Bolt-In, Plug-and-Play Projector Lights

[tatsu]

I would love to show a picture of the finished product, but what I have constructed so far is just an ugly mockup of the mounting system - the aesthetic cover (what you will see when the lights are installed) will be designed entirely in CAD, based on the outer shape of the stock headlight mating with my mounting system.

That's partly because my fiberglass skills leave a lot to be desired, so I am not capable of making a fiberglass mockup of the cover, but is mainly just to cover my butt with the prototyping process, so that the mould maker (who is also doing the CAD work) is responsible for accurately dimensioning the parts, and thereby for fitment. That way, if the part does not fit correctly, THEY are responsible for fixing the mould, and I am not out another couple grand.

Once the CAD render is done, and before we cut the moulds, I will be posting a picture of the render itself to run the design by the buyers so that changes can be made if necessary.

The best I could do at this point would be to photoshop the Focus lights onto an MX-3. Let me know if you feel that would be useful.

[Taras]

Couple of comments.

-H7 units are about twice the price and are not technically legal in USA but do come with cool city lights.

-H9 units are very easy to convert to Xenon.

-Tatsu, I would not be making wiring harnesses myself, too much work that is not worth it. Let people do it themselves, it's not that difficult. I would be more than happy to share wiring hints and tips as well as diagrams.

-I think you should build some cost for the design, etc.. as well.

[ryanlindenberg]

sounds like a good idea to me...but yea you should just sell the housings and then give a list of parts that are needed/recommended to finish it and sending the wiring info would be good too.

i'm a poor college kid so a gradual investment works better for me.

[ryanlindenberg]

oh and the GTS covers won't get cloudy like the MX lenses will they???

[wickedmx3]

See, now we are talking, this has the making of something very positive.

The GTS covers don't come with it, he is saying that since the piece will have the same shame as the OEM, that the GTS covers would fit perfectly.

But your question is still valid, how will the new lights handle the elements, will they become hazy as the OEMs have?

[Taras]

Hella 90mm units have properly vented magnesium housings, tempered glass front lenses, fully sealed rear ends and waterproof electrical connectors. So, they will be fine outside unprotected, that is what they are made for, to be used without a front plastic lens.

[tatsu]

Thanks for answering some questions in my absence, Taras!

The mention of the H7's was made for those European or Canadian MX-3 owners who wanted to go with the ECE spec lights. For Canadians, the only advantage is that the H7 high beams have the city lights, but for Europeans, they likely need ECE spec lights for legality.

The GTS covers will eventually become scratched, just like the factory lenses. They're plastic - it happens. The advantage with the GTS covers is that they can easily and relatively cheaply be replaced if desired.

Performance-wise, you're better off without the GTS covers at all, and as Taras said above, these light units are designed to be used without any additional protection from the elements.

[projectmx]

when this post first started i must admit that as much as i desire those headlights i couldn't do the price... i'm still working on a deal with a company for a turbo kit for my dohc so i couldn't swing that much.. but this new price puts me in the playing now. It will take me a little while to come up with the money but i will definantly start saving so i can buy those housings

[wickedmx3]

As I sat in the shop yesterday, and the mechanic was pulling the spark plugs to se could check the gap, I was staring at my front end and thinking how sweet those lights are going to look on my front end...I can't wait!

[V8KOMX3]

yes I am getting very exited to see this because I hate my lights. We have more deer where I live then people so I am in need of better lighting. Even if I could just get the housing that would be cool but hey if the whole thing is offered just let me know when and I will find a way to get the money, just give a little notice. Hoow many people are thinking about this so far, because if this doesn't go through because people want to be cheap I will be pissed, and I don't want to have to make my own right now. Ok ranting done seriously let us know what is going on and I would like to see a photoshop of the focus lights on the mx as a basis pic.

[tatsu]

So far, a little over a quarter of the numbers required are there - we need about fifteen more people to commit to this for it to become reality.

As for the photoshop, I'll work on it - I'm not so great at image editing either...

[wickedmx3]

How many people you have? How many do you need?

[tatsu]

There are between five and seven people who seem interested enough to commit, so, as noted above, we need about fifteen more people to make this happen.

[Taras]

You should get price worked out for 10 people and then forget everyone else who is not interested.

[tatsu]

Yes, but then we would run into the issue of too high a price again - the mould(s) will cost me a few grand each no matter how many people are in. With ten people that could be as much as $300 US each just to recover the pre-production costs, plus the cost of actually producing the pieces, plus the mounting brackets, etc. With the low numbers being produced, that may increase the per-unit production cost with my plastics guys as well.

For ten people, the cost would be close to $500 US plus shipping, etc. just for the housings. If ten people are willing to pay that much and will back it up with deposits, I'm game.

I am working on setting up the group buy as we speak, and will list pricing for 10, 15 or 20 units.