FR-S DRL Prototype (UPDATED - Installed!) [56k warning]

[soundman98]

you're already bixenon so you can cover up all of the high beam if needed right?

[retrosmiths]

Originally Posted by indesign

would a plastic housing for the LED strip be a viable solution? That is, illuminating an 'eyebrow' housing.

It is, but molding one would be a pain. I am giving another thought to the 2-strip style, which would take the place of the eyebrow. See my next post in a minute..

Originally Posted by soundman98

you're already bixenon so you can cover up all of the high beam if needed right?

Yeah, I can black out the high beam reflectors too, but I didn't because I want to keep the sharp look. See my next post..

[retrosmiths]

UPDATED: Prototype, Mark I





This is a prototype I created today, something to test if this is a good idea.

I painted the bottom half of the chrome assembly satin black. I did not paint the high beams because I want to keep the shape of the remaining chrome part, like a sharp, sideways teardrop. I will also be replacing the projectors with better ones, but for now this will do.

Now that I can see where the LED strips will be, I think there is enough space to put in two LED strips, one white and one amber, and utilize a switchback circuit so that the amber will blink in tandem with the signal lights (the white strips turned off while the amber strips are on).

Thoughts?

[soundman98]

looks pretty good. that first version, the strip looked a little short..

[retrosmiths]

...and boom!

Photos of the headllights installed!

[retrosmiths]

Originally Posted by soundman98

looks pretty good. that first version, the strip looked a little short..

Yeah, reason is there is a slight curve where the strip is mounted (near the sharp edge). If I try and bend the LED strip that way, it might break the connectors.

[soundman98]

the area still looks thin where the light is coming out of, so that hurts the visual effect to some degree imo..

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by retrosmiths

Yeah, reason is there is a slight curve where the strip is mounted (near the sharp edge). If I try and bend the LED strip that way, it might break the connectors.

nah, the strips are pretty resilient with slight curves. the glue tends to let go over time on medium/sharp curves...

[retrosmiths]

Originally Posted by soundman98

the area still looks thin where the light is coming out of, so that hurts the visual effect to some degree imo..

Planning to fix this on the new version by having the white strip below the amber one so that it shows more.

Originally Posted by soundman98

nah, the strips are pretty resilient with slight curves. the glue tends to let go over time on medium/sharp curves...

I was talking about bending the strips "sideways", see 3rd diagram:

[DaJo]

Originally Posted by retrosmiths

UPDATE 2: Installed!

This actually looks pretty good now that it's on the car. Not bad! Still wish they were bigger LED's though!

[soundman98]

yes, but the bend on the housings is less than 1/3 of what they're saying not to do..

[retrosmiths]

Originally Posted by DaJo

This actually looks pretty good now that it's on the car. Not bad! Still wish they were bigger LED's though!

Thanks! For bigger LEDs though I would have to actually solder individual LED modules together, but I've given it some thought.

[retrosmiths]

Originally Posted by soundman98

yes, but the bend on the housings is less than 1/3 of what they're saying not to do..

I guess so. I'll give it a shot on my next version, I'll just run these first for a couple weeks and see how they will hold up.

[FiRStsc10n]

Final product looks really good. My only suggestion would be do the standard DRL delete for the Amber turn-signals and let the LEDs play the role of DRL unless of course you need it to power the LEDs