My headlight conversion
#1
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.
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:
And this is with my headlight conversion uncovered:
Anyways, just wanted to share
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.
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:
And this is with my headlight conversion uncovered:
Anyways, just wanted to share
#4
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.
#10
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.
And here is a basic look of how I've assembled them:
And hey, what's wrong with frogs wearing glasses?
Actually, I think i'll do the other one in mariner blue and see how that turns out.
And here is a basic look of how I've assembled them:
And hey, what's wrong with frogs wearing glasses?
Actually, I think i'll do the other one in mariner blue and see how that turns out.
#13
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.