just leave the sides open.
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4891.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4892.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4893.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4894.JPG

And here is a basic look of how I've assembled them:
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4888.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4889.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4890.JPG

And hey, what's wrong with frogs wearing glasses? :p

Actually, I think i'll do the other one in mariner blue and see how that turns out.

I really like the look of how these look. Too lazy to photobucket.

That's cool, I wonder what lights those are... I could easily retrofit them into my plate.

i like that better man however i'd paint the sides black also and put them back on there, otherwise it just looks gheto. Something else is cut the top of the thing very small and move the lights up as far as possible so you dont have the huge 3/4" gap on top of the lights and the covers. Also i personally dont like how it looks like with the square, they are just too small for that box. in my opinion, rounds would be better looking.

Well, here's version 3. The original plastic surround just needs to be cut in a few areas, and then it fits perfectly, and flush with the plates I made:
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4918.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4919.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4925.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4926.JPG
http://www.dbmiata.com/miata/lights/IMG_4930.JPG

works great.. looks like ass. shoulda just gotten some ecodes and called it a day

Well to each their own. What are ecodes?

They are a replacement headlight which uses european code lenses and allows you to use standard H4 bulbs. They are like 1000x better than h6024 sealed beams. I just installed them on my car and the difference was truly amazing.

Ahh ok, but you still have the barn yard doors. They're like the air brake on the veyron, just pop up your lights and you don't even need to use the brakes :)

wow European code huh? That must be truly spectacular stuff then. Wasn't the Titanic made in Europe as well?

What makes E-Code headlights better is the fact that you use a 9004 IIRC, and the rest of it is just a reflector. The light -is- better. Don't worry, they aren't patented/manufactured by Lucas.