mouser, digikey are but two you can buy such crimpers, connectors from. if you don't know the style series by site, then find a gm number and cross it.
my 3800 wiring harness given i have the crimpers did reuse many of the housings, and any seal that were in good shape certainly didn't cost me $400 for a swap harness. its also handy in case i end up needing to re-crimp someone else"s bad crimp,, its why i needed them in the first place. wasn't and still isn't uncommon to trace a foolish driveability issue to a bad/loose crimp. are cases where there was a glitch in the car, 2-3 strands of wire in the crimp, the rest was insulation. can make for an interesting day. that was in a buick that had 6K miles on it. the dealership gave up sent it to our shop.
not everyone builds their swap the same, so why buy someone else's idea of what he thinks is the best routing for your harness? then rush him asking how much longer, and hope like hell every connection is good?
a cheap set of crimpers that aren't multi action can be had for under $50. they aren't as fool proof but work, just make sure you load the terminal in the correct direction, as they are tapered, the side with the insulation must always be loaded on the correct side. its not ideal, but any terminal not subjected to lots of vibration, flexing can be lightly hit with tinning flux, or silver solder. again mostly if you don't trust your own crimp. by far its cheaper than buying a harness. most of all its done your way,
I'm not doing a 3800 swap. I don't know what all connectors the 3800 harness has. These two tools are the ones for the large MX64 connectors to the e38/e67 ECM itself. If I were to buy these tools, and all the wiring diagrams I need, plus extra wire, and any new connectors or other tools I need, just for the harness, it would probably be cheaper to just buy a Fast XFI system and run full aftermarket.
I'm not doing a 3800 swap. I don't know what all connectors the 3800 harness has. These two tools are the ones for the large MX64 connectors to the e38/e67 ECM itself. If I were to buy these tools, and all the wiring diagrams I need, plus extra wire, and any new connectors or other tools I need, just for the harness, it would probably be cheaper to just buy a Fast XFI system and run full aftermarket.
Originally posted by Shho13: Come on guys, keep on topic... Enough about crimpers and harnesses in this thread...
Apparently the point I was making was totally lost on some. I wasn't trying to talk about harnesses, but pointing out that what some people think might be invested by vendors may be wildly different from what vendors actually invest, and they shouldn't be trying to speculate on how much a vendor is investing in doing something. It's a relevant point to the thread, as some people seem to over/under-estimating what sort of financial investment Slammed is putting into the tail lights.
I don't want to talk about crimpers and harnesses. I know how much investment one would need to make them properly. Just wanted to make a point about investment in being a vendor for certain things for Fieros, but apparently it went way over everyone's heads. I hope Slammed does successfully bring the tail lenses to market, for those who need them. I just hope some people aren't overestimating what they're going to be getting as a product; because if they do, some ugly threads might get started and we'll lose another possible vendor for other parts. I've seen similar things happen before here.
So true, I learned that the hard way, as many others have on this forum. Some people will just beat their opinion into the ground, with little regard to anything or anyone else. You will probably get to see this in a response to this post I would imagine.
quote
Originally posted by dobey:
I wasn't trying to talk about harnesses......I don't want to talk about crimpers and harnesses......
quote
Originally posted by dobey:
I know how much investment one would need to make them properly.
LOL!
I for one am looking forward to seeing the news on the tail lights! We are approaching the time frame where you were thinking you may have something to share. I hope all is on schedule and working out!
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 07-03-2015).]
We have been testing the solution we came up with for the tinting/lettering and it looks like we are going to have to go another route. The repeat-ability just isn't there and it ended up taking far too many steps to get a decent looking inside. On the plus side, the lenses themselves look fantastic. The shape is perfect and my small 150lbs body can stand on these. I wouldn't say you could take a baseball to them, but they are tough.
We will probably throw up some pictures of the blanks next week just to keep the hype up. Maybe we'll get lucky with the tint by then as well
We have been testing the solution we came up with for the tinting/lettering and it looks like we are going to have to go another route. The repeat-ability just isn't there and it ended up taking far too many steps to get a decent looking inside. On the plus side, the lenses themselves look fantastic. The shape is perfect and my small 150lbs body can stand on these. I wouldn't say you could take a baseball to them, but they are tough.
We will probably throw up some pictures of the blanks next week just to keep the hype up. Maybe we'll get lucky with the tint by then as well
This is some great 4th of July news!!!
No biggie with the tinting, you will figure it out.
Keep up the good work Slammed; can't wait to see pictures!!!
------------------ "Discord" Red 1988 GT under restoration!
I hope I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the carrot has just moved a little further away from our noses.
I would disagree. I think things are moving along well and making steady progress. They've clearly made some significant steps forward, and it is certainly no surprise that there will be a few bumps along the way. I think many people here have unrealistic time expectations. Product development is not a trivial thing.
I have a feeling I know exactly what they are going through. The particular way of doing the black areas on the inside of the lenses, works great on a couple of lenses. It is also tedious, and a very slow process. The results I am sure are near perfect, however being able to do that over and over again, using the method they are using is just not feasible. Give them a bit of time to get the process down pat, and be able to reproduce it time and again, and they are golden. The largest hurdle of making the lenses has been conquered at least!
As for the methods in other threads, masking off the outside and painting, is nice, but I think they are looking for something better than having to resort to painting and then clear coating the lenses.
I would disagree. I think things are moving along well and making steady progress. They've clearly made some significant steps forward . . .
As I wrote I hope I'm wrong, but there has been zero evidence provided that anything has happened at all, let alone clear and significant steps forward!
Why there has to be evidence of something before it's ready to be sold, is beyond me
Never has anyone made reproductions of these tail lights that weren't made from the original tooling. Never. I apologize that we are taking this very seriously. We would not like to have some other business or individual jump in and destroy all our work by copying our process.
Why there has to be evidence of something before it's ready to be sold, is beyond me
Never has anyone made reproductions of these tail lights that weren't made from the original tooling. Never. I apologize that we are taking this very seriously. We would not like to have some other business or individual jump in and destroy all our work by copying our process.
Why there has to be evidence of something before it's ready to be sold, is beyond me
There doesn't have to be any before it's ready to be sold, but no one can claim that there has been "clear progress" without any evidence and expect people on the internet to believe it.
In any case all the evidence will be available when your product is ready to sell on the 8th of July.
Edited to add: Actually the lenses won't be ready to sell but you "will have pics and details about pricing, ordering and wait times by July 8th"
[This message has been edited by cyrus88 (edited 07-07-2015).]
We have been testing the solution we came up with for the tinting/lettering and it looks like we are going to have to go another route. The repeat-ability just isn't there and it ended up taking far too many steps to get a decent looking inside. On the plus side, the lenses themselves look fantastic. The shape is perfect and my small 150lbs body can stand on these. I wouldn't say you could take a baseball to them, but they are tough.
We will probably throw up some pictures of the blanks next week just to keep the hype up. Maybe we'll get lucky with the tint by then as well
As the VP of Jet City Fieros, I'd like to formally invite you to our meeting tomorrow, July 8, at 7:00 PM at the Triple X Root Beer in Issaquah. It's not far at all from you. We'd be thrilled to get a look at what you've got so far and you can be sure that no one there has the ability or interest to copy your work. I'm pretty sure the group would be happy to agree to no photos, too.
I think it would go a long way toward silencing the skeptics if you were willing to give some long-time owners an eyes-on.
If the tinting/lettering turns out to be too problematic....hell, even it works great....how about offering just the clear lens cover? I would surely buy for my '88GT, and I bet there will be a market for just clear lenses in any case!
Can't put anything on the Internet if it isn't true.
I'm making a joke to lighten the mood. If that sort of thing still works. I for one hope this comes true. If my gt is up to party and I have some money left over, I might actually spring for a set! If. It , like I said earlier, I'll buy someone's used one's when they buy new ones!
I don't understand why anyone is tripping out or demanding evidence. Have any of you laid down any money or been asked to ?? Let the man do his thing. If the whole thing turns out to be a colossal flop or hoax, what have you lost ?? Slammed do your thing, if it works great, if not oh well. Thanks for trying or not.
Why there has to be evidence of something before it's ready to be sold, is beyond me
It's actually quite simple really. If for some reason, the product does not pan out, they can then post:
"Look at me I was right!!! See me right here I was right Hahahahah!" This will make the person then feel so much better about them self. Seriously.... I think that is pretty much it. What else could it be? There is NO talk about money being exchanged, so warning people about something that no one has paid for is certainly not an issue.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 07-08-2015).]
I don't understand why anyone is tripping out or demanding evidence. . . .
Nobody is tripping out or demanding evidence. The only reason I brought up evidence is because Neils88 stated that there was clearly progress being made and I don't know how he could know that.
The only thing skeptics like me have stated is that we don't believe anything until we see it and we hope that our skepticism is unfounded. I would love to see some GT tail lights, but I don't jump for joy for just words and promises.
And, no I will not jump for joy if the whole thing turns out to be nothing but a hoax then come here and say haha you idiots. I will feel bad for the people that fell for it and also for not having any new lenses! It would be tragedy in the making.
[This message has been edited by cyrus88 (edited 07-08-2015).]
I don't understand why anyone is tripping out or demanding evidence. Have any of you laid down any money or been asked to ?? Let the man do his thing. If the whole thing turns out to be a colossal flop or hoax, what have you lost ?? Slammed do your thing, if it works great, if not oh well. Thanks for trying or not.
Thinking out loud, 3m vinyl used for decals or vinyl wraps.. then die cut and put on the inside of the lens.. tada.. or vacuum form a lens to go inside the lens and put the vinyl on the outside of it, so it be inside the lens, but not on the bulb side
Thinking out loud, 3m vinyl used for decals or vinyl wraps.. then die cut and put on the inside of the lens.. tada.. or vacuum form a lens to go inside the lens and put the vinyl on the outside of it, so it be inside the lens, but not on the bulb side
From what I gather, I am pretty sure that this is exactly what the set-back is right now. Dye cutting the vinyl to size is the simple part. I have a $200 cutter here that can do it. Trying to then adhere that vinyl to the inside of the lens, time and time again, to the same spot every time.... there in lies the problem.
It's not like wrapping a fender for instance, where you lay it down, and then trim off the excess, and wrap it around the edge. This has to be placed in the exact spot, as it is precisely pre-cut to shape, and does not go to the edge in this case. As we know vinyl easily stretches around curved surfaces. However this is an "Inner curve" and it needs to almost shrink at the curves, so it does not bunch up.
This can be done, but imagine the amount of time to do this on each and every set., it certainly would not be efficient, and even then almost impossible to get the same results on each set, each and every time.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 07-09-2015).]
