Mustang GT lights in grille?
#1
Mustang GT lights in grille?
Throwing this out there to get an idea of whats possible.
After buying an HID kit that was a piece of crap, i decided to go with the low beam only kit. Now, i dont use my high beams much, but i think i want to keep some sort of functionality in case i might need to use them some day. I do flash the high beams every so often, and im thinking about trying something else.
Sooooo, I have a grille off of an Edge here at home that i bought a while back. I am thinking of cutting it and mounting a set of 05+ Mustang GT or Pony Package V6 fog lights in it. Now, to wire it up, i would like to use the stock Ranger harness and a stock foglight switch. I currently dont have stock fog lights on my truck so how big of a pain will it be to run the wiring and do it like OEM? Ill buy the fog light radio bezel if thats what i need, but after searching, i dont know if thatll work for me being an 04 and all.
So the short version -
- how do you guys think it will look?
- airflow be a problem?
- how big a pain to wire up for stock Ranger fogs?
- how big a pain to use Mustang housings? do they use the same bulbs?
- is it worth the time?
- If its a go, V6 Pony Package fogs or the larger GT fogs?
And yes, chances are i will convert these to an HID setup too. :D but first things first right?
After buying an HID kit that was a piece of crap, i decided to go with the low beam only kit. Now, i dont use my high beams much, but i think i want to keep some sort of functionality in case i might need to use them some day. I do flash the high beams every so often, and im thinking about trying something else.
Sooooo, I have a grille off of an Edge here at home that i bought a while back. I am thinking of cutting it and mounting a set of 05+ Mustang GT or Pony Package V6 fog lights in it. Now, to wire it up, i would like to use the stock Ranger harness and a stock foglight switch. I currently dont have stock fog lights on my truck so how big of a pain will it be to run the wiring and do it like OEM? Ill buy the fog light radio bezel if thats what i need, but after searching, i dont know if thatll work for me being an 04 and all.
So the short version -
- how do you guys think it will look?
- airflow be a problem?
- how big a pain to wire up for stock Ranger fogs?
- how big a pain to use Mustang housings? do they use the same bulbs?
- is it worth the time?
- If its a go, V6 Pony Package fogs or the larger GT fogs?
And yes, chances are i will convert these to an HID setup too. :D but first things first right?
#2
I think it'll look sweet. Get the smaller round ones to mount in the grille.
I think this could be a popular mod for aftermarket companies to get in on and start making custom Ranger grille shells with Mustang lights installed, and then just make it simple to wire them up by splicing into your fog light harness.
I don't know how hard it'll be for you to install wiring and a switch for OEM stuff, but I would just use an aftermarket switch and wiring and use them like auxilary or fog lights. That would probably be your easiest bet.
Also, you might want to see if you can get the Mustang grille and cut it up and use the mounts and everything and somehow transfer it into the Ranger grille?
I think this could be a popular mod for aftermarket companies to get in on and start making custom Ranger grille shells with Mustang lights installed, and then just make it simple to wire them up by splicing into your fog light harness.
I don't know how hard it'll be for you to install wiring and a switch for OEM stuff, but I would just use an aftermarket switch and wiring and use them like auxilary or fog lights. That would probably be your easiest bet.
Also, you might want to see if you can get the Mustang grille and cut it up and use the mounts and everything and somehow transfer it into the Ranger grille?
Last edited by crazymikey; 01-25-2009 at 03:30 PM.
#3
if it's done well, it's look good, so long as it matches the rest of the truck.
airflow shouldn't be a problem, there are lots of people who run lights in front or behind their grill with no real down falls. i think the climate where you live and whether or not you use the truck to full capacity (towing for example!) will dictate whether or not you have adequate cooling capacity.
you could use a factory fog switch and bezel, but do the rest of the wiring with an aftermarket kit, or make your own. wiring isn't hard, just take your time.
i have no clue about the mustang housings.
is it worth the time to you? it's your truck! it would probably be worth the time and money, but be prepared for people to copy your work!
as far as the pony package or GT lights, i would say go bigger, as long as they'll look good, if they are out of preportion, it won't look right, but that's opinion more than anything.
#4
I like the idea of moving the Mustang grille to the truck, but i think its too narrow so im not sure how itll work. Next time i see one ill try and get some measurements.
After reading a bit, it seems the V6 Pony package lights are the same as the Ranger fogs? That might be a little small for grille lights but i gotta see some in person or at least get some measurements of the lens to see how itll look. It also seems the GT has a fluted reflector, so i still got things to work out :D
As far as wiring, after playing with the old cars im totally against cutting stock wiring when i dont have to. In fact, when my Cougar's stock AM/FM radio took a dump i swapped in another factory radio that was set up for 4 speakers instead of the stock two. It used a different harness but instead of cutting mine, i cut the doner car harness and ran it in my dash so its still plug and play. Yet the stock harness is still in the car unmolested and unused at the moment. I just tucked it away under there until i decide i might want to use it again.
Yeah im a picky lil turd sometimes.
After reading a bit, it seems the V6 Pony package lights are the same as the Ranger fogs? That might be a little small for grille lights but i gotta see some in person or at least get some measurements of the lens to see how itll look. It also seems the GT has a fluted reflector, so i still got things to work out :D
As far as wiring, after playing with the old cars im totally against cutting stock wiring when i dont have to. In fact, when my Cougar's stock AM/FM radio took a dump i swapped in another factory radio that was set up for 4 speakers instead of the stock two. It used a different harness but instead of cutting mine, i cut the doner car harness and ran it in my dash so its still plug and play. Yet the stock harness is still in the car unmolested and unused at the moment. I just tucked it away under there until i decide i might want to use it again.
Yeah im a picky lil turd sometimes.
#5
I was thinking to use the Mustang grille so you can cut the mounts out of it where the lights go and transfer them over to the Ranger grille.
You may have to cut the grille in the centre and then recess the fog lights (in the Mustang mounts) to install them mated to the Ranger grille. You could sort of blend the Mustang and Ranger grilles together with some cutting, and then finally get a Ranger billet grille overlay to cover up the potentially hacked up grille you may have, and cut out holes for the fog lights in the billet. But I see you wanting more of the mesh look like the Edge and Mustang have.
You may have to cut the grille in the centre and then recess the fog lights (in the Mustang mounts) to install them mated to the Ranger grille. You could sort of blend the Mustang and Ranger grilles together with some cutting, and then finally get a Ranger billet grille overlay to cover up the potentially hacked up grille you may have, and cut out holes for the fog lights in the billet. But I see you wanting more of the mesh look like the Edge and Mustang have.
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you're not really modifying your existing harness, you'll have to splice in once to make an interlink so you can't leave the lights on with the ignition off. this can even be as simple as a fuse tap.
you will be adding a factory switch, but you can use an aftermarket relay and run new wires.
if you do all the wiring yourself and keep it seperate from the factory wiring, it will be easy to diagnose if need be, and just as easy to return to stock.
it will look stock to the untrained eye.
you will be adding a factory switch, but you can use an aftermarket relay and run new wires.
if you do all the wiring yourself and keep it seperate from the factory wiring, it will be easy to diagnose if need be, and just as easy to return to stock.
it will look stock to the untrained eye.
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#16
I wouldn't do it. I'm kinda confused by what you want them for, you said that miss your highbeams and from what I understand you want these to be your highbeams. Why not just run them off the stock highbeam wire? Use a relay on the stock highbeam wire to trigger the new lights, that way you will have as little wiring to do as possible and it will be easier to use too. As far as adding Mustang lights, that's gonna be pretty involved and is going to take a lot of work getting it to both work and look as OEM as possible. Lots of cutting, sanding, gluing, bondoing, and more sanding lol. I honestly don't think it would look good either, I don't even think it looks good on Mustangs lol. Hella makes a F150 grill that does exactly what you want on the previous gen F150's so you might want to look for pictures of those grills installed to see how it would look on a truck. If it was me, I'd just buy/make light tabs or a light bar on throw some driving lights on it lol.
That looks horrible lol
#17
Hmmm, yeah the grille i have has the vertical bars in it. Doh! doesnt look like its gonna fit without looking weird. The other grille wont fit will it? The 04 has a seperate grille and the one in the pics looks like it has the grille surround intregal with the headlight mount panel.
Damn! well, thats why i ask. Ill see if i can find a grille, or maybe find something else that wont look weird.
EDIT- i dont mean the green truck looks weird. I like the grille with the lights in it. But it will look strange in the grille i have.
Damn! well, thats why i ask. Ill see if i can find a grille, or maybe find something else that wont look weird.
EDIT- i dont mean the green truck looks weird. I like the grille with the lights in it. But it will look strange in the grille i have.
#18
I wouldn't do it. I'm kinda confused by what you want them for, you said that miss your highbeams and from what I understand you want these to be your highbeams. Why not just run them off the stock highbeam wire? Use a relay on the stock highbeam wire to trigger the new lights, that way you will have as little wiring to do as possible and it will be easier to use too. As far as adding Mustang lights, that's gonna be pretty involved and is going to take a lot of work getting it to both work and look as OEM as possible. Lots of cutting, sanding, gluing, bondoing, and more sanding lol. I honestly don't think it would look good either, I don't even think it looks good on Mustangs lol.
ive thought about incorporating the high beam wire into the setup too, but i havent messed around with the harness enough to figure out whats going on. The relay setup sounds interesting though and i might give that a shot. I know there are premade relay harnesses out there that i can run and modify as needed too. I dont have a problem with sanding, filler and anything. I get paint and body work supplies free and ive never been afraid to sand a car. Filler work doesnt scare me, you should see some of the cars ive worked on lol.
Does the low beam circuit lose power when the high beams are switched on? or do all 3 wires in the pigtail still get power when its set to the high beam selection? too lazy to test and my back has been killing me for the past few days. Hence all the sitting on my *** and brainstorming. :D
#22
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/99-04...1%7C240%3A1318
What about incorporating something like that into the sides of the grille? They are a similar shape to the fake openings there, and if i go HID in there light output shouldnt be a big issue. just a thought, and it might not look bad as long as the curvature is close enough to work with.
hmm... my mom has a Mustang... time to go measure some openings on both.
What about incorporating something like that into the sides of the grille? They are a similar shape to the fake openings there, and if i go HID in there light output shouldnt be a big issue. just a thought, and it might not look bad as long as the curvature is close enough to work with.
hmm... my mom has a Mustang... time to go measure some openings on both.
#25