924Board.org

[macBdog]

Credit for this guide goes to Crunchie57 (hi Dave) who first started mucking round with ideas to make the lights and went ahead and showed me what he learnt. The results are really impressive - like something you would normally buy. This is also my first guide so any comments are appreciated.

Part 1 of the guide will be making the lenses. Part 2 will be making the buckets and mounting on the car. They look great on Crunchie's car:



Materials required.
============
1 sheet clear ACRYLIC* (we used 600mmx900mm)
1 kilo of sand (or thereabouts)
1 soft pillow case
1 924 headlight assembly
1 can spray adhesive
1 sq metre non acrylic felt (has to be able to resist heat)

Tools required.
==========
Jigsaw or dremel to cut the acrylic sheet
Fan forced electric oven
Heat gun
Oven safe bowl or container
Marker pens, rulers etc

*It should be mentioned that it has to be 100% acrylic, perspex and other similar materials will colour or warp in the melting process.

1) Take apart your 924 headlight and remove the part that normally sits flush with the bonnet when the lights are down - ill call this the light cover. The light cover will be the template and forming piece for the lense. Put the light cover painted side down on a sheet of card and trace around it. Make sure you tilt the cover up as you get to the curved bit, and try to keep it all in the same spot. You will end up with a tracing like so:



2) Using the template, mark the light cover shape on your piece of acrylic (make sure ther protective plastic covering is left on) with a fat tip marker. Cut out the lense from the acrylic sheet using the OUTSIDE of the marker line as your guide, this will allow for shrinkage when the acrlylic is heated.

3) Using the same template, roughly mark out the same shape on a piece of felt and cut it out, this time cut a few inches outside the line. Stick the felt to your 924 headlight using some contact adhesive. If you are planning to use the light cover again, youll need to use some kind of removeable glue instead of normal spray adhesive. Pre heat your oven to 150 centigrade or 300 farenheit for the yanks. Steps 2 and 3 should look like so:



4) Put the felt-covered light cover on top of a heat reistant bowl or container of some sort (we used a large coffee can at Dave's) so that the top of the felt is steady. Remove the plastic covering sheets from both sides of the cut out acrylic lense and place it on top of the light cover so that it is all lined up with a slight bit of overhang all around.



5) Put the bowl, light cover and lense in the oven being carefuly not to move the lense on top of the cover. Fill your pillowcase partially up with sand so that when you put it down on a flat surface, the sand would cover the lense with overhang. Now turn the oven up to 180 degrees (~350 farenheit) and watch the lense.



6) After a few minutes you will see a curve creep across the front of the shape. Turn the heat up a tiny bit more and keep watching the acrylic melt slowly. Once the front of the lense has sagged an inch or more down and is taking the curve of the light cover, wait 1 minute and remove it from the oven. Place the sand filled pillow case on top of the lense being sure not to move it around. Distribute the sand in the bag so that its covering the whole lense consistently and so there is plenty of weight over the main curve.



7) Have a beer.



After a beer or three, the acrylic will be cool and hard. Remove the pillow case, take the lense off the cover and admire the handywork.



9) Repeat for the otherside, turning the template upside down and using the light cover from the other side for steps 4-8. Next guide will be mounting and making the headlight buckets.


_________________
1979 931 with a 350 chev
1973 911E with EFI

[Gram]

Hey, that looks great. Where's the next bit? Hurry ..
_________________
'82 924 NA Euro (hers)
'98 Audi A4 TDI (ours)

[Peter_in_AU]

Wow! That is great!

Thanks.
_________________
1979 924 (Gone to a better place)
1974 Lotus 7 S4 "Big Valve" Twin-cam (waiting)
1982 924 (As featured on Wikipedia)

Learn to love your multimeter and may the search be with you

[Gram]

How thick is the acrylic..?. Looks more than 5mm..
_________________
'82 924 NA Euro (hers)
'98 Audi A4 TDI (ours)

[flosho]

Thats alot more efficint then my way of a heat gun.. lol

Make me a couple lenses.. I'll supply the beer(or beer money)..
_________________
[This Space For Rent]

[dwak]

I think I'll try that for sure 'cause my lower/ in the spoiler headlights just don't do the job.
How do you put that sand pillow on without disturbing the lens positioning?
What spoiler nose is that, it looks great?
Thanks,
dwak

[ricomartinez]

Crown Lager?! How 'bout something decent like Redback or Dog Bolter?

Fantastic job on the covers, by the way.

[AGD931]

Looks fantastic!!!!!

Arthur
_________________
1981 931 S2
1990 E30 320i Cabrio
1979 Ford Capri Ghia

[Joes924Racer]

yea hmmm cool.
_________________
1979 porsche 924 Na
1980 porsche Turbo 931GT Replica
Have u ever driven a turbo.

[Nick_UK]

when i get my 924 i think this will be one of the first things i do!

[pez]

looks lurvely !

YOu might want to contact Derek Bell as he is looking for replacement lenses for his....

You never know he might give you go in his special GTS !
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CGT #330 - & she's all mine....

[macBdog]

Yea I read that in the pdf that was posted. I don't know of him personally, maybe someone who knows him can forward it to him.

Or maybe he can just join the board like the rest of us
_________________
1979 931 with a 350 chev
1973 911E with EFI

[Khal]

That's Gold macBdog!
_________________
'80 924 Turbo

[Vince Ponz]

I have met him and on one occasion he sneered a pair of race gloves from us.

Nice guy and reachable at any race course.

Sneered = taking them knowing we would give them to him.
_________________
"Never let them see you sweat"
77.5 924 modified track car
79 931 Euro stock
88 924S SE
87 911 Targa stock

[skemcin]