Mullet's Metro Project

[Will]

Excellent Thread. It's really great to see this from a mechanic. It has helped me out a lot. If you get rid of those lights, and noone else wants them let me know. (:

[Will]

Question for the mullet: How did you go about dealing with your DRLs?

[RacerX]

[QUOTE=Johnny Mullet;45542]Vacuum can vary depending on load. On a smooth road, no wind I run anywhere between 10 and 13hg normally. At idle it's at 19hg.QUOTE]

Thanks Johnny, I'm about the same @ 55, Although @ idle I'm between 16 to 18" (you know how that needle flutters slightly).

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by Will

Question for the mullet: How did you go about dealing with your DRLs?

I simply removed the center console.
Slide both seats forward and remove the 2 screws on the sides.
Raise the parking brake lever and get console out of way.
Looked for the wire at the back of the lever.
Loosened one mount bolt and ran wire under it to ground it.

WARNING.........

Doing this action to disable the daytime running lights has the same effect as pulling your parking brake lever up one click. This disables the DRL's, but it also illuminates the "BRAKE" light on the dashboard. You will have no warning if your brake fluid gets low, but most of us "Ecomodders" are always aware of our maintenance and check fluid levels.

Do not attempt to disable your DRL's this way unless you feel confident your car is visible and aware of the brake light issue.

[Johnny Mullet]

This part of my project includes doing away with my crappy headlamp units that are causing poor visibility. I am converting my "Aero Style" molded headlamps with the "Bucket Style" lamps with sealed beams.

"Why replace the aerodynamic lights with the bucket style?"

It's entirely up to the owner. Replacement lamps for my car are well over $100.00 each and I do not plan on dumping that kind of money into the car just yet. I also prefer the older style lamps because they do not get foggy or discolor and are also way cheaper to replace. I may lose some aerodynamics like this, but I would rather have good visibility since the deer around here are cornfed.

This guide will be similar for whatever conversion you decide to do since the steps are all similar.

First off, remove the 2 screws that attach the headlamp unit to the car and carefully pop it out and unplug the connectors..............



Next step is to wire in the plugs since the sealed beam takes a different plug than the aero type...........



I bought 2 new connectors and spliced them in. It was pretty easy for the headlamps since the center terminal goes to the same location on both. Use a test light to figure out which the other 2 wires are. One is "Hi beam" and the other wire is "Low beam".............




Take your lamp and mount and you will see there are 4 mounting holes already in place. The mounting bolts from a car with bucket lights installed will not work since the holes are too big, so I used bolts and nuts................



After they are bolted on, simply plug in the side marker lamp into the replacement unit or housing and then mount them on.
Does this car not look 10 times better now.................



Wait a minute! If the older "Bucket Style" lights come from a car with turn signals mounted in the bumper, how will mine work? Well, if you been following along this thread, you will know that my foglamps I installed behind the grill have a 2 way bulb in them. I simply cut the wires from the turn signal socket and spliced the marker lamps to the dim side and the turn signals on the bright side of the filament. This makes me 100% legal.................



Thanks to RacerX for sending out his unused lamps for me and thanks to all those others who offered theirs

NOTE:
My old lamps are garbage and not worth anything to anyone. I had to cut the mounting tabs on both units to remove them since the bolts were seized. I then used vice grips to remove the bolts since the Phillips parts stripped out.



Replacement Headlamp units = $25.00-shipping (Thanks RacerX!)
H4666 lamp sockets = $13.00
Misc connectors = $3.00

Total cost = $40.00
Total labor time = 2 hours including aim.
Clear visibility = priceless

[Will]

[QUOTE=Johnny Mullet;45888]I simply removed the center console.
Slide both seats forward and remove the 2 screws on the sides.
Raise the parking brake lever and get console out of way.
Looked for the wire at the back of the lever.
Loosened one mount bolt and ran wire under it to ground it.

Thanks, Mullet, I appreciate the tip. Yeah I think we all most likely check our fluids often, otherwise our "old" cars wouldn't make it too long

[Chris D.]

I hate composite housings..
I never saw a point in em for anything other than vehicle design/looks..

Have you thought of some H4/9003 style housings so you can replace the bulbs from the backside?

Any thoughts for a cover for the buckets to get the areo back?

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by Chris D.

I hate composite housings..
I never saw a point in em for anything other than vehicle design/looks..

Have you thought of some H4/9003 style housings so you can replace the bulbs from the backside?

Any thoughts for a cover for the buckets to get the areo back?

bbjsw10 posted a neat lexan cover trick on his thread here............
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-xfi-3887.html

I plan on doing something similar in the future.

[justpassntime]

Nice job, you should be able to see better now. They have to be brighter.

[bbjsw10]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

bbjsw10 posted a neat lexan cover trick on his thread here............
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-xfi-3887.html

I plan on doing something similar in the future.

Cool hope you like them I had a couple guys asking on mine. I like the old school look better anyway. Good thread by the way. And yes the deer here get large on that corn.