Banpei's two door panda Trueno from Japan

[banpei]

Thank you both for the compliments!

I 3D modelled and printed a cover for the battery bracket:

I also made an underside cover, but the bracket is too tight for the battery to also fit that.

I also created a new rod:

Looks much better than the weird spacer that I used previously.

The aluminium bracket I made last year for the Cibie fog lights is close, but I think it needs to be about 10 to 15 millimetres shorter: (so sitting 10 to 15 millimetres higher)

If you think it looks a bit saggy: you're right. One of the bolts to connect the lamp housing to the bracket has a squared section to keep it centred. This section is too long, and therefore, I couldn't tighten it enough and about 1mm of play remained between the lamp and the bracket. I'll add some washers on the final version to fix this issue.

Also, when opened, there is more than enough space available for the cover to open:


Here's the fog light in action:

It opens and closes using a third wire, so there is 12V+, ground and a signal wire (also 12V+). Only when the cover is fully open will the lamp illuminate. If I then remove power from the signal wire, the cover closes. A few 100ths of a second after the cover starts to rotate, the lamp will power off.

I did some testing: if I remove the power from both 12V+ and the signal wire, the covers will remain open. If I then only put power on the 12V+, it will close itself again. I don't know what will happen if it's stuck in the middle, whether it opens or closes itself. I'll have to test that, but my guess is that it will close itself by default if there is no power on the signal wire. This also means the fog light needs a 12V+ supply permanently for the motors.

I haven't disassembled them, so I don't know what's inside. My guess is there are only two switches and some TTL transistors to handle the logic. The two switches are used to determine whether the cover is in the open or closed position.

This is how I would make it work if I had to create a similar lamp:
Opening: If there is a signal and the closed-switch is on (cover in the closed position), it will open the cover. Only when the open-switch is on (cover in the open position), the switch will cut power to the motor and put power on the lamp.
Closing: Once power on the signal wire is lost, and the closed-switch isn't on, it will reverse polarity on the motor, and the cover will close. The open-switch will then get into the off position, and this cuts power to the lamp. Then, when the closed-switch is on, it will cut power to the motor.

As it will constantly draw current from the battery, I fear it might drain the battery. Perhaps there is some extra logic in it that will not use power on the 12V+ when the cover is in the closed position, and there is no power on the signal wire? I'll measure the current it draws when it's sitting in the idle position and see if this is the case. If not, I'll have to add an additional switch to remove the 12V+ power to ensure it doesn't drain the battery over time.

I'm also curious on how much power it actually uses when the lights are on. I think the lamps are LED (no afterglow after the power cuts to the lamp), so it might actually be neglicable.