Retrofitting Popups!

[tokyo_black]

Hey all :WaveBye

I\'ve looked through the history of posts about this subject but I have yet to find anything relevant!

I have a set of angel eye lights currently on my FD, but now I have bought a pair of original popups and I was wondering how tough it is going to be to re fit them?

Has anybody done this? I\'m not sure on the history of my angel eyes and who fitted them but im hoping they didnt do away with the original headlight wiring loom.

Any help would be really cool

Thanks all

[Initial-D]

Its easy! Well depending on how they wired them in. Are the original popup connectors still in there? If so you can just rebolt the popups in (about 4 bolts each side to the chassis) and connect up the lights and popup motor. When I did mine I left the loom as is so I could always go back if I wanted too.

[tokyo_black]

There is a plug hanging down directly underneath each of the headlights that looks very suspicious, i\'ll take some engine bay pics at the weekend and update this post and maybe somebody could point out if they are the right plugs!

[olly-civic]

are you selling the lights your taking out?

[Herblenny]

Most aftermarket sleek lights require cutting the surrounds... which means you can\'t put the OE lights back in...

Also, aftermarket wires require cutting the OE harness.

Best was for anyone to tell would be to take pics of the set up by taking out the lights.

[tokyo_black]

Hey. I have plugged in the new popups into those loose plugs and they are indeed the motor plugs. The actual headlight wiring seems to have been stripped back and hardwired directly into the new angel eyes, however the lighting plug on my popups are also stripped back so it should just be a case of hard wiring them back into the popups.
 
I did\'nt trial fit the actual lights into the car frame (just connected and held them) but I don\'t think that the mounting brackets have been modified - still i won\'t know that for sure until I take them out fully.
 
Olly-civic:
If i can use popups again then yes I will be selling these lights.

[olly-civic]

drop me an email with a pic ad a price if all goes to plan:)

[M@r]{]

Keep us posted on how you get on - i\'m considering putting the pop ups back on mine

[Initial-D]

Its quite funny that were all going back to popups eh!
I guess it the fact that no cars are made with them and they are so unique now.

I find that the popups look really minimal when down and finish the car off nicely, the only lights you see are the side lights. With the aftermarket lights it looks a bit to rally IMO!

[tokyo_black]

The aftermarket lights certainly look a lot more agressive, however imo the popup lights are one of the key parts of rx7 styling that make it so sexy.

[tokyo_black]

Lo all I have an update for you!

I sourced a set of covers and I went about fitting the popups this weekend. No brackets were modified and the wiring we just hard wired back into the car side lighting loom which was all very simple.

Then we fitted the lights without covers - that was pretty fiddly, the lower bolts are a proper pain in the ass. Connected up the motor plugs and they turned on and flipped out correctly.

Now though we\'ve hit a snag..

I put the first cover on, but i realised that there was a big old gap between its side and the nearest wing - where it should be nearly flush. So we unbolted the unit, put lots of pressure to push it against the wing and tightened it up, but still there is a small gap and the bonnet does\'nt really want to close by about 4 mil.

The right hand side is just like the left side but worse, the cover wouldn\'t line up at all well, the bonnet wouldn\'t close at all with that one #

Does anyone have any info on how I can make these fit properly? Are there adjusters on the popup mechs for left and right? Or am I doing something really stupid?

The only thing I can think of is to use different washers on the bolts to force the popup are a better angle but that won\'t be perfect!

Any thoughts ?

[olly-civic]

u got a pic?

[tokyo_black]

Will put some up tonight..

[tokyo_black]

The mounting bracket on the popup unit has 4 holes for the nuts and each mates flush with the car chasis so why would the covers not be bang on? :S

[tokyo_black]

Unfortunately it looks like my camera hard drive is knackered cos i cant take the bloody pictures off it..
 
I tried playing around with them today and i reckon I might be able get the 4-5 mil i need clearence by using the pivot screws to put more enthasis on the opposite side of the light unit, that way i should move the upper (moving) section of the light to the left and thus the covers.. hmm..