My custom 1ga front turn signals

[obsidian]

Here is what I did. My stock front 1g turn signals had weathered. i'd already ordered a brand new set and I'm just waiting for them now (I sold my pistol to buy parts!).

So, the driver's side was brown on the inside due to water damage and the entire driver's signal area being cracked. So I decided why not venture out and modify them. I seem to remember others doing the same but I had no references and since my new ones are on the way, why not try to fix what is broken already?

So I did.

Reasons behind this is I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE the lazy eye 1st gens. The headlight output through those signals when down is VERY reduced (tested this myself on another car) so I decided to remove that entire area and reseal the light.

Here is the outcome.

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Comparing the two after work had been completed

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Further clean up and sealing of the side.

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Lights on, assembly down. Pretty good difference.

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Light output from head on. Big difference in light here!

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How she looks lights off assembly down.

So far there is one thing I despise about this. You can see all the guts underneath the light (bumper, bolts, horns, wires, etc.) so a SIMPLE solution to this would be for me to go to lowes, grab a small thin piece of sheet metal (aluminum or stainless ofcourse) and to cut out a piece, bolt it on usings the bumper cover bolts and seeing how things go.

I enjoyed this project. Going to finish the other light tonight. She's got water damage also (Stupid sealant) so we'll just have to see how this all plays out.

Thoughts and constructive criticism please.

 

[96' Eclipse GS]

It looks good. I would rather just go buy some "Plexiglass" and replace the opening, kind of on the same look, but more visible.

 

[madmaxxx]

I like the plexiglass idea. Maybe add a nice aluminum trim ring around the edge in black. Nice work though, it makes your car different.

 

[obsidian]

All done.

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I personally like the way it came out. Even without fogs they look beast. Reminds me a lot of the older grand prix style headlights.

Again, the purpose of these is to let the headlights work WITHOUT lifting the headlight assembly, which they do.

 

[2GbTalonGuy]

Light output is definitely better. Not sure if I like the look though.

 

[foamantelope]

Man I love the look of that at night! In the day it's kindof lackluster. The plexiglass idea is a good one.

 

[turbojoeg]

Loving it man!! Looks great

 

[scottyhops]

looks good! good work

 

[92nolatist]

Nice creativity! The plexiglass sounds like a good idea as well.

 

[turbotalon1g]

I like to see it in person, but looks good so far.

 

[obsidian]

Well, I'm not opposed to doing these for people.

I do NOT like the plexiglass idea. One, it's going to take a lot more work. The back of the lens is already super clear. It's the front that will need to have the reflective style plastic remove and that will look like ass IMHO.

Plus, with those remove, the air going to the engine will be colder and therefore more HP/TQ (to the filter side) and cooler engine bay temps.

So, I'm open to anyone wanting to do these. These were done on SUPER busted lights of mine and afterwards, well, they look almost new.

Glad it's getting good praise so far. My buddy has bad night vision and he said the light output is slightly less than with the pop-ups up. He's also running the stock bulbs.

 

[1983gsp]

I wasn't sure if i liked them at first Brando but the more I rock them the more it grows on you. Yeah my night vision sucks balls with a pretty bad astigmatism so I need pretty good headlights to feel safe driving at night. Light output is almost the same with the popups up or down. Low beam suffers just a hair but the high beams seem to be the same brightness. I wouldn't recommend doing this without fog lights, but I'm not sure how much more light you would get with hid's.

My iat's dropped a few degrees so there is cooler air going to the filter. If i popped the headlight and bucket out it would be a straight shot to the filter so I will probably do that along with raising the passenger side popups to act as an air grabber at the track. Its been done before and the results should be pretty good on those hot Friday night we have here on the gulf coast. Thanks for letting me be the Guinea pig Brandon. Now we have to do you a set .

 

[obsidian]

Then I'll need your old ones to cut up. I'm not cutting up my brand new ones. .

 

[1gAWD92]

i like it man! makes me almost wish i had bought the 90 model year with the flip ups......ALMOST wounder if i could convert it. but that would take some HARD work.

 

[obsidian]

Converting isn't THAT hard. But I wouldn't unless you love the pop ups.

I am guessing that DSM made it so that if the popups failed to pop up then the light would still be able to travel through the front turn signal.

So what me and 1983gsp have done is simply removed the relay for making them pop up. That is his car they're on. The more I see them the more I like them. These seriously grow on you.

 

[CrawlinZX14]

Im intending to do something like this to my 91 TSi, except im doing away with the pop ups completely and going to model a set of projectors to sit in the opening and some LED's for turn signals as opposed to the bulbs that are OEM on the car. I am hoping to get some cool results out of it, but will def post up some pix once I get mine in order. I am not a fan of pop ups. I wanted to do some one off work on my MK3 supra like this, but sold it before I got that far into it. I like what you have done however. Looks good.

 

[obsidian]

That sounds pretty cool man. Keep us posted on how it turns out.

 

[RacintheReaper]

Looking forward to seeing how they will look when you get some kind of cover to give that smooth look and hopefully still able to have the light output you currently have. May try modifying a lens from another headlight so that way you get the smooth stock look but still keep the light output.

 

[obsidian]

You have to see these at night. I'm probably not going to modify them any further. The cold air that goes through them also goes to the engine bay and reduces the intake temp. The only thing I'd like to do now is to fabricate a peice of aluminum to cover up the ports where you can see the actual metal bumper.

 

[turbotalon1g]

Can you tell/show how you sealed them after you cut them?

I have 2 sets and I'm interested to see how this looks in person.

 

[obsidian]

I used just hot glue temporarily. I'd suggest a stronger CLEAR epoxy. A good strong professional level caulk MAY work but make sure it's clear and professional strength.

 

[spyderdrifter]

I've always liked 1ga's and Woulda done similar if I had one. Looks good.

 

[turbotalon1g]

I used just hot glue temporarily. I'd suggest a stronger CLEAR epoxy. A good strong professional level caulk MAY work but make sure it's clear and professional strength.

Thanks, the last time I viewed i couldn't see the top pics.

 

[stacked1G]

i like it, good work man. definatley makes your 1ga stand out amoung the rest. i personally would like to see them with the plexy though, as seeing how they are receeded into the bumper looks a bit odd, i do see where you are comming from with the IATs being lower though thats a "cool" plus. all in all, good stuff man.

 

[zedicus]

it looks cool but the pop up light assembly is a heavy piece of dead weight. why not yank it, and mount a solid light, or do a partial 1gb swap with a hood, or something?