Anybody ever added fog lights to 71 Vega lower valance?

[Vega2008]

I modified my 1975 Vega Hatchback to have a 1971-73 style front clip. I am thinking about changing the turn signal openning in the 1971-73 lower front valance to use a driving light or fog light and getting a set of 7 inch headlights with amber turn signals in them. Just wondering if anyone else had done this before, and if so reply back with some pics and maybe some part numbers too. Thanks!

[spencerforhire]

This type of thing is pretty popular in the Street Rod world, as it really cleans up the look of the front of the car having the turn signals integral with the headlights.
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/cal-177102-2
I have seen it done on a 69 Camaro with 4" driving lights fitted into the signal light holes in the front valance , very similar to an early Vega. To meet the letter of the law however, you may need to display BOTH park and signal lights from the front, and these inexpensive 7" lights have only a single filament 194 bulb that can really only do one or the other.
Headlights with LED markers in them can handle both park and signal by using two different intensities.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-7-Crystal-Hea ... 0969346085
There are some big $$$ LED headlights showing up lately and they often have auxiliary circuits as well; I have seen these at a "big-rig" truck parts store.

[Vega2008]

Thanks for the reply on the headlights with turn signals, I already had one in mind that was the 7 " tri-bar type with a clear dot in the center and the amber color in the lens similar to what you attached, that I found on eBay.

What I really wanted to find was a part number for an adjustable 4.5 inch diameter fog light or driving light, that I could add to the 1971-73 lower valance that both looked nice and was effective in adding more light to the road.

Was kind of hoping to find a driving light that wasn't the typical LED type...you know the ones that have 8 or nine LED bulbs. Those don't really look that great to me, was hoping for a clear lens running light with a chrome multi faceted area behind the bulb to replace the turn signal lights housings and lenses in the lower valance. This way when the driving lights/fog lights are on, it would still look like front running/parking lights...and I would still retain turn signals in the headlights. Best of both worlds.

Hoped somebody out here might have already done something like this to give me some advice. I was thinking the standard turn signal bucket bracket the bulb and lens mount to could be pulled out, I could make a sheet metal bracket that would bolt up into the same area as the lower valance turn signal bracket, this would only provide a mounting surface for an adjustable fog or driving light that had a tilt bracket on it. this way I could insert the round fog/running light with the correct depth into the valance, and be able to adjust the beam pattern up down or side to side as needed.

[waybad]

sounds like a great idea,, hope you find something!!

[Vega2008]

Thinking about these for the lower turns signal space in the lower valance.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301550245559?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

[Vega2008]

Okay, so I have finished this project, and will include some pictures of how I did this in case anyone wants to take a look.

1st, I looked for a 5 inch round aluminum type can to duplicate the original turn signal lens shape. I didn't want to melt any plastic lenses or have any issues with the heat being added to the lower valance area. (last thing I wanted was a fire).

I found (online) an aluminum cake pan in 5 inch round x 4 inches deep made by Fat Daddies and bought 2 of them. I dropped my original turn signal lens into the pan's and traced out the lens pattern. Then traced out the opening in the bottom of the aluminum pan for the Fog lights I bought to fit through and used a hole saw to cut them.

I spent about an hour on each pan drilling out the holes for the fog lights to prevent warping them out from the heat. Ended up cutting a 4 by 4 wood post and screwing them into the bottom of the pan to hold the cans in a vice while drilling them out with a drill press. The tricky part was using an end cutter to trim the excess metal off of the pan to match my lens shape, once that was done, I spent a lot of time filing the shape to get it right. Once that was done I cut out the small access holes so the aluminum pieces could be screwed into the front valance where the bolt would go through the lens at the top in the front.

After that I made L shaped brackets that were drilled out twice each so rivets could be used to attach the brackets to the back of the can, and these brackets mount to the original holes that are in the valance to mount the original turn signal light housings. I didn't want to have to use nuts on the ends of bolts to screw the can to bracket, so I drilled and tapped the aluminum brackets so only a screw is used to mount them to the lower valance, no nuts are needed.

I used the brackets that came with the fog lights to mount the fog lights to my aluminum brackets. Only modified the top bracket to a z shape to allow for a drop of about half an inch so the fog lights would be in the center of the aluminum cans. I am able to adjust for up and down and side to side movements with this type of mounting so the lights can be aimed properly. It all fit together pretty well, I spent about 3 days making everything after getting home from work at night. The hardest part was all the filing and bracket work to figure out where everything was going to go. I'll let the pictures do the talking now, please note these are chrome faced H3 Running lights, the are SAE and DOT approved lights, and all you see is chrome until they are turned on. Looks kinda bichin if you ask me. I am moving the turn signals to the headlights so I'm not turning back at this point. I am including pictures with the lower valance off the car so you can see the installation easier.

[Vega2008]

Okay, so I have finished this project, and will include some pictures of how I did this in case anyone wants to take a look.

1st, I looked for a 5 inch round aluminum type can to duplicate the original turn signal lens shape. I didn't want to melt any plastic lenses or have any issues with the heat being added to the lower valance area. (last thing I wanted was a fire).

I found (online) an aluminum cake pan in 5 inch round x 4 inches deep made by Fat Daddies and bought 2 of them. I dropped my original turn signal lens into the pan's and traced out the lens pattern. Then traced out the opening in the bottom of the aluminum pan for the Fog lights I bought to fit through and used a hole saw to cut them.

I spent about an hour on each pan drilling out the holes for the fog lights to prevent warping them out from the heat. Ended up cutting a 4 by 4 wood post and screwing them into the bottom of the pan to hold the cans in a vice while drilling them out with a drill press. The tricky part was using an end cutter to trim the excess metal off of the pan to match my lens shape, once that was done, I spent a lot of time filing the shape to get it right. Once that was done I cut out the small access holes so the aluminum pieces could be screwed into the front valance where the bolt would go through the lens at the top in the front.

After that I made L shaped brackets that were drilled out twice each so rivets could be used to attach the brackets to the back of the can, and these brackets mount to the original holes that are in the valance to mount the original turn signal light housings. I didn't want to have to use nuts on the ends of bolts to screw the can to bracket, so I drilled and tapped the aluminum brackets so only a screw is used to mount them to the lower valance, no nuts are needed.

I used the brackets that came with the fog lights to mount the fog lights to my aluminum brackets. Only modified the top bracket to a z shape to allow for a drop of about half an inch so the fog lights would be in the center of the aluminum cans. I am able to adjust for up and down and side to side movements with this type of mounting so the lights can be aimed properly. It at fit together pretty well, I spent about 3 days making everything after getting home from work at night. The hardest part was all the filing and bracket work to figure out where everything was going to go. I'll let the pictures do the talking now, please note these are chrome faced H3 Running lights, the are SAE and DOT approved lights, and all you see is chrome until they are turned on. Looks kinda bitchin if you ask me. I am moving the turn signals to the headlights so I'm not turning back at this point. I am including pictures with the lower valance off the car so you can see the installation easier.

[b_pappy]

Looks pretty clean, thanks for the detailed writeup. Let's see them on the car!
Bruce

[Vega2008]

Having issues uploading photos today, says they are invalid for some reason...try again soon.