Here’s something else I’ve been working on for “Project Track”; a pair of custom headlights. I aim to incorporate an air intake and shed a bit of weight.  They will be replacing the standard headlights which weigh in at 1.9 kilograms a piece.  Of course there are some of these headlight modifications already on the market but I’m someone who likes to build things myself if I think it’s achievable.  I have two pairs of headlights lying around so here’s what I’m going to do.

The standard headlights are held together with half a dozen metal clips and some strong glue/sealant to hold the lens in place.  To split the lens from the housing I had to remove the metal clips carefully with a screwdriver and then heat up the headlights to soften the glue.  The easiest way to do this I found was to bake the headlights in my oven on the lowest setting possible.  It doesn’t take long and to save the plastic housing deforming I only put them in the oven for a minute at a time until I felt the glue was soft enough.  It can be quite awkward to separate the two halves.  The headlight will be hot, the plastic backing will be a bit softer and the glue/sealant is very strong.  I had to take my time and carefully work from one corner prising the lens out with a screwdriver a bit at a time until enough of the lens was free that allowed me to get my fingers underneath and pull the lens off completely.

When they were separated I was left with the two halves.  The glass lens was going to be used to make a lightweight fibreglass mold to mount to the housing.  Before I did that I decided to strip some weight out of the housing.  Inside the plastic housing there is a large reflector and the device that holds the bulbs in place.  It’s only held in place with 3 bolts but I did find it quite awkward.  It turned out I had to keep the pressure on the reflector, levering it off, as I undid the bolts.  Eventually it came off and left me with a nice lightweight housing.  The hole left in the housing, originally for switching the headlight bulbs, is the perfect size for an air intake which will make things a little easier.

The next job was to make the fibreglass mold to replace the glass lens.  I decided to use the les itself to make the mold so I didn’t have to make everything from scratch.  First I covered the lens in some petroleum jelly and then a layer of cling film which made sure the fibreglass resin wasn’t going to stick to the glass.  I then started to layer on the fibreglass mat and cover it with the resin, only a thin layer though.  I want to keep it as light as possible so this first stage used only enough matting and resign to cover the lens and form the right shape.  Once it was dry it was easy to separate the mold from the lens and it start the next stage…

That is where I’m up to at the moment.  I need to trim the fibreglass down to size and then decide where I want to put the air duct in the drivers side unit.  I’ll be looking to get them finished at the weekend and if all goes to plan I’ll make another set for someone else.  Stay tuned.