Just stick the stake through
the car body and throw in some wires. Just kidding :-)
First cut off the plugs on the
end, you don't need them. If you have Malibu lights at home leave a little
wire so you can use them if
you need them for repair. They are a good means for attaching lights
to outdoor malibu wiring. If
not, toss them Now take the wire out of the stake and place the stake in
the vise and cut it off as shown
below
Once it is cut off use a file
or grinding wheel to smooth off the cut flush with the back side being
careful not to damage the pipe
threads. ( Use the flats on the threads and don't tighten the vise too
tight)
Once the back is flat you will
need to drill a pilot hole with a 3/16" bit next to the hole the wire use
to
go through and center of the
hole in the pipe. The X that the stake leaves behind is centered on the
hole.
I drilled mine from the flat
side using the X as a center point with the flats on the pipe in the vise.
Once the pilot hole is drilled
you can finish up with the 3/8" hole for the mounting bolt. The 3/8" hole
is about to be drilled below
and shows the bolt you will need to do the mounting. It is a 3/8" X 16
TPI
(threads per inch) knurled allen
socket bolt. I had these laying around, but you may have to visit your
hardware store for them, but
they shouldn't be any more than 10 cents a piece
It may seem there will be nothing
left for a shoulder for the bolt, but there will be enough if you don't
get over zealous with your drilling.
What we are going to do is grind the knurl off the bolt head and
fit it inside to pipe to protrude
out the back. Shown below is a safe way to do this using an ordinary
grinding wheel. You can use
any tool to push in on the free side to keep it on the wrench while you
rotate the bolt and grind off
the knurl to fit the part we made
The part we have just made looks
like the photo below when we are done with this step. I have
applied some grease to the bolt
head to make it turn better in it's new house and to prevent rusting
You ask why such a big bolt?
I heard you,, well the reason for this is the hole that you
are mounting it in that already
exists on the car is just slightly smaller than that size. My intentions
on this mod was to make it non
invasive toward the car and can be removed without a trace if you
wish to later or if you sell
the car and the person buying it doesn't want the modification.
This combined with the fact
it is impossible to get a drill in the area where we are mounting them
Ok we have one more step on
this part to finish it. Place it in the vise in the position shown
above only with the pipe
facing upwards. Screw the adapter on to the light with the rubber washer
supplied and make sure you have
it tight. Determine the location of the area to be trimmed off to clear
the plastic bumper that is in
front of the hole. Mark it, remove it from the light, then turn it over
as shown
below and using a hack saw make
three cuts. One straight across and one on each side so we can grind
and contour it to fit in the
area we are going to install it. These cuts trim off the excess from thefront
side
of the base so it will clear
the trim on the car.
Now using the grinder or file,
round off the cuts as shown below and apply a coat of black enamel.
This finishes off the preparation
of this part. Note that the flat part of the top piece you made is
now even with the outside diameter
of the lower piece on the side that will face the front of the vehicle
allowing room for mounting flat
to the car where we will tap the hole shown below
Remove the anchor shown above
by unscrewing and pulling out the screw and the plastic
washer/anchor. The hole it leaves
above the trim is metal and can be tapped using a 3/8" X 16 TPI tap
as shown in the picture below
You may have to push a little
to get it started, but no drilling should be necessary. Once you
have tapped the hole, you are
ready to install the base and the adapter and will have a finished
product looking like the photo
below and ready to mount the lights to
Mount the lights to the posts
as shown below
Now all that is left is the wiring
to a switch under your dash
Wiring
Using connectors connect one
wire from both lights together and attach to ground
(It doesn't matter which wire)
Then attach both the remaining wires to a wire leading under your
dash through the firewall. Find
a switched power source in the fuse panel (meaning it is only hot
when the ignition is on) and
run it to one side of a toggle switch with an in line fuse. (5 amps is
plenty)
Connect the other wire from
the lights to the other terminal / wire
of the switch and you are done.
Schematic Below
I recommend using solderless
wire connectors such as Stake-On and placing bullet type
disconnects on the light wiring
as shown in the photos below
I mounted my switch under the
dash to the right of the Steering Column. The one I purchased
was from Pep Boys for $4.99.
It come with two Illuminated Switches and the mounting panel and
stake on type connectors but
I threw them out because they are a cheap take off. I used one and after
crimping I could pull the wire
out,,, crimp body was to thin. Photo of Mounted Switches is below
The effects are shown in a few
pictures below
These lights are basically for
effect and unlike the stock, they can be illuminated any time.
Since I did the Turning Snake
Eyes Modification I took a photo of the Malibu Fogs with the running lights
on at night and here is what
the lighting looks like with no headlights or stock fog lights
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For questions send e-mail Last Update
9/9/98