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Classic R #27 Build - Lighting

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Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Empty Classic R #27 Build - Lighting

Post by comled Sun Sep 04, 2016 9:58 am

I worked on front lighting this weekend - headlamps, turn signals, parking lights. I'd actually mounted the headlamps some weeks ago to see how they looked.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Headla12
I used these Dietz 7" bucket style lamps from Speeway. They're nothing fancy: no LEDs at this stage, not because of any lack of interest in going that route, but I want to get through PA state inspection without fielding a lot of awkward questions. So these are just basic 7" halogen sealed beams for now. Mounting is just a question of drilling a 1/2" hole in the mounting pad and fitting the unit. However, I will be making some modifications to these shortly and we'll get to that in due course.

From a styling point of view, the look I want is to have a bullet-style turn signal centered below the headlamp. I cast around on the internet and found these Drag Specialties units at Dennis Kirk, intended for motorcycle use:

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Front-15
Photo Credit: Dennis Kirk

These have a clear lens with an orange bulb with two filaments - one for the turn signal and one for the parking light. The package actually comes with two lenses - a smoked one and clear one. I'll use the clear one for now.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Front-12
The lenses are DOT marked ST-064 SAE DP 00 DOT.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Front-11
In order to mount them I needed to make some brackets. My first attempt at this was a simple flat bracket with two holes in it. The turn signal housing mounts to the smaller hole and the larger hole is used to attach the whole thing to the 1/2" threaded part of the headlamp.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Front-10
This turned out to be an exercise in how not to do it - I should have thought the whole thing through a little better. Everything bolted up but it looked pretty shabby and I hadn't thought at all about how to route the wiring. The Drag Specialties lamp housing has a separate exit for the wiring so it would be exposed.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Front-14
I decided to try making a hollow mount that I could run the wiring through and up into the headlamp shell in order to conceal it. From the headlamp shell I'll run a braided conduit with 5 conductors (high beam, low beam, parking lamp, turn signal, ground) up to a connector that will mate with the main harness. My dubious machining skills resulted in these two mounting adapters. The thick part is threaded 1/2-13 to mate with the headlamp; the thin part is threaded 7/16-20 and the whole thing drilled through for routing the wiring. I added a medium knurl just for the sake of doing it. I modified the turn signal housing by removing the innards and drilling out the mounting hole to 25/64" and tapping it to match the adapter. I'll need to block off the original wiring hole with a blanking plug of some sort.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Front-16
The adapter assembled with both lighting units. I compressed the front suspension fully to make sure the pushrod doesn't hit the turn signal. It doesn't. I'll powder coat the adapter so that it matches the other parts.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Headla10
To run wiring to the two lamps I chose this Lokar headlamp braid, part number XHL-1900. These are supplied with four wires that look like 14AWG. I want to run 3 12AWG conductors and 2 14AWG conductors for each lamp setup and in order to do that the Lokar hardware has to be drilled out. In this picture the upper braid is the stock Lokar part; the lower one is the one I modified.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Headla11
The steel stud is designed to screw into the end cap by inserting a hex key and turning it. Drilling out the stud destroys the hex recess. To compensate, I cross-drilled a 1/8" hole and ran a 1/2-20 die down the stud to clean up the thread. I mounted the stud in the lathe and drilled it out to accept the 5 wires - much easier than trying to do it in the drill press. To screw the stud back in, insert a rod through the cross-drilling to grip the stud, use a rubber strap wrench on the end cap, and then have at it. With this setup I can conceal all the wires as well as uprating the headlamp wires to 12AWG.

On that note, I want to make up new headlamp connectors with 12AWG wires and better terminals.

The next job is to drill the headlamp shell to accommodate the headlamp braid, then add a mounting bracket to the frame to accept the other end of the braid.

-Dave
comled
comled

Posts : 179
Join date : 2015-10-07
Location : New Hope, PA

http://comley.us

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Post by comled Mon Sep 05, 2016 7:38 am

I made more progress on the headlamps yesterday, finishing up the modifications to both headlamp braids, drilling the buckets and installing braids in them.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Headla14
Using a power drill rather than the drill press I drilled a 1/2" diameter hole in each bucket, centered 1" from the edge of the rivet (it looks off center but it's just the camera angle). I used a lot of masking tape around the drilling area to avoid marring the finish. Tip: prop up the front of the bucket on its rim on a pile of rolls of masking tape, otherwise you'll be drilling at an angle. That makes the area where the hole is to be drilled more or less horizontal. The hole looks nice and ragged; a step drill might have done a better job.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Headla15
Braid installed in the bucket. This is very much an off-label use of these braids; I reversed the ends, putting the shorter-threaded grill shell end in the bucket to allow clearance to the back of the sealed beam unit, and leaving the longer threaded end to mount to brackets on the frame.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Headla13
5 off 22759/16 tefzel wires test run through the braid (3x12AWG, 2x14AWG). I'll add abrasion protection at each end when I do the final wiring.

Today I'll finish making the brackets to mount the other end of the headlamp braid to the frame.

-Dave
comled
comled

Posts : 179
Join date : 2015-10-07
Location : New Hope, PA

http://comley.us

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Post by comled Wed Sep 07, 2016 11:29 pm

I was able to get two brackets made to mount the Lokar braid to the chassis.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Headla17
Nothing too elaborate - just a piece of 1" x 1/8" steel bar drilled one end to accept the Lokar braid, drilled the other end with two holes to mount to the chassis. This side has the test wiring threaded through but it needs abrasion protection added where the wire exits the braid end.

Classic R #27 Build - Lighting Headla16
Same thing the other side minus the wiring at this stage.

I ordered replacement H4 headlamp connectors prewired with 12AWG wire to have on hand. I won't do any more on wiring these for now, not until after I have dismantled the frame for powdercoating.

-Dave
comled
comled

Posts : 179
Join date : 2015-10-07
Location : New Hope, PA

http://comley.us

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