I have a project I'm working on which is going to involve thermoforming some acrylic sheets so I built myself a high-vacuum setup using an old Robinair pump and a 10 gallon reservoir tank.
This is my first venture into this realm so I thought I would start out with a little smaller part to learn the process and work out any bugs, so I decided to make some front turn signal covers for my GT.
First off I made a left and right side mold from 3/4" MDF and sanded it all the way up to 12,000 grit. I couldn't get a mirror finish but they are very close.
I picked up a free oven off of Craigslist to heat the acrylic. I am using 3mm (.118") material which takes about 5 minutes at 315deg to get to forming temp. With the reservoir tank pulled down to 28"hg, I lay the hot acrylic over the form and open the valve. The high vacuum pulls the acrylic tightly over the mold forming a tight radius around the edge. Here is a pic fresh off the form before trimming:
Left and right sides trimmed and ready for installation:
The problem I ran into on my car is, with the fiberglass chin spoiler mounted, I can't reach up to install retaining clips. My solution was to modify a couple of extruded "U" nuts and attach them to the opening with stainless flathead screws.
The covers pop into place from the outside and the clips seem to hold well.
The turn signal can be easily seen through the transparent smoke grey acrylic
All in all I've learned a lot so far and I'm looking forward to my main project. Pay no attention to the peeling Plasti-Dip in the pics , I damaged the hood and bumper at the end of the season and I need to peel and respray them.
I don't believe anybody is currently selling these so I was thinking about making more of them to sell if anyone is interested in a pair. I can do them in clear and smoke for sure, could do other colors provided I can find small pieces without having to buy a 4'x8' sheet. I could also provide the modified screw and mounting clips. Let me know what you think.
[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 01-09-2016).]
Very Cool! This is EXACTLY why I always wondered what the big deal is for the clear portion of the tail lights, or quarter windows. Like you said you never did anything like this before. You took an old air pump, an air can, a Craig's list consumer FREE oven and wala! a perfect product the very first try.
Wouldn't be too tough to do, my table is 24x36 so it would fit. I'll see if I can get my mitts on a bumper cover and whip up some molds.
Great.
Being longer than the GT style cover, the challenge might be how to best attach and/or support the inner (towards the middle of the bumper) end of the cover.
WOW!! I have been looking for something like this for awhile. Was think about trying to fabricate something, but I lack the time, skills, patience, work space and funds.
These look GREAT! Let me know when your ready to get them for sale, put me down for a set (GT).
------------------ Tim '87 GT Med Red Metallic 85K miles Bay City, MI
They look great! good job. When will you have a set to sell and what price you looking to get. I'm in for a set of smoked ones
I'll work on making a few more this weekend. For a price I'm thinking $45 a pair shipped with the modified mounting clips and screws and $40 a pair without the clips/screws. (Shipping to Canada would be higher). If you don't want to drill your bumper and can reach up from underneath, you can just go to the hardware store and get an extruded "U" nut and use it as an attachment clip. They can be had for around 50 cents each.
[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 01-09-2016).]
Just a bit of a small concern for making smoked ones for the rear bumper:
The front turn signal covers look amazing, and I would love to get a pair if I did not have a custom bumper
On the back of the car however, those are not lights, as we all know, but reflectors, basically a safety device. Covering the reflectors, would not let enough light in and back out I wouldn't think for them to work as intended. In a worse case scenario of being on the side of the road at night, it would make the car harder to see for oncoming traffic. NO, I am NOT pulling the DOT card here, as I could care less about that when I do tasteful upgrades to my car, and will take my chances. Although I am certain someone will come out of their cave to chime in here and start quoting state or federal DOT regulations on why people should not cover up their turn signals, and how you will spend 20 years in jail for doing it I was just bringing up a small safety concern is all, nothing more.
Thought I would see just how much the cover affects the light. Here are a couple of pics showing the rear reflector lit up with my camera flash to compare uncovered and covered. The smoked acrylic is listed as transparent and does let a lot of light through when backlit, but as you can see by the pics, it does block some reflected light. Looks like I need to make some rear ones too
No cover:
Cover:
[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 01-09-2016).]
I was able to get my hands on a front and rear formula bumper today. I will work on getting some molds made and try and figure out how to attach them to the bumper without screws.
Also, I have run into a bit of an issue with my MDF molds that I can't seem to remedy so I am going to remake them in aluminum. If all goes according to plan I will have some ready to go in a few days.
Nice work seajai! Those look awesome!! I bought a set from a forum member here a few years back, I think it was hardpact was his name, and yours look WAY smoother! I don't know if his vacuum setup wasn't up to par or if his plug wasn't smooth enough but they were wavy.
Quick update: Work is progressing on the aluminum molds, it's definitely been a lot more work to shape the aluminum than I thought it would be. I ended up making an MDF pattern and using my router with a spiral flush trim cutter to machine the shape.
I still need to make another jig so I can machine the curve on the face of the mold to match the curve on the bumper but this is what they look like so far. It's hard to see it in the pics but there is about a 3deg draft angle on the sides.
[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 01-12-2016).]
Really nice bro. I would be interested in a smoked set. To bad you didn't have these available a few weeks ago because you could of sent them to me with the other stuff you sold me. Seajai is a great guy to deal with. I knew I'd be buying something from him again sooner or later.
So what can't one make an overlay like this to cover the GT lenses?
------------------ Rodney Dickman
Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page: All new web page!:www.rodneydickman.com Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories 7604 Treeview Drive Caledonia, WI 53108 Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575
I'm running into an issue with the lenses. The originals I made for my car had some small pock marks on the inside of the lens after they came off of the mold. I figured it was from the MDF molds having bits of wood fibers sticking up, so that's why I remade them in aluminum. The problem is, the pock marks persist, even with the aluminum molds. I don't think it's dust because I've cleaned the living daylights out of everything. The marks are not really noticeable on the smoked ones but they show up more on the clear ones. The outer surface of the lens is smooth as glass, it's the inside that's giving me fits. I really don't want to sell them like they are so I'm going to take a little more time to get them perfect before I make them available.
Preheat your molds and dry your acrylic. Acrylic is hygroscopic. If it is fresh, you may not need to do this, but if it has been sitting for a long time the sheets can absorb moisture and will need to be dried. Also, If your molds are cold, they will create moisture pockets when the hot acrylic hits the aluminum.
You can also do a thin sheet of styrene first, and pull over that.
[This message has been edited by Slammed (edited 01-17-2016).]
, I damaged the hood and bumper at the end of the season and I need to peel and respray them. 
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Ditto - I'm still in for a set of smoked, these look great!
