Plastic is really a bad choice for a headlight lens, they scratch easily, get dull or yellow with the sun and will get pitted by stones and gravel. They may also melt.
A better choice would be to take the lenses to a glass or mirror shop and have them grind the inside of the lens smooth and polish. This is my plan once I get some time to get around to do it.

 

these are the reasons why i may not go about doing it.

also the materials are not cheap. i've thought about polycarbonate and njection molded stuff, but $ is a large factor in doing something like that i would have to produce and sell an ass-load of lenses to brake even. but if i could pop-out a couple lenses every now and then it wouldn't be terrible using plastic.

i'm going to do some more research on this product to see how uv resistant it is

 

In my opinion the stock 9-3 headlights work on our cars. No projectors, no special lenses, etc. And there's something to be said about replacing your headlights for $20. I really don't understand the money and time spent into this projector fad. Sometimes one must stand back and think why the modification is being done. Why mess with a classic look?

 

Um, Projector headlights are cool. If done correctly they can be nice, so i applaud the effort to make it happen.

i want them for the classic 900 too.....

 

Projectors are awesome. Only if they look as if they couldve came with the car as oem. Anything past that is not worth it for my taste. I am in the process of figuring out a deal with a guy on saabcentral that is going to start doing conversions!

 

how are things going with that?

 

I've taken my lenses to a glass shop local to me. They would not attempt to grind them. They were not interested and told me that the cost would be super high if I really wanted to pursue it. I think mostly because they would easily break (which I later learned).

So I tried to grind them myself. I got on www.mcmaster.com (an industrial supply house I use at work alot) and purchased some silicon carbide grinding pads. They attached to my high speed die grinder. It worked pretty well and I ground down the flutes with alot of water (the die grinder is an air powered one). I got messy, but the small flutes came out easily. The big flutes (there are a few big uns) were more difficult, and after getting almost the whole light clear minus the big ones the lens cracked. (doh) That was the last I worked on that project. It was after about 2 hrs of grinding.

I think getting the flute out is the first part, but then getting them clear and even again after that will be challenging.

Here's what I would suggest.... The glass shop told me they could easily cut holes in the lens. I would pop a hole in there, and then patch it up with either a flat piece of glass, or plexiglass. Perhaps the glass shop could even do that. Cost was not terrible to cut the hole but I don't remember. Then, I would fabricate an ANGEL EYE to run on the ridge of the cut lens and new flat glass. Flush the glass patch up to the front of the lens, and put the angel eye in the back.

I think that would be the best way to accomplish this. I've got projectors, and lenses, but no bulbs, ballasts, or money. So maybe I will work on it next year

Tboy

 

I've taken my lenses to a glass shop local to me. They would not attempt to grind them. They were not interested and told me that the cost would be super high if I really wanted to pursue it. I think mostly because they would easily break (which I later learned).

So I tried to grind them myself. I got on www.mcmaster.com (an industrial supply house I use at work alot) and purchased some silicon carbide grinding pads. They attached to my high speed die grinder. It worked pretty well and I ground down the flutes with alot of water (the die grinder is an air powered one). I got messy, but the small flutes came out easily. The big flutes (there are a few big uns) were more difficult, and after getting almost the whole light clear minus the big ones the lens cracked. (doh) That was the last I worked on that project. It was after about 2 hrs of grinding.

Tboy

I was wondering what ever happened to that project. Too bad it didn't work out.

 

i'm not too keen on cutting a hole in the lens and patching it, sounds kinda halfass and rigged to me.

 

Not nearly as halfassed and rigged as throwing projectors behind a fluted lens. In my opinion, that defeats the whole purpose of putting a projector in.

 

I am awaiting his confirmation that he will go into production. What it looks like is you will have to send in the whole headlight assembly, along with the projectors and he will do the fabrication. Since the only examples he has produced have been painted black in the housing, I asked for the possibility to use silver so it looks more oem so he is looking for a silver that will work to his satisfaction

 

His projectors ("SC guy's") look really good, plus they match up as if they were stock. I'm really interested to see what they'd look like with the housings painted in a different color though. If i had the money at the moment i'd be all over a pair for my car For now i'll just have to wait and see how yours/others turn out

Projectors are just another thing to make the car "your own" it's all up to the owner or "beholder" plus they're classy. Why mod and customize if, "it's not broken"? Exactly.

 

the sc guy should just take pictures of the process and post them online. i dont think it's that big kind of a deal.

 

The fluted lense will not kill the projectors light definition. Sure, the cut off wont be as sharp but the light output will be immensely improved and Im positive that glare is not as bad as straight HIDs either so its a win win in my book, A clear lense would obviously be optimal thought.

 

have you used alumilite before? That would not stand up well to rock chips. Trust me, I use it.

And to get clear you need a special vacuum setup, otherwise it will be full of bubbles.

 

pics of SC guy's stuff?

 

heres the link to snapfish:

http://www2.snapfish.com/shareethum...36766/cobrandOid=1000131/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/action=_xffpreaddpicturestocart

and heres the saabcentral thread:

http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151257&page=1&pp=20

 

no, i haven't used alumilite before. it was just the best product i could find for the job. where i work there is a company right next to us that does injection molded plastics, they can produce crystal clear plastic, but it comes at a very high price. i was talking to one of the guys and he said it would cost thousands of dollars to even have a mold made and finished