Go Back   AstinaGT Forums > Performance & Technical > Interior & Electrics

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 23-07-2013, 06:03 PM   #1
TheMAN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: USA
Car: .
Posts: 2,623
Talking JDM road flare installed!

A few weeks ago I managed to get a JDM road flare and bracket off of a JDM NA MX-5. I wasn't really looking for it but just found it by chance.


Once I got the flare, I made a surprising discovery that the LHD NA MX-5s have the same exact kick panels as the JDM version, but without the road flare bracket. This means the holes for the road flare bracket is there and I could simply use an MX-5 kick panel to determine the exact hole spacing and hole size. I borrowed an MX-5 kick panel from my mate and made a drilling jig from that kick panel.

The flare bracket has one hole for a plastic rivet and a positioning stud. This makes it very difficult to mark precise locations for drilling unless you do one hole at a time.

I went ahead and bought a LED beacon substitute "flare" also so that it is reliably functional because the real flare itself has long been expired and for both the reasons of not wanting to use it and not able to determine its reliability, the LED light made sense. The strobing LED light I bought is certified by the Japanese transport ministry and is supposed to be visible up to 200m. It also lasts up to 20 hours on its included alkaline AAA batteries, but I replaced them with lithium iron disulfate ones for long term storage reliability (almost leak free and holds charge up to 15 years).

Here are the parts to make this happen (I included part numbers in case one of you has the mad JDM tyte connections):


The measurements I used for the hole locations. Not particularly necessary to do on a RHD car since you can just replace the kick panel with a JDM one, which has the bracket moulded into it


Fastening the rivet involved some ingenuity since I don't have a plastic rivet gun.

I used two trim tools. One to push against the rivet so that it stays flush with the bracket and the metal one to pry upwards to pull the rivet out. It worked perfectly!


Bracket fitted, at a very factory looking location


All fitted in place and the flare is retrievable if needed

The LED substitute also fits perfectly and out of the way too!


There's enough clearance between the blower fan motor and the bracket in order to easily remove either the flare or LED substitute from the top.


It really stands out in the interior!
__________________
Protege FAQ, the best 323/Protege/Mazda3 resource enjoyed worldwide for 10 years

Last edited by TheMAN; 23-07-2013 at 06:10 PM.
TheMAN is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Old 23-07-2013, 06:25 PM   #2
TheMAN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: USA
Car: .
Posts: 2,623
There's two brands of Japanese government certified LED substitute "flares". One is from Kobayashi Institute (top), and Amon (bottom):


The Kobayashi one is longer and has a clear plastic tube to allow you to change the body diameter from 32mm to 27mm once it is removed. The Amon unit does not come with this tube. Since the original flare is 32mm (as is the MX-5 bracket), the Kobayashi "flare" was the only choice for me. Both brands comes with batteries, but the Kobayashi ones comes with better quality Toshiba alkalines. The Amon one does come with a label sheet you can apply to remind someone where the LED beacon is stored in your car.

Both of them emit a rapid strobing light. It is also very bright, but not very effective in broad daylight.


They are water resistant however as evident in the rubber seal in the battery cap. The battery cap is also a special design to remove contact from the batteries in order to prevent leakage and allow reliable long term storage. The cap also is magnetised so that you can attach it to the car (I don't recommend that), or something else metal such as a steel road barrier.
__________________
Protege FAQ, the best 323/Protege/Mazda3 resource enjoyed worldwide for 10 years
TheMAN is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24-07-2013, 05:10 AM   #3
project.r.racing
Senior Member
 
project.r.racing's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: n/a
Car: n/a
Posts: 10,929
Guessing these are really only useful in fog or snow prone areas?
project.r.racing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24-07-2013, 04:05 PM   #4
TheMAN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: USA
Car: .
Posts: 2,623
the conventional flare is supposed to work day or night, but probably harder to light up in the rain but I suppose it is required to be able to anyway per JIS D 5711 standard

the LED substitutes will only work right when it is dark... I tested this myself
__________________
Protege FAQ, the best 323/Protege/Mazda3 resource enjoyed worldwide for 10 years
TheMAN is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time now is 01:59 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
2001- 2010 AstinaGT