Headlamp Swap

[charged92]

As I mentioned in the thread about the show on the 10 th. My SC is in getting tranny repaired. My loaner car is a 96 4.6L T Bird LX. My question is can the headlamps and front corner lights be swapped to my 92 SC? They are way better looking in my opinion than the 92! If they can be swapped is there much modifiying or work to the job?

[SeanMatteson]

Ed would know for sure, since he's done this with his '95, but I think you're looking at needing the header panel, headlamps/corner lamps, and hood.

I agree totally! The projector style headlamps look way better.

Cheers,

Sean

[fast Ed]

Here is a link to a guy's site with some info on the swap ... on a 1992, you would be looking at a new bumper cover as well.


CLICK HERE !! (http://www.geocities.com/siccnsane/headlight/headlight.html)



cheers
Ed N.

[charged92]

Originally posted by fast Ed N
Here is a link to a guy's site with some info on the swap ... on a 1992, you would be looking at a new bumper cover as well.


CLICK HERE !! (http://www.geocities.com/siccnsane/headlight/headlight.html)



cheers
Ed N.
Ed,
94 and up I'm guessing for the bumper cover?

[fast Ed]

Yes, you would either have to hack up and severely modify your original bumper cover, or use the less aggressive looking 94 - 95 cover, or, the ghey looking 96 - 97 cover. :p



cheers
Ed N.

[gldiii]

If you like your early style bumper cover you should be able to retain it without too much trouble. I know Lonnie Doll (92 5.0 sport, posts on TCCoA) did the headlight swap on his car.

http://www.thundercoupe.com/images/doll2.jpg
http://www.thundercoupe.com/images/doll5.jpg
http://www.thundercoupe.com/images/doll3.jpg

[fast Ed]

Thank you George, I stand corrected !! :)



cheers
Ed N.

[charged92]

That's awesome! No offence to 94/95 SC owners,but I like my front end and would rather keep it.I will see if I can find an e-mail address and e-mail him on the procedure. Thanks for the info.

[fast Ed]

I agree Dean, the 89 - 93 front end is tougher looking for sure ... I just prefer the rest of the 94 - 95 car, so I'll live with the wimpier front end. ;)



cheers
Ed N.

[gldiii]

I sometimes wonder if I should have kept the early style front cover on mine when I did the lights.

http://www.thundercoupe.com/images/swb005/scpioh2001.jpg

We did have to cut off the body side molding at the door since the newer style bumper cover does not have the black line running around it.

I think it looks OK on the shorter car and may flow a little more air than the early style. Heck, I like 'em all!

[charged92]

Originally posted by fast Ed N
I agree Dean, the 89 - 93 front end is tougher looking for sure ... I just prefer the rest of the 94 - 95 car, so I'll live with the wimpier front end. ;)



cheers
Ed N.

Ed,
Now I never said wimpy! :D On the topic of the rest of the car. I freakin loved the cockpit in the 96 Bird I had!! The way the dash kinda wrapped around. What are the chances I could swap the whole dash in my 92 for a later model dash like that?

[Lonnie]

Yeah that's my car. I think those were taken back in 96.

Anyways, the easy part of the swap is pulling off the old bumper cover to get at the light bracket. You need to swap that out with a 96 or newer. The bolt holes all line up so that's not a problem. Then you need to trim the front mid section of the bracket so it fits inside the older cover. The 96/97s have a longer front in the center that somewhat comes to a point.

You're going to have to upgrade the wiring to the lights and also change from the multiple light bulb elements to single since you will now have a dedicated high and low.

As for the bumper cover, that's where it gets hard if you've never worked with bumper material or fiberglass. The newer lights are shorter than the 93 and later so you have to fill in that space to make it look right. If it's not done right then it will just break off after awhile or a good bump. I used all 3M products. Now the most important part is that you have to shave down the part of the bumper under the lights. The lights are wider up and down than the older style. If you don't shave it down then the lights will point up to the ski at night and you won't see the road and you lose the adjustability.

Then you have to modify your hood to conform to the new lights. I use a Cervini's hood and modified it. I have done it with a stock metal hood and it turns out a little better but you have to change the front curve on the nose or the headlights will stick out past the hood line and look funny, like bug eyed. The hood gets really heavy if you just try and bondo it. Plus it will fall off after awhile.

Here's a more recent pic of the car. The blue light from the snorkels is actually real blue neon. I had a tube blown for me that covers the back of the hood.

Have fun.

http://members.tccoa.com/lonnie/newfront.jpg
http://members.tccoa.com/lonnie/new-panel-cover1.jpg

[SC4LIFE]

Lonnie, your car looks absolutely mint. I wish FoMoCo could have seen that before they did the 94sc and up... ABSOLUTELY MINT!!! :D

Cheers,
Luke

[charged92]

:D I'm with you Luke. Thats why this post is here. That sounds like a lot of work but look at the results!!! I love those headlights. :D

[SeanMatteson]

Nice ride, Lonnie!!!

[Lonnie]

Hey George, I wondered where you went off to since most of us move on from TCCoA.

Thanks guys,

Yeah it is a lot of work but it makes the car just a little different than the others. Most can't figure it out or don't even notice the change that aren't into Tbirds. Then when I point it out they think it's factory.

It's going into the shop on Thursday to get redone. I've been babying it this past year since I bought the Mark VIII but it's still my favorite. It has 208K miles on it now so I wanted to start going through it and upgrade some things, new engine/trans. Last month it was hit while parked in front of my place by a little old blue hair that got confused and tried making a U-turn. She took out the driver's side fender in front of the wheel, all the lights, tip of the hood and the whole bumper. I guess she thought she could just drive right through it and did. I come out to go somewhere and see the car cover ripped off and no one in sight. Called the cops and then went looking around. Found her van a block away with my paint and parts still stuck in her headlight. She denied the whole thing so the insurance companies are battling it out. I'll probably end up taking her to court though. Anyways, it should be back together and looking like new in about 4 weeks.

http://members.tccoa.com/lonnie/Bothforweb1.jpg