Headlight delete
02-08-2009, 10:30 PM
#1
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Headlight delete
so as you know projects always start small and end up being much more- at least around my garage. Ive been contemplating lightening parts of my car for some time and havent talked myself out of the working a/c or much else that i "need" like my cruise control that works but speeds up 10mph after you set it. I was charging the battery up today since the car has been sitting a few weeks w/o a start and noticed that the headlight linkage was rubbing alittle on the rubber boot for the MAF. After trying to reposition it somewhat i concluded that this was not going to happen. "There would be much more room under the hood w/o the headlights" i thought. I weighed the pro's and the con's and decided to try it w/o them and see how much i miss them. I dont drive the car much anyway and w/ some brighter fogs/driving lights it should be ok around town. I pulled all of the linkage out of the front of the car and cut off the remaining PS headlight stop braket- the DS was long gone. Then i pulled the H4 lenses out and zip tied the wiring up out of the way. Only problem was how to keep the headlights from flipping up w/o the linkage to hold it. The braket on the buckets themselves have a round piece that pops into the old linkage so i thought if i could make something to pop it into and bolt down it would hold it ok. I realized that the linkage brakets themselves are the perfect height, just not drilled in the right spots to mount them. I pulled out the trusty drill, popped a hole in each one and resprayed them nice black. Then i mounted the brakets to some threaded holes in the framerails and popped the headlight linkage into the plastic washer in each braket. This holds the headlights in place w/o making stupid looking pieces or being irreversible. There is a ton of room on either side of the engine bay now for who knows what, im sure i need some thing on the ps fender as i have no headlights and no washer bottle there anymore. I also pulled my foglights out and cut the hats off the bulbs to brighten them up some. Works ok but a trip around the block in the dark convinced me that some brighter lights are still in order. I may convert these to "euro" lights w/ brighter bulbs- i can reroute the headlight wiring to the second set so they can easily handle the voltage. More to come im sure but the drive around the block was awsome, either because fresh air now runs right to my air filter or because the car has been sitting for almost two months. 
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02-09-2009, 10:12 AM
#8
Drifting
I had my t-top off, driving with lights off but fogs/city lights were on, and for me - bright enough and other people can see too
so a cop pulls off the parking lot behind me, turns his lights on, walks up and says (this is through the t-top BTW, I didn't open door or window):
him: "you know why I pulled you over"
me: "yeah"
him: "why?"
me: "cause I dont have my lights on"
him: "why are they off?"
me: "well see, Ive been having this problem with them, sometimes it blows a fuse and [bla bla bla]"
him: "either park it or turn them on"
me: *turns on the lights* "ok"
him: "nice car I'd hate for something to happen to it, have a nice night!"
he also said something abot other drivers not being able to see it ...
but uh, watch out if you are going to drive it at night; next time I'm going to try and pull a "it came like this from factory officer!"
so a cop pulls off the parking lot behind me, turns his lights on, walks up and says (this is through the t-top BTW, I didn't open door or window):
him: "you know why I pulled you over"
me: "yeah"
him: "why?"
me: "cause I dont have my lights on"
him: "why are they off?"
me: "well see, Ive been having this problem with them, sometimes it blows a fuse and [bla bla bla]"
him: "either park it or turn them on"
me: *turns on the lights* "ok"
him: "nice car I'd hate for something to happen to it, have a nice night!"
he also said something abot other drivers not being able to see it ...
but uh, watch out if you are going to drive it at night; next time I'm going to try and pull a "it came like this from factory officer!"
02-09-2009, 10:12 AM
#9
Hey Dan,
I havn't removed my pop up lights yet, but I'm going to. About 5 years ago I cut the little top hat off the bracket in the fogs and put in brighter bulbs, along with new lenses. I drive all the time at night with just those lights. No one, even the local Barny Fife, has ever stopped me or flashed their high beams at me.
Did you weigh all the stuff you took out, I've heard that it's almost 40 lbs if you take all of the headlight stuff out.
I havn't removed my pop up lights yet, but I'm going to. About 5 years ago I cut the little top hat off the bracket in the fogs and put in brighter bulbs, along with new lenses. I drive all the time at night with just those lights. No one, even the local Barny Fife, has ever stopped me or flashed their high beams at me.
Did you weigh all the stuff you took out, I've heard that it's almost 40 lbs if you take all of the headlight stuff out.
02-09-2009, 10:55 AM
#10
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mmm, I took the entire headlight mechanism out of a parts car yesterday, and I would say 40lbs is being a bit optimistic. Maybe 20lbs is what it felt like.
02-09-2009, 02:41 PM
#11
Rennlist Member
Only problem was how to keep the headlights from flipping up w/o the linkage to hold it. The braket on the buckets themselves have a round piece that pops into the old linkage so i thought if i could make something to pop it into and bolt down it would hold it ok. I realized that the linkage brakets themselves are the perfect height, just not drilled in the right spots to mount them. I pulled out the trusty drill, popped a hole in each one and resprayed them nice black. Then i mounted the brakets to some threaded holes in the framerails and popped the headlight linkage into the plastic washer in each braket.
Do you have any pics of this? I pulled mine as well, but haven't decided yet how to secure the lids, so for now they look droopy.
02-09-2009, 02:59 PM
#12
Almost Addicted
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I'm actually planning on doing this also. I have heard that headlights from a mid 90s silverado fit in there with some modification.
02-09-2009, 03:23 PM
#14
Rainman
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in addition, maybe instead of playing with the stock hardware just make a bracket that runs along the back edge of the headlight cover and connects to the fender and badge panel to hold it in place, then you can remove the headlight bar as well
02-09-2009, 03:29 PM
#15
