clear front/taillights for 900 convertible ready! :-)

[dandelion]

hi fellow saabers,

i've just completed the 'clear front and taillight' project for my 900 convertible. as some people in the forum encouraged me to post the results when it's finished, i worked hard this weekend and took some interesting pics during the project with my digital cam.

i have implemented the whole documentation on a minisite on the web for everybody to see. check it out.

i appreciate every feedback. NOTE: people with analog connections please be a bit patient and wait for the picture slider applet to load. it's worth it!! ;-)

here's the link:

http://www.mp3-traders.net/~dandelio...ect/index.html

cheers, dandelion

[MSOEMiller]

Cool. You made me start thinking about something like this. How legal is it to modify your lights?

[Janne Selinummi]

That's great work! I think you may just be the first person who has done that to Saab rear lights... It doesn't look impossible either - I understand it isn't easy, but maybe it's worth a try! My question is, how did you manage the correct bending angle for the panel that you bent and made it fit so well?

[tom]

Nice work. I might have to try that myself. It is illegal here, but hopefully the cops won't notice.

[V.J.S]

Now THAT is well done. If I ever have the time/opportunity to try that,I'm going to!

-Ville

[akamal]

Wow, they came out really well! Looks much better than the garish old orange. Great job.


Now, if only i had the skill to do that for mine...

[tandino]

Great effort :! ,
Its great to see someone using there initiative to overcome a problem that most people wouldn't think about doing.
They look great, my only question is will they go through the MOT or your annual test?, also whats the throw like on the lights? ie do they illuminate from a side angle sufficiently?
Nice car by the way :! , just get that front down

Pete.

[Smackrazor]

What would look even better is if you get a pair of audi s4 blinkers. The bulbs should fit and they are clear unless actually on when they flash orange. Very nice work btw.

[dandelion]

thanks for the nice feedback

to answer some of your questions:

legal issues
of course here in switzerland it is illegal too to modify your lights, but i am ready to take this small risk. first of all, my car does rather look nice and classy than heavily modified or even tuned. i'd say that in a police routine control, the non-saab trained eye wouldn't even notice the slight differences. after all, i made the experience that saabs seem to have a kind of 'serious' image. i live in an area where such police routine controls are quite frequent and to my surprise i never get stopped with my saab...they tend to be keen on all those mercedes's, bmw's and sporty looking cars driven by youngsters...hahaha!!!

mot test
cars that are older than 7 years have to pass a mot test every two years here. so, of course i will not present my saab with all the modifications there because the guys exactly know what's legal and what not!! ;-) as i stated on my website, i kept the original taillights for that purpose and switching back to these should take not longer than 15 minutes. as for the clear fronts, they should not be a problem as they are factory made and many new cars have these clear lenses anyway today. i'd also have to take the 205 tyres on 16" aeros off and replace them with the original rims.

bending angle / luminance
when i manufactured the clear lenses it was in fact that correct bending angle that gave me the biggest headache. i ruined 3 correctly cut out lenses before i got it right. i began by placing the lens in the outer part of the unit and then applying the heat where i wanted to bend the lens. i covered the rest of the unit with aluminium foil to protect it from the heat. it is crucial that you do not use too much heat in order not to shrink the material. if you have right timing, the material gets sloppy enough to bend it and during about 10 seconds you have time to exactly fit it in place before it gets rigid again. as for the luminance, i'd say that the visibility is even better than with the original lens, even in the sunlight.


cheers and happy saabing

dandelion