Barracuda tail light swap
The best laid plans of mice and men...The last thing I wanted was to have to patch the valance holes due to some kind of error, which is exactly what happened. When I laid out the holes on the actual valance, they needed to be almost 3/4" below the top of valance to visually clear the bumper. I didn't take this into consideration when practicing on the buck. The buck hole was about 1/4" from the top. Since the valance is not a right angle perfect radius, raising or lowering the hole changes everything, in this case the holes were too elongated so a patchin' I went. I'm getting differing opinions on what the exit hole gap-to-tip should be for heat/paint reasons. I've heard anywhere from 3/8" minimum to 1/8" with heat tape. ??? Also am toying with the idea of an interior return around the hole perimeter but at 1/8" distance from the pipe I think this would be a heat sink/paint bubbler. All that is left is to is decide on this final clearance dimension, do a careful scribe around the tips and finish grind the perimeters, then reinforce the inner structure and provide a little clearance tunnel @ the spare well..
The best laid plans of mice and men...The last thing I wanted was to have to patch the valance holes due to some kind of error, which is exactly what happened. When I laid out the holes on the actual valance, they needed to be almost 3/4" below the top of valance to visually clear the bumper. I didn't take this into consideration when practicing on the buck. The buck hole was about 1/4" from the top. Since the valance is not a right angle perfect radius, raising or lowering the hole changes everything, in this case the holes were too elongated so a patchin' I went. I'm getting differing opinions on what the exit hole gap-to-tip should be for heat/paint reasons. I've heard anywhere from 3/8" minimum to 1/8" with heat tape. ??? Also am toying with the idea of an interior return around the hole perimeter but at 1/8" distance from the pipe I think this would be a heat sink/paint bubbler. All that is left is to is decide on this final clearance dimension, do a careful scribe around the tips and finish grind the perimeters, then reinforce the inner structure and provide a little clearance tunnel @ the spare well..
