DIY Clear Front Turn Signals

[I_M_Legend]

Did this a while back but I don't think I posted due to picture upload limits. Now that the new forum is up, I figured now is a good time. The pics pretty much say it all. Using a Dremel, I cut a hole on the bottom of the housing and pulled out the amber lens. I taped it back up using foil tape. I taped the heat shield to the plastic chunk I cut out.

 

[Honcho]

Cool mod! A great idea for those wanting LEDs.

 

[MotorMouth93]

Looks good! I'm tempted to do this on my car. I'd use something more resilient than tape to put the housing back together though. Scuffing up the plastic around the cut then using JB weld has worked extremely well for me in repairing holes in headlight housings.

 

[I_M_Legend]

Looks good! I'm tempted to do this on my car. I'd use something more resilient than tape to put the housing back together though. Scuffing up the plastic around the cut then using JB weld has worked extremely well for me in repairing holes in headlight housings.

Thanks! I purposely used foil tape in case I needed to go back in there for some reason. I didn't want to go through the cutting again.

 

[DRIFTER]

I reached in from the hole for the bulb with needle nose pulled the lens out and clipped it to pieces with dikes So I could pull out. You don’t have to cut the housing and you get a an OEM seal

 

[Wild Turkey]

This looks awesome @I_M_Legend & @DRIFTER.
Do I need to change the bulb to an amber bulb then? LED recommended or does that cause rapid flashing?
(Edit: there are now LED's available with a resistor built in, so no rapid flashing with the stock turn signal relay.)

 

[DRIFTER]

Legally yes your blinkers are supposed to be yellow (I didn’t). You can get chrome bulbs that flash yellow. I don’t like the look of the LED bulbs personally. I like the period correct Classic OEM+ look. LED last longer are often brighter but I think they look cheesy on the NSX. Heavily modified cars can pull them off but that’s not what I’m looking for.

I covered mine with tint film so it gives it a bit of yellowish effect when the bulb shines threw . When you remove the inner orange lens it brightens them up. It allowed me to tint mine out and still be functional. My rear lenses are painted with a tinted clear to gives them a dark cherry look.

 

[I_M_Legend]

I reached in from the hole for the bulb with needle nose pulled the lens out and clipped it to pieces with dikes So I could pull out. You don’t have to cut the housing and you get a an OEM seal

Nice! I initially tried that technique as well but was unsuccessful. It left a big mess of plastic flakes inside the housing. Since the housing isn't water tight anyways, it doesn't really matter if you cut it. Took only about 15 minutes per side with the Dremel.

 

[nsxman777]

Did this a while back but I don't think I posted due to picture upload limits. Now that the new forum is up, I figured now is a good time. The pics pretty much say it all. Using a Dremel, I cut a hole on the bottom of the housing and pulled out the amber lens. I taped it back up using foil tape. I taped the heat shield to the plastic chunk I cut out View attachment 174318

Cool mod. Is the orange piece easily removable? Does it simply slide off or do you have to break it off?

 

[I_M_Legend]

Yes, come off easily

 

[nsxman777]

Awesome! I would like to try this mod but am worried that I will mess something up.

 

[DRIFTER]

The lenses are cheap compared to the average NSX part.

 

[nsxman777]

The lenses are cheap compared to the average NSX part.

When you reached in through the hole, were you able to retain the clear ice cube looking plastic surround and leave it intact? Did you clip and cracked only the orange piece?

It looks like I M Legend put his clear square piece back in after removing the orange piece.

 

[I_M_Legend]

If I remember correctly, it comes out together pretty easily. I put back the clear diffuser because I prefer that look more.

 

[DRIFTER]

I would have to look at them again I’m pretty sure I just removed the inner orange lens. It’s been a while since I did it like 15+ l years ago lol. But I just reached in with a Pair of needle nose pliers and clipped it small enough to pull threw the hole in pieces with a pair of dikes.

 

[nsxman777]

Is the needle nose pliers the same as the dike? I found this needle nose plier tool on Amazon:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CP19CKZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Is that all I need to break and shatter the orange piece or do I need a dike tool also?

 

[DRIFTER]

I used both needle nose to pull it out and this to cut it smaller.

 

[vf2ss]

When you reached in through the hole, were you able to retain the clear ice cube looking plastic surround and leave it intact? Did you clip and cracked only the orange piece?

I did it the same way as Drifter only removing the amber lens through the hole (probably like 15yrs ago as well) and it left the clear "ice cube" diffuser completely intact.

 

[nsxman777]

I just ordered all the necessary tools and will try this out next week.

 

[Wild Turkey]

I reached in from the hole for the bulb with needle nose pulled the lens out and clipped it to pieces with dikes So I could pull out. You don’t have to cut the housing and you get a an OEM seal

Wow. I did this this weekend and I have no idea how you guys could clip that orange part through the hole. You are exceptionally adept. I spent an hour trying with no success, including cutting some small parts of it out with a hot knife. Having now done it, I would agree with @centerpunch that it's much easier just to cut it and epoxy it back after. Once you get the amber part out, you can see why. It's very thick and strong and also has small tabs holding it both the outer plastic housing and the metal part. It wasn't easy to cut outside the housing, let alone through that small openning.

I angled my cuts about 45 degrees so the piece would sit nicely to epoxy back together.

I really couldn't figure out what the metal part was for, perhaps a heat shield? Perhaps just a holder for the amber part during original assembly? It's not reflective. The plastic behind it was, so I left the metal part out when I reassembled it.

 

[centerpunch]

Yes, if I were doing it again, I would definitely use this method instead of cutting little chunks and extracting them through the bulb socket hole. Cutting an access hole would be quicker, easier, and neater.

A hole saw might also work instead of a dremel. Maybe 1.75" hole would be about right.