Bronco; 79 to 78 headlight conversion

[LEV8]

Is there a round headlight conversion for either the Traxxas lexan or the Team Raffee hard body? The body looks great as it is but I'd like to change it over if that's possible. thanks

[58_Willys]

Pretty sure that's gonna have to be a custom job. I'm gonna be doing a round headlight conversion on mine, when I get around to it.

[LEV8]

Thanks. Yeah, I'm not finding anything for this.
I had another look at it last night and I think the trim ring mod will be pretty straight-forward. It will require a filler piece to turn a square hole into a round one but otherwise not too difficult; a square piece of styrene, glue, cut the hole, sand, paint, etc. What were you planning to use for light buckets and lenses?

[58_Willys]

Originally Posted by LEV8

Thanks. Yeah, I'm not finding anything for this.
I had another look at it last night and I think the trim ring mod will be pretty straight-forward. It will require a filler piece to turn a square hole into a round one but otherwise not too difficult; a square piece of styrene, glue, cut the hole, sand, paint, etc. What were you planning to use for light buckets and lenses?

Probably gonna use the Hilux buckets and lens.

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

I had thought about this at one point too.

Post up some pictures whenever you do it! Curious to see how it turns out


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[big specht]

This sounds interesting I’ve never seen one done yet but we need more 70’s Ford truck body’s

[LEV8]

I've spent some time last evening looking at Bronco photos and at one point I almost gave up on the round light idea but then I found this image and was inspired to go ahead.


https://www.motoringresearch.com/wp-...uction-001.jpg



I think I'll attempt to make trim rings from styrene rather than modding the original ones. I don't have access to a 3d printer or I'd go that route. The rings will be painted matte black so maybe this will hide imperfections. Also, If I'm careful when separating the turn signal lenses and their buckets from the original square headlight parts, then I can revert back to square headlights later if I don't like the round light look.
Anyway, this will take some time but I will post again here when I have an update.

[58_Willys]

I did a similar idea with the Proline Blazer body a while back. I hated the flat grill and decal for, what I think, is a decent Blazer body. I am a Ford fan, mostly, but I do like the older stuff from the 70's. The light buckets were just simple styrene strips formed to the proper sized square and glued to a flat piece that was trimmed after it cured. I left a little edge so it could be glued into the grill socket. I drilled the holes in them to accommodate the hilux lens. I think this will be the same method I'll use for the Bronco grill. I wonder if the TRX4 grill will fit. It seems to be much more accurate.

Here's a few shots of the Blazer grill...

[LEV8]

That's some incredible work on that grill. Thanks for posting the pics. Is the bumper scratch-made as well?

[58_Willys]

Originally Posted by LEV8

That's some incredible work on that grill. Thanks for posting the pics. Is the bumper scratch-made as well?

Yes, it was. If I remember right, it was 9 pieces of 1/4" styrene glued together and then carved and sanded to get the shape and fit for that body.

[LEV8]

Originally Posted by 58_Willys

Yes, it was. If I remember right, it was 9 pieces of 1/4" styrene glued together and then carved and sanded to get the shape and fit for that body.

Well, that's just incredible. Well done sir!

So, I've been able to find a set of Tamiya Hilux headlight buckets in my boxes of spare parts but I've not been able to find a set of lenses to fit them. I could order them but cost and timing isn't on my side at the moment. As such, I'm probably just going with the stock square Bronco headlights for now.
Maybe some round lenses will turn up sometime in the future and I can return to this. Fortunately, everything goes together with screws so it's easy to disassemble.

[58_Willys]

I think the Mohave lens should work also.

https://www.rpphobby.com/product_p/rc4z-b0199.htm