Light conversions
Visiting any car show you’ll quickly realise that to most people being different is actually what matters, the cars that pull the crowds are different and stand out for their overall concept, their imagination, their execution and originality. This stands to reason, because why would we waste time looking at things we’ve seen before? We’re bored with that, we want to be inspired, see new things, life’s too short to look back isn’t it ?
This is probably more down to basic human behaviour than anything to do with modifying cars but one way to stand out is to change the look of the car beyond the usual bodykits, wheels and a paintjob .. enter light conversions.
The idea
The concept is simple, the execution often isn’t but basically it involves fitting lights in your car, either taillights, side repeaters or headlights that aren’t meant to be there. You can see some examples of this in the pictures but one thing I would like to emphasize from the start is that this needs to be done well to be worthwhile. Putting a set of Mercedes truck lights in your Nova is not cool, if the lights are too alien to the basic shape of the car they will never look right and can make the car seem totally wrong looking from every angle. Like a kit car gone wrong. Equally it’s important that the modification required to fit the light unit is carried out well because there’s not a lot worse than mods that are badly executed .. so it’s best to avoid lights that are really not in any way near the basic shape of the car panel they’re going into. Bodyshops these days are a lot more savvy to our modding needs and can do some quite astounding conversions but the more you’re asking of them the more likely they are to not pull off the miracle and it won’t look right.
Be original
The secret here is to be original and use light clusters that are attractive and can be made to fit, many new cars have the crystal style headlights (306, 406, VW Polo, Golf MkIV), choosing light units that you’ve not seen fitted to another car like yours is cool and choosing a car like the VW Golf as the donor is good because for a car like this there are many options available in the way of aftermarket products. For example Lexus style light clusters, tinted, clear etc.
The bodyshop
As mentioned before you need to be careful to make sure at least the basic shape is there before you start otherwise you could end up with horrible overhangs where the light cluster sticks out too far or gaps where they are too small. It’s important to work with the bodyshop on this one if you can. Tell them exactly what your plan is and it may be an idea to give them various options, you can do this by getting old light clusters from the donor car(s), you only need 1 of each cluster so the bodyshop can advise on which one would be the most successful. It’s worth remembering also that if the metal work behind a light cluster is to be cut away to make way it could affect the structural strength of the car. Using a computer to mock up the expected result is a good idea and can easily be achieved in Photoshop and whatever you do it’s worth the effort to go to the bodyshop when they’ve fitted a cluster to see how it looks before they start painting the car. If it looks pants you won’t be wasting money on a paintjob.
In practice
When I chose to fit BMW E36 clear rear light clusters in my 309 they were carefully measured on a BMW in the street first. The E36 saloon rear light clusters were found to be closer in height to the 309 ones rather than those on the E36 coupe. They were chosen in the first place for their close shape to 309 MkII light clusters meaning that the required modifications would be minimal and the look not too alien and the various options available to the BWM driver that may come in handy.
The next job was for the bodyshop to measure up and mark the cutting points, this was done once the fibreglass rear wings were moulded on and the cutting commenced. It took some time and work but the project worked out. It wasn’t easy though even though it looked like it would be an easy conversion. It makes you wonder how much time is involved in transplanting actual Lexus lights into cars like the Clio! Another tip here is to get a fixed price quote for the job from your bodyshop. It’s hard to judge how long something like this could take and it’s the sort of thing that can very well go wrong and double the amount of time to get it right. On the 309 the light units are sealed in with silicon compound which makes them water tight but I could easily remove them and the BMW bulb holder wiring was mated up to the original Peugeot wiring using suitable electrical connectors.
That’s all there is to it really, the rules are to be sensible and always make sure wiring is safe, lights are fixed in properly and you plan the job thoroughly. Follow these rules and you can be sure people at shows will be scratching their heads.
Pictures