Has anyone fitted spot lights to a Chim ?

[The Horse]

I have always thought that the early style grill lacks something in the looks department. Has anyone fitted recessed spots into the grill, much like those on the Griff ?
I used circles of white card to simulate spot lights, in 4", 5" and 6". The 5" look the best (IMHO) but not 100% sure whether to go ahead. The worst that can happen is a waste of some time and possibly ruining the grill.
Any thoughts or photos of a completed conversion ?
Thanks

[N7GTX]

A quick search found these:

[Pupp]

Mine and Rob's in those; both face lift cars so have the bar across the front aperture - reckon an early car with the more open grill would lend itself well to a round spotlight - should be a doddle to mount, Still run mine, they work very well (Hella units)

[SILICONEKID345HP]

Do0 they come on with high beam ?

[Pupp]

Mine are paired with high beam

[bigfella70]

The Horse said:

I have always thought that the early style grill lacks something in the looks department. Has anyone fitted recessed spots into the grill, much like those on the Griff ?
I used circles of white card to simulate spot lights, in 4", 5" and 6". The 5" look the best (IMHO) but not 100% sure whether to go ahead. The worst that can happen is a waste of some time and possibly ruining the grill.
Any thoughts or photos of a completed conversion ?
Thanks

Think the proposed lamps as shown look very smart ! Shouldn't affect airflow into the rad and with some careful manufacture of some suitable brackets would be a great addition.

[ray von]

There was a one in the classifieds a couple of months ago with spotlights. It was a Mole Valley car classed as the molennium limited edition or some such name.
http://img.pistonheads.com.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws....

[BeastMaster]

Hi David - mine is an early car, and when I got it the grill was the standard black painted punched aluminium and the indicator lens were yellow and had the same thought.

I changed the grill to stainless steel mesh and the indicator lens to clear which IMHO improved the look.

At the moment am refurbishing the bodywork and as part of the plan am upgrading to mk3 faired in lights - am also thinking about some additional day lights for when pressing on but do not want to make the front chav in any way, so am playing with an idea of using the indicator aperture to fit smaller indicator lens in the bottom half and bright led day running lights in the larger top half.

The standard lights are well up to night driving on the odd occasion when needed so am just thinking of being seen - like with the running led's on the daily driver.

[pb450]

ray von said:

There was a one in the classifieds a couple of months ago with spotlights. It was a Mole Valley car classed as the molennium limited edition or some such name.
http://img.pistonheads.com.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws....

That looks good!

[magpies]

if you can get 6" in then KC Daylighters are extremely good - I used them on my rally car. They are actually 5 3/4 lamps but the body will take just over 6" They will push the envelope of the standard main beam by some way.

[N7GTX]

BeastMaster said:

Hi David - mine is an early car, and when I got it the grill was the standard black painted punched aluminium and the indicator lens were yellow and had the same thought.

I changed the grill to stainless steel mesh and the indicator lens to clear which IMHO improved the look.

At the moment am refurbishing the bodywork and as part of the plan am upgrading to mk3 faired in lights - am also thinking about some additional day lights for when pressing on but do not want to make the front chav in any way, so am playing with an idea of using the indicator aperture to fit smaller indicator lens in the bottom half and bright led day running lights in the larger top half.

The standard lights are well up to night driving on the odd occasion when needed so am just thinking of being seen - like with the running led's on the daily driver.

Snap!

[ChimpOnGas]

For us with the Mk2 face lift cars these all look like good options...




[/quote]



Mounting in the upper half of the split grill aperture as above definitely seems like the best option but there isn't an awful lot of space there, I've measured up and what you really need is something that puts out a lot of light but is around 3" or so in diameter including the mounting bracket.

These two requirements are somewhat at odds with themselves and seriously restrict your choice, especially if like me you'd like something using modern LED technology that also gives a properly controlled beam pattern.

The best I've come up with so far are these 70mm dia PIAA LP270 units (more like 80mm with their bracket), but at £250 a pair they aren't exactly what you call cheap





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXUGZZkJ02U

http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/piaa-lp270-revi...

Given my little little Ring Micro Cruiselites (BRL0370) mounted in the lower grill aperture seem to do little or nothing to improve night visibility, I think at some point I'll need to bite the bullet and buy a set of these expensive PIAA LP270 units.

Hopefully they'll finally give my Chimaera lights to match it's performance

[Jon Brown]

Dare I say extra weight....

[Brerabit]

I’ve recently had the headlights on my ’96 Chim converted to the later faired in style with sealed beam Hella units and it’s been a big improvement - but I still want more light for quick night time driving in the sticks. I’ve been searching for a while for suitable units and the only decent quality ones I can find that will fit - and that are available in narrow beam spot rather than wide angle foglight - are the PIAA LP270/DK275X units - but they are expensive at circa £250 a pair.
As for the daytime running lights, I’ve done the Hella conversion which was detailed in Sprint around the middle of last year and they work brilliantly, no pun intended… These are multifunction LED units with internal switching which fit in place of the existing indicators. With the ignition on and lights off these show as bright white DRLs but turn off when the headlights are switched on. If the indicators or hazards are selected, they switch over to amber and if sidelights are selected they switch to low power white lamps. With everything off they look very similar to the non-amber standard indicator units although they have a flat face. I don’t have the part number to hand as it’s on the data sheet in the car which is currently away having a Canems EMS fitted but if you can’t track them down, let me know and I’ll dig it out.

[Dungman]

Brerabit said:

I’ve recently had the headlights on my ’96 Chim converted to the later faired in style with sealed beam Hella units and it’s been a big improvement - but I still want more light for quick night time driving in the sticks. I’ve been searching for a while for suitable units and the only decent quality ones I can find that will fit - and that are available in narrow beam spot rather than wide angle foglight - are the PIAA LP270/DK275X units - but they are expensive at circa £250 a pair.
As for the daytime running lights, I’ve done the Hella conversion which was detailed in Sprint around the middle of last year and they work brilliantly, no pun intended… These are multifunction LED units with internal switching which fit in place of the existing indicators. With the ignition on and lights off these show as bright white DRLs but turn off when the headlights are switched on. If the indicators or hazards are selected, they switch over to amber and if sidelights are selected they switch to low power white lamps. With everything off they look very similar to the non-amber standard indicator units although they have a flat face. I don’t have the part number to hand as it’s on the data sheet in the car which is currently away having a Canems EMS fitted but if you can’t track them down, let me know and I’ll dig it out.

Sounds interesting, do you have any photos?

[Brerabit]

Should have the car back in about two weeks - will take some pics of the combined DRL/Indicator/Sidelights then - but it won't be standing still for long - I've had loads done to the engine and undercarriage over the last few months and can't wait to drive the nuts off it...

[ChimpOnGas]

Dungman said:

Brerabit said:

I’ve recently had the headlights on my ’96 Chim converted to the later faired in style with sealed beam Hella units and it’s been a big improvement - but I still want more light for quick night time driving in the sticks. I’ve been searching for a while for suitable units and the only decent quality ones I can find that will fit - and that are available in narrow beam spot rather than wide angle foglight - are the PIAA LP270/DK275X units - but they are expensive at circa £250 a pair.
As for the daytime running lights, I’ve done the Hella conversion which was detailed in Sprint around the middle of last year and they work brilliantly, no pun intended… These are multifunction LED units with internal switching which fit in place of the existing indicators. With the ignition on and lights off these show as bright white DRLs but turn off when the headlights are switched on. If the indicators or hazards are selected, they switch over to amber and if sidelights are selected they switch to low power white lamps. With everything off they look very similar to the non-amber standard indicator units although they have a flat face. I don’t have the part number to hand as it’s on the data sheet in the car which is currently away having a Canems EMS fitted but if you can’t track them down, let me know and I’ll dig it out.

Sounds interesting, do you have any photos?

+1 I'd be interested to see this in operation, perhaps a little video uploaded to YouTube would work better that just photos?

[Richard 858]

magpies said:

if you can get 6" in .................the body will take just over 6"

Come on chaps, nobody made a pun on this ? QBee where are you when we need you ???

[The Horse]

Finished fitting them today. 5" stainless spot lights as used on the BMW Mini. I still need to do the wiring but I'm pleased with the look.



Does anyone know what the wires are that terminate in a 9 (?) terminal block to the top right of the air filter ?
It might be something to do with the original alarm system ? I'm hoping the block might have a main beam or +12v feed in it.
Better picture to follow but foul weather at the moment so garage door staying shut...

[Pupp]

Looks great; like the stainless