CFD's Build Thread

[CFD]

Originally Posted by Firefighter

I like how that's looking man. It's a subtle difference that makes it unique.

Thanks. I think at first glance most will think there just blacked out tail lights but with a closer look it will be obvious.

I thought I was finished for the day but decided to cut out the aluminum templates. One thing led to another so I played with them a bit and got them to follow the trunk line almost perfectly as you can see in the 2nd two pics. I the cut out the inner two lenses, tomorrow I will form them and then move on to the outer two.

[CFD]

Got the inner lenses shaped and all set for final fitment. Finished the form for the outer lenses then made another one out of thin aluminum so that when clamped for cooling it won't leave indents in the lens. Waiting for them to cool now then I can test fit them.

[CFD]

All 4 lenses are done. Tomorrow I am hoping to get the lenses mounted. The plan is to set them in 4 small dabs of silicone. This will keep them in place yet allow me some time to get them perfectly aligned. Once I'm satisfied I will then secure them with a few small dabs of epoxy. Once that's set if everything looks good I will remove the silicone then permanently set the lenses. If everything goes right the lenses should protrude past the trunk line then they can be block sanded with the final coat of filler to give them a seamless finish, then they can be polished. After the final paint on the bumper everything will be clear coated together.

[SSEssence]

thats looking real good!

[CFD]

Originally Posted by SSEssence

thats looking real good!

Thanks, I'm hoping to have it pretty much finished except for paint by the weeks end.

[Firefighter]

That's going to be killer when it's done...

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[CFD]

Originally Posted by Firefighter

That's going to be killer when it's done...

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Thanks, I'm hoping it does. Been a lot of work so far.

[CFD]

Not much to show for a full days work but I've made a ton of progress. I decided to go a different route with the tail light housings and lenses. When I made the aluminum housings I was planning on making everything removable but now that I decided to flush mount the lenses I canned them and instead boxed the entire housing openings. With the aluminum housings the lenses are a little bigger and a different shape to fit the angular openings so the edged look a different color and uneven when the lights are on, now that everything is boxed everything is even and the entire assemblies are sealed and water tight.Tomorrow I will clean up the structural adhesive used to box the housings and fit the light bulb sockets. The lenses, which fit real nice, might go in the barrel. When in place they are to red for my liking. The lenses I was using for test pieces are much darker than the new ones, I think they look much better so I may order a new piece of the darker material. All is not lost though, where as they fit so nicely I will form the new lenses using the old ones as the form.

[CFD]

Got the light housings cleaned up and pretty much ready for the lenses. The light sockets are just a hole for now, once I get the lenses where I want them I will experiment with the actual placement of the bulbs, the amount of light emitted and the area of the lens that will reflect that light depends largely on how far the placement of the bulb is from the lens. I may also paint the insides of the housings silver or use a reflective chrome insert if the bulb doesn't illuminate the full lens. I am now playing with different ways of securing the prismatic lens to the red lens and securing the assembly to the bumper. When it's all figured out I will determine if I'm going darker or not with the lenses.

[Firefighter]

Looking good man... you gonna do mine next? LoL

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[CFD]

Originally Posted by Firefighter

Looking good man... you gonna do mine next? LoL

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Well, here's the scoop. If this was metal fabrication I'd do it all day long but doing it with plastic components is a pain in the ass. If someone hits me from behind again, I'm not sure I would do it again on my own. In fact I may not be able to as there's a good chance I will be incarcerated for strangling the prick who hits me.

[Firefighter]

Originally Posted by CFD

Well, here's the scoop. If this was metal fabrication I'd do it all day long but doing it with plastic components is a pain in the ass. If someone hits me from behind again, I'm not sure I would do it again on my own. In fact I may not be able to as there's a good chance I will be incarcerated for strangling the prick who hits me.

LMAO...

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[Splat]

This thing is turning out better then I thought.

Good work.

[CFD]

Originally Posted by Splat

This thing is turning out better then I thought.

Good work.

Are you trying to tell me you had doubts? LOL


After playing with the new lenses I made, I decided to go with the darker lenses so I will need to start over. I ordered the material, while on the phone with Arron from Hipertech, the supplier I use for the lens kit and LEDS on some of the bikes I build, we were discussing the procedure and problems I may encounter. He seems to think that If I try to epoxy the prismatic lens to the bumper first, then attach the red lens to it I will encounter blotchy spots that can be seen through the lens because it will be very difficult to apply even layers of epoxy and even amounts of pressure joining them after bending. Normally I epoxy the prismatic lens and red lens before bending and installing it as an assembly. This is quite simple when dealing with smaller bike lenses with minimal curvature. I wanted to attach the prismatic lens first so that it will seal the opening so no epoxy oozes through, if it does and touches the lens it cannot be removed and looks terrible. I do have the lenses I made the other day so I'm going to try a few different ways of attaching them to the donor bumper I used to cut the pieces I welded in out of. Doing the new lenses will be time consuming ,as well as cutting and joining them, a minimum of 24hrs curing time is needed before I can attempt to bend them or they may separate from the heat. Bending will also be a challenge as the two pieces together will be .375 thick.

I also mentioned to him that come Monday I may be ordering more. LOL