My Hella conversion is almost complete and i'd just like to share this method of reinforcing the lights. If you installed them the same way that I did, (one hole drilled through the bezel per light) then you may have noticed that the plastic bezel becomes flimsy with the added weight. I certainly didn't want my lights bouncing up and down while i'm driving, im sure that would make me go nuts. I saw this idea while browsing Brent's website, and decided to give it a go.

I started with a good size piece of steel. Its an inch and a half wide, and an eighth of an inch thick.



I started by grinding down one of the edges to fit the contour of the groove in the beam right above the headlight bezel. This will be where my support bracket will gain its strength from.



I used a simple pencil mark to determine where the first bend would be. A vice grip and some muscle is used to bend the steel in my case.



I then measured the vertical gap between the bezel and the support beam. Its just shy of an inch. You have to be careful however, because you have to take into consideration that after you make your bend, the steel will stretch a bit.



Back into the vice grip it goes, and since there isn't a whole lot of leverage this time, i just used a simple punch and hammer to make the bend. The structural integrity really isnt in question here.





After the final bend is made, the steel is cut again and grinded to follow the edge of the bezel. A few spacers are used to even everything out.





Well, that is one out of four support brackets that I will be making to keep everything nice and sturdy. In the end, they will be painted black and look very clean. Everything is turning out nicely!





Thanks for looking! I have another small "tutorial" to post in a few days... showing how we wired them by using all the existing harnesses and even all of the existing plugs!!

 

Good info. Thanks man