Restarting my SLC project in West Texas

[Hector]

And finally you guys are completely updated on my progress. this weekend Miguel and I spent mapping out the jaguar F type 2014-17 pigtails. I have a wiring diagram, but I could not find the pig tail wire order anywhere , it took a while but Miguel figured out the correct numbering of the pig tail vs the wiring diagram. they are adaptive and have a motor that turns them when you turn , so there are 16 wires to figure out .

Scott did extensive work on these headlights and the bottom line was that the lights point much lower mounted on the SLC than on the jaguar .

However I figured out that the interior assembly has a massive amount of adjustment (I have a cheap broken one that I took apart ) and I think I can make it work, it will be at the limits though, fingers crossed

jaguar F type 1014-17 high beam operation

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jaguar F type 2014-17 headlight mechanism

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Superlite SLC will get Jaguar F type 204-17 headlights

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[Hector]

An entire year of progress fits in one and a half blog page . Wow!!! I thought I accomplished quite a bit . Even being out of commission for quite a while. But I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel on this build.

 

[Mesa]

Nice work.
Who else has used these Jag headlights? Have any been integrated into the bodywork as of this date?

 

[Hector]

Nice work.
Who else has used these Jag headlights? Have any been integrated into the bodywork as of this date?

There was a guy who sold his car before he installed them and Scott had one and did very cool measurements and figured it would point too low. Other than that I don't know of anyone attempting to install them . Hope to be the first one, I love the OEM look.

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Great progress Hector, keep up the good work!

Love the photo of you and your son in the car! He looks just as excited as you.

 

[Joel K]

Mega update and fantastic progress Hector! You powered through some non trivial issues and modifications. Looking forward to seeing the body mods incorporating the c7 tail lights and the Jag headlights.

 

[Hector]

Great progress Hector, keep up the good work!

Love the photo of you and your son in the car! He looks just as excited as you.

Thank you very much . And yes, I am going to miss him a lot next year when goes off to College, you know how that goes, he loves circuits and computers will probably double major in electrical engineering and computer science . Another Engineer in the family, like you guys. How is your daughter doing?

 

[Neil]

Thank you very much . And yes, I am going to miss him a lot next year when goes off to College, you know how that goes, he loves circuits and computers will probably double major in electrical engineering and computer science . Another Engineer in the family, like you guys. How is your daughter doing?

Which college is he planning on attending?

 

[Hector]

Mega update and fantastic progress Hector! You powered through some non trivial issues and modifications. Looking forward to seeing the body mods incorporating the c7 tail lights and the Jag headlights.

Thank you Joel, I will try to update a little more often, I have had my plate quite full. The hard part for me was figure out all the electrical stuff, since those headlights have ballasts , I did not know how I was going to wire everything , luckily I had Miguel to bail me out. I am much comfortable making the mechanical adjustments and the fiberglass work. Fingers crossed that lights are functional and look good. Maybe you can follow my lead if it all works out and we will all have jaguar headlights LOL . Plenty of them available in the used parts market .

 

[Rich Kruger]

So glad to hear you are well! Enjoyed reading through all your progress. Cant wait to see your completed first drive. As long as you can remember where reverse is!

 

[Hector]

So glad to hear you are well! Enjoyed reading through all your progress. Cant wait to see your completed first drive. As long as you can remember where reverse is!

Thank you very much . Hopefully I won't be backing up very often. yes, not soon enough!!! working on it every day , slowly but surely .

 

[Hector]

Which college is he planning on attending?

Texas A&M would be good, he does not want to go to Purdue like I did. He is the valedictorian out of a class of 800 and had a perfect math SAT and plays 2 varsity sports, so he is a strong candidate, he will apply to Carnegie Mellon, MIT and Stanford (all long shots of course for a kid from rural Texas) He will do well wherever he goes, he is a smart, nice kid and works hard. He loves electronics, he re designed my traction control unit and made a very cool horn system he designed with an Arduino. He wants to incorporate the jaguar adaptive headlight mechanism to the SLC ( he already figured out how to control the step motor inside of it) but he has a lot on his plate already. Sorry for the long answer. Proud dad syndrome. Like I said, I am going to miss him a whole lot. But I got him for one more year.

 

[Jeff W]

Careful what you advertise about his abilities, you'll have guys here trying to hire him. Including me.

 

[Hector]

Careful what you advertise about his abilities, you'll have guys here trying to hire him. Including me.

Funny you say that , a college professor he is helping with computer science research hired him to automate his dad's cotton bale machine, I don't know what is called, but he is even making remote control units for it. Super cool stuff , all from scratch, he designed the circuit boards and had them manufactured in China. Way above my head, he was complaining yesterday he forgot to add oscillators, I don't even know what oscillators do in circuits LOL .

 

[Hector]

Well, finally finished the headlights . It took much more work than I imagined , but very happy with the final result . Here is a chronological detail of the work best I can remember.
1. got a one plane contour of the headlights in order to cut the front clam, I had already figured out the right orientation, and the fact that the contour fit very very close to the original headlights. No turning back at this point . Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

 

[Hector]

The challenges ahead were laid out at this point, had t cut off more than I anticipated in order to make the large headlight housing fit, so, the entire outside corner would have to be redesigned and built, blending curves and contours, not a trivial task at all . Some compromising had to be done. a little recess would present at the top, and a small step was created, Also on the middle contour, I followed the contour and built up the side, first with fiberglass, then finished with Bondo. I choose to add a small vent to make it blend nicely . It is very hard to describe with words and pictures don't do 3D perspectives justice. I hope you can see it in person sometime.
A big thank you to Joel for sharing a picture of a yellow Noble with C7 headlights that had a similar recess on top and a Ferrari with vents around the headlights. Both were invaluable in coming up with the final design

 

[Hector]

Next step was to create the final contours on the outside corner and the middle using clay. I created a plywood template using the outside corner of the clam above the headlight as the guide, then slide the template through the clay to create the final shape. then lay down several layers of fiberglass to create the final piece,

 

[Hector]

Then trim the piece, attach it to the clam and build it up with more layers of cloth to match the thickness and strength of the clam and to creat a final shape that would need a small layer of Bondo .
Cam wisely noticed that the now I have an exhaust powered headlight LOL Really cool how the muffler ended up in the right location

 

[Hector]

Next I had to figure out how I was going to attach the headlight to the clam. after some trial and error and some testing I settled with T nuts attached to a square aluminum plate, I used a router to create a recess where the T nut fit into the aluminum plate, then bonded the T nut to the plate with epoxy . the plate then is bonded to the clam with epoxy as well. . I tested the strength of the bond and I figured 5 tabs would give me enough factor of safety.
5 aluminum tabs then will be bonded to the headlight assembly. Unfortunately I could not use any of the original tabs, had to be removed.
Obviously the tricky part was to choose the right location for the 5 tabs and to make the assembly fit perfectly on the clam.

 

[Hector]

Well everything was coming along nicely until I noticed that the assembly was probably going to rub on the tire, or at a minimum interfere with the liner above the tire. so I had to cut off the assembly and make an aluminum close out plate that will also serve as a mounting tab . I got barely enough room. Dodged a massive bullet there