dmeesq

Just got a set of these, gonna put them in soon. I think this is what the OP has

REELAV8R

As dmeesq pointed out this is available to purchase, but I thought that the price was a bit high for something that looked really simple to fab up myself.
I started with some gutter screen that can be bought at a hardware or home improvement store. This stuff is made to keep leaves out of your gutter and is outside continously so figure it will be rust resistant. I looked at other expanded metal sheets but all were really expensive or looked too restrictive of air flow.
This is a pic of it.
http://www.guttersupply.com/p-gutter...e-hinged.gstml

In order to access the area behind the vent there is a small panel with four bolts holding it on. Two are behind the kick panel trim and two are underneath just behind the front wheel well. Once you remove this panel the area behind the vent can be accessed. Measure it up cut and bend the screen like this
[IMG][/IMG]
Then I used velcro and epoxy to fasten it to the back side of the vent area. Epoxy to glue the velcro onto the inner area of the vent and the screen then velcroed it into place so that I can remove it in the future if it does rust or I get tired of the look.
Cost. $3.50 for screen and about $3.00 for glue and velcro.

The lights I put on to try it out. I don't really have to like it as much as people who see me go by do. I can't see it from the drivers seat. The pics show it as much brighter and a lighter shade of purple that it really is. I think it will appeal to the younger crowd much more that those of us in the 40+ group. I also installed a resistor with a two position switch for a lower level of light. The picture is of the high position. If anyone wants specifics on lights I got pics of that too.
You can't say it won't make you stand out in a crowd.

The purple color idea was from what I saw at the Sturgis motorcycle rally this year. Many of the black Harley's had them and it really looked sharp reflecting off the crome.

rogman16

Looks great... I would appreciate seeing how you installed the lighting... Pictures would be awesome...

Rogman

BKarol

FWIW

Friend has a 2001. He put on some lights behind his wheels to light them up at car shows or cruise nights when he is parked.

Left the cruise and forgot to turn off his blue wheel lights. 2 police cars boxed him in. Gave him a hard time, kept him awhile, and threatened to have his car towed. Police don't like you driving with blue lights, at least in Massachusetts

REELAV8R

I believe in my state only emergency vehicles are allowed to have blue lights. These are purple.

Thanks. Here's how I did it basically.
I first purchased a 15 foot roll of led lights on ebay like these;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Purple-5M-30...00326721330%26

Then I purchased some vinyl hose to house the led strip in to make it weather proof;
[IMG][/IMG]
The led strip can be cut every 3 led lights and then new wires soldered on to the copper contacts. So you will need a soldering iron and some solder and wire. 24 gauge speaker wire works just fine. 100 feet at home improvement store is $10.00. The whole 15 feet of leds only pulls 5 watts of power which at 12 volts is less than 1/2 amp so that gauge of wire will work fine. I used 3 1/2 feet for each side under the pipes and about 10 inches behind the vents.
Cut led strips to length solder in new connections and slide it into the vinyl hose of appropriate length. I then sealed the end with hot glue but silicone or some other sealing method would work too. This is one that fit behind the vent.
[IMG][/IMG]

Then to mount the ones in the vent area work from the access panel behind the front wheel. With side pipes this is a little harder but still doable. I drilled four 1/16" inch holes from back side of wheel well into the vent area in two pairs so that a piece of wire can be used to secure the led light strip in the vent area by looping over the led strip and feeding ends to the wheel well side and twisting the ends together.
My wheel wells have undercoating so I sealed the holes closed after feeding the wire through and twisting ends together. I used aluminum wire to prevent rusting. sealing the holes will keep water out of the vent area from the wheel well. Here is a bad pic of wire securing one end not very good but you get the idea.
[IMG][/IMG]

I then used some expanded steel to also secure the lights to the frame under each side pipe.
[IMG][/IMG]

There are some holes in the frame already. You can use some 10-24 stainless bolts, fender washers and nuts to create a fastener. One fender washer is ground flat on two sides to allow it to slide into the hole in the frame and I fed the screw through the hole in the washer and tacked it with a welder. Now this can be fed into the hole and another washer slid onto the screw and a nut tightened down onto it so that now the frame steel is sandwiched between the two washers leaving the screw protruding downward so that screw can be poked through the expanded steel and secured with a third washer and second nut.
[IMG][/IMG]
Now it's a matter of wiring everything up. The leds are Positive and negative specific so they have to wired with the right polarity. I used the hot wire connection under the hood for the circulation fan at the relay for the hot side and fed the negative side into the cabin with a two position switch. One positon is high (just connects the ground) the other position goes through a 35 ohm 5 watt resistor before going to ground which gives you a lower intensity. Since I had a lot of the supplies around and the tools necessary it ran about $40 for the whole project.

uncleo

Greetings from Long Branch NJ,Americas first seashore resort and 7 time US summer capital....as you mentioned above....some will like the lights some won't....some shows or cruise nights a go....some no....personally I like the effect .....to me its Corvette Cool....and looking good.
Lee

LAddams

Thanks! Nice simple installation on the grills. ould have been easier if I saw this before installing fenders,but I think Ill do something similar.

rogman16

Yepper, thanks much... Looks like a nice weekend project...

Rogman

LancePearson

I too put smaller mesh stainless steel grilles in my 76. I cut the pieces 3/8" oversize, mitered the corners then put high temp gasket red sealant on the inside of the opening, used forceps and carefully put the wire mesh in the opening sideways, flattened it then with the forceps pulled it back into the rtv red sealant and held it for a while then taped it gently overnight and in the morning the stainless vents were in and that was more than a year ago. People seem to like them though I have no lights in mine. If I have a photo I'll post how this works out.

Lance P.

REELAV8R

Your Welcome

Priya

I'm loving the purple lights. I'd do it myself but that's illegal here.

IndispensableSoul

NICE... and I love the purple!!!

Doug Kraft

Good job. I also used the gutter screen for mine that I put in. No lights and it sure was cheeper than buying the kit they make.

Jay-Dog

The lights seem to be saying that you are trying too hard to get noticed. I do like the screens, though.

J