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Lawsy · 28-03-2008, 01:38 PM

Solution
Part 2.

I'm working on a new linkage setup so that my low beams have the headlights sit down about an inch, almost with a bit of a sleepy eye look (but the lens focussed high, resulting in normal focal point) and pop up to normal height with high beams on (results in HID projectors dominating the retina's of the Camry drivers cutting me off).
Heres how.

Skip this first paragraph if you know how the linkage for pop up headlights work in an Astina

If you look at the linkage in a BG, the motor responsible for driving the headlight assembly has a small inch long cranking/moment arm. This is connected to a 3.5 inch linkage (think crankshaft - conrod). This linkage attaches half way up on a four inch swing arm, which moves in fixed axis rotation. The base (pivot point) of this swing arm is roughly on the same horizontal plane as the center of the crank. This swing arm has a 5 or so inch linkage at the top that is connected to the headlight assembly. This point of the headlight assembly is around 4.5 inches from the pivot point (the 'pop up' pivot point). If you can picture all this, its a crankshaft moving a lever, and the lever doubles the resulting motion before connecting to the assembly, since the driving motion of this lever is half way up a lever (which moves a short swing in circular motion) and the driven motion double, which doubles the movement... Right? Right...

Ok here goes.

I'm working on making a crank/moment arm from the headlight motor that is less than half of the current length (instantly halving the total movement of the headlight assembly, closer to 40% is what I'm aiming for). I'll be drilling a new hole and connecting the 1st linkage higher up on the lever arm, thus reducing the total movement of this arm (now total movement is about 10-15%). I'll then increase and/or decrease the other linkages in order to have the top point the same as the current top point (bit of machine dynamics coming in handy).
Thus, the electronics controlling the headlight assembly don't have to be modified, other than to connect the switch to my hi beams. So the motor does its normal rotation to the down position (sleepy eye position) and fully rotates up to its high position. All I have to do is change the height of the bump stops in the assembly to prevent any vibration. Which is fairly easy.

Tricky eh? Its a fair amount of work, and I haven't started yet, but I enjoy doing this sort of thing so it doesn't bother me.
If you want to know how I wired up the relays, just ask and I'll scan up a circuit diagram. Its really, really simple.

All my external lights are now LED, all but the reversing lights (couldn't be bothered, they're rarely seen). They all look tops now; I'll never have to replace them again either.

Yes I leave my lights up all the time, otherwise water gets into them (I park facing downhill, no seal works in this situation when it gets really wet). So I just leave them up...
See what I mean by obsessed though? I'm spending more money that I don't have on lighting, when I could probably get a 300 dollar DOHC motor from a wreckers with the money I would have saved; and at least started to pull it down...
IDIOT!!!
Argh back to lectures

28-03-2008, 01:38 PM	#36
Lawsy Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Sydney Car: 323 Astina 92 (BP 1.8sohc) Posts: 127	Solution Part 2. I'm working on a new linkage setup so that my low beams have the headlights sit down about an inch, almost with a bit of a sleepy eye look (but the lens focussed high, resulting in normal focal point) and pop up to normal height with high beams on (results in HID projectors dominating the retina's of the Camry drivers cutting me off). Heres how. Skip this first paragraph if you know how the linkage for pop up headlights work in an Astina If you look at the linkage in a BG, the motor responsible for driving the headlight assembly has a small inch long cranking/moment arm. This is connected to a 3.5 inch linkage (think crankshaft - conrod). This linkage attaches half way up on a four inch swing arm, which moves in fixed axis rotation. The base (pivot point) of this swing arm is roughly on the same horizontal plane as the center of the crank. This swing arm has a 5 or so inch linkage at the top that is connected to the headlight assembly. This point of the headlight assembly is around 4.5 inches from the pivot point (the 'pop up' pivot point). If you can picture all this, its a crankshaft moving a lever, and the lever doubles the resulting motion before connecting to the assembly, since the driving motion of this lever is half way up a lever (which moves a short swing in circular motion) and the driven motion double, which doubles the movement... Right? Right... Ok here goes. I'm working on making a crank/moment arm from the headlight motor that is less than half of the current length (instantly halving the total movement of the headlight assembly, closer to 40% is what I'm aiming for). I'll be drilling a new hole and connecting the 1st linkage higher up on the lever arm, thus reducing the total movement of this arm (now total movement is about 10-15%). I'll then increase and/or decrease the other linkages in order to have the top point the same as the current top point (bit of machine dynamics coming in handy). Thus, the electronics controlling the headlight assembly don't have to be modified, other than to connect the switch to my hi beams. So the motor does its normal rotation to the down position (sleepy eye position) and fully rotates up to its high position. All I have to do is change the height of the bump stops in the assembly to prevent any vibration. Which is fairly easy. Tricky eh? Its a fair amount of work, and I haven't started yet, but I enjoy doing this sort of thing so it doesn't bother me. If you want to know how I wired up the relays, just ask and I'll scan up a circuit diagram. Its really, really simple. All my external lights are now LED, all but the reversing lights (couldn't be bothered, they're rarely seen). They all look tops now; I'll never have to replace them again either. Yes I leave my lights up all the time, otherwise water gets into them (I park facing downhill, no seal works in this situation when it gets really wet). So I just leave them up... See what I mean by obsessed though? I'm spending more money that I don't have on lighting, when I could probably get a 300 dollar DOHC motor from a wreckers with the money I would have saved; and at least started to pull it down... IDIOT!!! Argh back to lectures Last edited by Lawsy; 28-03-2008 at 01:45 PM.