Joe,
Sorry I did not see this earlier. Been busy getting ready for the road trip to the 50th.
The design has gone through three main changes. None is better than the other, but the changes have helped put me in a better position to make the conversion available to other people.
Design one uses a motor that is EXACTLY like a 1988-1996 C4 motor except the main shaft has a different shape. The motor used in the conversion can be found on the late '80s, early '90s pontiac Sunbird with the pop up lights, and the last generation Lotus Esprit turbo. My "do-it-yourself" plans give part numbers and a contact source to obtain these. The benefit of design one, is the motor can be serviced as needed in the event of a failure with replacement bushings, and you can unbolt the upper section, clean/replace brushes...etc, if and when ever needed just like a C4. Design one uses a fairly complicated arm assembly to lift the headlight, but it does it with incredible efficiency and speed.
Design two is simply a change in motors. I have found that several people are having a difficult time obtaining the design one motors, and I had to go out and find something that would replace that. Design two uses 1993-1997 Firebird motors. There is a slight mod to the mounting bracket, but everything else is the same. The plus is, it is easier to obtain Firebird motors, and they happen to be the same exact family of motors used on the C5! The negative is, they can not be serviced. Once there is a gear or brush failure, you have to throw them away. The cases are plastic and are not designed for replacement of internal parts. However, I am learning that many F body guys are coming up with ways to service them, and install brass instead of plastic gears etc. So, as long as people are servicing 93-97 Firebirds, you will be able to get replacement motors for design two. The other good news is, as time goes on, no doubt somebody will start building a regular repair gear for the C5 which should be a direct fit into these motors. So, we will benefit from any efforts made on the C5 in the future to service the motors.
Design three is all about mass production. The arm assembly was way too complicated for me to duplicate time and time again, and many people were having trouble finding donor cars to get the arms from in the bone yard (84-88 Fiero). So, I went back to the drawing board and came up with something that is rather impressive. I went from using five seperate parts on the arm assembly to TWO. It slowed the light down by about 10% up and down, so it is more like a C5 in terms of lift speed now instead of a rocket like before. The bolt mounting pattern is also 90% more simple and easy to assemble.
So in conclusion, those of you out there with design one or two, are not in any way inferior to design three as I begin to roll this out of the next couple of months.
If anybody is considering this conversion, I will offer it in two ways. Brackets and hardware only, or complete turn key sets. On a complete set, it will be all new OEM GM parts. However, it can clearly be built with used parts if you are so inclined to surf the web, and comb you local bone yards...or spend time hanging out on a F body forum. I would suggest if you will be going with a bracket only set, to keep your eyes peeled for a sweet deal on a set of motors (you must also get the arms with the motors). If ordered new from GM, the firebird motors come with the arms. You will also need a 1984-1989 C4 headlight switch. These can be bought new from Napa, etc. for about $30 or less. You will also need a headlight control module for either a:
87-88 Fiero
87-2002 Firebird
88-96 Corvette
Any saturn with pop up lights
88-Sunbird with pop up lights.
I highly suggest clipping the pig tail to the control module off the junkyard car to give your conversion a neater, factory look when complete. The pigtails are available from GM for the Firebird at about $27 per, and the module uses two! So, you want to either use a donor harness, or hardwire each connection and fill the weather pack lip with silicone.
My do-it-yourself plans will no longer be availalbe after I get the production brackets ready for market. I just want to keep things simple, and the new set of plans will only be instruction based to install the units and about 1/10th of the current length of the "do-it-yourself" stuff.
I will have my 69 with me at the 50th, so anybody there that wants to see them in action, call me...904-502-7026 on my cell and we will see if we can hook up in the mass of Vettes and people that will be swarming BG this week!
(purely because I think that sort of thing is cool - to be radically different, yet keep some things similar)
