[Anchorman]

Obviously I'm cheering you on to victory. To me, success would mean anything that didn't pop up - and had the chance to be street-legal (or, at least, not stopped by the gendarmes all of the time. I don't mind having to swap headlights at inspection time, but that means having an extra set of headlights - i guess I'd better start looking.) If projector(s) could be mounted behind the existing lens, that would be fine. Anything but the look of the fixed-headlight Corvette - for me, the body color inside the lens doesn't work.



As an unrelated aside - in your photos, it's interesting how the headlight "ghosted" through each of the projectors. Wonder what caused that?

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[saxman]

flash, setting it back from the lens isn't an issue... this was just to demonstrate relative size. Remember, it isn't absolutely necessary to have the entire projector inside the headlight bucket.





Anchorman... street legal these will never be. They may come close, but they're never quite get there.



That said, a proper projector retrofit will look and perform like OEM. I never had issues with these on my honda, here in california where the police target those cars. What cop is going to look at a porsche, especially one as unknown as the 968, and wonder why it has HID's if they're performing as they should? It just won't happen.











The projectors ghosted themselves into the headlights by the magical "opacity" setting in photoshop... in the actual photos, they were sitting next to the headlight, but that doesn't go nearly as far as to show relative size.

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[Anchorman]

Ah, there's so much about Photoshop that I need to learn...



Re street-legal - as I'd said, no problem. Just don't want to be stopped regularly, and need a way to pass NJ inspection. As you point out, though, the car is likely sufficiently unknown that if the lights look and acts like a legal setup, it's likely that they'll be taken to be legal.

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[flash]

ah - i thought you were intending to have it all inside the headlight



if you figure out how to cut open the back of the headlight shell, without shattering it, let me know - i've not had any luck with that, and would love to know the secret



good luck

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[saxman]

[quote name='flash' post='41732' date='Sep 26 2007, 07:17 AM']ah - i thought you were intending to have it all inside the headlight



if you figure out how to cut open the back of the headlight shell, without shattering it, let me know - i've not had any luck with that, and would love to know the secret



good luck[/quote]

I've always had good success with the 'ol dremel when it comes to cutting up parts like that. Not the quickest way, but somewhat precise and generally is low impact enough that you don't have to worry about collateral damage.

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[saxman]

So I met up with a fellow 968er last night. Apparently he knows someone that may be able to sort the lens situation out.

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[Anchorman]

C'mon, Timex watch, keep on ticking...

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[saxman]

well, just went and did a little test...



was trying to evaluate the possibility of using the stock lens with a projector behind it, in case for some unfortunate reason a clear lens can't be sorted.





Not a chance in hell. The flutes make everything go anywhere and everywhere. Which is to be expected, but occasionally you can get lucky and make it work.





Oh well, no big surprises there.

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[saxman]

Just came up with a great idea that could solve both the lens issue(making it far more practical/inexpensive) and solve the gap around the headlight in the fender issue.



I'll do some sketches tonight or tomorrow

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[saxman]

ok, did a basic photoshop of what I'm thinking...





basically, the biggest issue I was having with doing the lenses is that due to the design, I would have to do a two part mold, and do some injection molding. Long story short, that's not a cheap or easy process.



The easiest way to go would be to vacuum form some lexan to a male mold pulled from the inner cavity of the lens. This would be much less expensive, and most importantly, I've done this many times. The issue here is that the lens wouldn't look quite right as it wouldn't extend out far enough. I can either make it seal right, or extend far enough.



Enter the idea I had earlier...



I was thinking of the gf's mini cooper... the headlights have these trim rings around them, hiding the edges of the lenses. If I made something like this, it would both solve the issues caused by vacuum forming a lens as it would cover the edges AND it would cover the gap around the headlight, making for a more seamless appearance.



Unfortunately, it's one more piece that would have to be made, and it would require paint(be it body color, or chrome or whatever suits your fancy), but I think it's probably a far better option and it really helps to solve the lens issue.

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[Anchorman]

I'll take it - where do I go? <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[flash]

lol - it looks nice - weight loss still to be had by losing the motors and pans - works for me too



now to see it in final form, see the adjustments, make sure it's both beams, yada yada



a long road ahead, but keep going - glad it's you and not me - lol

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[saxman]

true, it's a long road ahead... but the more ideas I sort out now, the easier that road will be. I'd rather sort out as many issues as possible on paper ahead of time and go from there.



You never know when something as simple as a little trim ring around the light can solve so many major issues, unless you work it all out in your head ahead of time.



What I really wanted to demonstrate at this point was the trim ring idea... see if that works for other people aesthetically.

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[sasilverbullet]

I think the last pic looks good - wouldn't mind that on my car.



Hands down my stock 968 lights are the BEST headlights I have driven with at night, so my one reservation/question is -



"Are the replacements going to be better, or worse?"



Inquiring minds want to know... <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[saxman]

[quote name='sasilverbullet' post='42091' date='Oct 6 2007, 11:55 AM']I think the last pic looks good - wouldn't mind that on my car.



Hands down my stock 968 lights are the BEST headlights I have driven with at night, so my one reservation/question is -



"Are the replacements going to be better, or worse?"



Inquiring minds want to know... <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />[/quote]

go drive a japanese import with HID projectors from the factory, and tell me what you think of the headlights.



Hell, go drive a 997 at night, and tell me what you think of the headlights <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> It'll be a good excuse to test drive one.

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[Cloud9...68]

I've said many times that I'm so enamoured with Arktech's modified fenders to accomodate the 993 lights, that I never in a million years thought I'd be satisfied with any other approach. However, I have to say, what you've come up with looks darn nice! I'm really impressed. You can officially add me to you your cheering section!

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[waikiki968]

Count me in too! Takes 10 years off the face!

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[saxman]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' post='42098' date='Oct 6 2007, 02:18 PM']I've said many times that I'm so enamoured with Arktech's modified fenders to accomodate the 993 lights, that I never in a million years thought I'd be satisfied with any other approach. However, I have to say, what you've come up with looks darn nice! I'm really impressed. You can officially dd me to you your cheering section![/quote]

well, here's to hopping all goes as planned

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[EEZATOY]

very cool - I like the trim piece, similar too this 997 look...

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[saxman]

[quote name='EEZATOY' post='42123' date='Oct 7 2007, 04:18 PM']very cool - I like the trim piece, similar too this 997 look...[/quote]

it was really the mini cooper headlight that inspired me more than anything, but it is a somewhat similar appearance to the 997. The difference of course being if it's integrated into the headlight lens or not.

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