Fitting Ellipsoids to 3B

[Chris P]

Tried to fit my new Ellipsoids to my 1991 3B S2 and came across a few fiiting problems.
First being that the drivers side would not fit in due to it hitting the standard 3B air box. Should they fit in with the standard air box or do i need to swap to an ABY or cone filter?.
Second being on the passenger side light. The two main fixing points on the bottom of the headlight do not line up with the mounting points. This is evident on the headlight that is already on the car where the previous owner has cut off the fixing point (nearer the centre of the car) and the one on the outside is just tie wrapped to the mounting point as it sits more to the side of the fixing point. You can tell it is an ABY light that is on as it has the lug (although cut off) that secures the piece of body trim below the light. Do the fixing points not match on the 3B on the passenger side to the Ellipsoids or is there an issue with my car ?.

Hope someone can help

[Acidburn]

Yes ellipsoids are just a bolt on swap, even with the 3b airbox (also worth upgrading to a aby for better flow and ease of install/remove)

is there any evidence of damage (hope not but worth asking) might have been front ended before unfortuantely.

Also when you plug in your lights click it onto the sidelight setting does your ellipsoid eyeball light up dimly, if so when you/if you fit hids it will cause them to strobe on the first setting.

One other thing to do when swapping is the pin mod so that when you have the lights on and switch to main beam the ellipsoid part does not switch off.

[Chris P]

Hmmm, that is strange then if they should be a simple bolt on. As they would not fit in correctly i didn't bother plugging them in and trying them. It doesn't appear to have any major signs of front end damage so seems strange that the ABY light that is in has been butchered to fit. I will have to try and compare my fixing points to another 3B to see if something unusual has been done.

[4WheelDrifter]

A '91 3B has a single piece trim under the headlights, so the ellipsoids have to have the innermost mount cut off, or as I did with my second set of ellipsoids, convert to the '92> two piece trims.

The lower headlight mounts on the chassis could be bent. I've seen that before. It's a kind of upside-down L section, where the base of the 'L' can bend up and down, if that makes sense.

[Chris P]

Quickly compared my car with my brothers 3B tonight and can see that the passenger side bottom chassis fixing points are completely to one side. The fixing points need to move across (towards the outer edge of car) by about 20mm. Didn't have time to take the old lights out and take the bumber off to see how this has occured so will have a look at the weekend.

[4WheelDrifter]

That doesn't sound too good. I would give the chassis leg a good check for damage while you're there.

[Chris P]

So, i finally got round to taking my bumper off to see why the passenger light was fitted as it is and it is quite obvious there has been some damage at some time.
This is the drivers side. Everything lines up and fits fine.

and this is the passenger side with, as you can see, quite a big spacer between the wing and the chassis.

This is from front on and you can see how the lugs on the light do not line up with the chassis. The one on the right is tie wrapped through the mounting point and the leg on the left which is chopped off completely should line up with the fixing point on the far left.

So, needless to say, my passenger light will not fit at the moment.

[Acidburn]

can't you just remove the spacer?

[4WheelDrifter]

Woah. That is one bent chassis leg! Good luck sorting that out.

[Chris P]

No, becauase it looks like the very front of the chassis leg has been pushed over and the spacer is there to make sure the wing is fixed in the right place. The chassis leg behind where the intercooler cross member fits seems ok as everything seems to be in the right place. The cross member is still bolted on in the right holes but it is deformed on the passenger side. This picture should have a nice curved radius on the cross member.


So, i am hoping that with an un damaged intercooler cross member, the front of the chassis leg could possibly be pulled back into line.
Going to find someone experienced in this to have a look.

[AndyP]

Nothing some T-Cut and a big f**k off hammer wont sort

[4WheelDrifter]

Nothing some T-Cut and a big f**k off hammer wont sort

Wouldn't a Dremmel be better?

[BRY]

This car was looked after by Audi Dave at some point in it's life.

[newsh]

Rope, tree, left hand down all the way, reverse gear, sorted (gently)

Bolt crossmember back on first and remove spacer, if poss have another crossmember there to check fit.

[Acidburn]

Rope, tree, left hand down all the way, reverse gear, sorted (gently)

Bolt crossmember back on first and remove spacer, if poss have another crossmember there to check fit.

Thats an easy way to do it providing you make up a strong enough bracket to bolt on the car so it does not rip whatever you've tied to it thru the holes you've tied it to.

This car was looked after by Audi Dave at some point in it's life.

Who's audi dave?