Landing Light Lens

[David Lloyd]

My new ride has a LED landing light in the standard position and also in the hole vacated by the oil cooler relocation. That one has a cracked landing light lens.  Both lenses appear to have been made by Mod Works many years back from an old green windshield.  Went by Ace Hardware and got a piece of 1/8" thick plexiglass scrap and a 6x24 piece of sheet metal.  I gently curved the sheet metal to match the curvature of the old lens.  I marked the plexiglass with a Sharpie for two lenses, one left and a mirror image for right.  I then used tin snips to cut away the excess material.  Don't get carried away, cracks will run 1/2".  Then I  used a HF belt sander (80 grit) to remove more material.  Work slowly and the last sanding remove the black sharpie marks.  Smooth the edge with sandpaper, remove the plastic protection from each side of the plexiglass while the oven is heating to 400 degrees.  Lay the sheet metal form on a pizza pan and a piece of parchment paper over the form and the new lens on top. Put in the oven and turn on the light.  In just a couple minutes the plexiglass will sag down to lay on the curved form.  Give it another minute and remove. Cool.  Match up to each appropriate lens and use a dull twist drill and high speed and almost no pressure to drill the full size mounting holes.  Use a larger twist drill between your thumb and finger to carefully break the sharp edges on the holes.  Install.  Hour and a half including the log entry.

[Guitarmaster]

Very nice!

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[Dream to fly]

That is awesome work. Very nice.

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[N201MKTurbo]

I did that a couple of years ago. I made it out of Lexan. I cut it out with a scroll saw first so there was very little sanding. I bent it using a heat gun and a paint can.

Yours looks great!

[carusoam]

Thermo forming light lenses... brilliant!

MS is so full of talented people!

Thanks for sharing the details.

Best regards,

-a-

[jaylw314]

@David Lloyd, how did you curve the sheet metal?

[David Lloyd]

Thin enough metal to form by hand.  Pull over the edge of your workbench until it fits with the old lens.  But first, smooth the edges with a wheel or file, cut the sharp corners.  And wear gloves.  The pizza pan in the oven is just in case.  Pizza pan is cheaper than a new oven.

Edited May 25, 2019 by David Lloyd

[Yetti]

This is fantastic!   CB club winner of the week.