Poor mans GT ish Headlights $125, diagrams follow Options

[Joe Ricard]

That is way cool. I'm going to do this!!!!!

[Jeroen]

smart! smart! smart! smart! smart!
that's a very cool cable release

[rhilgers]

Thanks for the kind words,

I try to take some better pics when I get the new camera (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

-Rich Hilgersom

[greg.treadway]

Looks like a good design. I too would like to see an overall pic if you can. Good job!

[Gint]

QUOTE

how about a picture of the whole crapola, like you stepping 3 feet back ...

Andy's giving photography advice... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wacko.gif)

Nice work Rich.

[Eric_Shea]

Let's all pitch in and send a set to Z (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[lapuwali]

Reviving this thread, since it's being discussed again, and I'm in the middle of trying to simplify the wiring in the front trunk.

This method is great, but one gripe lots of people have is having to hand-close the lights later. I wonder instead about devising a setup where you pull the lights UP with the cable against is (fairly light) spring, and release the cable to let them come back down. A lever under the dash with a latch would do the trick, and you could have the lever also hit a switch to turn on the lights when it's pulled back. There are also twist-lock knobs I've seen on some older cars used for hand-throttles.

Alternatively, sticking with the hand-closed lights setup, one could use a pair of small solenoid pins rather than a split cable. Still a good weight savings, and still less complicated. You'd need to add a small momentary pushbutton to activate the solenoids. You could even get away with one bigger solenoid, and have it operate one light directly, and the other via a cable or rod running across the front of the trunk.

The last idea is to rod operate both lights. Have the rod run across the front of the trunk, with levers on the rod that operate the lights. The rod is turned by a third lever on the driver's side that is pushed and pulled by one push/pull control cable, so you can raise and lower the lights from the seat.

[Sparky]

QUOTE (lapuwali @ Oct 28 2005, 03:37 PM)

<SNIP> The last idea is to rod operate both lights. Have the rod run across the front of the trunk, with levers on the rod that operate the lights. The rod is turned by a third lever on the driver's side that is pushed and pulled by one push/pull control cable, so you can raise and lower the lights from the seat.

Sounds like Opel GT headlights... I miss my Opel.

Mike D.

[rhilgers]

On the cable only method.. the "throw" (distance the light must travel from closed to open) is about two and a half inches. I could not find a cable lever setup that would make the distance. I have seen some aircraft setups do this but the cost was prohibitive.

There are gas springs that go up AND down. They are really really pricy though. Most heavy machinery catalogs have um.

The solenoids needed for the setup doubled the price. But you would no longer have to drill out the hole for the cable release so if you changed your mind you could put it back to stock.

The rods will need to be spring loaded somehow to prevent the hand lever from snapping off its base. There is also the issue of "bounce" if you cant lock the rods down.

-Rich Hilgersom

[lapuwali]

One could shorten the throw of the cable with a simple lever arrangment. The tradeoff is more force is required on the cable to pull the lights up. You could get a nearly infinite range of force v. distance. Whether you could get the pull short enough with a reasonable force required I don't know. I have a couple of simple drawings, but I can't post them from here.

The solenoids I'm thinking of are about $12-15 ea new, and can be scavenged used out of lots of things for far less. The cables aren't all that cheap, and running them would be a bigger problem than running a pair of wires and installing a pushbutton, IMHO. You don't need much force from the solenoids, as all you're using them for is releasing the "spring" to allow the lights to come up. The gas springs are probably the best bet, as they'll be reasonably damped in allowing the lights to rise, and the lights won't go CLUNK against the stops.

I'm thinking the pull cable idea isn't so great, only because I'm shying away from cables entirely. Hand-closing the lights isn't so bad, really. Everything I can think of to make that work would either be complicated, or would eliminate the weight break from getting rid of the motors. Big solenoids, for example, could be used to push the lights open, but they'd weigh nearly as much as the motors. They'd be simpler electrically, though.

[TonyAKAVW]

How about servo motors from RC stuff? I'm sure there are some hefty servo motors out there. But I really think this idea of the solenoid release is a good one. Simple, no cables, etc. Would be nice to do that for the trunk releases as well.

-Tony

[Mueller]

I still like the idea of an air cylinder.....I have a couple of these just laying around in different throws....aluminum and stainless....an accumilator (from a CIS equipped car???) could be used to "store" vac???