Has anyone else tried to put aftermarket lights on the stock driving light brackets? I just went out and bought the bracket kit from Classic and a set of Hella 500's from Summit (they were on sale) and they now like to shake violently over every little bump. I also have the aero grille on my car. any ideas on how to stiffen up those brackets? or has anyone evry stiffened up a set???

 

pics

 

Well I am sure it is possible to stiffen or refab a new bracket I think it will always rattle/shake because the lights (guessing about 6 inches tall) are only mounted at the bottom. So 6 inches of leverage on a poorly designed mount (on light) equals a rattle. I generally in my past experiences with lights made my own brackets as the aftermarket/OEM ones dont work well.

IMHO

-Josh

 

I have PIAA 520's. I cut metal to double the thickness and
reinforce the OEM brackets and had the
the two pieces of metal welded togeather around the edges.
They do not shake.
I have an extra set of OEM brackets that I will give you.
Maybe you could use them to double-up your brackets.
I can meet you at the car cruise-in Tues. next.

 

I have recently purchased some after-market lights (Cibie Tangos) and plan to use the MINI-Madness "extra strength" brackets to avoid just this problem. Madness says they see no reason why their brackets and the Cibies won't work together; probably true also for your Hellas. I also plan to use OEM MINI wiring just to avoid any potential warranty issues.

 

I cant make it this tuesday, i have to go to a concert. wanna come up to annabelles in mentor friday or saturday? its a good show up here too!

 

Ok, all done! I added a brace that makes a triangle from the part riveted to the body to the main support outside the grille. They are rock hard. I can only make them shake by slamming the hood, and even then shey stop shaking very quickly. All wired up, relayed off my high beams, and all finished. All wires wrapped in electrical tape for a factory look. I need to adjust them tonight a bit for however far i want the beam to throw. i want them a bit farther than the hi beams, i do alot of driving (quickly ) on twisty back roads at night, so these should help me out a bit. Total, the project cost me under $150 bucks! I think these look much nicer than both factory and the PIAA alternatives.

heres a few pics, i'll get around to a few underhood and bracket pics later on.

 

Sharp looking!!!

I just bought those also, install tomorrow. F500's and Madness brackets. I like the large driving light look.

 

i cant wait to buy 2 more so i can mount another set in the lower grille!!!!

 

Fog or Driving? I think 4 driving lights are max for street legal...depending on state.

 

legal? hahah......hahahahahah........hahahahahahahahaha

legality isnt an issue with me!

i'm mounting 2 low in the grille and relaying those off the factory fogs, just gonna point them out and down.

 

[quote=rednwhitecooper]legal?

Why just two? Why not get the alta light bar and drop four down there? Theres a pic on MINI2 of someone with four up and four down ... your falling behind.

 

because i'm making a "replica" of the 64 MC rally car. Instead of paying lotsa money to have stickers that look like the 64 Rally Monte Carlo dcals made, i dropped 80 bucks at classic and they came in 2 days. I'm working on a roof rack (ok the 64 car didnt have one, but i think the 65 or 66 car did) out of PVC with 3 dummy lights on it. and when i get a bit of extra money, i'm gonna invest in a set of MINI's 16 inch steel wheels from the factory then paint them white.

 

oh yeah, i'm still looking into a nice set of big 37's for the doors. maybey 15x15 square.....still thinking about it.

 

OK then you need to dump those Hellas, Get a light bar and hang 5 lights on them plus a SPOT on the middle of the roof.

Then find some 10" MINI wheels in white

and make sure all those lights are Lucas. That should be fun!

 

fine, then it will just be a replica Rally car if you want to get picky

 

I think my light kit has a bad relay. No workie. Clicks when the high beams are turned on, and the supplied switch turns green showing power. The lights are grounded, I tested that by just taking the positive direct to battery.

 

do you have the realy wired correctly?

30,85,86,87 should be the numbers on the relay (i think its universal)
I dont remember what goes where, but i have it written on my garage wall ( ) if you want it.

 

duplicate

 

Have your local sign shop make those numbers on magnetic backing. Way cheaper than anyone selling numbers for race cars!

 

Lighten up dude, I was trying to help u!

 

After some poking around with a volt meter...it was a bad fuse. Not a blown fuse, a poorly manufactured one that did not connect.

That cost me 2 hours of head scratching and trip to the hardware store.

Now I have to tidy up the wires...

 

Picture of it complete. Now I am just waiting for it to get dark...

 

WOW, Looks just as good as mine!!!

 

i just thought of another response to this question.....

i'm simply celebrating the MINI's win at Montecarlo!

i'm a year late, but i have yet to see MCS on any of the decals....