Octobersknight's 818 Build

[octobersknight]

STiPWRD, thanks!

Like many others, I was not a fan of having to remove the headlight lens to access the guts of the lights for maintenance, plus I'm not sure if I want to swap out two DRLs for turn signal bulbs. I want to try it out first to see how it looks. I followed TheHelixx's method for how to do this (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...92s-818C/page3 post #100) . I bought the same sink undermount clips and the same weatherstripping.

I used the bucket to roughly decide where I wanted to put the clip bases & studs, and I mounted them perpendicular to the light, figuring that the back edge of the clip should hit metal rather than fiberglass only. I mounted them with 2-ton epoxy. I don't understand why the bolt is not welded/attached to the clip. It won't spin now! After that was covering the bases with fiberglass for added strength. While I've done fiberglass and composite work before, it's been vacuum-bag type and never "open" like this. I thought it went pretty well and didn't have any concerns while doing so. I thought the resin working time was alright at ~8-10 minutes, and the glass wet out well. I couldn't get rid of a couple bubbles but I'm not worried about them.

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While I had the glass out and ready, I also performed a repair on the rear bumper driver's side turn signal/ reverse bulb pocket. That pocket cracked at the "corner" when I installed the bulb housing and I wanted to reinforce it to prevent it from happening again.

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After glassing in both sets of clips, I did the typical 120-grit sand over everything, clean, wipe, tape, and apply bedliner spray.

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After that cured for a day or so, I applied the weatherstripping and test-fit the buckets. Like Helixx, I had to bend my clip hardware in order for it to reach the threaded areas. One of my clips had to be modified because it needed to reach farther to get the bucket in the right place (can you spot it?).

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I'm really pleased with how they turned out, and will likely make tweaks to the positions once I get ready to install the lights for real. I didn't have to reshape the buckets with a heat gun because the weatherstrip eats up all the gaps.