{read post B-4 voting}custom celica headlamps, tail lights, foglights,, please vote please! Options

[SinisterSinner]

[i will add the positive with positive and negative with negative votes]
I want to start making custom parts for Celicas, I know how to mold plastic, its one of my passions too, and I love designing new things, and a good start would be designing celica parts while making my own kind of car using the celica engine and frame,while using the same molds to make those parts for you guys and also taking custom orders, designing on paper uploading the design and shoing how it could look like and if the costumer likes it, ill make the molds shape the plastics, putting everything toguether and upload a photo of it if customer likes it, ill make the other one and ship them.
sounds good or not?
i havent been ale to get some quotes of suppiers because i've been busy trying to replace the drive axles, but the big nut and the center of the disk its too hard, my father even broke the big rachet or whatever thts called, and still te nut is there, and before anything we sprayed DW-40 or what ever that penetrant foami oil is called and its just too hard, tomorrow im off to a real mechanic to see if they can get that thing out, than after i will try to get some price quotes on the acrilics and polycarbonate, to be able to give a some what accurate price, but my guess/goal is about 50-140$ usd to make affordable tail/head/foglight covers, that you guys would just need to pry off the old and in with the new, my goal is to make affordable covers that would make your cars get an awesome custom look without paying rediculus prices. like a wesite i went looking for tail light covers that werelike for 400$ which is tremendously ridiculus, also my goal its to probably make a store that I could make a living of and work to do what I love. which is making custom things just about anything , maybe in the next 2 months I will make something with a custom molded plastic, to improve how my celi looks and if you guys like it then take it as an example of what i can do for you guys too, just give me a vote and let me know what you think.
I'm planning to make aerodynamic headlamp covers that might replace the OEM one or just mount on it, depends on what you want!, also tail light covers that would be clear/smoked/custom designs/extruded, and custom tails themselves with different shapes or imitations of BMW or mercedez, that would fit celicas without modifications, but some painting required to match the car's color, and look almost authentic , but if i do this, i woul ship the lights masked ready for paint and installation. and MAYBE LED tail light comversions, using all american LEDs guaranteed not to burn out with within weeks like cheap chinese LEDs/ also us LEDs are brighter, and many colors available, will continue adding info later
just give me vote so far
edit1 - i could make certain design with different requests from you guys and and if you like it illmake a prototype show a video and some pics and if you guys agree on that it would be cheaper because i wouldnt have to spend on more molds, but just use the same

This post has been edited by SinisterSinner: Dec 8, 2009 - 12:35 AM

[Culpable04]

for people to give a better opinion they would have to see what your work looks like.

I can tell you this

LED tail lights conversion might not work, I made 4 prototypes and people on the site had a hard time paying the WHOLESALE cost of it, let alone a price that owuld yield a profit.

tailights that look like benz / bmw / or anything on the market won't be widely accepted, custom, ussually means new / different, not copy from others so come up with your own design using modern trends but don't copy another car's tails.

depending on the quality of your work, you sure can make a living out of it, but for that you will have to price your items for what they are, custom hand made stuff, there is only such much time in a day, and it takes X amount of time to build a quality custom part.

there is a market for custom car parts, and it will always be there, is the whole point of car modifying, being different, so it all depends on the quality of your work, even if you price it really high, there will be always people willing to pay for quality custom parts that match their taste and vision.

PS. to make a living out of it you have to hit the big markets, Hondas, BMWs Subarus etc, the celica community will love custom parts, but honestly there are not enough of us to support a self sustained business, that's why most bigger companies neglect us

This post has been edited by Culpable04: Dec 7, 2009 - 9:51 PM

[black13]

for people to give a better opinion they would have to see what your work looks like.

I can tell you this

LED tail lights conversion might not work, I made 4 prototypes and people on the site had a hard time paying the WHOLESALE cost of it, let alone a price that owuld yield a profit.

mind showing a pic of your prototypes? and how much are we talking here? More than a brand new set of JDM ones?

And to the OP, I'm definitely down, especially with the tail lights. I don't like US or the JDM ones and I think if we all vote on a certain design, then that would maybe bring the price down and everyone would get it. Maybe something along the lines of the Imprezza LED tail lights. Those would look great on our cars.

[SinisterSinner]

great reply, but the price I gave was just an estimate of just covers and also of course the parts I will make will be of good quality, polycarbonate doesnot shatters unless if sprayed with Metal spray paint, polycarbonate is really flexible and its used on some modern cars for headlamps, and most polycarbonate is bullet proof, also i would never sell anything that doesnt match the costumer's request, thats why I would try to make some sord of warranty like 1 month money back if not satisfied with quality, but I'm a costumer for other people too thats why I know what people want and if not thats why i would upload photos of the producs and give waranty,and about making parts just for celicas is just to start of course I will make headlamps for other brands eg honda, vw, subaru, but im starting with celicas because i have one and I could test fit everything on it, but for gt st2 and all other models like the cupe and comvertible, thats why i would buy stock lights for other models and sell the 1st ones cheaper in exchange I would like pictures of the lights fitted on other cars and make ajutments to molds if needed and then ship new ones with the djustments, and pay all the shiping and return for the lights unless they live within and hour from myhouse, I would deliver them personally[exept for NYC ] I hate driving there and even more parking anywhere, you get tickets for anything. back to the lights, i know it takes time to buld them, but when its sonmething you love doing and its a hobby timeis not a bad factor , if the leds wont work the way ill use them on mycar I wont sell them, and just make custom tails without leds, but i need to test the high quality leds that i use, i just know they wont let me down,
sorry if I missed someletters or spaces im writting on a waterproof rubber keyboard, if you need clarification i cn edit it

[SinisterSinner]

QUOTE (Culpable04 @ Dec 7, 2009 - 7:49 PM)
for people to give a better opinion they would have to see what your work looks like.

I can tell you this

LED tail lights conversion might not work, I made 4 prototypes and people on the site had a hard time paying the WHOLESALE cost of it, let alone a price that owuld yield a profit.

mind showing a pic of your prototypes? and how much are we talking here? More than a brand new set of JDM ones?

And to the OP, I'm definitely down, especially with the tail lights. I don't like US or the JDM ones and I think if we all vote on a certain design, then that would maybe bring the price down and everyone would get it. Maybe something along the lines of the Imprezza LED tail lights. Those would look great on our cars.

i agree, that could be an option i could make certain design with different requests from you guys and and if you like it illmake a prototype show a video and some pics and if you guys agree on that it would be cheaper because i wouldnt have to spend on more molds, but just use the same, this would be a good thing mostly on summer on winter people get lazy because garages get really cold and sometimes a heater is not enough , but your idea seems reasonable, since one of my goals is affordable that i coud agree on

I could make some sord of bulb or disk that could be replaced with ease instead of having a hard time taking each led appart removing sillicon or jbweld, so thats one of my ideas also or use different shapes depending on the design, everything hand made, for precsicion and quality

This post has been edited by SinisterSinner: Dec 8, 2009 - 12:21 AM

[reko]

I'd love to see new headlights... or center console! Even clusters...

[SinisterSinner]

I'd love to see new headlights... or center console! Even clusters...

clusters thats the name of those things,thats exactly what i meant, i could make those too, but 1st i will make them for my car, from then on after you see mines if you guys like it i would make more and share

This post has been edited by SinisterSinner: Dec 8, 2009 - 12:45 AM

[Culpable04]

mind showing a pic of your prototypes? and how much are we talking here? More than a brand new set of JDM ones?

Before anyone asks, no, I don't have any more of these, nor I intent on getting more produced.

These were LED panels, inserted on JDM tailliights,

the Wholesale cost of such panels is ~ 25 EACH, we neede 4 for our lights, but I've been running mines for almost 2 1/2 years I think and not ONE single LED has stopped working, and same for the other 2 kits that are installed, the 4th one is going on someone else's car soon.

you can get something similar made for less money but then you'll spend extra money on controling the voltage that gets to the LEDs so they don't fail, these system has that built in already.


To the OP. keep it up, when possible post pictures of some of your work, and people will get motivate if they like what they see.

[X_Mave]

Hi Sinister ... I admire your courage ... and Yea! Go for it! Find a way to send those things overseas for reasonable price and you're da king :-) But I replied because of some other thing ... I really like your idea, but in the same time I don't think any handdrawn designs on the paper can persuade people to order anything (except you are highly skilled designer). You could make use of some 3D. It helps to imagine how the final product will look, before you spent any money/time on the production. Maybe I can help in the begining? Let me know if you are interested.

btw. As you were talking about anything plastic up to 24" ... are you going to make interior parts too?

[SinisterSinner]

Hi Sinister ... I admire your courage ... and Yea! Go for it! Find a way to send those things overseas for reasonable price and you're da king :-) But I replied because of some other thing ... I really like your idea, but in the same time I don't think any handdrawn designs on the paper can persuade people to order anything (except you are highly skilled designer). You could make use of some 3D. It helps to imagine how the final product will look, before you spent any money/time on the production. Maybe I can help in the begining? Let me know if you are interested.

btw. As you were talking about anything plastic up to 24" ... are you going to make interior parts too?

yeah, like the cluster for example and probably smoked transparent sun visors to improve vision on sunny days instead of blocking everything on the front, a i'm really tallim 6'3 and when i put the visor down I cn barely seewhats in front of me, so thats why I came up with that idea, also I could try to make a clear top for the arm rest/govebox in the center between the seats to put leds inside and make it glow or somethinglike that,maybe makeone with custom cup holders for people on the back seats if your celica is not modded for racing or shows and doesnt have seats on the back this would be useless lol, and about the 3d thing,maybe you are right, i was getting some practice on a 3d software and I tried to make projector highbeams and it came out kind of cool, but if I could fluently use that software would be great, but I'm really good at drawing on ms paint( deafult paint software on your and any computer) I will upload a picture of an idea I had of doing a full transformation of the car just leaving the celica engine intact.... not really just some basic mods like cold air intake and racing mainfold + exhaust, and stuff like that, will upload a picture in less than an hour. you judge if I'm good or not

this one is a picture of a 3d model I made using software, this is a pic of an unfoldable speaker box, that would open when I want to use it and close when near my house to prevent people from breakin in my car

this is of my vision of some what how I want to extreme modify my celica on the long run, the front picture is semi final, the sides and rear need some modifications and smoother and also shading to make them look 3D like the picture of the front, if you guys want I could draw and example image of a headlamp that I could make, but I need to make sketches on a note book first to get an idea of what I exactly want, then Ill draw it on the computer and then post it here

This post has been edited by SinisterSinner: Dec 9, 2009 - 12:40 AM

[SPID33]

these are some Great ideas!!! if i were you i would open just a normal bodyshop or costum shop u know you might get more out of it that way but hell that my thing with the front lip idea, they only maje very few lips for our cars and i making my own and who knows if people like it and sell it for a bit less who knows you could make some good money... all i know is that if you open a shop and pay good you got your first employee here nah for real. i thoght if we ALL were a little closer to each other we can have like a weekend thing just to hang out at the shop and hang out and do some work. my friends and i are looking for a plcae here but they got hondas so you just never know.

[Hanyo]

i think price is the major factor if your investment will be a sucess.

The reason is, the JDM projectors for our celica cost over $1000 for a full set. If you make something that is close to that price, it would still be competiting against OEM quality and OEM fit. You would need to price your product accordingly by how well it compairs to the JDM projectors.

The last problem I see is, the Celica is an older car. The people who can afford to buy shiny new upgrades has already moved onto a newer model vehicle. Leaving you the hardcore enthusiast and people on a budget.

Therefore the price of your product would have to be affordable.

Sorry, i don't mean to discourage you. But i just want to give you an objective opinion.


Good luck!

[SinisterSinner]

Dude, I can buy projectors for other cars for like 40$ bucks, remove the projector from the lamp and I can make a housing and retrofit the one purchased and be able to make a projector for under 200$ and if I sell it for 350$ I would still be earning like a 150$ or so, so of course my products would be affordable
woops, I'm working on a interactual model of the car as I draw it and when I take a picture of the car the sharpness of the image is better too and saves as .gif so the pixels dont mix and the drawing stay exactly how I draw them, but the problem was that I forgot to turn the headlamps on before taking the pic lol, I will share or show a video of what I'm working on later on

[X_Mave]

Hey Sinister .. at first, I MUST say, that you are master of MS paint. As long, as it is nothing like professional painting/designing software, you've achieved a great result using that ... but sorry, I think it is not enough to present anything to potential buyers. The 3D you've show is pretty basic, but usable. But orignaly i was thinking about something more representational .. something, that will show you how the things will look in REAL. Check this http://xmave.cgsociety.org/gallery/ ... not the best showcase of my work, but by far most complete, when it comes to cars. Sorry, it is MR2 and it is ingame model .. not for rendering :-) I had not even started 6GC yet :-) Maybe sometimes .. when I finnish my other 3D cars projects ;-)

This post has been edited by X_Mave: Dec 9, 2009 - 8:49 AM

[SinisterSinner]

these are some Great ideas!!! if i were you i would open just a normal bodyshop or costum shop u know you might get more out of it that way but hell that my thing with the front lip idea, they only maje very few lips for our cars and i making my own and who knows if people like it and sell it for a bit less who knows you could make some good money... all i know is that if you open a shop and pay good you got your first employee here nah for real. i thoght if we ALL were a little closer to each other we can have like a weekend thing just to hang out at the shop and hang out and do some work. my friends and i are looking for a plcae here but they got hondas so you just never know.

the problem of making a garage to work on the car is... getting the garage on the first place lol, also I rent on a house that doesnt has a garage, I'm planning to do all this things on the balconi [or whatever is called] on the back of the house, there is enough room for fitting the machines and also the smell of toasted plastic wont get inside the house lol, my sister would kill me lol, and about the lip thing you are working on Please update, I would love to see how its coming out! , and that would be like the coolest thing if we could get toguether all of us and make a celi autoshow or something, freakin awesome!

[SinisterSinner]

Hey Sinister .. at first, I MUST say, that you are master of MS paint. As long, as it is nothing like professional painting/designing software, you've achieved a great result using that ... but sorry, I think it is not enough to present anything to potential buyers. The 3D you've show is pretty basic, but usable. But orignaly i was thinking about something more representational .. something, that will show you how the things will look in REAL. Check this http://xmave.cgsociety.org/gallery/ ... not the best showcase of my work, but by far most complete, when it comes to cars. Sorry, it is MR2 and it is ingame model .. not for rendering :-) I had not even started 6GC yet :-) Maybe sometimes .. when I finnish my other 3D cars projects ;-)

I did that box for a couple of hours of messing with anim8tor, I never took any 3d animation classes or anything like that, also Wow you have some really nie work there m8 , looks really good! definetly show us the celic when you do it , i got to blast bye

[SPID33]

these are some Great ideas!!! if i were you i would open just a normal bodyshop or costum shop u know you might get more out of it that way but hell that my thing with the front lip idea, they only maje very few lips for our cars and i making my own and who knows if people like it and sell it for a bit less who knows you could make some good money... all i know is that if you open a shop and pay good you got your first employee here nah for real. i thoght if we ALL were a little closer to each other we can have like a weekend thing just to hang out at the shop and hang out and do some work. my friends and i are looking for a plcae here but they got hondas so you just never know.

the problem of making a garage to work on the car is... getting the garage on the first place lol, also I rent on a house that doesnt has a garage, I'm planning to do all this things on the balconi [or whatever is called] on the back of the house, there is enough room for fitting the machines and also the smell of toasted plastic wont get inside the house lol, my sister would kill me lol, and about the lip thing you are working on Please update, I would love to see how its coming out! , and that would be like the coolest thing if we could get toguether all of us and make a celi autoshow or something, freakin awesome!

yeah i know what you mean. i got a garage here at the inlaws but they have a 1966 or 67 mustang jet cobra and it and they told me to take it out but idk its priceless u know. but anyways the lip thing i took some pics with it on but its just raining alot and its coold as hell but yeah deff ill update as soon as it get a lil better out side plus i got to clean out a part of the garage to fiberglass it.

[SPID33]

Hey Sinister .. at first, I MUST say, that you are master of MS paint. As long, as it is nothing like professional painting/designing software, you've achieved a great result using that ... but sorry, I think it is not enough to present anything to potential buyers. The 3D you've show is pretty basic, but usable. But orignaly i was thinking about something more representational .. something, that will show you how the things will look in REAL. Check this http://xmave.cgsociety.org/gallery/ ... not the best showcase of my work, but by far most complete, when it comes to cars. Sorry, it is MR2 and it is ingame model .. not for rendering :-) I had not even started 6GC yet :-) Maybe sometimes .. when I finnish my other 3D cars projects ;-)

where did you download or get this program and what is it called cause ive been wanting to do this ever scince i started visual comunication.

[SinisterSinner]

the name of the software is 3ds max and it costs the same more or a little less than your car... directlink [CLICK HERE]

[NewOrleans]

honestly this would be great. im positive people would buy into it and i would defanitly get some things if you go thru with this. hope for the best