SmallCar's Clear Lenses

[gtdanielgt]

This is just a simple thread to attest my experience with the clear lenses. Had Dayle from motorsport order me a set of these, and install them for me. Dropped off the lamp assemblies at his shop while I was waiting for the tint on my car to be done. Let me just say here are the really great points about the lenses

·The clear lense really shows off the wonderful black/chrome housing and makes it look like the headlamp assemblies of some of the higher end luxury cars.
·I have installed some high quality bulbs, and you can actually see the nice crisp, clean look of the light and even see where the light stops at when driving down a dark road or by a wall.
·They really show off any type of bulb you put in there and make it look much brighter. I know a lot of you may have decent headlamp lenses but when I bought my SVX the lenses were yellow, and what appeared to be burned in some spots either from a too high wattage bulb being put in, or from the sun and theses lenses are a night and day difference in terms of light output.

All in all, what I paid for the lenses and the install, it was worth every single penny and I truly mean that.

As for now, I really cant point out any bad parts about the lenses, although I've only had them for roughly too weeks. The only thing I can think of is the possibility of them not being D.O.T approved, however I'm not sure if the D.O.T regulates the type of lense used? Or the housing and assembly itself... who knows, who cares. I don't think any cops are going to be inspecting my headlights, lol.


I know that was a bit long winded, so I apologize.

[ensteele]

The stock lenses are projection beams, and the new ones probably are not. Be careful what bulbs you put in them. If you are checked out, it may not be legal, but I have not heard of anyone with them having any problems.

[SVX PlayBoy]

How difficult would that be to do it yourself. I am interested in doing the conversion, however I do not want to mess up my headlights. If anyone has experience please point me in the right direction

[gtdanielgt]

Originally Posted by SVX PlayBoy

How difficult would that be to do it yourself. I am interested in doing the conversion, however I do not want to mess up my headlights. If anyone has experience please point me in the right direction

Hey there,

Smallcar.com actually has a set of instructions. It is quite easy to do if you have a dremel and a couple hours of your time. The new clear lenses slip right over the stock housing so all you have to do is 'zip' away the yellowed part of the lens, blow out the insides of the headlamp housing with compressed or canned air to make sure it is free of debris and moisture, and apply a bead of clear silicone around the 'black part' of the headlamp housing. Then just slip the clear lens over , strap a couple of rubber bands around the housing/lens and wait a few hours to dry... Should fully cure in about 6-8 hours.
Hope this helps...

[gtdanielgt]

here teh linky :

http://www.smallcar.com/svx/hlkinstructions.htm

[SilverSpear]

The lens are great and easy to install, but never do the corners, they don't really fit

[Amazonparrot]

Silverspear...do you have a picture of the corners to show them not fitting...im trying to gauge how bad "not fitting" is...since im pretty anal retentive...thanks bud!

[svxcess]

I've seen some of the first-generation Smallcar clear corners at Reading and I wasn't impressed with the fit. Members have tried to recontour and shave parts of them in order to get a better fit, but they still don't look quite right.

Supposedly, Smallcar has produced a second-generation redesign of the clear cormers so that they fit perfectly.

Like you, I am very particular about the details. Let me tell you, being excessive anal is no fun...

believe me, I know...


cause I had fun once.

.

[gtdanielgt]

Doesn't dayle have a set of clear corners on his silver car?

If you're a stickler for quality I'd avoid them. I ordered a set and was unsatisifed with the quality of hte lense. It had specks of dust and other imperfections that made me ditch them. I think you'd be better off disassembling the stock lenses and polishing them, and clearcoating them with a thinned down clear lacquer or something.

[gtdanielgt]

Originally Posted by TheSTig

If you're a stickler for quality I'd avoid them. I ordered a set and was unsatisifed with the quality of hte lense. It had specks of dust and other imperfections that made me ditch them. I think you'd be better off disassembling the stock lenses and polishing them, and clearcoating them with a thinned down clear lacquer or something.

I think you may have gotten unlucky because my set was in really good shape, nothing wrong with the lenses at all.. How long ago did you purchase them?

[SomethingElse]

I didnt like my end result. I used a hot knife to cut the face of the old lens off perfectly and the smallcar covers didnt seem to fit right. I ended up pulling them apart and am still in the process of trying again. They look like crap with the waterfall grille, and they didnt line up right. I was thinking next time I may put some kind of border around the lenses on the outside to make them look a little cleaner. and use black silicone.

Originally Posted by gtdanielgt

I think you may have gotten unlucky because my set was in really good shape, nothing wrong with the lenses at all.. How long ago did you purchase them?

Few years. Didn't like the quality AT ALL. Plus they were super flimsy... probably costs less than $2 to make. That kind ticked me off too. If I'd have known it was just cheap vacuum formed polycarbonate I could have made them myself, it really isn't all that spectacularly difficult.

[gtdanielgt]

Originally Posted by SomethingElse

I didnt like my end result. I used a hot knife to cut the face of the old lens off perfectly and the smallcar covers didnt seem to fit right. I ended up pulling them apart and am still in the process of trying again. They look like crap with the waterfall grille, and they didnt line up right. I was thinking next time I may put some kind of border around the lenses on the outside to make them look a little cleaner. and use black silicone.

This is not the first time i've seen this term before... Can you please tell me what a 'waterfall' grille is?

[Motorsport-SVX]

Originally Posted by gtdanielgt

Doesn't dayle have a set of clear corners on his silver car?

I have JDM clear corners on my cars
much different then the conversions

Hey Daniel wassup !!