A few more notes on Indicator/Driving Lights Conversion

[Mathew]

I have done this conversion on my current five as well as my old one. In my old one I followed zorrunos instructions and heatgunned my existing lights apart. It wasn't a very pleasant job, but the end result was very good... until it rained a few times and moisture got inside the lights. I dried them out and applied copious amounts of silicone sealant, but after a few more rainy days the moisture returned. When I got my next five I wanted to do the same mod, but instead of modifying the old lights I swapped them for a set of replacements from Ross at Mx5mart. The ones Ross sells are US spec ones which dont have the orange plastic bit inside and have only one dual filament bulb in the centre which does both the park and indicator lighting. This bulb is big and orange so from the outside it looks like it still has the orange insert (which I didn't like) so I kept the wiring loom from my old lights and modified them as per zorrunos instructions. The US spec lights have the outer!
bulb hole blanked off so you just need to dremel out a hole for the bulb to go through (a little silicone helps here to seal the bulb holder as well as hold it in place if your dremeling goes a bit astray).
so to summarise:
-Original method takes a few hours, is frustrating, and often results in damage to yourself and the lights, and moisture usually gets in later on.
-Modifying US spec units, takes less than half an hour, costs no more (Ross just swapped me for the original units), is simple and painless, and in the six months since I did mine I have had no moisture problems (every working day my car sits outside in the elements)

ps- I used the Tamiya paint on both cars with no problems. I used about four coats, all applied over about an hour (impatience is a virtue) and the bulb flashes a nice bright orange. I don't know if leaving the bulb going, to dry it off is a good idea. In usual operation the indicators are only on for short periods so they don't get hot. I once painted the driving light bulbs in my modified units clear green (I dressed my car as a shark for last years Xmas parade) but they only lasted about an hour before one of the bulbs (brand new) blew, so I assume that the heat got to it.

pps- The units Ross sells are official Mazda replacements, but rather Taiwanese made replicas, but once they are fitted to the car you'd never tell the difference.


M@