How to: mod 5th gen clear turns to fit the 94-95 bumper Options

[celicamike]

OK, I noticed some interest in this recently, and I've been wanting to do a write-up for a while now, so here it is. Just note that you are undertaking this at your own risk, and all the usual disclaimers apply.

For those of you with the prefacelift (94-95) front bumper, you may have noticed that the aftermarket has few options for you when it comes to clear turn signals. You also may have heard that clear turns made for the 5th gen celica will fit on your bumper, which they do (and look pretty good), however they are not a direct swap-in replacement, they have to be made to fit somehow. While there are probably a million and one ways to do this, I've detailed one method that has worked well for me. I have done this twice now and have found this to be simple and sturdy, plus it looks good. Alright, so now here's what you need to do, I've also included everything you ever wanted to know about clear turns in general.

First thing you need to do is get a set of clear turns for the 5th gen (90-93) celica. These can usually be found on ebay and will cost you around 40-50 dollars. I've encountered two different styles that I see frequently, the first is often described as "euro" or "diamond" and is pictured below. I have also seen these available smoked.




The second style (which I prefer personally and have used in this write-up) is just called "clear turn signal" or maybe "JDM". These are sometimes hard to find on ebay, I got mine from procarparts.com. Here is a pic




OK, so once you have your turn signals, the first thing you need to do is identify which one is the left and which one is the right. The turn signals are not interchangeable, they are mirror images of each other, so make sure you get them right.

Next, you may need to cut off the upper of the two little pegs that stick out from the side, if they are too close together to both fit in the stock holes.


Alternatively, you could probably cut the holes so that both pegs fit, although I have not tried this.

*I have also heard that it is unnecessary to cut off one of the pegs, as they will both fit into the
stock holes if you just force them in. If you find this to be the case, great, you can skip the
previous step and continue to the next one.


At this point you need to make some kind of angled bracket, since the new turn signal comes up short of the original hole, and is at a different angle. I used some flat, 1/8th inch plastic, but you could probably use aluminum as well. I painted it flat black so it will disappear from view when installed. You will probably need to experiment with different sizes and shapes.

A good idea is to cut out a small rectangle of plastic about 1.5 x 3 inches, and drill the first hole. Screw it onto the bumper, then make the bend in the appropriate place at the appropriate angle, and test fit the turn signal into the hole. You will probably need to trim the plastic bracket several times during this process. To determine where to drill the second hole, put the turn signal into place and poke a sharp nail or something through the hole on the turn signal and press it into the plastic of the bracket to mark where they line up, which is where you should drill the hole. Here is what mine looks like.


Here is what it looks like on the bumper:




At this point, if you've done everything right, the new turn signal simply installs the same as the original. It should look like this:




And now, you're done! Enjoy your shiny new clear turns!

Here are some more pics of the final product from different angles:










At this point, for the sake of completeness, I would like to discuss bulb options.
Most of the clear turns out there come with amber bulbs, but these tend to give you a "fried egg" look that many people find unsavory:

click for larger image



To get around this, some people just use clear bulbs, which look fine when the bulbs are off, but in my opinion looks a little ricey when on. People also use all kinds of colored bulbs to give their ride a distinctive look.

If you want your signals to light up amber like stock, but do not want the "fried egg" look, there are two options for you. The first are amber bulbs that have a silvered, mirror coating on them:



The bulb size is 1157. Also, the coating on the bulbs tends to dim them a bit, so they won't be quite as bright as before. The other option does not have this problem, and that is LED bulbs.

You can get 1157 LED bulbs that light up amber (or various other colors). With LED turn signals, however, you also will need to get load resistors, since the LED bulbs have a different resistance that the stock bulbs and will cause your turn signals to blink too rapidly without resistors. Here is what they look like:

click for larger image



For the resistors, I found that the 6 ohm resistors give a good "blink rate". If you're wondering how to wire them, I found this diagram that explains it. The bottom picture is the one that applies.




I think that just about does it. I hope this was helpful to you.

Oh yeah, you're welcome

This post has been edited by celicamike: May 23, 2008 - 3:50 PM

[celicamike]

For those of you who are interested, I have ones set of LED bulbs and load resistors for sale here.