[pure&simple]

Wow - really impressed. Not sure how I missed this thread until now. This is EXACTLY what I've been hoping someone would bring to market. Love the 993 look and would put down money on these tomorrow.



I think there is a good market for this with guys that track their car. I have seen a number of custom one-offs that didn't nearly as nice. Also, as others have said, it modernizes the look of the car.



A slightly wider front fender to fit 265s would be a nice bonus.

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[flash]

i don't know how long this project will take now. i sent the fender back to the fabricator to see what can be done about the body line and the fitment at the rear.



the part that i think will be a roadblock will be the need to cut into the sheet metal so as to fit the light. not too many are going to want to do that, and there is no way to get the light in there without it



also, the lights themselves are pretty pricey, with a litronic set costing a good $1500.

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[Lim Yong]

How about usng a differnet light and lense to save some cost......

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[flash]

lol - why do people ask a question like that, but not provide a suggestion? of course if there were a light THAT WORKED that cost less i'd look at that. find one that fits the dimensional needs, and can project the light at the right angle, with both a low beam and a high beam, and doesn't look like some cobbled together light stuck in a hole, and i'll look into fitting it.



no other light i have found fits into the fender as is, and only this one seems to fit with some fairly major changes to the fender and car.



but i'm always looking.

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[Lim Yong]

Hey Flash, my bad...........Just got so used to your great solutions. I was thinking of a convex lense cover with

PIAA or some such. Thanks again for doing something like this.

Hey Flash, my bad...........Just got so used to your great solutions. I was thinking of a convex lense cover with

PIAA or some such. Thanks again for doing something like this.

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[flash]

lol - no worries - i'm always up for a challenge, but i've pretty much given up on finding anything else to fit. it's going to be up to somebody else now.

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[pure&simple]

For those concerned about cutting metal, I wonder if an adapter could be created to mount the old lights properly even after cutting to make room for the new lights. Just a thought...

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[flash]

it's only the rear panel that needs to be cut. it would not affect the OEM mounting, should you decide to go back

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[fleetwood]

Count me in too! --- that would truly make the 968 design timeless.

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[flash]

hmmm. we're still playing with it, but it's definitely a long term project. having to monkey around with the mold made it a lot longer timeline.



we'll see how it goes

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[pure&simple]

Understand things are in the works, but wanted to mention that I noticed a post elsewhere discussing that many of the individual popup headlight parts are no longer available. Since I currently have issues with my headlights, I would love to ditch all that complexity for something much simpler and, most importantly, available. Sad to see more and more parts becoming NLA.

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[flash]

things are very much on a back burner. the fender will require a rework of the mold, which is time consuming. i already have them making splitters, and now the cab speaker box. it will be quite a while before we revisit the fender project, and frankly, i just don't see it happening, largely due to the cost of the lights. i just don't see many people spending $3k to pull out 30lbs.



but you never know.

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[flash]

it's absolutely amazing at how people look at something, but not closely. it further proves my theory that all you have to do to sell a car (or a house, or whatever) that is crap underneath is to paint it. if it looks pretty, it must be good.



an example is the problem that we run into when trying to fit 993 lights into our fenders. in order to get the beam pattern right, the fenders sit really high.



here are shots of the 993 - note the direct upright position of the lamps.



   

   

   



here is what happens when you try to keep the fender top down. note the tilted angle of the headlights. this will make the beam patterns very wrong. but it looks pretty, right? who cares about whether or not it works?



   

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[ds968]

I can't tell the diff when the lights are down . So unless you drive a lot of the time with the lights on ( for those that are bothered by the pop-up look.. and I'm not one of them ) , why bother with the hassle and cost and all of that to convert to fixed lights ?

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[flash]

i can understand the idea. the pop up lights are dated, heavy, complicated, and require maintenance. they also create more wind drag than recessed lights.



but for me, they have to be functional first. the looks don't bug me enough that i would sacrifice good lighting patterns. i'm also not keen on how high the fender needs to go in order for the pattern to be right. if i liked the 993 i'd buy one. i rather like the lower profile of the 968 fender line. i just wish the lights didn't pop up so far, or weigh so much.



i'm still planning on playing with this, but it's been pushed back on my list, as the fender molds will now require work. if and when i get this finished, the fenders themselves will not cost much (should be under a grand for the pair). it's the lights that cost the money

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[Cloud9...68]

Interesting. The guy who did the conversion on the blue 968 finally responded to my inquiry on R.L., and he said he had no issues with aiming the headlights. Now, I know this guy (trying to be politically correct here) can be a little on the, ahem, offbeat side, but to his credit, he seems to be pretty honest, and his tone in some fairly contentiousness debates has been downright cheerful, which I have to respect. Do you suppose the tilt of his headlights (which is indisputable, especially the way you've laid out the different examples) results in a degradation to the headlight aim that's too subtle for all but the most discriminating person to notice?



Love the fog light opening brake duct scoops on the top three cars, by the way. I've received a set from Pete for my car.

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[flash]

i read how he did it. not terribly accurate.



remember that the average headlight only has a couple of millimeters of adjustment. those look to be out at least 10. no chance the beam pattern is right. the low beams will be narrow and tunneled, and the high beams will be missing the center at distance.



optics are highly technical. every one of the flutes has a specific job. the angles are carefully designed to refract the light in a very specific pattern. this is not something to be done willy nilly and without some pretty significant aiming equipment. that is the entire reason i had to pause on the project. i knew what was coming, and it was not going to be simple to create the jig to align the lights, and then build the frame that would have to be installed inside the fender so that the lights could be properly mounted and adjusted.

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[mbardeen]

Another vendor has popped up with fenders similar to these on another board. I questioned the fitment based on some pictures that were posted. They appeared to show a large gap along where the fender and hood meet the bumper. The vendor assured me that the fitment was 100% perfect, and now looking at the pictures, the gap is gone. Feeling like I was crazy, I did a little more investigation: the modification date on images shows they were modified after I posted my question.



Pro-tip: Making your customers feel stupid/crazy with photoshop tricks is not the way to win business.

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[rxter]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1330129977' post='122349']???[/quote]



The visual that I got with the doors off your car. Sorry for the 7-month delay in responding...



And FWIW - hate it.

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[flash]

lol - true enough. i have been watching both threads. having tried this myself, and seen the complications, and having messed with fiberglass and fiberglass body vendors for decades, i am painfully aware of all of the issues that accompany making fenders. it's no simple task, and the truly frustrating parts is that when you find something wrong, you basically have to go back to the drawing board. making changes to a mold is not usually simple, particularly when they involve contour change, as would be the case of uprighting the headlight assembly, or closing a matching body panel gap.



headlights are not something to be cutting corners or not getting right. besides the legality, and most states require inspections which include beam pattern, there is the whole issue of safety and visibility, which is directly affected by beam pattern.



fitment is key to most of the guys here. if it doesn't fit right, and use all the same pieces to mate up (i.e. gaskets and such) then it isn't right.



if i wanted a car that had ill-fitting panels or wonky headlights, i'd buy a kit car. i love the idea of fixed headlights, and all that, and i would be a prime candidate for buying a pair of proper fenders, but they have to look OEM. i'm not inclined to drop the amount of money the german vendor wants though, unless i can see them in person first. they are charging a LOT more than any other vendor for all of their other products. i imagine it will be the same for the fenders. that means to me that they had better be perfect. i haven't see these in person yet, but based on the responses on the other parts they did, i am not particularly hopeful.



i credit the guys for trying, but saying "it's done" before it's actually right is irresponsible. i hope that is not the case.

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