There was a thread on this not too long ago but I searched and couldn't find it.
I just pulled mine out of a box -- getting ready to work on the car some more -- and I noticed this marking on the back side of the fiberglass. No idea whether he is still in business or still making these parts.
Mike Swanson
AR Concepts
ar_concepts@hotmail.com
(818) 470-5700
Attached thumbnail(s)
So now the trick is to (a) find the right bulbs and (b) figure-out the wiring. Painting and final installation should be the easy part.
A search comes back as this. Maybe someone local can check it out.
Attached File(s)
New_Picture.bmp ( 374.07k )
Number of downloads: 114
I found info on the bulbs and wiring on the bird board. Project for this week I guess...
I got the lamp assemblies wired-up today and pretty much figured-out everything. I had some trouble sourcing the 18W festoon bulbs locally so I'm going to try LED replacements for the brake lights -- if those work as intended they should be extremely bright and quick to respond. I'm using the smaller 10W bulbs for initial testing.
The other setback is that I just realized my running/parking lights are completely out (no power). They worked last time I fiddled with them to install the euro front turn signal kits, so I bet something came loose up front. It is not a fuse or switch as far as I can tell.
Here are the Hella lamps wired-up. They will plug right into the factory wiring, although I'll have to split the single ground per side into two per side.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjcam/4966736498/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjcam/4966736498/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/cjcam/, on Flickr
914R
Whoaaaa, hold on now, lets discuss this more.
That looks good, I like it enough to attempt it in my car, but:
1. Is it streetable? I can see that there is no problem with rear visibility, but what about side visibility? I took my side markers off for flares, so some prevention of side impacts is desirable.
2. Is it easily removable? It looks like it just replaces the original lens, is that correct? I would love to go back easily if I decided I didn't like it.
Do you have more pics? I would like to see inside and some closer shots if you have them.
The look isn't for everybody, but is easily reversible. I'm keeping the stock lamp assemblies in case I or a future owner wants to revert back.
Side visibility should be ok since the lamps protrude a bit. However, it may not be a great plan for a mainly street car.
I like those! Maybe a smallish flush mount led on the side would make it more side visible.
If you add small LED or conventional back up bulbs I see no reason why they wouldn't be street legal. In my opinion the " lense panel " would look better if it is body colored but that is personal preference. I want to do this in the future.
I called and talked with Mike Swanson this afternoon. He still makes the 914 R light fixtures.
$170.00 for the fixtures only. (Left & right side)
The fixtures require a little finessing on the leading edge of the fixture where it wraps into the fender.
- hella lights vary from $45 - $60 EACH (4 total) at various dealers.
- Solid color knock offs are available (solid red or soild amber - no split lenses) for about $25.00 each - depending on the number ordered. (These come from an Australian manufacturer.)
BTW - these are the same fixtures that CAMP 914 offered a while ago. Mike said the limiting factor was the cost of the Hella lights (dollar vs. the euro)
Mike said he might be interested in a group buy...
Since the DMV does not require vehicle safety inspections in California anymore... I'm sure it's "legal"??? CA only cares about smog now Not about safety
While it may not be that important, you need 2 sq in per side of rear facing red flex and 2 in per side of sid efacing red feflex (US spec) I don't think that backup lamps are required in thre US,
mark
Found these at Rebel racing product's website. http://www.rebelracingproducts.com/images/911Rtaillights.jpg
Made for a 911 R but the split lenses are used.
My backup lights were not working before anyway, so no loss there
I am thinking of painting the fiberglass housings grey like my numbers and interior. I think that would look better than body color or black, but time will tell. I'll do some "photoshop" experiments once I get a little closer to final installation.
Chris, have you compared the weight of the 'R' assemblies to the original lenses and housings? I assume the factory reason for the 'R' lenses on the 911 was a weight savings, any luck the same applies for our cars? I don't remember seeing pics of 914-6GTs with the lights so maybe the factory stuff is already pretty light.
I would be in on a group buy
I got the LED bulbs today, from superbrightleds.com They are festoon-type 12-LED 42mm. I haven't tested them yet but suspect they should work nicely. I'll try to make progress on the installation tomorrow.
The R tail light assemblies are very cool. Where can I see more pics of that radical blue 914R that Retrotech posted???
So this is one of those projects that is taking much longer than anticipated. I think ALL my projects go that way, LOL.
I found the culprit(s) preventing the running lights from working. One of the connector tabs on the front left assembly had broken-off. Just one of those old car things, probably exacerbated by the stiff suspension and track driving.
I finished-up the wiring harness prep so it was time to move to the fiberglass housings. They need a little bit of clearance for the outer bulb recess. I suppose you could cut/grind off some of the fiberglass but it is not very thick so I chose to clearance the body sheet metal instead. Air tools make this quick work. Cosmetics not important since the lamp housing covers it up.
Test fit of the housings before paint. They are now primed and have an initial coat of medium/smoke grey paint so we'll see how that looks tomorrow.
I also have to decide whether to use seals or omit them. This car is not water or windproof in any regard anyway.
I'm in for a group buy!
OK, so according to my ultra-precise (not) postal scale, the stock assemblies are about 50oz / 1.4kg with lenses, bulbs, seals etc.
That is per PAIR so yes, they are quite light (no pun intended).
Re. backup lights -- you could use the dual-bulb lamps for both positions to meet this requirement. There are split lenses with half white. However, then you would not have a single dedicated red brake light, so I'm not sure that is viable either. Better may be to use a separate small LED or conventional bulb added to the fiberglass housing.
In California, I don't think there has ever been a documented case of getting pulled over due to reverse lights not working. I'm sure it could happen??? VW had some cool bumper mount backup lights that could be placed under the bumper if needed.
The most likely scenario is when you're being harassed and searched in a suspected DUI stop or at one of those 'checkpoints' that seem to be a more and more common sight around here lately. (Illegal interrogation and search as far as I'm concerned. No different from some of the things I saw in Russia.)
My car is rarely street driven and I'd be dinged on several aspects -- probably get it impounded -- if a LEO really wanted to throw the book at me. I would not have done many of the mods had it been a street car or certainly a daily driver. As if driving an orange car with race numbers and a loud muffler doesn't get enough attention.
Is that a fiberglass rear bumper??
In my neck of the woods the "Federalies" are hammering any type of Rod, Custom, Muscle or Classic car (they are looking for reasons to support a shiney new helicopter). We are also required to pass a government vehicle inspection that contains quite strict rules about all types of required vehicle lighting. It was stated in a previous post the amount of square inches of lighting surface for tail lights. This value differs from US to Canadian standards but it is in black and white so you should try to meet or exceed this value to save the possible hassle on the road. Also what has not been mentioned is the requirement for a reflector of types (amber front and red rear) and on the sides of vehicles manufactured, oh, after 1963 or so. The reason I mention these items is that they are listed on the inspection form so we pay attention to some seemingly small details.
If you happen to be in the process of painting you vehicle this is one neat thing to think about. These tiny little side markers (they are used as rear clearance lights on some semi trailers so they would be acceptable as side marker lights...I think). check it out here
http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=32152&langId=-1&catentryId=32153
Here is one thing a '72 Dodge Challenger owner in Winnipeg
http://www.autoclubs.ca/gallery/2008/080907b/img_0054.html had his paint shop do for him. You can't see it in this picture here but what he had them do was mount these lights as flush as possible with the surface of the fender and lay on some stick on reflector around the light after paint but before clear coat. The paint shop then began to build up the clear coat over top of both items so that after he was finished both the reflector and the light were underneath the clear coat giving a smooth topping over the light and reflector. His choice of colors in that area was black so that in the day time you can't even see light or reflector from 5 feet away. Now this is mainly a show car but he does have it plated and drives it to and from the local car shows. If there was a light failure it would be kind of expensive to fix as the clear coat would have to be re-done on the entire fender after the light was replaced. Most of these LED lights are warranted for something like 100,000 hours so unless they take a hit they should last for a very long time. But the same effect could be used without laying clear over top of the light making it a little more daily driver friendly.
Jim,
I don't want to get overly political here, and I certainly appreciate and support our law enforcement personnel; however, being stopped on a public thoroughfare with no suspicion of wrongdoing to be questioned by an officer shining a flashlight into your vehicle and perhaps into your face, and making you late by virtue of the resulting traffic jam, is a violation of civil liberties IMO. That said, drunk drivers are way up high on my shit list so if these tactics work then I'll just...keep avoiding the checkpoints.
Yep I have been cuffed and questioned in the back of a squad car before too, way back when I was a kid, but that's a story for another day.
Anyways, work keeps getting in the way of progress but I finished a reasonable 10-foot rattle can paint job, assembly and installation of one side. I think the grey will look decent and will post a full-car pic soon. Worst case, the way I wired them up, the stock assemblies can be easily swapped back in place in a few minutes.
I will try to do an A/B test of the LED brake light vs. incandescent too -- the LED 'looks' very bright but it's hard to tell unless they're both lit up side-by-side.
Oh yeah - the tremendous weight savings? Maybe 2lbs...I need a better scale, but clearly it's not much.
btw: this looks sweet!
I finally finished this little project today. The wiring, prep & paint, and assembly definitely took a bit more time than I anticipated. Part of it was because I had to chase down some existing electrical gremlins in the front light circuit, and I was fairly anal about the new wiring so I labeled everything and used covered crimp connectors with heat-shrink tubing and so forth.
The fiberglass pieces are a bit rough in terms of fit and finish, I must say, as with many other aftermarket body parts for our cars. They could stand to be be shaped and realigned a bit whenever my car goes in for body and paint work, but I think they're fine for a race car.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjcam/5003386832/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjcam/5003386832/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/cjcam/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjcam/5003386372/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjcam/5003386372/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/cjcam/, on Flickr
Smokin' look! Earlier in your post you mentioned doing a test on which is brighter, the LED or incandescent bulb. Did you notice any difference in brightness between the two? I'm looking to do the same and have already spoken to to Mike about a set and I have my lights on order.
Thanks
Looks cool and goes with the look of your car.
One off-topic question though:
What's with the capped exhaust pipe? Does it make a difference in sound for street driving? Just wondering as I'm about to start a 2.7 conversion myself and I'll be looking at exhausts at some point.
Cool deal, wonder if you can cap their 'sport' exhaust for a civilized drive around town and uncap it for having some fun. I'll have to keep that company in mind if my wallet allows for it later.
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