First drill and enlarge the hole
in the reflector. I drilled an initial hole 1/4 inch in diameter and then
used my moto
tool to enlarge the hole. Be
very carefull not to let the drill or the moto tool bit to touch the front
inside the
reflector or you will never
get inside it to even try and touch it up or fix the marks. Shown below
is the moto
tool , bit and reflector after
making the hole.
Note position of the hole
in the reflector below as this is about the only place you have enough
clearance
for the bulb and be sure to
position the hole in the same place on both reflectors so they look uniform.
After
making the hole you can vacuum
out the inside of the reflector fairly easily
Going back to where I started
up above, place the reflector in position and check to see you measured
correctly and the hole is in
the center of the reflector hole. I have placed a photo below of this,
but you
have to look closely because
of the fractal properties of the lens to see the hole below.
Now we are going to drill a 5/8"
hole using the pilot hole as a guide as shown below. There are
two layers on top then the bit
will drop down about an inch and you must drill through the next
level also. If you have bought
a different turn signal socket than the one I did, just make sure you
drill the correct size hole.
They should all be pretty standard
Once the hole is drilled you
need to feather it a little on the sides where the bumps that the bulb
uses as a guide and anchoring
channels. You do not want it fitting loosely. You want it to be a
tight fit. I tapped mine in
with a hammer and they fit fairly snug. Do not tap it in yet, just test
it for
snugness. It should get pretty
snug with about a 1/4 to an 1/8 left to go in
Next we want to prepare the
socket for installation. I added 18 inches or wiring to each leg
using the solderless connectors
provided then taped the entire length of the wires with electrical tape
and left about two inches exposed
at the end. Photo is shown below. I used extra wrappings of tape
at the solderless connector
area
Next remove the marker
light on the side of the car by removing the little metal cover at the
front end
of the marker as shown in the
photo below taking care not to pry out below the metal cover and
cracking the marker/lens mount.
Remove screw and slide marker light out and forward to release it from
the back clip. The bulb socket
comes out of the marker housing by a small turn to unlock it. There
is no
need to unplug it from the socket
Next we want to determine
which wire is the marker light and which wire is the turn signal.
I installed a red wire and a
blue wire, but this does not really matter. They can even both be black
as long
as you know which is which.
I used the same wire as I did for the malibu fogs. #18 Lead Wire.
This is actually beyond manufacturers
specifications for the turn / marker lights
To test which is which,
place one of the wires on a battery terminal and the socket housing
on the other terminal as shown
below. With this test I have determined that the blue wire is the
dimmer side of the bulb and
therefore the marker light. This leaves the red wire as the brighter side
of the
bulb and therefore the turning
light.
Next install the new socket in
the hole in the car while fishing the wire into the side marker light area.
Note in the photo below that
I have removed the prongs that normally would have mounted the
socket and I have left the ground
terminal on the side. You do not need it, but it can be used for mounting
or a ground if you wish or if
you need it later when the socket might lose the friction ground. Note
the ground terminal fits neatly
in the grove contour of the bucket
Next we move to the wiring of
the new socket to the existing wiring for the turn / marker lights.
Strip a section of insulation
or using an automatic wire stripper, cut and push the insulation back
on the two outside wires in
a staggered manner to prevent them from contacting each other when
taped together The center
should be black and is the ground as shown below. Turn the marker
lights on. Touch the lower brilliance
wire which in my case was the blue wire to each of the two
wires and the one that lights
the newly installed bulb is the one you want to solder it to. The other
wire gets soldered to the other
outside wire (the brighter one or the turn signal light) Note the bulb
in
the new socket is lit in the
upper right of photo
Solder the wires in place. The progress should look like the photo below
Now test the installation and
make sure everything is lighting correctly. Next wrap tape around each
individual solder connection
as shown below
Now bring the two wires together
and retape the whole assembly back to manufacturers
specifications as shown below
Reinstall side marker / turn
lens and housing, install reflector (trim if needed to clear bulb)
and your project is complete
This mod along with the Malibu light mod adds an interesting effect
to the vehicle front lighting
and gives various different effects. Remember when the headlights
were on before the reflector
was normally not illuminated in conjunction. Now it will be, adding an
interesting effect. The marker
lights can be used in conjunction with the malibu lights / add-on
fog lights for another effect.
Let us not forget the original fog lights in conjunction with the
headlights and snake eyes and
also all of them at once which is a very intimidating effect on
someone ahead of you at night.
Though I have not got it outside
to take some night shots because I have just finished the
mod, here are some preliminary
photos of the snakes by themselves and with the Malibu Fogs
taken in my basement Snakes
come on with the running lights. They also flash bright when the
turning signals are on
Snakes
Snakes With Malibu Lights

,,,,,Personally if my opinion counts this looks more like a snake than anything to me,,,,
To Get an Idea of what the turning
light looks like, here's an animated gif file I made and no the car does
not
move because of this mod,, it's
just hard to get exact location shots without using a tripod
I might also add there isn't another
VR4 under this one. Wish it could be that simple :-)
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For questions send e-mail. Last Update
3/1/99