Go back two years. I had come to a dead end with my plug and play design. I was never going to be able to fit the Hella 90mm Bi-Xenon alongside a 60mm projector. I had to start from scratch.
Fast forward a year, the “Super Low is born. Main design requirements were three fold.
Fit the larger projector next to my purist trooper 60mm fixture.
A lower opening profile than that of “the Fiero King”
Door must raise evenly without twisting of the lid and damage to custom paint.
Now go back 30+ years. My first car was a red 1971 Mercury Capri. SOHC 2 liter 4sp live rear axle. German Ford drive line that birthed the Pinto. My thing was night driving. I had some really good mountain roads near where I grew up and I spent a great deal of time pushing the limits of adhesion and this poor car’s limited suspension. I did have dual sway bars and decent tires.
I came to understand slip angle and four wheel drift. What I could not see was the apex. I mounted some 55watt JC Whitney driving lights to the sloped sheet metal under the bumper and they looked supercool. Problem was they lit up the road straight ahead and I was still flying blind in the corners. I took my shiny new lights and twisted them outwards. It looked like hell but worked great. On more than one occasion, a helpful friend got down under my bumper and “re-aimed” them for me before I could stop them. I had discovered the “cornering light”.
Now go back to last year’s ChumpCar season. I get introduced to “Pontihack”. A team that has 5 seasons under their belt. They are not Fiero guys. They chose it because it because of its mid-engine advantage. They have a roll cage our team needs and their off road floods blow. They were gearing up for “the 36” in July. A trade was in the works!
Enter the “SLR” (Super Low Race) a 90mm Bi-Halogen and an inboard horizontally amiable 60mm projector.
We installed and ran the set-up at Spokane last July. Game changer. Tech got a good look my system, but other teams did not. In fact, this is the first time I have published these close-ups. We still had to race at PIR in October.
Come October, I installed similar buckets in “Pontiaxed’ and “Miss Fieroline”. Fieroline went the next step and has 90mm Bi-Xenon outboard. I was terrified we would bang up the front of the car and lose $1000 worth of lights. Sunday morning, before our 6 hour day race, I pulled all the projectors out.
This year, there are other subtle things I am holding close. I’ll tell you all about it next year.
Rick
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"Now you too can see in the dark."
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Lots of good info on my original sales thread FS: Projector Retrofit Headlamp Buckets
