Bolt-In, Plug-and-Play Projector Lights

jrors · Post by **jrors** » March 14th, 2006, 12:43 pm

It would be nice to at some point of time to have a nice aftermarket light setup for our MX's and I still have faith that either Tatsu or someone else will.

chatterbox4507 · Post by **chatterbox4507** » March 20th, 2006, 6:56 pm

I think when you get some stuff done and post some pic's more people will want a set. Id love to have a set. keep up the good fight. Thanks

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » March 21st, 2006, 12:26 am

Perry take it easy, hehe.
Tatsu and I talked a good bit and he is wanting a NO compromise design. It took me forever to get where I did and I am more than happy with the outcome, but he has a different goal than I did.

Mine were meant for a NO compromise to quality and aimability. With a sacrifice to looks and some minor adjusting of the inner fender. It also needed to be able to be 100% built in the basement without buying any super expensive machining tools.

I bet my next paycheck that Tatsu cannot get a totally individually aimable plug and play projector. I've spent enough time to knwo that it is just not possible with 2 90mm Hellas. He might make it work with 2 of the new 50mm units...

However, the design I have is not what I had in mind as a finished prodeuct anyway. I lost interest in an outside bezel to cover the aiming screws and give a cupped look to each light. It really wouldn't take a few weeks to build and mold a inner bezel, but it is not in the plans for now for me anyway.

I still hope that Tatsu finds a way to complete his project, but hopes he doesn't plan on selling one set b/c there seems to be a rash of please please on this board without any real support after the item is available. So for him to spend several thousand is crazy unless he is willing to know that the several thousand is what he payed for the 2 lamps alone.

Also, for what it is worth the plug and play vs mine is a total wash as far as lighting goes. A seperate harness provides something like 20 extra watts over the stock harness with my same set-up. 20 watts in a 60 watt bulb is a ton, matter of fact 33% better. So a real no compromise set-up would come with a new wiring harness too, but I know that is a whole new endevour.

I have not sold one set b/c no one is willing to pay for a good lighting set. I really didn't hope anyone would and am fine with paying what I did or building my one set.

Also, in order to squeeze the lights any tighter together you'll need a laser cut custom mounting bracket (or a VERY good machinist).

Ps, mine work just fine as a rally set-up without lenses. I drove that way for a bit while trying to complete clear the stock lenses when I gave up on that useless project too and bought some GTS covers. Any Hella lamp is a sealed unit and can come with weather proof connectors (bought seperately) just in case it was REALLY raining and some water got behind the lamps.

I would love to colaborate on a new design, but haven't found anyone willing to spend the flow on the process to create a 50mm set. I'd also bet my next paycheck that I can design and build a 50mm set that uses stock brackets and without cutting any inner fender well. They would need new wiring just to get the full potential and the stock lense could be used if they were willing to give their life to sanding them down. I could even make a really nice cover for the mounting bolts that would cup the light similar to most stock projectors on the market.

I still wish you all the luck Tatsu and understand the necessity of family over fun. However, I'm not impatiently waiting on what you are making hehe

If you need anything I will again offer any assistance I can give. Feel free to PM if you feel the need.

Taras · Post by **Taras** » March 22nd, 2006, 1:45 am

Just thought that I will throw in a little tidbit if it helps any.

- Hella 50mm units High Beams comes only in Xenon version as in D2S 35w HID system. In case someone wanted to use two 50mm units, be quite pricey;

- There is a way to fit two Hella 90mm units in a stock housing without cutting bumper, fenders, hood or rad supports. There is also a way to make them fully aimable, even possible to make low beam for the rotational adjustment. But, there is a big BUT. You have to butcher your stock headlight housing and make it back together in a custom manner. So, no mass production there.

- Headlight harness is a must as Pat mentioned, does not matter which way you decide to go, even if you wish to improve stock lights.

Grants · Post by **Grants** » March 23rd, 2006, 4:45 am

Look I gotta agree with atlantamx3 here. This thread has been going on for over 8 months with no likely positive outcome. Tatsu said himself just a week ago

Still going - the third mounting bracket design didn't work out, so I am going ahead with a slightly modified version of my second design. I will post here when there is another update.

Can't anyone else see the project is actually going backwards? At least you could call it a 4th design!
The very first post said:

If there is not sufficient response within the next month (by August 15th, 2005), I am going to consider this project a bust…

And theres still complaints about take up numbers and funding. And its still going on and on and on... At some stage you gotta realise it is a "bust". You knew then so what made you change your thought process? Not numbers or $$$ so obviously something undisclosed.

Tatsu, take your own advice and give it up. If you want to proceed, do it in a way that your not taking your kids food and legacy off the table. Do it for yourself if you want to persist.

I believe this thread should be just closed. I've persevered through it all and I've reluctantly come to the conclusion its dead. If a positive outcome can be found, just post a new thread. I'd suggest though, do it with knowledge, not with hope alone. Lets face it, if the "cheap" manufacturers like the Japs, Koreans or Chinese won't do it, there's probably a pretty good reason.

It seems a bit irresponsible that mx-3.com support the ongoing promises of this thread. I mean, shouldn't there be a time frame on someones "wishes" so as to not detract from sensible discussion?

ovendenk · Post by **ovendenk** » April 12th, 2006, 12:02 am

hey tatsu, hope all is well on the home front. i was just wondering if the new mounting bracket design worked out? are you still working on this project?

i'll be in kamloops this summer, so if there's anything i can do to help, let me know because i'll only be like 2hrs away fom abbotsford. i'd be more than willing to help with this project.

monty73741 · Post by **monty73741** » May 15th, 2006, 9:47 am

all right, this is my opinion. I know tatsu been working hard on these & had some personal set backs. the time frame was for informing the mx-3 community of what was going on. I think we need to support this guy because he is one of the only people trying to make a bolt in part. Designing of parts take forever. I would think more than a year of design would bring a beta part. then final production would take aout 6 months. I didnt say i wanted the part because i cannot afford the part. I am sinking all my money into my rehabb. I would like to be able to purchase the part when i can

tatsu · Post by **tatsu** » June 28th, 2006, 2:16 pm

Thanks for the words of support, guys! Some good news on progress:

Kevin (ovendenk) has been a big help recently with getting my designs into CAD to (hopefully) avoid the production problems I had with my previous attempts at the mounting bracket. With those CAD drawings, I'm having new prototype brackets made that should be the final design - I will have the prototypes next week to confirm fitment.

I should also note that these brackets will now allow full aiming of both light units, as I have moved the low beams inboard slightly.

I'm starting to put the design of the housings down in a dimensioned form (rather than just some freehand sketches). I am setting myself a very aggressive deadline of July 10th to have those done and pass them on for CAD work, or to move on to simply having the plastics guys do that part of the design process.

I will not give any firm timeframe for getting the whole project completed because I have little to no control over the schedule of the plastics guys, but I have worked out sufficient finances for the remainder of the pre-production process, so that is no longer a problem. With that hurdle out of the way, it should not be too long.

I will provide another update on July 10th to let you all know where we are going with the housing design.

My apologies to those of you who have been anxiously waiting for the better part of a year since this whole process began - thank you all for your patience, and for having faith that I would keep this alive!

V8KOMX3 · Post by **V8KOMX3** » June 28th, 2006, 4:42 pm

I have as mucj time as u do tatsu keep up the work, and thanks. It's funny you mention auto cad cuz I was just trying to create a new headlight design in solid works. I will race ya lol

tatsu · Post by **tatsu** » June 28th, 2006, 5:57 pm

Actually, we are using SolidWorks too (or rather, Kevin is, because I have no CAD skills whatsoever)!

Upon reflection, I think I'm going to hand off the design work on the housings to the plastics guys - that was my original plan for the simple reason that if they mess up that part of the design, they have to fix it. If we did the design, and the fit was not quite right, I would have to pay to have the moulds fixed/modified/redone. This way, I give them the mounting bracket plus a complete stock headlight/mounting bracket combo (which I already gave them several months ago) with the instruction that the housing has to mount to the mounting bracket and match the outer dimensions of the stock headlight to fit correctly, and we will make our aesthetic choices within that framework.

The tradeoff, of course, is that there will be much more back-and-forth to get the aesthetics of the design right, and again, that whole "I don't control their schedule" thing...

mx3optidrive · Post by **mx3optidrive** » June 28th, 2006, 6:13 pm

Thank you for the updates. I was wondering if it was still a go, but I didn't want to bother with the usual "any update" posts. I figured you would post sooner or later. I can't wait to get a set of these. Thanks for all your hard work.

Jeff

blindfendersk8r · Post by **blindfendersk8r** » June 29th, 2006, 8:15 pm

thanks so much for the updates...
i didnt know if u droped it or not, glad to see the commitment
and like that other guy said "i got as much time as u" i dont plan on sellin my car anytime soon, lookin foward to hearin more in july

ovendenk · Post by **ovendenk** » June 30th, 2006, 11:26 pm

glad to see that i can help move this along. i just hope they're done in time for my drive back home across canada.

blindfendersk8r · Post by **blindfendersk8r** » July 11th, 2006, 11:35 am

not rushin.....just curious about an update

tatsu · Post by **tatsu** » July 13th, 2006, 1:55 am

The plastics guys have given me the impression that it will be significantly more expensive than they had first thought to do the design work, so we'll take a stab at it. We are working on the design of the external housing - I am trying to model and dimension it so Kevin can translate that into CAD. Once we have the CAD drawings, I'll take them to the plastics guys to see about having moulds made.

Unfortunately, I am going to be away all next week, so further progress will have to wait until I get back...