ruffellprefley

my passenger side fog got cracked by a rock within a month of me owning my car, so i wish i had done this sooner. i wanted to do this partially to protect what's left of my fogs and partially to hide the damage that's already there. so here's what i did (unfortunately i didn't take pictures AS i was doing it, so i'm going to borrow some pictures already here on the thread. i'm sorry if i don't fully attribute whose picture is whose):

supplies needed:
flat head screwdriver
10mm socket wrench
short handled phillips head screwdriver
aluminum "gutter guard" from home depot (or other place)
rust-oleum exterior metal spray paint (i used satin black)

first i made a cardboard pattern of the approximate size of the fog lens:

i left about a half inch on all sides so that it would get pinched between the bumper and the glass lens

then, i traced the pattern onto the aluminum mesh and cut it out (sorry, i don't have pictures of these)

i gave the two aluminum mesh cutouts three light coats of paint (and ample curing time)

now on to the install:

remove the 5 plastic clips, 4 black bolts, and the two outermost silver bolts holding the underbody cover onto the bumper. this photo is from studville's foglight replacement DIY:


after removing all the bolts and clips, i was able to push UP the underbody cover (studville pulled it down) enough to see what i was doing.

next, with the short-handled phillips screwdriver, loosen the brass screw (no pics here, but i will estimate the location from the outside with a picture. approimate locations circled in red)


after loosening the one screw (on each fog) it is possible to pull back the fog housing enough to slide the mesh grille between the glass and the bumper. do this on each side and make sure you've got full coverage of the lens.

the next step(s) are just to put everything back the way you found them... and then you're done!

this is what mine look like after completion:

passenger side


driver side


full shot

undefined.tae

very cLever.! it Looks good. i might be doin' this aLso. thanks for the tip.!!!

EuRTSX

Looks good man

drigo

wow that looks good...almost looks factory...i bet that looks best on darker colors..

Firefightr86

Might want to consider meshing out the "Vents to the sides of the foglights too... personally Id consider doing that as well as dremeling the Drivers side one (opening up the Fake vents) to get better Airflow to the Cold Air

ruffellprefley

i like this idea. maybe when i've got some more time i can work on it. i don't have a cai though. wanting to get an icebox

ruffellprefley

here are some shots with the lights on around dusk

JTso

iTrader: (2)

Very clean install. Nice job!

S14 n Tsx

I thought about doing something similar to this on my 05 model but never got time to do it. Nice write up! Good job..

clee109

hey from Portland OR? Same here! hell yeah lol, now I know which one is yours of the thousands. lol

ryanhook

I'm thinking this might be a good solution for me too. I've been using the Rockblocker film on my foglights but after only half a year of only using the foglights when the car is in motion, the plastic film has bubbled and turned completely brown rendering my foglights useless. I'm taking the film off once the weather turns better and looking into something like the solution offered here.

A Cake On

Looks pretty good actually. As soon as you said gutter guard, I was on the defensive because I thought it was going to be a ricer mod. But I am impressed, it looks clean.

ruffellprefley

unfortunately, i have noticed a reduction in light output (obviously because the grille is blocking it), so if you use your fogs for your vision more than how it looks cool and for others to see you, then this mod is probably not going to be a good solution for you.

Knox

Good DIY! I'll leave the Lamin-X to protect mine though. Again, nice write up.

jswim99

Since both my fogs cracked within a month of purchasing the TSX, I recently decided I'd better apply this mod before the housings were completely destroyed. I liked this foglight mod, but I was a little worried about the loss of light output. Using the same idea, I bought some 1/16" Lexan sheet and cut it into rectangles (pics below).

I was able to pull the undercarriage plastic down enough to get under there and see what was going on; but I actually found that my arm was skinny enough to insert through the venting behind the license plate. I found the "brass" screws (mine weren't brass), which, to clarify from the above images, are inserted along the length of the car, not from the sides. In the same way as ruffell I was able to slide the Lexan sheets between the bulb housing and bumper, although I had to use a pair of scissors to round the edges of the sheets first.

I did a little research before buying the Lexan--it supposedly can handle temperatures up to 240F, which in my estimation should work. Does anybody know how hot the bulbs actually get? Hot enough to boil water? Also, the plastic doesn't touch the surface of the bulb as much as a Rockblocker film does, so hopefully these won't get burned up. If so, I can always replace very easily ($10 of Lexan will get you about 10 bulb covers), and now that I know where everything is, I could probably do it without removing the undercarriage covers.

Sorry the pics are kinda crummy...basically you can't tell the Lexan is even there (the lines are my cracked bulbs underneath the Lexan). I'll post an update if the plastic starts to burn up.

Thanks to ruffell for the idea/instructions!

ruffellprefley

nice! where'd you get the lexan?

jswim99

I bought two 1'x1' sheets from McMaster-Carr for about $12 plus shipping (www.mcmaster.com). I only did that because going to a local plastics shop wasn't worth the convenience of having it shipped.

acn684

^^ get them at lowes easily.

LoveMyTL-S

Hmmmm I wonder if Lexan comes in yellow??

msmching

smart thing to do..!!!

jswim99

Well, Lexan is what Nalgene bottles are made of, and those come in all sorts of colors. I bet you could find it in yellow.

ruffellprefley

i was wondering the same thing myself, only i don't know if yellow lenses and foggies would look all that good on CGP. seems much more a PWP thing to have.

jswim99

Ok, I've had this mod installed for a month or so now, and I've had a chance to use the lights quite a bit. No burning/discoloration of the Lexan whatsoever. I highly recommend this to anybody who thinks they have any chance of getting a cracked foglight. I wish I would've done it immediately when I bought my car!

ruffellprefley

thanks for the update on that lexan

STL

What was the part number on the stuff you bought? Was it 8574K24? I ask because I'm seeing two 12"x12"x1/16" sheets of that only costing $7.40 plus S&H -- so I'm wondering if I'm looking at the same thing you bought.

jswim99

I'm sure that stuff will work. I don't remember exactly the part number that I bought, but prices change all the time so go for it!

STL

Have you had your fog lights on with the car not moving (like sitting at a long light or just stopping to chat with someone)? I ask because I am curious if this stuff might only be "working" because you only have the fogs on while moving (and the airflow is keeping the material cool enough to not yellow or melt). Thanks...

jswim99

That's a good point; I've had them on through stop and go traffic, but haven't just left them on for an extended period of time. I've been using them for a couple months now, though, and there's no discoloration whatsoever. They're easy enough to replace, once you figure it out the first time, that I'll probably just replace them every few years, especially if they yellow.

ruffellprefley

has anyone had any luck finding flat sheets of colored lexan? yellow would be awesome, as i think, would be a light blue (for cgp, blue might look better than yellow?)

clee109

http://www.stickercity.com/store/pro...at=2227&page=1

ruffellprefley

that stuff's going to discolor though, right? and not really be a lot of protection from rocks, like lexan would be... from what jswim99 is saying, he hasn't had discoloring with his lexan and it's hard stuff too

clee109

When I had my MDX I had the smoked film on my front signals and taillights and it never discolored, lasted as long as I had the SUV, didn't peel, or anything. Problem is that your fogs will melt it if you use them alot. But you can always upgrade to HID's in your fogs and no melting issue.

ruffellprefley

right. which is why i asked about the colored lexan , being that it doesn't seem to melt or discolor

clee109

Just man up and get HID's

ruffellprefley

i just switched out my custom "gutter-guard" grilles in favor of some 1/16" clear lexan. it doesn't look as cool, but the light output is WAY better, especially with my nokya hyper yellow h9 bulbs. pictures this evening perhaps. if not, then tomorrow.

still looking for yellow lexan sheets, as opposed to using yellow tint.

TommySalami

Anyone else find it funny that they're selling yellow film that "won't yellow"

STL

For those of you that have done this, do you think 3/32" lexan would work too -- or is that too thick? That's all I can seem to find locally.

TSX420J

Very nice, looks good..

TSX420J

That is so dumb LOL.

ruffellprefley

might not be easily bendable enough...