Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: Tom Perso Aug 21 2003, 01:52 PM

Hey Guys,

On my slant nose 914, there are no front turn signals. it bugs me to no end not having them. Here's a pic of the front of the car.



Any thoughts on how I could mount some kind of yellow/amber lights on the front for turn signals?

I have some ideas, but I am curious as to what other people think.

Thanks!
Tom

Posted by: Ferg Aug 21 2003, 02:02 PM

I knew that car would not last long for sale, Congrat's looks sweet. BTW I'm a WMU Grad...
I would find some small bullet style hot rod or motorcycle one's and mount them behind the fog grills.
again, sweet ride.
Ferg.

Posted by: dakotaewing Aug 21 2003, 02:08 PM

Find some turn signals that would fit inside the brake cooling ducts on the spoiler...
Thom

Posted by: vortrex Aug 21 2003, 02:10 PM

how about beetle top mounted?

Posted by: tryan Aug 21 2003, 02:17 PM

do you have to pass any state inspections?

get a euro type head light with the small bulb in the housing. (snag one off a new g-class.) you would have to leave your lights up all the time.

rewire the headlights and motors so one side pops up when you turn the blinker on. my best idea today except for aluminum sinvisors.

have the billet boys cut some bases for your bumperettes and run led's around the perimeter. ( very rice )

snag a third brake led housing and mold it into your air dam. i have never seen amber led's but i am sure that they are out there.

hang your arm out the window like they used to.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Aug 21 2003, 02:32 PM

there's a sweet little red car on here that the signals were relocated into the fog light grilles... next to the fog lights I believe.

Posted by: Tom Perso Aug 21 2003, 02:33 PM

Ahhhh... A WMU grad. What a mess it is here now. I won't even get into it.

I've thought about adding some lights behind the little openings in the facia, but I have had thoughts that those would be great ducts for brake cooling...

Possibly behind the horn grills if I move the horns out of the way.

Thanks - and keep 'em coming.

No Bug turn signals, though... LOL

later,
Tom

Posted by: Tom Perso Aug 21 2003, 02:36 PM

State inspections????? BUWHAHAHAHA!!!

You should see the cars that are out on the roads around here. No inspections, emission testing, etc, etc. Most of my pre-ODBII cars have had hollowed out cats.

You should see some of the crap we have driving around... Most of 'em have rotted out floors and I kid you not - saw some guy driving an old Cavalier that you could see the guy's feet from the floor dragging on the ground. If he hit a bump big enough the whole floor would have let loose and the car would have run over him.

Anyways, I digress. I need to walk around some auto parts stores and see if I find anything.

Thanks guys!

Tom

Posted by: tat2dphreak Aug 21 2003, 02:41 PM

here's a pic of the car I mention earlier... I hope Rods914 doesn't mind...


Attached thumbnail(s)

Posted by: airsix Aug 21 2003, 02:43 PM

Put some signal lights behind the foglight grills as mentioned above, and mount some of the low-profile rectangular 911 side marker lights on the sides (wired up as turn indicators). That should look nice and be much safer.
-Ben M.

Posted by: Ferg Aug 21 2003, 02:44 PM

Add, custom rod, and motorcycle shops to your list of stores to visit. And have a beer at waldo's for me

Posted by: tryan Aug 21 2003, 02:44 PM

trailer marker lights? my wife crunches those like candy.

Posted by: Tom Perso Aug 21 2003, 02:48 PM

Ferg,

I'll stop by Waldo's and have a Bell's for yah...

Waldo's rocks! Of course, depends on what floor you're drinking on.

I hope you spent most of your time up top...

Later,
Tom

Posted by: Andyrew Aug 21 2003, 02:51 PM

What about something simmilar to 944/951 lights?



Just a thought,


Ps the pic is of a random 951...

Posted by: Ferg Aug 21 2003, 03:09 PM

One last idea is to find amber fog lenses like mine, (not easy) and wire the fogs to blink

Posted by: John Jentz Aug 21 2003, 03:44 PM

Hmmmm........... Maybe some enterprising plastics maven could build a combination Parking/ Turn Signal replacement for the eyebrow. Mount it the same way with the rubber plugs and the car would look like a 986/996.

John Jentz

Posted by: SirAndy Aug 21 2003, 03:45 PM

hard to see in this pic, but there are turn signals out there you could fit either into the bumper or into the spoiler.

just FYI, the reason why 914s have the turn signals up so high is because the factory thought they would be too low in the bumper area and they were concerned about visibility. (hint hint) ...


Attached image(s)

Posted by: scotty Aug 21 2003, 04:06 PM

I'll third (or fourth) the idea of putting them behind the foglight grills (next to the fog lights). If you want to get really tricky, use amber ultra-bright l.e.d.s and attach them directly to the grills in the slots.

Posted by: fiid Aug 21 2003, 07:42 PM

I think LEDs would be really cool. You can get led "bulbs" that should fit in the back if you want consistent look. You could put the marker lights that some 914's have on the side on there and use those as a turn signal.

Another idea - if you steal some mercedes wing mirrors, you could use the wing mirror flashers...?

Another thing to do if you want to be noticed (and distinctive) is build a circuit that flashes them with irregular intervals. It's really hard to ignore something that has irregular blink frequency.

Using the headlight and poping up one headlight in the direction you are turning is a freakin awesome idea, btw.

Posted by: redshift Aug 21 2003, 07:59 PM

I don't like any of the above methods, for various reasons.

1. Grilles: No side marker

2. 944 style: no fronts

3. LED: Autozone, get a 'Type R' plate for the front too.

1 and 2 would work together, I don't know about where you live, but around here it's imperative that you have some side marker, anything helps.

People don't pay attention.


M

Posted by: Jeff Bowlsby Aug 21 2003, 08:24 PM

The whole idea of front turn signal lights is that you want to be seen by other drivers especially those along side of you, when you are signalling to turn.

A teeny tiny light hidden behind a low grille, or one that is only visible by someone in front of you from their rear view mirror, or by someone low to the ground (foglight grille mounted) doesn't cut it. Without legal lights you run a great risk in A.) causing an accident because the other vehicle you collided with didnt see your turn signal, and B.) getting cited requiring a legal light anyway.

You're gonna have trouble finding a solution that will not destroy those very cool slant nose lines, but it can be done if you take your time.

In addition to a legal front corner mounted turn signal light VISIBLE from the side, I would look seriously at the blinking sidemarker lights common to most/all euro cars now, even in the US, where they are side mounted to the panel behind the wheel arch and the leading edge or gap.

Posted by: scotty Aug 21 2003, 11:13 PM

So how about cutting the nose slant style like one o' them thar Ferrari Daytonas? Somebody's parts bin has gotta have something that will work and look good (or you could find someone to fab it).

What did those old chalon kits do?


Oh. Missed it on the first page...d@mn my short attention span.
V
V
V
V

Posted by: seanery Aug 22 2003, 07:01 AM

chalon kits used a 911 style bumper. Andy posted a pic of one earlier.

Posted by: Tom Perso Aug 22 2003, 09:13 AM

A front light and then a sidemarker would be great. I need to start looking at some cars and see what I come up with.

Most cars have the signals flush mounted into the fender which makes this a shade more complicated.

Thanks for all the tips!

Tom

Posted by: fiid Aug 22 2003, 09:19 AM

With regard to needing front turn signals for legal and safety reasons, I would counter that if you are in California, they are not needed at all. I would say that 70-80% of maneuvers on the road that I see are unsignalled. Even the police (at least in san fran) don't signal most of the time. So you'll probably be fine with them hidden in the grille. (which would look cool, but would be tricky to see.

It's not like the tiny chick in the Ford Explorer who is on the phone and doing her hair actually cares that she's about to take you out with her 6 tonnes of iron anyway - she'll be fine unless she hit's a truck.

I am seriously starting to believe that modern BMWs have Lucas systems for their turn signals, since they have an even lower rate of function. :-)

Until we get a real driving test (or some real cops) I don't think this will improve, either.





You could you put a small row of ultra bright LEDs in the windscreen, either at the top or the bottom, in addition. This would be very obvious and eye-catching.

Posted by: tryan Aug 22 2003, 09:37 AM

the blinkers in the exterior rear view mirrors is effective. it would be a tough cookie to wire and produce on a teener. who had that cnc machine?

Posted by: Tom Perso Aug 22 2003, 09:53 AM

You make a very good point. I could just drive around smoking a cig, talking on the phone, and giving everyone the finger. I commute to work a total of 60 miles a day. I see a lot of interesting things.

The mirror idea is good, I just need to get side mirrors mounted first... LOL

Later,
Tom

Posted by: tryan Aug 22 2003, 10:02 AM

i drove the teener for two years italian style (without the inside rear view). duplicating the mirror on the cnc with leds in the front and then paint it off yellow to match your car. very stealthy.

Posted by: Pnambic Aug 22 2003, 10:21 AM

You can buy aftermarket side view mirrors with the light http://www.jcwhitney.com/product.jhtml?CATID=475151&BQ=jcw2 now. This example probably won't work for the 914, but I'm sure there are other examples out there.

I know for example that when my younger brother was looking into ricing out his Nissan Altima, he purchased a side marker kit for a MB ML320 from the MB dealer which was almost a direct plug-in to make his side markers clear instead of amber. Cost was $10.

If you wanted side blinkers in your side view mirrors, you could probably do the same thing.

Posted by: Part Pricer Aug 22 2003, 10:21 AM

Tom,

Here is what you need.

LIGHTED SPORT MIRROR
Light can be wired to function as running light, turn signal, etc.
4 interchangeable colored bulbs included: blue, green, amber, clear
Universal mount—fits driver's or passenger's side
Fully adjustable. Flag-style black ABS plastic head with flat mirror glass. Black rubber boot covers bracket. Instructions included.

Available from our friends at J.C. Whitney for http://jcwhitney.com/product.jhtml?CATID=475151&BQ=jcw2.


Attached image(s)