911R Tailight Howto/FAQ?
 

In a strange cosmic coincidence, I recieved both my 911R lights from England and my 911R housings from TRE at the same time last Friday.

I unpacked everything last weekend, but I haven't the slightest clue how these things go together. In addition, Dave B @ TRE mentioned they do some mojo with mixing and matching light bases to make them work 'correctly'. I've since forgotten what that mojo was.

What's the process to make them work 'right'? Any clues as to proper wiring? Assembly?

Does anyone have this stuff on the web? If not, I'll compile my experiences and make a page.

Thanks!

I think you're going to be the point man on this, Thom. The reason you do the shuffling is to put a two-light base behind an all-red lamp. In the end, you want a running light, a brake light, a turn signal light, and a backup light on each side. The wiring should make sense when you pull the old harness, if you label everything when you take it off.

I saw a set of the TRE backing plates today. Compared to what used to be available, they are sweet.

I am interested in seeing how these will look on the 74 later cars - please post pictures when done.

Could you post pictures of what you received in the kits/packages themselves?
Thanks.

it is quite easy. Mine needed trimming a bit to get the fit right and then mounted with two small self tapping screws at each end.

Wiring is simple, but make sure you have got a good earth for each light.

It took me half a day from start to finish including painting.

here is a pic ......the deck lid is at the painters!!!!http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1074081726.jpg

I got my lights from a pelican in the UK. No reverse lights just yet, but I figure they are least important. Maybe I'll like the look (until inspection time)Still waiting for the TRE plates. Looks like there will be a few of us doing some crimping soon. As for the wiring, does anyone have any ideas for good connectors? I'm guessing that they'll be exposed to the elements back there. Not sure what's out there that has good contact and is reliable. I've read around here about marine connectors, but as for the name or brand, I'm still fishing around.

Hey guys,

I'm the one who designed and makes the light plates that TRE sells. If you guys want, I'll make an exploded view drawing of the assembly. The light bases go in from behind, the o-ring goes in front to form a seal between the lense and the plate. I also use 3-48 3/4" long button head allen screws, because of the new part thickness the original screws are to short.

There are more parts coming soon!
911r front turn signals lenses and buckets
Fiberglass front turn lamp to give the illusion of filled in with out all the work

Any pictures of how these look on Short hood later cars ???

Great job, 911r_parts!

911r_parts,
will you be making R tail light panels for the 65-68? i had a set of panels from another company and was not too impressed with the quality. does your panels require grinding of the body? are you able to source the R lamps with the chrome bases?

R front lenses? Oh boy oh boy!

I don't think I'll be making them for the 65-68, unless there is a demand. It takes a while to make a nice mold that will last. Dave at TRE said don't worry about it yet, because he said it's only a height difference and he can grind them to fit.

As far as the ones I sell now ther is no grinding of anything. I molded a real taillight,so it fits exactly as a stock lamp does.

I should be getting the R lamps with chrome bases soon.

Are there any other parts you guys want or don't like the current one available and want a higher quality one.

Mike

Traditional turn signal assemblies, front and rear. The pot metal is too heavy.

Lighter weight window frames?

"Are there any other parts you guys want or don't like the current one available and want a higher quality one."

- Absolutely! I'd like to retain the stock look and have lighter lights (light wt.). Let me amplify what JO said above: Can you mold something that would hold the stock lenses (i.e. the colored translucent covers)? Then I could search for LEDs to put in instead of the bulbs and metal bulb holder. That would save about 10 lbs. off the rear end.

Or maybe you cold produce the whole assembly incl. the LEDs. I think there has to be a way to mount bulbs for the backup lights - don't know if they would be too hot for a plastic molding. Or maybe those focused LEDs that are now appearing for flashlights would throw enough light.

Also, do you do CF stuff? The engine lid grill would make a nice looking CF piece and the regular plastic is surprisingly heavy.

mmmmmm.... I've been looking for a new project. Be sure to post a pic so we can see how they look on the short hooded P-cars.

I'm hoping to get my bumper, hood and 993 mirrors sprayed this weekend, then I can start on the lights. I need to talk to Dave B about the base mixing and matching.

I'll talk to Dave about getting some light housings and seeing what it take to make them lighter.Yes I can do CF parts.I'll be over at Daves on Wednesday dropping off 10 more sets of lamps and test fitting the first R front lense pieces.

I´m in the work with lightweight rear lights with LEDs in and curved plexigass behind lenses as base for LED´s.

Still some work left.

Glad to see someone working on early front turn signals!

Pls advise when they are ready!

JoeA

Maybe we should start a new thread for this, but I'd be interested in K & N style watershield air filter covers in 'bare fiberglass' to match the R style engine cover. I think most people buying these would simply use their existing metal base, so only the 'watershield' cover itself would be needed. There would be a demand for both Weber and MFI versions.

This filter cover:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1074354902.jpg

Made to match this fiberglass engine cover:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1074354816.jpg

OK guys, thats a tall order for a guy with a day job. But I'll get started on it.
When I finish the front lamps I'll look at making the lamp housings.
The aircleaner part looks pretty easy if I can get one to copy.
I'll talk to Dave to see if he has a short hooded car I can put a set on.
Light weight window frames would be very difficult.
Which year for engine lid grill?
I can also make lexan and plexi windows.
A new thread would be fine. Be back online after Wed. after Daves.

One more thing:

A couple of years ago a Dunkel's, somebody showed up with *vacuum formed* front '69-73 turnsignal housings that were chromed. They weighed just about nothing -- maybe 3 grams. At the time, they were pricey, but the market may be ready for them.

Which year for engine lid grill? -- 1973 (but the plastic ones are the same for all years, aren't they)?

BTW, t-weenie, vacuum forming means you take a mold and a plastic 'sheet' then warm it all up as you run vacuum thru it. We used that in the lab to make el cheapo anemometer (wind meter) cups from margarine tub lids. I'm sure it get much more complex for making real consumer items -- control of heat, vacuum pressure, etc.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1076564107.jpg

i think i got my digicam issues sorted. Here are the new TRE housings, waiting for the lights to get mounted

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1076564174.jpg

here's the backside...
the housings are so well finished that when I first painted them, the paint didn't stick well and started coming right off.

Soooo.... strip/sand the paint, (I really apprieciate stories from you "fuchs polishers" out there, sore fingers and all), then go over w/ primer, then paint, then clearcoat... hopefully they won't chip anytime soon

here's the backside of the two-bulb unit. Two red wires are the live ones. One for the brake light (bigger bulb) other for driving lights.

Black are ground for each.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1076564732.jpg

Glad you like the lenses. The reason the paint did not stick is that there was mold release still on it. Could you please send me a picture of it installed.
Thanks,
Mike

here's one more. This time it's the "inside" of the two bulb unit. I have an all red, and and amber/red. Ideally, the all red should deal just with the brake light, but eventually I may be going for the reverse as well, so to save myself some work in the future I put the single bulb in the amber/red housing, and the all red will do permanent duty as driving/brake lights. The two bulb unit has a bigger and a smaller bulb. It seems natural to use the bigger bulb for the brake light.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1076566194.jpg

911r, I should be installing them this weekend, if she lets me out of her sight.

Dave,

Looks beautiful! Cannot wait for the fronts!

Joe A

update on light install... didn't have time to do both.... got too dark and too cold and I was working outside

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077024161.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077024186.jpg

This is the nighttime signature of the car now. It is much brighter than the original llamps, although, I (MAY HAVE) wired the brake bulb as running light. I will compare when I install the other one and see the difference.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077024277.jpg

One thing about the housings, although they fit perfect, the supplied screws don't help much in mounting them. They are not long enough, at least for my application. The outside mounting screw is perfectly ligned up with the original housing mounting hole. Found a longer screw with same thread and it's perfect. The inside screw hasn't been tended to, yet. Good thing the fit is so nice that it almost seems superfluous.

These lights look great, great workmanship:)

Keep us posted on how the front lights progress and whether you decide to make "non-R" fibreglass housings, I'm pretty sure they'd be a market for them (including me).

With the weakening dollar you may see a lot of orders from accross the pond!

FRP rear light housing
 

Guys, I make the rear light housing for stock application 69-89 911, its a do what you want as far as adding filament sockets or LED's, local auto parts has many sockets available. I also make the K&N style water shield already. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077033733.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077033770.jpg These work great for the church of lightweight racing class. I am working on a stealth version for the
guy that is looking to bend the rules, i.e must have stock parts. The additional part will enclose the backside of the electricals for a stock appearance on the back of the housing. This replaces the entire metal assembly of tailight housing.

FRP K&N watershield's, this particular set in the photo is very thin, and utilized the original Aluminum top for the filter for good sealing. They can be made thicker on the flat top for sealing purposes and not use the Al top. Another aspect of making these out of FRP is the choice of resin, "gp" general purpose works well enough, but will catch fire if properly ignited. There is another resin with boron added and is known as fire resistant resin, and it does sort of self extinguish, used it on full race car bodies, it tends to take longer for saturation of the cloth. Anyway there are the shields....email if you want any.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1077035079.jpg

there is some 911R parts on ebay at the moment

Can you provide the link to ebay 911R lights?

here you go

911r lights

Damon,

HOw much are you charging for the stock like housings? I would love to do a set with LED's. They would be brighter, lighter, and less prone to connection issues as the stock bulbs.

Has anyone thought of forgoing the housing and just gluing up a set of LED's on the inside of the lens? You could just bed them in clear Silicone adhesive to be weatherproof and incredibly lightweight. The only issue would be the mounting tabs.

I just talked to Dave at TRE and mine should be in the mail to me ready to install by the end of this week. I will post some shots when they are done! needless to say, I am excited!

James