Pop Up Headlight Removal

[logr]

Anybody have any good ideas on how to get rid of the pop ups and still keep the look. If I wanted a Camaro, I would buy one and I'm not into the readily available bubble look on top of the covers.

I was thinking about a self contained H/L light with a bolt attachment. Haven't found one yet but I am looking. It needs to be very light and have high and low function.

What to do if I do find a light is a problem also. I have been thinking of a shaped aluminum piece to drop down in the hole(removed whole light assembly) that a plexiglass screws onto. The glass could be tinted to match the car I believe. This would keep the aero and the look.

Another thought was to shorten the cover and fill the gap with a light.

Any ideas/thoughts?

[Scores240]

So you want to remove the up down Headlights and cover and put in a fixed headlight? Kinda like the Z32?

[2Fass240us]

What to do if I do find a light is a problem also. I have been thinking of a shaped aluminum piece to drop down in the hole(removed whole light assembly) that a plexiglass screws onto. The glass could be tinted to match the car I believe. This would keep the aero and the look.

This is by far the best idea, and trust me when I say that you are far from the first to think of it. The main issue (and the reason there aren't more offerings on the market) is that execution is difficult. And as silly at it sounds, the polycarbonate cover is the hardest piece to get right without spending a chit-ton of money.

As many talented people as we have here, this should've been produced a LONG time ago. I say we have Jacob make it and then call Kuah right before he's about to do a GB on it.

[Tower240sx]

Roflol...I almost fell out of my chair, be careful now that his name has been mentioned it's already done...

[Umai Kakudo]

One surprisingly good option is to use NSX headlights like this:



Not a good option for a road course car but for AutoX drag wouldn't be an issue. You lose all the weight of the motors and such.

For a non daily driver some have lightened the stock bucket assembly and replaced the motors with a manual 2 position up/down linkage to cut some weight.

For a Track only car just build some brackets to hold the headlight covers in place and eliminate the head lights entirely.

You could also just use the factory fixed headlights with a small bolt on body conversion.

http://www.northwestnissans.com/test/nekopunch/resources/front/front.html

The down side to the Silvia lights is the Right Hand Drive cutoff requiring some modification to get a decent pattern out of them for Left Hand Drive.

[Rittmeister]

I did a big writeup on a couple forums for converting Silvia lights to LHD. I can post it here if anyone wants it.

[kapetajr]

I did a big writeup on a couple forums for converting Silvia lights to LHD. I can post it here if anyone wants it.

please do

[visual.harmony]

You can find it here http://www.sr20forum.com/240sx-s13-s...eadlights.html

Came across it a few days ago looking for other information.

Brick users are screwed according to this.

[Mr. J]

I did the same conversion on my Silvia and it work's great.

[logr]

I'm probably in the minority but I prefer the pop up look, just don't want the weight. I am obsessed with every ounce until I reach 2300#, especially in front of the engine. I don't even care how well they work as long as they fit the SCCA SM rules. The Silvia front end is not really confirmed as SM legal. It seems to fit but until someone tries it..........

The NSX look is OK but I still might go play with Monty at a track day so having the headlight open wouldn't help.

[Scores240]

I thought SCCA just passed a new rule that if the car came with different front ends you could use whichever one you liked. I think i saw the discussion about it on sccaforums somewhere.

[logr]

Here is one discussion.http://sccaforums.com/forums/thread/380505.aspx

The new headlight rule is what actually makes it legal (maybe) from all I have been able to tell. It has just been illegal before and no one seems to know for sure. It is one of those many SCCA gray areas.

Kind of like allowing batteries behind the front seats of SSM cars but not SM cars. A guy seemed to hit the nail on the head when he said "You are allowed to remove your rear seats, seatbelts and related hardware in SM so now the front passenger seat would be the rearmost seat.

If you want to retain your rear seats, the battery would have to be behind the rear seats."

Of couse someone else talks about "Rule Intent". Gray, gray, gray

[Rittmeister]

You can find it here http://www.sr20forum.com/240sx-s13-s...eadlights.html

Came across it a few days ago looking for other information.

Brick users are screwed according to this.

Yup, that's my writeup. I think it was there, SR20-forum, Zilvia, Freshalloy, maybe another place or two.

I hope it helps some folks.

[Umai Kakudo]

I'm probably in the minority but I prefer the pop up look, just don't want the weight. I am obsessed with every ounce until I reach 2300#, especially in front of the engine. I don't even care how well they work as long as they fit the SCCA SM rules. The Silvia front end is not really confirmed as SM legal. It seems to fit but until someone tries it..........

The NSX look is OK but I still might go play with Monty at a track day so having the headlight open wouldn't help.

Nothing wrong with liking the pop up style. Plenty of people prefer it.

The majority of the weight is in the buckets, the motor, and the glass lamps themselves.

Here is what I'd do.

1. Get lighter, better headlamps to save weight and improved light output. The Hella H4 setup is a good example for stock size.
2. Decide if you want to keep the automatic height control or switch to manual. Either ditch the motors or find lighter motors to use.
3. Lighten the headlight buckets. Either cut out unnecessary metal or make new stuff out of aluminum.

Check out Rally Lights/ Susquehana Motorsports for both H4 stock sized lamps and universal Hella light conversion parts.

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1787

Here is an example of removing the motor but making a bracket to allow the stock lights to be raised and lowered manually.

http://csgarage.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/adam-fab/

[e1_griego]

Bumping this -- sooooo is silvia front legal in SM?

The rules state that:

OE pop-up headlights may be replaced with static headlights, provided
the replacement units are intended for automobile use on public
roads as a primary means of illumination, and retain high and low
beams as originally provided by the manufacturer. Minor repositioning
of the headlights is allowed to accommodate the alternate headlight,
but the unit may not be relocated and the repositioning may
servce no other purpose. All associated hardware may be removed,
replaced or modified.

Seems like it would be allowed, but want to confirm.