Home / Ariel Atom / Improvements / Rear LED Lights 21
Building new rear light assemblies that work with wider tires.Building new light assemblies for the rear, replacing the stock ones which had clearance issues with wider rear tires/wheels.
- wider rear wheel/tire combo
wider rear wheel/tire combo (album here) came very close to the rear lights - tail light clearance prob
wider rear wheels rubbed rear lights in high-G turns during track events - rubbing
the occasional tire contact was enough to wear away the plastic so it was time to mount more compact rear lights - LED brake/signal lights
bought these 3-inch diam combo LED brake/signal lights off eBay (brand is Kiwav/Vawik) - light comparison
a quick comparison test with the Atom's stock lights show they're about equal brightness - steel
had some flat steel and tubing bent by a local metal fab shop so I could fabricate the brackets - time to bake
also purchased a couple of baking tins off eBay to use for the project - for the backside
the baking tins will be cut down and used to cover the open rear of the LED lamps after they're mounted - fabrication jig
built a jig based on the factory light brackets so I can get all the angles & cuts right - using the jig
I can't imagine trying to align, position, and weld everything without the help of the jig - tacked
the tube arm was notched and holes drilled for the light, and the rear tin modified to fit - before coating
the lights were fully assembled (minus the wiring) with final welding by Furo Racecraft - coating the arms
the mounting arms were powdercoated satin black - left photo is bare, right is after powder sprayed but not yet cured - coating the rear
the rear cup was powdercoated in wrinkle black to better match the texture of the originals - wiring
the lights were wired, the wiring sleeved, and the wiring run through the bracket arms - connectors
the connectors were attached - the Atom 2 uses FCI Apex 2.8mm connectors for the light assemblies - finished product
here's the new finished product compared to the old - finished side view
side view of bracket, arm, and wiring - installed - backside
on the car, they look exactly the way they should - installed - passenger side
there is now plenty of clearance for any set of wheels/tires I run - rear view
as usual, this project was way too much work for what it was, but they sure turned out nice