7" retrofit (GDAA WRX)

[gold94corolla]

So what's next.... some kind of retrofit where those inner turn signal blanks are? lol

[csjoh]

Looks good, but you got the angles all wrong

[satrya]

So what's next.... some kind of retrofit where those inner turn signal blanks are? lol

I hope not. I want to keep the functionality identical to what it is now. Otherwise the project has no endgame.

Looks good, but you got the angles all wrong

It's 3D

[gold94corolla]

I thought the point of this project was to never end lol

[satrya]

I thought the point of this project was to never end lol

Well..

More like to appreciate the journey as much as the destination. I do want the destination as well.

[satrya]

2nd try

I bought another set of "starting materials" for the plastic trim. Hopefully, this one can end up a bit better than the previous set. One of the things I want to do is to refine where the plastic trim meets the 7" housing lens and the edges of the oem bumper cover. The plastic piece ended up being bent around further from the paper mache prototype, resulting in the edges being slightly different than what the paper mache predicted. The parts to "extend" are marked by blue tape.


One of the new starting materials; with 2 alignment axes marked.


Do the same to the piece from the previous try (which I quick painted yellow).


Flip the previous piece over, and start transferring measurements to the new starting material.


It was a long tedious process of triangulating relative measurements from the previous piece to the new piece. What didn't help was that the previous piece already had subtle curves created by stretching and bending in 3D. This means that I expect additional fine trimming of the new piece once it has been stretched and bent to conform the oem bumper cover's curvature. For now, the new piece is marked with primary and secondary bend curves, cut lines, and notches where appropriate:


Next: repeat for the other side.

[csjoh]

Yesss, more updates

[satrya]

Yesss, more updates

And the same on your thread.

[csjoh]

Yeah, well, wont be much action on that front for a while, I'm now eagerly awaiting shipments that just won't arrive...

[gold94corolla]

Well..

More like to appreciate the journey as much as the destination. I do want the destination as well.

Finally getting tired of this LOL

[gold94corolla]

When you do the new ones... if you could make it so that the bottom right corner in this pic doesn't jut downward like that, it would flow perfectly IMO

[satrya]

Yeah, well, wont be much action on that front for a while, I'm now eagerly awaiting shipments that just won't arrive...

I see. Time to continue the retrofit, but using thought experiments then.

Finally getting tired of this LOL

Well, I'm trying to enjoy both the journey and the destination, right? I have to stop somewhere to declare a destination.

When you do the new ones... if you could make it so that the bottom right corner in this pic doesn't jut downward like that, it would flow perfectly IMO

I agree with you (and appreciate the feedback). +rep (not that you need more)

That "protrusion" in terms of the edge shape was dictated by the contour of the oem bumper cover, which "rolls downhill" as the bumper curves inward into the lower center grille opening. I'd have to shape the edge of the plastic piece differently somewhat, so as not to have that protrusion.

[satrya]

Slight modification to the tools

In my previous attempt at heat-shaping the plastic piece, I used pliers, then pliers covered with cloth, or a flat aluminum bar in between. In spite of that, at the higher temperatures, some of the pliers' teeth manage to imprint on the surface of the plastic (when using bare pliers or covered with cloth).

Luckily, they are on surfaces that are not forward facing. To minimize that, and to make it less clumsy than having cloth covering pliers and tangling all around, I used painters tape instead:

[satrya]

Folds

And the heat-folding begins. The plastic piece as is, marked with the necessary bend and notch points. I found that with the heat gun I'm using, the low setting is all I need. The high setting puts too much uncontrolled heat and can warp the plastic piece too quickly.


First bend; follow the left-right curvature of the oem bumper corner:


Bend that area more than the oem bumper's left-right curvature to make up for the recovery when the up-down curvature is made later. Also, bend the inner area (i.e. towards the lower center grille opening) to add some memory to the material. This helps the cantilevered portions to "hug" onto the oem bumper cover. Hopefully this makes it not look a simple tack-on job.


And now the center portion. This makes the curvature on both left and right sides flow better, and makes the opening that will later touch the 7" glass lens surface look more circular than oval, making the trim piece opening transition from oval on the outer surface to circular once it contacts the glass lens.


Fingertips burning... must.. stop... now...

[gold94corolla]

That "protrusion" in terms of the edge shape was dictated by the contour of the oem bumper cover, which "rolls downhill" as the bumper curves inward into the lower center grille opening. I'd have to shape the edge of the plastic piece differently somewhat, so as not to have that protrusion.

I recall in a previous picture that the other side didn't look as protruding as this side. I think just trimming the bottom to look better from that angle would help, without necessarily needing to reform anything. Just make it follow the bumper a little further in.

And thanks