yup, im gonna do it. just not the way you are thinkin :hick:
this idea has been rollin about in my head, and i contacted thesoldan about it. he was kind enough to hook me up with a great deal on a part i could actually put my hands on and see how it matched up proportionally with my car. after seeing his pics i knew these lights werent meant for a cougar, but do they come close on a bird!
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/0f533ceb.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/514e601d.jpg)
dont expect alot of fast progress on this as i am a form follows function guy, with a loooong list of functional projects. i am, however, on the hunt for a decent header panel to start cutting on. its gonna be a long project, and i dont wanna tear into this, the only header panel i currently have, as i am still driving the car on a regular basis this summer.
i really need to put my hands on a lincoln LS as well, to scope out the mountings and adjustments that ford built for this light. unfortunately i dont have current access to one, and they are not exactly plentiful in the junkyard....
I've also been looking at the same thing. but was looking at the way these lights wrapped around the fenders much like ours. but your definitely on the something.
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee79/daminc/Town%20Car/IMG_3787.jpg)
i looked at those, and vic/marauder lights as well. problem for me is they wrap too far into the fender for my comfort zone. with a full wrap into the fender, you would hafta address any difference between the curvature of the lens and fender/header where it goes around the corner of the car. im not big on body work, and if i can confine my mods to the header panel w/o cuttin into the fenders, ill be more happy ;)
it looks like these LS lights will wrap just far enough around that i can sink them into the header panel, and do a bit of fiberglass work to fill the gaps....we will see.
Your right about cutting into the fenders. I got an extra set for that, along with an extra header panel for the project. Now I just need to finish the car so I can mod it. lol
My plan is on the back burner for now. The more I look at it, the more ideas I get.
Dang, those look like a better fit than the 2000ish Impala lights I was considering!
Yeah, I found the same thing when I started my project several years ago. I even made a post about it.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showpost.php?p=68812&postcount=9
yup, you and thesoldan are the inspiration of this idea.
the thread from 06 was right about the time i joined the forum, and the recent reliving of pics in a more current thread got me thinking again. :cheers:
I'll be interested to see what you guys come up with. I still don't know of any good ways to make it fit without making the lenses manually. Are you planning on filling in all gaps with fiberglass? I'm not sure how this will look on the sides where it meets up with the fenders.
The 3 piece headlight assembly on the 87-88's are really what dates them more than the rest of the car. I think it is great idea to put newer style headlights in! Keep us up to speed on your progress.
Don't forget about the dash, interior dome light, and a few other odds and ends ;)
I guess the windshield is also a little dated.
http://turbometal.com/lighting/projector-headlight.html?gclid=COzW8La6uaMCFQ5IagodxD0qeQ
Probably of more interest to the guys with 4-eyes, but this site seems to have a large supply of the different projector style lamps. Maybe good for ideas?
The pictures are good but it's still a little hard to tell exactly how close the fit is. Is it higher in the center area than stock and/or more rounded on the outside, and/or concave vs convex on the inside?
It looks to me like you might be able to clip the vertical ends, make them straighter, and make some marker lenses from stock or scratch to fill the gaps. If that makes any sense. As for the height issue, it looks like yours will have a more expressive 'face' than the typical bird.
ps jrad235, thanks for the link.
Man that looks great! They have those one piece lights for the fox stangs and I always thought they looked okay, but they sure look a hell of a lot better on our cars.
There's a Chevy 1500 running around here that has headlights like the ones being discussed, here. It looks like complete ass, but that's just my opinion.
That's because it's a Chevy!
j/k (Maybe)
The jury is still out for me, I was thinking about an H4(?) upgrade, but that link I posted has projector lights that may fit. Might look a tich odd, but you never know.
haha! @ because it's a Chevy. Technically, you've got to show me love, because I've got a 4-eye ;)
Anyway, I'm definately interested to see how gumby's car looks when it's all done.
....Where?! I see a Chevy though... :yuck:
Oh well, at least there is one Ford in your household. :D
Well, the Chevy's a four-eye, that's
got to count for somethin' ...
yes, it is taller thru the center of the lamp than stock, and the face of the lens is more of a smooth curve than the straight front on the stock lights with the hard break around the corner.
here is a pic i omitted due to poor focus, but you can see a bit more of the shape in the LS lens from the side angle
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/72e21006.jpg)
the top of the lens is laid back pretty hard. on the LS this part of the lens forms a continuance of the body line as well as the high crowned transition from the nose of the car into the hood.
http://www.avonmotors.net/images/pic2/1253594685-2001-Lincoln-LS-V-8.jpg
http://jkfmotors.tripod.com/images/2000_Lincoln_LS-2.JPG
this car has a vinyl application which accentuates that crown
http://www.mikekukielka.com/gallery/d/888-2/Lincoln_LS_racing.jpg
to work that shape flush into the header would actually lower the angle from hood to nose, changing the whole front aspect of the car. i think you would actually hafta raise the lamp higher in the header panel in order to form a smooth transition, at that point losing the hard body line in the header above the stock lamps and leaving a gap below the lamp that would hafta be filled.
my plan instead, is to try to tuck that top edge of the LS lens up into(behind? under?) the TC header panel, and set the light slightly back in the opening to mask the difference in curvature of the lens vs. header panel. kinda shadow box, or eyebrow type of thing. i dont wanna lose much of the flush look, so in my mind its a very shallow recess(1/4" - 3/8"). the lens on the LS light is obviously very clear which should help disguise the mismatch of shapes, i think.....
its hard to describe the picture in my mind. :sleep:
What if you took the clear covering off of the light, then formed lexan (or other impact resistant plastic) over the opening. Then the light would be flush with the header panel and it would give it the look of the recessed headlights the 83-86's have?
A bit of a frenched look.
Have you measured the LS hood to see how close it matches the T-bird's hood? Heck, why not graft the whole hood, grille (fill the grille and add the TC bird emblem) and lights at the same time, and just install the turbo coupe scoops. Then add a piece under the lights and grille to fill the gap between them and the profile line of the TC bumper cover.
After looking at the additional pics you posted, I was more or less thinking the same thing as as Scott D, remove the existing front lense, install the housing, form a new outer cover that retains the stock profile.
Another thought, maybe along the lines you mentioned. While cruising evilbay one day, I saw a bare 87-88 header panel that got me to thinking about some kind of recessed lights for that nose. The idea is to install cover ~0.5"-2" inset at the center, tapered to meet the stock lines near the fender. If reality can match what's in my head, it would give the bird a more aggressive look and still be aero. (If that isn't clear, post a 3/4 shot of the bare header and I'll show you what I mean.)
Cut the fiberglass and build up the header panel to fit the light.