Molded on eyelids
12-23-2015, 06:45 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Extended Hood Eyelids
Here is a part of my build that I’ve never seen done on a Z before, molded on eyelids.
I loved the look of eyelids, but hated the gap that was left between the hood and the eyelid.
The eyelids were made from scratch and bonded to the hood. They are made of West Systems epoxy resin and fiberglass matt. Before making the hood was etched with West Systems aluminum etch kit. This resin is made to bond to aluminum.
I feel that with the shape of the hood, and the way these are made that the fiberglass is actually considerably stronger than if I would have used a piece of aluminum and welded it. There is also less filler required this way than if done with aluminum.
The fiberglass is roughly 12-16 layers of cloth, I can’t remember. 6-8 layers on the top side of the hood, and 6-8 on the bottom side. Doing this way sandwiches the hood between the fiberglass making for a super strong joint.
The eyelids are roughly 3/16” thick and sit about 3/16” above the headlight. Fitment at the back is tight, but it fits. It takes a bit of test fitting and fooling around, but it all fits.
There is no noticeable loss of light output with these eyelids. They actually only cover the top corner of the projector, less than the size of a dime. We used a headlight aiming machine to check the output, and there was no noticeable difference between the hood being closed and the hood being open.
I have a pic of the underside somewhere too but I can't find it. It is finished just as nicely as the top, sanded and painted. Most people that don't know 350Zs don't even realize this mod was done, they think it's factory.
Laying out the shape on the car to get an idea if I wanted to go ahead with the mod or not.
Sanding the paint off the hood, and etching the aluminum:
Fiberglassing the top side. You can see there is about a 1” flange that overlaps the top side of the hood. I used a piece of thin foam between the headlight and masking tape. This created the gap that is now between the eyelid and headlight.
Top side cured and hood opened.
Trimming the top side to get the shape.
Fiberglassing the bottom side.
A skim coat of filler and finish sanding the top side.
A couple finished pics:
I loved the look of eyelids, but hated the gap that was left between the hood and the eyelid.
The eyelids were made from scratch and bonded to the hood. They are made of West Systems epoxy resin and fiberglass matt. Before making the hood was etched with West Systems aluminum etch kit. This resin is made to bond to aluminum.
I feel that with the shape of the hood, and the way these are made that the fiberglass is actually considerably stronger than if I would have used a piece of aluminum and welded it. There is also less filler required this way than if done with aluminum.
The fiberglass is roughly 12-16 layers of cloth, I can’t remember. 6-8 layers on the top side of the hood, and 6-8 on the bottom side. Doing this way sandwiches the hood between the fiberglass making for a super strong joint.
The eyelids are roughly 3/16” thick and sit about 3/16” above the headlight. Fitment at the back is tight, but it fits. It takes a bit of test fitting and fooling around, but it all fits.
There is no noticeable loss of light output with these eyelids. They actually only cover the top corner of the projector, less than the size of a dime. We used a headlight aiming machine to check the output, and there was no noticeable difference between the hood being closed and the hood being open.
I have a pic of the underside somewhere too but I can't find it. It is finished just as nicely as the top, sanded and painted. Most people that don't know 350Zs don't even realize this mod was done, they think it's factory.
Laying out the shape on the car to get an idea if I wanted to go ahead with the mod or not.
Sanding the paint off the hood, and etching the aluminum:
Fiberglassing the top side. You can see there is about a 1” flange that overlaps the top side of the hood. I used a piece of thin foam between the headlight and masking tape. This created the gap that is now between the eyelid and headlight.
Top side cured and hood opened.
Trimming the top side to get the shape.
Fiberglassing the bottom side.
A skim coat of filler and finish sanding the top side.
A couple finished pics:
Last edited by 350Z_Al; 02-03-2016 at 08:46 AM.
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12-23-2015, 10:35 AM
#6
Registered User
Thread Starter
Man, if I had the ability to form custom plastics, headlight lenses, etc I totally would have done it lol... I've looked at the 458 headlight a lot and have considered redoing the internals of this headlight to suit the new shape better.. Either 458 style, or I've been toying with the idea of the Acura LED projectors, re-shaped to fit.. ideas lol
12-23-2015, 10:44 AM
#7
New Member
Here is a part of my build that I’ve never seen done on a Z before, molded on eyelids.
I loved the look of eyelids, but hated the gap that was left between the hood and the eyelid.
The eyelids were made from scratch and bonded to the hood. They are made of West Systems epoxy resin and fiberglass matt. Before making the hood was etched with West Systems aluminum etch kit. This resin is made to bond to aluminum.
I feel that with the shape of the hood, and the way these are made that the fiberglass is actually considerably stronger than if I would have used a piece of aluminum and welded it. There is also less filler required this way than if done with aluminum.
The fiberglass is roughly 12-16 layers of cloth, I can’t remember. 6-8 layers on the top side of the hood, and 6-8 on the bottom side. Doing this way sandwiches the hood between the fiberglass making for a super strong joint.
The eyelids are roughly 3/16” thick and sit about 3/16” above the headlight. Fitment at the back is tight, but it fits. It takes a bit of test fitting and fooling around, but it all fits.
There is no noticeable loss of light output with these eyelids. They actually only cover the top corner of the projector, less than the size of a dime. We used a headlight aiming machine to check the output, and there was no noticeable difference between the hood being closed and the hood being open.
I have a pic of the underside somewhere too but I can't find it. It is finished just as nicely as the top, sanded and painted. Most people that don't know 350Zs don't even realize this mod was done, they think it's factory.
I loved the look of eyelids, but hated the gap that was left between the hood and the eyelid.
The eyelids were made from scratch and bonded to the hood. They are made of West Systems epoxy resin and fiberglass matt. Before making the hood was etched with West Systems aluminum etch kit. This resin is made to bond to aluminum.
I feel that with the shape of the hood, and the way these are made that the fiberglass is actually considerably stronger than if I would have used a piece of aluminum and welded it. There is also less filler required this way than if done with aluminum.
The fiberglass is roughly 12-16 layers of cloth, I can’t remember. 6-8 layers on the top side of the hood, and 6-8 on the bottom side. Doing this way sandwiches the hood between the fiberglass making for a super strong joint.
The eyelids are roughly 3/16” thick and sit about 3/16” above the headlight. Fitment at the back is tight, but it fits. It takes a bit of test fitting and fooling around, but it all fits.
There is no noticeable loss of light output with these eyelids. They actually only cover the top corner of the projector, less than the size of a dime. We used a headlight aiming machine to check the output, and there was no noticeable difference between the hood being closed and the hood being open.
I have a pic of the underside somewhere too but I can't find it. It is finished just as nicely as the top, sanded and painted. Most people that don't know 350Zs don't even realize this mod was done, they think it's factory.
Last edited by SR71; 12-23-2015 at 04:27 PM. Reason: Please don't quote all the pics
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12-23-2015, 12:34 PM
#8
Yeah I know, we did sacrifice that body line in making the eyelids. That allowed us to sit the eyelid above the headlight so it would all fit though. If you really tried, you could probably save half the height of that line, but I think that would probably look worse lol
Man, if I had the ability to form custom plastics, headlight lenses, etc I totally would have done it lol... I've looked at the 458 headlight a lot and have considered redoing the internals of this headlight to suit the new shape better.. Either 458 style, or I've been toying with the idea of the Acura LED projectors, re-shaped to fit.. ideas lol
Man, if I had the ability to form custom plastics, headlight lenses, etc I totally would have done it lol... I've looked at the 458 headlight a lot and have considered redoing the internals of this headlight to suit the new shape better.. Either 458 style, or I've been toying with the idea of the Acura LED projectors, re-shaped to fit.. ideas lol
02-03-2016, 08:45 AM
#10
Registered User
Thread Starter
You could start the body line break at the front edge of the hood, but where do you go from there with it? I'm having a hard time picturing a nice way to flow the break up the hood and end it... What do you think?
03-22-2016, 06:11 AM
#15
Registered User
Thread Starter
Headlight looks fine, it doesn't touch the headlight. The hood actually sits about 3/16" above the headlight at most parts. The back is the tightest, but it still doesn't quite touch.
Last edited by 350Z_Al; 03-22-2016 at 06:23 AM.
03-22-2016, 06:12 AM
#16
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Thread Starter
Interesting. I kind of like the L shape of the headlight now, it looks mean.
03-27-2016, 05:22 AM
#17
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Here is a part of my build that I’ve never seen done on a Z before, molded on eyelids.
I loved the look of eyelids, but hated the gap that was left between the hood and the eyelid.
The eyelids were made from scratch and bonded to the hood. They are made of West Systems epoxy resin and fiberglass matt. Before making the hood was etched with West Systems aluminum etch kit. This resin is made to bond to aluminum.
I feel that with the shape of the hood, and the way these are made that the fiberglass is actually considerably stronger than if I would have used a piece of aluminum and welded it. There is also less filler required this way than if done with aluminum.
The fiberglass is roughly 12-16 layers of cloth, I can’t remember. 6-8 layers on the top side of the hood, and 6-8 on the bottom side. Doing this way sandwiches the hood between the fiberglass making for a super strong joint.
The eyelids are roughly 3/16” thick and sit about 3/16” above the headlight. Fitment at the back is tight, but it fits. It takes a bit of test fitting and fooling around, but it all fits.
There is no noticeable loss of light output with these eyelids. They actually only cover the top corner of the projector, less than the size of a dime. We used a headlight aiming machine to check the output, and there was no noticeable difference between the hood being closed and the hood being open.
I have a pic of the underside somewhere too but I can't find it. It is finished just as nicely as the top, sanded and painted. Most people that don't know 350Zs don't even realize this mod was done, they think it's factory.
Laying out the shape on the car to get an idea if I wanted to go ahead with the mod or not.
Sanding the paint off the hood, and etching the aluminum:
Fiberglassing the top side. You can see there is about a 1” flange that overlaps the top side of the hood. I used a piece of thin foam between the headlight and masking tape. This created the gap that is now between the eyelid and headlight.
Top side cured and hood opened.
Trimming the top side to get the shape.
Fiberglassing the bottom side.
A skim coat of filler and finish sanding the top side.
A couple finished pics:
I loved the look of eyelids, but hated the gap that was left between the hood and the eyelid.
The eyelids were made from scratch and bonded to the hood. They are made of West Systems epoxy resin and fiberglass matt. Before making the hood was etched with West Systems aluminum etch kit. This resin is made to bond to aluminum.
I feel that with the shape of the hood, and the way these are made that the fiberglass is actually considerably stronger than if I would have used a piece of aluminum and welded it. There is also less filler required this way than if done with aluminum.
The fiberglass is roughly 12-16 layers of cloth, I can’t remember. 6-8 layers on the top side of the hood, and 6-8 on the bottom side. Doing this way sandwiches the hood between the fiberglass making for a super strong joint.
The eyelids are roughly 3/16” thick and sit about 3/16” above the headlight. Fitment at the back is tight, but it fits. It takes a bit of test fitting and fooling around, but it all fits.
There is no noticeable loss of light output with these eyelids. They actually only cover the top corner of the projector, less than the size of a dime. We used a headlight aiming machine to check the output, and there was no noticeable difference between the hood being closed and the hood being open.
I have a pic of the underside somewhere too but I can't find it. It is finished just as nicely as the top, sanded and painted. Most people that don't know 350Zs don't even realize this mod was done, they think it's factory.
Laying out the shape on the car to get an idea if I wanted to go ahead with the mod or not.
Sanding the paint off the hood, and etching the aluminum:
Fiberglassing the top side. You can see there is about a 1” flange that overlaps the top side of the hood. I used a piece of thin foam between the headlight and masking tape. This created the gap that is now between the eyelid and headlight.
Top side cured and hood opened.
Trimming the top side to get the shape.
Fiberglassing the bottom side.
A skim coat of filler and finish sanding the top side.
A couple finished pics:
03-28-2016, 03:23 AM
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