[bodmodbaby]

Im pretty set on the fact that i think these things look amazing, but I dont want to pay the grand price for them, especially when they dont present a full solution to retaining a sidelight as UK law requires.

My proposed idea comes in one of two forms.

1) use the exisiting sidelight/indicator housing to form the TSI.

this would involve cutting out the indicator section, leaving the sidelight section to house either just the sidelight, or to house both lights somehow, perhaps as LEDs. If it was to house the sidelight only, then the indicator would probly be made from orange LED rope wire stuck around the TSI opening. The main problem with this is that 2nd hand units are rather expensive, and modifying my existing ones would leave me worrying if it would all turn out ok.



2) construct a fibreglass TSI from scratch incorporating a sidelight and an indicator

this would involve using fibreglass moulded from placing the glass resin on clingfilm wrapped onto the car, a mould taken from it, shaped and smoothed with filler, and finally attaching Rope LEDs or smaller bulbs somehow for the sidelights and indicator. The problem with this is the wiring, how do i attach LEDs in place of the standard bulbs? are the LEDs legal? could i use the existing bulbs but waterproof the bulbs/bulb holder somehow?


Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated, perhaps someone has attempted it before, ive read an article by an american that shows how he cut the sidlight section of the lens out, and put a grill in its place, but the point of this project is to find a way to incorporate the sidelight into the design, and also keep the costs down.

[tattoo-ron]

bear with me mate, ill pull one of mine out and take detailed pics of it and the wiring etc..
its a proper tsi, with indicator normal orange bulb in the side pod,surrounded by 4 white leds,for sidelight.
passed two mot"s no prob.

[bodmodbaby]

tattoo-ron, on Jun 21 2009, 07:21 PM, said:

bear with me mate, ill pull one of mine out and take detailed pics of it and the wiring etc..
its a proper tsi, with indicator normal orange bulb in the side pod,surrounded by 4 white leds,for sidelight.
passed two mot"s no prob.

Thanx ron that would be an amazing help, i didnt know anyone had done it before. Ill keep an eye out

[Only MX5ives]

I have 2 damaged ones (sidelight part is ok)

£12.50 posted if you want.

[-halli-]

Only MX5ives, on Jun 21 2009, 08:44 PM, said:

I have 2 damaged ones (sidelight part is ok)

£12.50 posted if you want.

Second dibs if not required please

[bodmodbaby]

-halli-, on Jun 21 2009, 08:50 PM, said:

Only MX5ives, on Jun 21 2009, 08:44 PM, said:

I have 2 damaged ones (sidelight part is ok)

£12.50 posted if you want.

Second dibs if not required please

i think im definitely guna take the fibreglass route now i know it can be done with both lights included in the TSI design, thanks to tattoo-ron.
thankyou for the offer though, Halli feel free to have em

[-halli-]

Excellent, cheers.

Mark, could you please PM me with paypal details and I'll pay you ASAP. Cheers.

[griffo20022]

Has anybody done any sort of guides on how to make these? Suze wants something like this and i'm not the worst with a bit of 'glass

'Ron have you got any pics of your lights in action?

[AndyZim]

Reading this reminded me of Roland's home made ones, a quick search found it

http://www.mx5nutz.c...hl=shadowchaser

[bodmodbaby]

thats given me some ideas with concerns to the sidelight being made from 2 LED bulbs, but i prefer the overall design of the popular ones, or tattoo rons, so i still need the wiring advice, and any advice on building the actual unit from fibreglass. ive never really used it before in this way.
thanks to everyone whos contributed so far though

[tattoo-ron]

taking pics now...give me 5 mins...

[tattoo-ron]

sidelight on

indicator on




any more,just ask..
oh, and i dont claim building these, i got these i think from robsroadster.??

[bodmodbaby]

thats been a great help, and an inspiration. all i need to know now is how the LEDs are wired to the existing sidelight wires, do i need a resistor?

Also if anyone has any ideas on how is best to approach the fabricating of the unit, regardin which fibreglass to use, how much i should need, whats the best way of making the inital shape?

Once i get all the materials i need this weekend i think ill start building them sunday. really looking forward to the new look in time for the haigh hall show.

[Mx5dude]

L.e.ds just pop in in place of bulb mate i have them

[Mr East]

Mx5dude, on Jun 23 2009, 10:51 AM, said:

L.e.ds just pop in in place of bulb mate i have them

Depends what LEDs you get,

If you got some 12v LEDs then put them straight in, noting they are polarity bias only going in one way round.
Most common LEDs are around 3v, although 12v are very easy to come by.

Inspirational, I'd like to try this project, along with a headlight intake

[KFC]

of course i'll have a set for sale soon , you could just buy them

[hooligan]

KFC, on Jun 23 2009, 01:15 PM, said:

of course i'll have a set for sale soon , you could just buy them

pm me ya bugger want them as they are in black same as my car!

[roverspeed]

I made a homemade TSI, using the original light unit ( I accidently melted the lens )

I Took the lens part of the unit and chuncked it in the bin. I bought some motorbike mini LED indicators and cut the stalks of the them.

I Then fibreglassed over the larger unwanted holes in the unit and bonded the indicator into place to run with the lines of the finished unit.

The rest of the unit was built up in filler to follow the lines of the bumper, Instead of having screws going through the front of the unit, I bolted it to the bumper from the rear.

This involved taking the headlight units out tho

this was the result





Excuse the dead insects pls

I modified the motorcycle indicator to have 4 white led's at sidelights, these weren't on the car long enough to be MOT'd, so don't know if it would pass.

I didn't like the look of the TSI after a while, so I removed the indicator units all together and painted the holes left satin black strategically, and made some LED indicators in the recess that can only be seen when turned on. I have yet to make sidelights, but they will just be another unseen unit unless light of around 6-8 White LEDS' in the recess.

I think this gives the front a more track slag look, its marmite I know, love or hate. but i love it like this.

[bodmodbaby]

not too keen on the track slag empty look, but i really like the TSI you made from the light unit. Anyone know how much fibreglass and resin id need to attempt two TSI units , making the whole structure from glass and being strong enough after filler is applied. halfrauds sell two sizes of kit, and also sell the matting and resin seperately.

[bodmodbaby]

So, its begun, i went n bought my fibreglass resin, hardener and matting, and took the sidelight/indicator assembly out. I wrapped the whole thing in foil, then started with a single layer of matting, then added another layer around the edges and the side where the bulbs would go. I just wanted to create the visible shape for now, ill cut the vent for the intake, and form the bulb compartment later.





After test fitting the mould in the mx5s hole where the sidelight assembly was, i trimmed it down a whole lot, with pliers to break the hardness, and scissors to cut with, finding out later that i should definitely have wore gloves, my fingers are itchy as hell now.



ive just started to form the bulb compartment now so ill update as i go. any tips, advice or suggestions are welcome as this project moves along, thanks again for all your help so far