Sleek headlight install & engine rebuild pics

[Bobfish]

day one...

Well,

Booked a week off work, Started to work today on the car. First priority is the headlights. Have budgeted three days for these babys, then the final 2 days i will be pulling the engine out.  Over the next two weeks, its teardown, cleaning and painting time, rebuilding and then i have another week off to finish off and drop it back in, fit my wheels and new exhaust and off we go!

Pics:

The workspace:




New engine parts:



Diff brace



Lights




New headlight mocked up:



More pics to come after tomorrows works. Will be working all day every day this week so keep your eyes on this thread!

[Bobfish]

Well day two has been long and hard, decided to make my own custom bracketry for the sleek headlights as the kit came from ebay and the brackets supplied were utter ****e.

Please note - you do NOT have to do this with proper sleek headlight kits from reputable manufacturers - dont let my pain desuade you!

Anyways, i have the majority of the offside mount mocked up. Everything fits - just needs some adjustment now for clearances, then im going to paint the bracket and bolt it all down. Then comes the wiring - should be simple compared to today!

The nearside mount should be easier as i can copy the offside mount rather than starting with a piece of cardboard and some scissors haha.


The kit:



Cutting the chassis:




Over to the fabricating table...alias my freezer haha



Slowly getting there...



And we are done!






That whole bracket was custom made by me, and a pain in the ass.

MOre to come tomorrow. Hopefully ill get both lights finished tomorrow so i can start pulling the engine thursday.

[Bobfish]

Todays works:

Got the o/s mounts done yesterday, so traced them today for the N/s mount:



Cut chassis:



And got the other side provisionally mounted up:



Started assembly of the final mock up before paint..can anyone spot the mistake?









now the offside is just about done, everything lined up as it should be. Just wiring and finishing up left to do now for this side, and about another 2 hours on the other side.



Progress slower than i would have liked, but thats life.

Tomorrow i hope to finish the lights totally by early afternoon, remove them for paint and then start disconnecting stuff so i can remove the engine.

[davegttph1]

Alot of work gone into the lights, I take it youve made these yourself somehow?

Looks good mate

[Jame5]

I\'ve looked at these lights a few times on ebay. I guess they aren\'t worth the hassle then? :xconfused

[Bobfish]

james, depends what you consider hassle really at the end of the day! for 200 notes i dont mind spending 4 days fitting them.

[Bobfish]

quick update...while i have a well deserved break.  Got the lights on, just fitting the front wings and finalising, then i gotta tidy up and start pulling out the engine.

Made a cover for the lights...well, its just a strip of gaffer tape at the moment but plan is to paint the perspex some more! covers the springs.

[RobbieRX-7]

it looks loads better with the black tape on. Good job there lad :Thumbsup! i much prefer these style lights to the more expensive c west lights that are on most tarted up fd`s..i think those tend to make the car look too much like a fiat coupe. Are you going to get the garage to get them aligned or do it yourself? Also dont forget to put some paint on the bare metal that is exposed when you attacked it with an hacksaw..you dont want a car like this to start to rust now do you! :Nono!

[Bobfish]

Started tearing down the engine bay...

Removed bonnet before starting...



She\'s taking a pee!





Dirty dirty girl...

[avityesboy]

Nice one mate, keep up the pics and updates its nice watching people actually doing the work themselves!

[PETE SMITH]

Bob,
You\'re obviously a practical man and i think that\'s great!
The attached pic.... I presume the "leaflet" refers to owning the FD?!
You\'re doing a good job.
Pete

[M@r]{]

Hi Mate

Hope you dont mind me picking your brains.....

I have that headlight kit and have been looking for some decent lights to go in there - Where did you get yours?

I would love to get some projector style / angel eyes etc but not sure where to get them.  What size are the light units?

Hope you can help

Mark

[Bobfish]

My lights came with the kit mate...not sure on size just yet.

P.s the leaflet is to stop my mum piling things ontop of the housings.

[Bobfish]

Well tonight i finally got the engine out!

A bit of spannering...








Out she goes....



And put to bed...for a bit, at least


 And here it is, ready for the butchering....



This weekend will be spent mostly tearing the above apart. Quick question though, i plan on painting the engine - is it best to clean the housings while they are apart, or assemble the engine, tape over the ports and go nuts with a wire brush?

[oldone]

I go to all the trouble of cleaning the housings properly,then i tape up the face\'s.This way you can paint them the right way.Using a good paint will reward you with great results. :yes