Front Light Mod, What do you think?
10-03-2009, 12:03 PM
#1
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Front Light Mod, What do you think?
Decided to do the Home Depot Side Vent Mod that some members have posted pictures of here. I had some material left over so I experimented a little bit. I am preparing to get flamed, but I kind of like it. I have a clear cover coming for the front plate, that I plan on doing a little paint work to make it look better. I'll post that later this week. Excuse the picture quality, taken with my cell.
Last edited by Jamey; 10-03-2009 at 12:06 PM.
10-03-2009, 12:21 PM
#3
Looks fine.
The side gill screens look good. I think the screen over the fogs is reminiscent of the wire stone guards over the headlights on the early Corvettes. I like it.
Total cost was less than $10.
10-03-2009, 06:07 PM
#16
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OK Here Goes:
First you need some gutter guards from Home Depot. I want to give credit to whoever started that old thread about screening the side vents, around here somewhere.
I made some templets with manilla folders, also pictured is the Liquid Nails I chose to use, worked pretty good, dries in six hours or so.
I removed the fenders, a little tough on my 84 because the lower bolt does not have a sloted hole, and the bolt will not come out without removing the rocker, something I was too lazy to do today. I just slid a long flat blade screwdriver between the rocker and the fender to punch the end of the slot open for removal, and I cut it a little neater for reinstallation. Heres a pic of the screens glued to the fenders. I made the template a little larger, so I could snip the metal every couple of segments, and bend them for mounting tabs. If you look closely, you can see where I glued it on the top and sides only. I positioned them how I wanted, and put some small globs of glue in a couple of spots. Just dont put any glue where you might see it from outside.
To make the front light screens, I made a templet, and then trimed it about 1/8 inch all the way around to make room for the rubber moulding. I used 5/32 vacuum tubing, because I had just enough laying around for the job. I used tin snips for the cutting of the metal, and a pair of scissors on the vaccum tubing. The vacuum tubing I used had a seem where it was joined together, so I cut along that for uniformity.
Heres a picture of the almost finished piece. The templet works reverse for the other side. When installing, I had to remove the vacuum tubing several times to do some trimming for a final fit. I havent finished yet, but will either use some weather strip adhesive, or some black silicone where the tubing ends meet, but if you cut it right, it fits pretty snugly in the front bumper.
Here's the almost finished product, I have yet to secure them to the bumper, but they are pretty snug in there, just takes a little bit to fit it right. I might use a dab of silicone on the corners.
First you need some gutter guards from Home Depot. I want to give credit to whoever started that old thread about screening the side vents, around here somewhere.
I made some templets with manilla folders, also pictured is the Liquid Nails I chose to use, worked pretty good, dries in six hours or so.
I removed the fenders, a little tough on my 84 because the lower bolt does not have a sloted hole, and the bolt will not come out without removing the rocker, something I was too lazy to do today. I just slid a long flat blade screwdriver between the rocker and the fender to punch the end of the slot open for removal, and I cut it a little neater for reinstallation. Heres a pic of the screens glued to the fenders. I made the template a little larger, so I could snip the metal every couple of segments, and bend them for mounting tabs. If you look closely, you can see where I glued it on the top and sides only. I positioned them how I wanted, and put some small globs of glue in a couple of spots. Just dont put any glue where you might see it from outside.
To make the front light screens, I made a templet, and then trimed it about 1/8 inch all the way around to make room for the rubber moulding. I used 5/32 vacuum tubing, because I had just enough laying around for the job. I used tin snips for the cutting of the metal, and a pair of scissors on the vaccum tubing. The vacuum tubing I used had a seem where it was joined together, so I cut along that for uniformity.
Heres a picture of the almost finished piece. The templet works reverse for the other side. When installing, I had to remove the vacuum tubing several times to do some trimming for a final fit. I havent finished yet, but will either use some weather strip adhesive, or some black silicone where the tubing ends meet, but if you cut it right, it fits pretty snugly in the front bumper.
Here's the almost finished product, I have yet to secure them to the bumper, but they are pretty snug in there, just takes a little bit to fit it right. I might use a dab of silicone on the corners.
Last edited by Jamey; 10-04-2009 at 08:32 AM. Reason: Too many typos, and too many beers!
10-03-2009, 06:17 PM
#17
Safety Car
Member Since: Jul 2008
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St. Jude Donor '10-'11
Anyone who flames that mod is a ****ing *******. That is sweet! I am heading to Home Depot tomorrow to do it myself. LOOKS AWESOME!!! and thanks for the write up. Very helpful. This page will be listed in my favorites bar...
10-03-2009, 06:18 PM
#18
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The gutter guards were $2.60 a peice, I forget how much the glue was, a couple of bucks. I have enough left over to make a mesh screen over the front plate, curved to match the contour of the bumper, but that maybe overkill. I'll pick up some more vacuum tubing tomorrow and give it a shot anyway while I am waiting for the clear cover.
10-03-2009, 06:23 PM
#19
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Happy to know I can finally contribute something to this forum.
