T4 Quad Headlight Project .......... latest update

[TURK]

Back again ............



Thought I'd try another method of importing images.


This is a close-up of that problematic headlight adjuster screw. And that grey board is a direct copy of the vans headlight aperture. Some of you have probably already thought .......... why don't you just cut it down ! ....... well, I may have to do just that. But I'd really like to avoid that if possible. That nut on the end of it, serves as a 'stopper' of sorts. So the green cross is where the rear of the headlight adjuster screw was, and the red cross is now it's new location. That as much as I can move it, but I've also had to move the unit forward as well. All this means that the inboard unit moved down and forward, and the low beam unit ( outboard ) moved up >>





And the result is this >>




I also realised that I could gain an extra 9mm from the centre of the two headlight bracket modules, simply by eliminating the centre rib. But that would mean re-designing the headlight mounting brackets. So that's what I did.






TURK

[TURK]

A decision I also had to make was, a 'female' mould, or a 'male' mould ........ so I set about running some tests ......... and here's the result. This part ( headlight module ) was vacuum formed using the 'female' mould technique. As you clearly see, my original 3mm ABS plastic sheet lost almost 2mm in thinkness due to the stretching of the plastic sheet when heated and vacuum formed >>







And in comparison ....... A male plug where the vacuum forming process 'sucks' the plastic sheet down and over your mould ( also known as 'Drape' forming ) looses less than half a millimetre ! Very important for a structural part such as this headlight bracket, where all the rigidity is required on the top of the part, as that's where all the stress is >>





I also looked at the feasibility of combining both the headlight modules into one structure, could my vacuum forming machine cope with the added dimensions ......... yup, reckon so ! >>







I then spent a considerable amount of time transferring all the new measurements from the current headlight mounting brackets, onto PU foam >>







It's then just a case of marking out your cut lines, and forming the new plug blanks to create your new moulds >>








Next up, the farce that ensued !!!







TURK

[jaymarley]

and thennnn

[JustinR]

Hi all,




As I mentioned the existence of a 'Pre-Order List' in one of my previous posts, I think it's only fair that I should post it here also.
If I could just point out that's it's not an official order list, but a list of interested members, members who would wish to buy these quad headlights when the prototype is completed. You can of course change your mind at any time. So if you weren't aware of this list, why not put your name down and beat the rush !


T4 Quad Headlight Pre-Order List

Order No	Forum Member	Date of Order	Short Nose	Year	Long Nose	Year
000	ProtoType [ type V ]	-	Y	2003	Y	1999
001	Camperwagen	29/01/2013	?	?	?	?
002	JB Fab	29/01/2013	?	?	?	?
003	Russ Dylan	29/01/2013	Y	1996	-	-
004	Lord Farquad	30/01/2013	-	-	Y	?
005	slimjim	30/01/2013	Y	2000	-	-
006	Steve Farries	30/01/2013	Y	1999	-	-
007	AllTorgue	30/01/2013	?	?	?	?
008	martbolton	30/01/2013	Y	?	-	-
009	HarryDubya	30/01/2013	Y	2003	-	-
010	Vision Performance	30/01/2013	Y	2002	-	-
011	PoeC	02/02/2013	Y	2002	-	-
012	R19KY W	05/02/2013	Y	2003	-	-
013	T-Licious	05/02/2013	Y	2002	-	-
014	HillTopper	06/02/2013	Y	2002	-	-
015	Paulm	07/02/2013	Y	2002	-	-
016	elder81	07/02/2013	Y	2001	-	-
017	jasibus	08/02/2013	Y	2003	-	-
018	jerv1982	26/02/2013	Y	1998	-	-
019	Clarkey	28/02/2013	Y	1998	-	-
020	diviy	01/03/2013	Y	1997	-	-
021	RichardU	01/03/2013	Y	2001	-	-
022	ozymaster	03/03/2013	-	-	Y	2003
023	TouringMatt	04/03/2013	-	-	Y	?
024	Mark Freer	04/03/2013	Y	2001	-	-
025	Amnesia180	05/03/2013	?	?	?	?
026	windsurf-mac	17/03/2013	Y	2000	-	-
027	Thejman	28/03/2013	Y	2001	-	-
028	Spanners	10/04/2013	-	-	Y	?
029	KevanT	10/04/2013	Y	?	-	-
030	jerry75	22/04/2013	Y	1997	-	-
031	jerry75	22/04/2013	Y	1994	-	-
032	Hatman	22/04/2013	Y	1994	-	-
033	T4 44ark	22/04/2013	Y	2001	-	-
034	tony195950	22/04/2013	Y	2000	-	-
035	Mike-S	22/04/2013	?	?	?	?
036	Winchweight	27/04/2013	Y	2000	-	-
037	Clunkey	27/04/2013	Y	2003	-	-
038	daveporter40	29/04/2013	Y	2000	-	-
039	Twister	01/05/2013	-	-	Y	2003
040	elmo	05/06/2013	Y	1999	-	-
041	Brumski	07/06/2013	Y	2001	-	-
042	t4mrs	16/06/2013	Y	2001	-	-
043	MTCamper	23/06/2013	Y	2001	-	-
044	Wonka	01/09/2013	Y	1999	-	-
045	Koop	02/09/2013	Y	1995	-	-
046	Gooson	02/09/2013	Y	2002	-	-
047	Crewdub	21/09/2013	Y	2003	-	-
048	Mat Rasky	13/10/2013	Y	?	-	-
049	Ian6xtreme	17/10/2013	Y	2001	-	-
050	forestknights	18/10/2013	Y	1999	-	-
051	G.U.B	21/11/2013	Y	1994	-	-
052	edwarddog2000	21/11/2013	Y	1996	-	-
053	Bigted	23/11/2013	Y	1998	-	-
054	Helen00	26/11/2013	Y	1995	-	-
055	Don Paul	30/11/2013	Y	1996	-	-
056	Tony Hillyard	13/12/2013	?	?	?	?
057	CarbonPhil	05/05/2014	Y	1998	-	-
058	elmo2002	07/05/2014	?	?	?	?
059	thorney	07/05/2014	Y	2002	-	-
060	Bazpau4	18/05/2014	Y	2002	-	-
061	ash.addy	20/07/2014	?	?	?	?
062	camper chris	22/07/2014	Y	1996	-	-
063	slamt4	27/07/2014	Y	1992	-	-
064	familylugg	27/08/2014	-	-	Y	1996
065	bute555	12/01/2015	Y	2000	-	-
066	Gazmataz	14/01/2015	Y	1998	-	-
067	druggedonions	05/02/2015	-	-	Y	?
068	veedubadub	08/02/2015	-	-	Y	2003
069	bluethermal	27/06/2015	Y	1998	-	-
070	D9lek	27/09/2015	Y	2002	-	-
071	Lex Luther	08/10/2015	-	-	Y	1999
072	T4 Olly	09/10/2015	Y	1992	-	-
073	Adam&Helen	11/10/2015	Y	2003	-	-
074	oskins	14/11/2015	Y	1999	-	-
075	Ballistix	14/11/2015	Y	1996	-	-
076	T25T4Lvr	28/11/2015	Y	1993	-	-
077	Eddierai	02/12/2015	Y	2000	-	-
078	GazPlow	28/12/2015	Y	2002	-	-
079	The-Fozzer	03/02/2016	Y	1999	-	-
080	Robbbert	06/02/2016	-	-	Y	2001
081	PapaW	14/02/2016	Y	2002	-	-
082	RedPedro	05/07/2016	Y	2003	-	-
083	Perspextow	07/07/2016	Y	2002	-	-
084	donecan	11/07/2016	Y	2003	-	-
085	sfmerc	12/07/2016	Y	2002	-	-
086	Could be you here ! ...
087

As you can all see it's a pretty large list at the moment. But I will shortly begin working my way through it


It's never too late to add your name to the list peeps, just express your interest in a set here and I'll use the date of your post as the order date. Bit like being at the doctors, you take a number ......... and wait your turn !





Many thanks for your time.










TURK

Think I best put my name down cheers

Sent from my SM-G930F using Just T4s

[TURK]

Think I best put my name down cheers

Thanks for your interest Justin ......... you're now on the 'Pre-Order List' mate

I also had to update the list as there were quite a few guys from the other forum that still needed to be added to this one. So you're at position #096 Justin. You'll also notice that I'm keeping an eye on the manufacture date of the vans, just in case there arises any fitting issues, with the manufacture dates listed maybe we'll see a pattern .......... I doubt that'll be an issue though.

Just to clarify Justin ......... I think I can see in your avatar a red short nose T4, what year is it mate ?



T4 Quad Headlight Pre-Order List

Order No	Forum Member	Date of Order	Short Nose	Year	Long Nose	Year
000	ProtoType [ type V ] ..... mine !	-	Y	2003	Y	1999
001	Camperwagen	29/01/2013	?	?	?	?
002	JB Fab	29/01/2013	?	?	?	?
003	Russ Dylan	29/01/2013	Y	1996	-	-
004	Lord Farquad	30/01/2013	-	-	Y	?
005	slimjim	30/01/2013	Y	2000	-	-
006	Steve Farries	30/01/2013	Y	1999	-	-
007	AllTorgue	30/01/2013	?	?	?	?
008	martbolton	30/01/2013	Y	?	-	-
009	HarryDubya	30/01/2013	Y	2003	-	-
010	Vision Performance	30/01/2013	Y	2002	-	-
011	PoeC	02/02/2013	Y	2002	-	-
012	R19KY W	05/02/2013	Y	2003	-	-
013	T-Licious	05/02/2013	Y	2002	-	-
014	HillTopper	06/02/2013	Y	2002	-	-
015	Paulm	07/02/2013	Y	2002	-	-
016	elder81	07/02/2013	Y	2001	-	-
017	jasibus	08/02/2013	Y	2003	-	-
018	jerv1982	26/02/2013	Y	1998	-	-
019	Clarkey	28/02/2013	Y	1998	-	-
020	diviy	01/03/2013	Y	1997	-	-
021	RichardU	01/03/2013	Y	2001	-	-
022	ozymaster	03/03/2013	-	-	Y	2003
023	TouringMatt	04/03/2013	-	-	Y	?
024	Mark Freer	04/03/2013	Y	2001	-	-
025	Amnesia180	05/03/2013	?	?	?	?
026	windsurf-mac	17/03/2013	Y	2000	-	-
027	Thejman	28/03/2013	Y	2001	-	-
028	Spanners	10/04/2013	-	-	Y	?
029	KevanT	10/04/2013	Y	?	-	-
030	jerry75	22/04/2013	Y	1997	-	-
031	jerry75	22/04/2013	Y	1994	-	-
032	Hatman	22/04/2013	Y	1994	-	-
033	T4 44ark	22/04/2013	Y	2001	-	-
034	tony195950	22/04/2013	Y	2000	-	-
035	Mike-S	22/04/2013	?	?	?	?
036	Winchweight	27/04/2013	Y	2000	-	-
037	Clunkey	27/04/2013	Y	2003	-	-
038	daveporter40	29/04/2013	Y	2000	-	-
039	Twister	01/05/2013	-	-	Y	2003
040	elmo	05/06/2013	Y	1999	-	-
041	Brumski	07/06/2013	Y	2001	-	-
042	t4mrs	16/06/2013	Y	2001	-	-
043	MTCamper	23/06/2013	Y	2001	-	-
044	Wonka	01/09/2013	Y	1999	-	-
045	Koop	02/09/2013	Y	1995	-	-
046	Gooson	02/09/2013	Y	2002	-	-
047	Crewdub	21/09/2013	Y	2003	-	-
048	Mat Rasky	13/10/2013	Y	?	-	-
049	Ian6xtreme	17/10/2013	Y	2001	-	-
050	forestknights	18/10/2013	Y	1999	-	-
051	G.U.B	21/11/2013	Y	1994	-	-
052	edwarddog2000	21/11/2013	Y	1996	-	-
053	Bigted	23/11/2013	Y	1998	-	-
054	Helen00	26/11/2013	Y	1995	-	-
055	Don Paul	30/11/2013	Y	1996	-	-
056	Tony Hillyard	13/12/2013	?	?	?	?
057	CarbonPhil	05/05/2014	Y	1998	-	-
058	elmo2002	07/05/2014	?	?	?	?
059	thorney	07/05/2014	Y	2002	-	-
060	Bazpau4	18/05/2014	Y	2002	-	-
061	ash.addy	20/07/2014	?	?	?	?
062	camper chris	22/07/2014	Y	1996	-	-
063	slamt4	27/07/2014	Y	1992	-	-
064	familylugg	27/08/2014	-	-	Y	1996
065	bute555	12/01/2015	Y	2000	-	-
066	Gazmataz	14/01/2015	Y	1998	-	-
067	druggedonions	05/02/2015	-	-	Y	?
068	veedubadub	08/02/2015	-	-	Y	2003
069	bluethermal	27/06/2015	Y	1998	-	-
070	D9lek	27/09/2015	Y	2002	-	-
071	Lex Luther	08/10/2015	-	-	Y	1999
072	T4 Olly	09/10/2015	Y	1992	-	-
073	Adam&Helen	11/10/2015	Y	2003	-	-
074	oskins	14/11/2015	Y	1999	-	-
075	Ballistix	14/11/2015	Y	1996	-	-
076	T25T4Lvr	28/11/2015	Y	1993	-	-
077	Eddierai	02/12/2015	Y	2000	-	-
078	GazPlow	28/12/2015	Y	2002	-	-
079	The-Fozzer	03/02/2016	Y	1999	-	-
080	Robbbert	06/02/2016	-	-	Y	2001
081	PapaW	14/02/2016	Y	2002	-	-
082	RedPedro	05/07/2016	Y	2003	-	-
083	Perspextow	07/07/2016	Y	2002	-	-
084	donecan	11/07/2016	Y	2003	-	-
085	sfmerc	12/07/2016	Y	2002	-	-
086	el-stig	20/09/2016	-	-	Y	2003
087	danpayneuk	13/11/2016	Y	2003	-	-
088	HUDDERS	14/11/2016	Y	1998	-	-
089	LawAnderson	14/11/2016	Y	1997	-	-
090	TDItech	14/11/2016	Y	1993	-	-
091	DAMIT	15/11/2016	Y	2001	-	-
092	TallP@ul	16/11/2016	Y	2001	-	-
093	Or_GazM	23/11/2016	Y	2000	-	-
094	Lenster	25/11/2016	Y	2001	-	-
095	Arkwright	10/12/2016	Y	2002	-	-
096	JustinR	26/12/2016	Y	1999	-	-
097	Snowrider	28/12/2016	Y	2001	-	-
098	Could be you here ! ...	00/00/2016	-	-	-	-

It's never too late to add your name to the list peeps, just express your interest in a set here and I'll use the date of your post as the order date. Bit like being at the doctors, you take a number .........
and wait your turn !

and thennnn

I'll have elaborate later Jay ( in the next update ) , currently up to my eyeballs .........


Oh, and I may as well wish everybody a belated happy Christmas and a happy New Year









TURK

[Snowrider]

Yes please TURK... 2001 t4 short nose

[TURK]

Yes please TURK... 2001 t4 short nose

Consider it done matey



Check previous page .......... you're @ #097



C'mon boys 'n girls, lets make it a hundred before the end of the year, you know you want to !








TURK

[TURK]

Hi boys and girls, I trust everyone is enjoying the festive season


In my last project update I happen to mention an ensuing 'farce' ! Here's what happened ..............








As I'm now using PU foam to construct moulds for the headlight mounting brackets, the foam has to be hardened, and the way of doing that is to apply a thin layer of body filler. 'Skimming' as it's know as in this game ........... the idea is to create a solid form or shape to create yet another mould that will be used to make the final 'tooling' plugs. 'Tooling' plugs are in essence a metallised mould for vacuum forming, the resin I'm using has aluminium powder in it, so it's both very solid and heat resistant, which is ideal for vacuum forming applications.

The image you see below was my final 'form' that was required for mounting the headlight units, they're basically 4mm smaller than the final part will be ......... so they're the inside of the part, as the 3mm ABS plastic sheet will be formed over the top of these >>





The next stage of creating the solid mould was to skim the PU foam, whereby building up the shape slightly and giving it strength ........... sounds easy ! >>






After the first 'skim' had dried, I applied a little more polyester body filler to bulk up the plug a little, that would give me a little more body to sand back to my final form >>






Somehow things went drastically wrong ! I'm a firm believer that any mistakes or screw-ups should be analysed in sorts ........ or you will have learned nothing from your mistake. The thing was, why hadn't the body filler hardened the way it should of done, and dozens of times before when I used it !? The texture of the body filler was akin to trying to sand down chewing gum !!!

As this was the first time I had every used PU foam in conjunction with polyester body filler, maybe that was the problem ? But I knew it wasn't ......... This procedure using these exact materials are what the industry use on a daily basis for creating prototypes, so that wasn't the problem. Was my catalyst off ? was the temperature too low in my workshop ........ both normally relate to materials not 'going-off' or hardening. So I had to place my foam plugs next to a radiator for 4 days !!! for them to dry .......... and then they didn't dry properly, many cracks appeared


I'd basically screwed-up a very easy process right from the get go ! ......... and I still haven't sussed out what the problem was.

I then spent a couple of weeks trying to save the day, tried various ridiculous ideas, and came to the conclusion that I was grasping at straws trying to rescue these plugs. Attempting to sand a material that has the consistency of bubble gum is no fun guys, I must of used up a wheel barrow worth of sandpaper in the process, but I did mange to get them back to the stage you see below. But the problem I now had was, I'd lost all my dimensions, these things have to be so precise that a millimetre out, a millimetre too big or too small and these things won't work >>










So I started again ..............




TURK

[TURK]

Continuing from my previous update .........




I would do the exact same thing as last time, I came pretty close, only this time I would make my plug blanks the same size as I needed ........ meaning, no intentions of building-up the final form with body filler. As I still have a couple of blocks of PU foam in stock, I would use that. This PU foam is much firmer than the previous type. At 96Kg/m3 it's almost the same density as balsa wood, so you can form it with hand tools and it sands every easily. Also, as it's Polyurethane foam, I can apply resin directly onto it.


First things first ........ double check the accuracy of my bandsaw >>







In this image you can see the plan, firstly, I'm using my latest headlight mounting brackets as the basis for the new form, these have been confirmed as having the correct mounting positions of all four headlight mounting positions including what I'm calling the 'cat's eye' version. The 'cats eye' version I'm using to describe the offset of the headlight units whereas the outer low beam units are higher up then the high beam units, a combination of necessity and visual appeal. You may also have noticed from my previous update that I moved away from the twin modular construction, by eliminating the centre rib I'm able to gain an extra 4mm ( every millimetre counts in this game ! ) this also means I can move the units closer together. It's also more cost effective as I've only got to vacuum form only one part per headlight mounting assembly, as opposed to the original two modular sections >>







The cutting stage is so important to get right, as I won't be adding any thickness to the finished cuts. Just make sure you know what side of the line you're supposed to be cutting on. I changed the blade to a 14TPI and reduced the speed of the blade, and I'm very confident that my bandsaw is precisely setup, so I should end up with very smooth cut surfaces that won't need any finishing >>







Once you're happy that the first one is correct, transfer all your measurements to the other, and I don't mean trace the contours ! as the second plug blank would in effect end up being the width of the marker pen bigger ........ use a ruler ! >>







By lining up the plug blanks to all four sides, there shouldn't be any differences in hight ....... if you got it right >>







The next stage is to mark out the tops, the positioning of the actual Hella headlight mounting frames. You have to do this first because the tops connect to the sides. As all the measurements now come from the top of the plugs >>







To mark off what will be my cut lines, I use a combination of cardboard templates ( cornflake boxes ), and DIY 'precision tools' >>







It's quite easy just to transfer the dimensions from the current prototypes to the new plug blanks >>







It's also time to update my drawings, should I need to make some plugs in the future >>







Now that all the sides have been marked and cut >>







I can now move onto marking the draft angles, and cutting away all the unnecessary edges and corners >>







You can actually cut PU foam with just about any tool, I have a small hand saw if I need to cut away a large section, but my preferred 'tool' is actually a kitchen knife. The sort that' made for cutting tomatoes. The good thing about using a tomato knife as opposed to a hand saw is, the knife can cut on both strokes and a saw only cuts with the push stroke >>







Which is great if you intend to take a little slice off at a time, which is the best method. If you try to cut that corner off as an example, chances are you won't do it accurately. There is also a sequence to cutting and marking out the cut lines, as a straight edge is always needed to measure from >>







Hopefully now you can all see where I'm going with this >>







A typical example of what I meant by the sequence of marking lines and cut lines. I would not of been able to get that top draft angle without having cut the corners first. This also ensures that both plug blanks are identical both in shape and in dimensions >>







Then it's onto the sanding stage >>







Some areas are still very awkward however, I have to try and think how the plastic sheet will react when it merges in that corner. Somehow, I have to put a curve in there, otherwise the heated ABS will cause what is known as 'webbing', a ridge of plastic that connects two surfaces. So the transition from the vertical to the horizontal needs careful attention >>







At this moment in time, I'm quite happy with that ......... I'm almost back to where I was at the beginning of last week >>









More to follow chaps .........











TURK

[JustinR]

You are a legend love these post so detail most of us would say that will do but you are a perfectionist great read and great job

Sent from my SM-G930F using Just T4s

[TURK]

Thanks mate, glad you're enjoying the project ........ plenty more to come

Perfectionist ...... that I am. One of my previous employers used to say about me that I was 'a time waster' ! all his jobs took him just a few minutes !

It's no wonder that his business went down the pan, like so many other cowboys out there.



When I decided that I would design and build a product, I decided I would build it the way it should be done, top quality with high performance.
And of course ....... the correct price !






TURK

[Mr Nozzle]

Loving your work Turk [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Just T4s

[TURK]

Loving your work Turk [emoji106]

Cheers bud








TURK

[tallpaul]

Another great update Turk. Can't wait to see these once they're available.


Sent from my iPad using Just T4s

[TURK]

Thanks mate, you the same 'Tallpaul' that' on the 'other' site ? as there's a 'Tallp@ul' on there as well




OK, while I'm on a roll ......... may as well put this thread up to date.








I still have quite a lot of work to do to these plug blanks before they're ready for the next stage, all the corners and edges have to be sanded and radii'd. But there is a particular section that concerns me, the two corners arrowed where the top section of the part will be and the bottom section have to be bridged. A female mould has certain disadvantages but so does a male mould, and this is the biggest problem. Vacuum forming over male moulds is sometimes called 'drape forming', you can compare it to throwing a bed sheet over a chair as an example. The bed sheet won't fall into those deep areas, leaving a void underneath.


During the vacuum forming process this 'excess' plastic that is being drawn in by the vacuum has nowhere to go, so causes what is called 'webbing'. So in order to eliminate this, a good mould design is required >>









Here's a typical example of 'webbing'. On a previous vacuum pull on one of my prototypes, too much ABS plastic was stretched into a corner that was too sharp, the resulting excess plastic had no where to go so doubled up on itself, causing that dreaded 'webbing' >>







But if there were something under that excess plastic ( no void ), then the plastic wouldn't create a 'web' ........ seems logical !
So here's what I've come up with. My idea is the fill in that void, general wood glue is great for glueing PU foam >>







Then it's just a case of forming the PU foam using a variety of tools, rasps, files and sandpaper. Using the analogy of the bed sheet above, you just try to imagine how the cloth would fall onto your mould >>







Forming and shaping a little on each plug in turn, helps to keep things dimensionally proportional, and you should end up with a mirror image of one another >>







Now I'm very happy that I have a 'vacuum forming' friendly shape, no negative angles, generous draft angles, no sharp angular corners, with very generous radii'd edges and corners. The only horizontal angle I have is the footing, but that 35mm 'footing' is needed in the final part >>








Now the plugs are ready for the next stage ......... the resin.









TURK