Hello all,

I finally got myself a very nice silver cappo this week-end. I drove it back home (east Belgium) from London this saturday, and enjoyed it for 200km of country roads on sunday. I'm still smiling from that first experience :-)

Anyway, now the temporary insurance agreement is over, the car is in the garage, and I need to make what has to be done to get it a proper belgian registration before I can enjoy it again. Amongst with the customs paperwoks and the official suzuki paperworks I'll have to get, I have to get the headlights fixed for driving on the wrong side of the road ;-)

Searching a little bit the forum archives, I found out that one has to gently heat the headlights seal to about 75°C - not more! with a heat gun, to be able to pop them open. Is that confirmed?

Now I'm looking for informations about the actual modification that has to be done inside, once the headlight is popped open. And if pictures of the mod are available, that's even better! Also, is it true that to close the headlight back together afterwards, one just heats the seal again, and "stick" both parts together, à la clamshell?

Thanks in advance for any hint!

Py

i'm interested on it too!

Me three! ;-)

I bought my Cappo some weeks ago and I have to do the conversion for right-hand-traffic too to get it registered in Germany. Nice to have found two mates who have to do the same :-)

Anyway, in my research i got two PDF files, one from Andy and one from Ezra and i guess they won't mind if i send them to you. Just drop me a PM with your e-mail address and they'll be on the way.

Great! I just PM'ed you, ol@fson.

BTW, where are you located in Germany? I'm less than 30km from the border!

Py

You should have mail ;-) I'm about 200km from the Belgium border .. my "test-drive" when buying my Cappo and driving it home was nearly 700km, 320 in England and the rest in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany :-)

(thumb)

Maybe we should meet for a hands-on-workshop .. lol :-) When i look at Xpress' pics it seems he lives somewhere in the south, near the coast? ... ;-)

i'm from spain hehehe, near Barcelona

to sort it out to use abroad you have to get rid of the " kick up  " part of the beam . Put a sheet of board in front of the light on dipped beam and you should see a horizontal beam line and at the end towards the left it will ( should ! ) diagonally go upwards , its the diagonal bit u need to tape off on the lamp so it doesnt dazzle oncoming traffic. Im sure even with projector lights it still has this pattern. If i get a chance to check at work i will update!

From what i understood, the changes have to be made inside the headlamps. There is as piece of metal between the lamp and the lens which forms the shape of the beam.

So to alter that shape, you have to modify that piece of metal either way that it goes up the other way, or that if forms a flat beam - which i'm not sure if it is allowed. With a flat beam you would have a symmtrical light. There is the EU regulation No. 113 called "Uniform provisions concerning the approval of Motor Vehicle Headlamps emitting a symmetrical Passing Beam or a Driving Beam or both and equipped with filament Lamps" (see reply No. 11 in this thread for a link). But i don't know if it would cover the DIY conversion from a formerly asymmetrical headlamp to a symmetrical one. Probably not.

Here is a picture from one of the PDF's that shows the area that has to be modified.

In the Netherlands the symmetrical beam was allowed. So I did it the easy way by just flattening the slope.

But the MOT-person wasn't sure if it was legal until I pointed him to the regulations...

Was it that EU regulation that i mentioned above, that you pointed him to?

Here is the link to the regulations: TRANSLATION OF UNECE REGULATIONS IN THE AREA OF VEHICLE APPROVAL

Scroll down to No. 113 there it is available as a PDF in different languages. Maybe someone will find other useful regulations there too.

I just took a closer look to that regulation - it describes how manufacturers of headlights have to proceed to get their product - the symmetrical light in this case - approved. So depending on the person who checks your car he might just say: "Yes, symmetrical light is allowed BUT they have to be approved like stated in that regulation." - Which is obviously not the case if you do the conversion by yourself. At least the German TÜV is known to be very strict when it comes to modifications of vehicles. I guess it's necessary to find an examiner who is willing to help and with who you can discuss what to do in advance.

Yeah maybe it's different in Germany..

Here in the Netherlands you just have to have a symmetrical beam or asymmetrical providing that the slope goes up the good way.
It doesn't matter what kind of lights they are, as long as it's by the rules.

But to be clear, normally cars here are NEVER symmetrical, only oldtimers maybe.. But it doesn't matter in my opinion. A straight beam is fine and if you have the asymmetrical beam it just goes up a little to the side of the road.

And to be honest, how can the TUV guy see that the lights are modified? You could say they were always like this.

Oh, they are smart, there are signs on the lamp that tells them what kind of light it should be, and the regulation 113 is from 2005, some years after the Cappo was first registered ;-) I know from one Cappo owner that went to TÜV .. they told him, OK, the lights are alright BUT we can't see how it was done, as it's supposed to have asymmetrical lights for LHD. Soooo .. TÜV failed due to illegal modifications of the lighting system ... :-( Anyway, another examiner checked it OK a few days later ...

But i think i will try the trick with the symmetrical light too ..

2 more informations on that topic:

1) I went to Aachen a few months ago to see a Cappuccino that was on sale there. I did not buy it in the end, but I chatted a little bit with the guy, and he had done the headlights mod himself.

He told me you could use a spare part from a specific BMW to make the transformation. And that part was available IIRC for something like 20¤. I just e-mailed him to try and get more details about this option, we will see if I get an answer...

2) I was by the official suzuki dealer today, as I have to get some paperwoks from suzuki to be able to register the car in Belgium. The guy I met was very friendly and used to have a cappuccino himself. He was not 100% positive, but seemed to reckon there existed an official Suzuki kit to convert headlights for continental usage. He told me he would investigate this matter for me with a guy he knew at Suzuki headquarters, which was "the" suzuki person to ask for cappuccino-related matters in Belgium. We'll see what comes out...

Py

That are interesting news! Looking forward to hear more :-) What official paperwork do you need from Suzuki? Is it the CoC?

Yes, certificate of conformity indeed.

How much will you have to pay for it?

I was told around 100¤, to be confirmed.

Yes that's what i've been told too.

Something that Ezra mentioned that one has to take care of is to make sure to seal the case really good when glueing the two parts together, as there might get humidity inside which gets them fogged. I'm planning to use a silicone sealant like Dow Corning 732.

I was told earlier today by Dany from Cappuccino Sport that an official headlights mod kit from Suzuki never existed in the first place...

I have heard that the few Cappos that were officially imported to Germany in the 90s were all modified by one company. Unfortunately i don't know which company that was. I was just told that they don't do it anymore. So that would match with the no-conversion-kit theory ;-)

Any news on the magical BMW-parts-transformation mod?

Unfortunately, nothing yet.

But I've come up with an idea about an alternative way to do the mod. I'm in the process of testing it. It will take a few days however, as I need to build a test fixture to properly verify the accuracy of my mod.

Sounds interesting :-) Pictures of the experimental setup?

No pictures yet, but some news from the headlights mod battle...

I got no return from the "BMW parts mod" guy, nor from the guy from the local suzuki garage. Oh well...

I told I came up with an alternative way to perform the mod. Let's explain a little bit more.

All the methods I read about involve popping the clamshell-like headlight open, to perform the mod. I still have to see one such modified headlight which does still look good and "stock" afterwards. The seal always looks ugly after the mod. Well, maybe it can be done to look good, but if I can avoid messing with this stuff, I'll.

But how to mod the inside without opening the headlight at all? Well, already heard about one of these "boat in a bottle"? Example: http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/b/br/brisa/191217_boat_in_a_bottle.jpg

That's exactly how I'm performing the mod: thru the bulb opening on the back. Obviously, it is quite small, and as such one has to be very careful, and you have to be patient. It definitely requires some proper craftsmanship... Also, sawing into the existing piece of metal is not possible this way. So I work by adding a custom-formed piece of metal to change (reverse) the shape of the light guide. One can either go for symmetrical (flat) output beam, or one can reverse the pattern formed, to get the exact reverse pattern from the stock light. I went for the latter.

I've spent several hours today preparing for and testing if this way of doing could work. The answer is yes: I already have one of my headlights modified, in a non-permanent manner, to assess the correct shape and position of the modified beam. Basically I am able to get the exact reverse pattern than described in the service manual.

Next step will be to make the mod permanent. I've sourced a special glue which is heat (-40/+200°C) and vibration resistant, but I need to see how it does actually perform before starting to mess with it inside the headlight.

Once I'm done (it'll probably be several days from now) and most importantly if I succeed, I'll post some pictures, specifically pictures of the beams before/after.

Py

Sounds like a hard job! Did you cut a piece of metal with the new shape to glue it on the 'old shape' in the lamps?

Basically, yeah. I'm now in the "glue testing" phase...

Something like this?:



Just a thought: How about not glueing it but drilling two holes in the piece of metal as in the existing shape, threading the holes in the exisiting shape and then use two screws? so it would be a reversible mod ..



Reversible or even with the option of having symmetrical light by using another shape ...



... or even better .. apply a batman logo on it! :-D

Yes, something like that. I might go and grab a picture of the thing later today.

I also thought of using screws, and have not ruled that out completely.

Apart from the awkwardness implied in drilling inside there, and then to thread the holes, remember that the added shape has to go all the way down to the lens. Eg, the added piece  of metal has to have the shape of half a "U". Which makes it harder to properly align just using 2 screws. But not impossible...

By the way, is it hard to get the headlights out? Do you have to remove the front bumper?

No, bumper stays in place, but you have to get the plastic lining stuff inside the wheel arches loose for at least the front half. There are 2 hidden bolts down there.

Here it is. Sorry for the bad quality. The hole is about 20 mm in diameter ;-)

Also remember that my add-in part is not properly aligned on that one. I just put it back inside for the picture's sake.

Hey, that looks good! What material did you use? Aluminium? How thick is it?

It is 0,3mm thick steel.

Maybe I'm somewhat over-engineering here, but I might get some aluminium (seems to be what the underlying part of the reflector is made of), or stainless steel, to ensure as much durability as possible.

I had a deeper look at the drilling + taping + screwing way of fixing the thing, and after all it might not be _that_ hard to achieve. In parallel with my glue experiments, I'll see if I can actually get a 2.05mm drill in there (to tap the hole for a M2.5 screw). It would be more elegant (and possibly durable) than the glue solution.

Oh well, we'll see :-)

Just a small update: I ordered the tools I lacked to give a go to the "screws" method. Also some 0,5mm aluminium and 0,5 stainless steel are on their way. Hopefully I can go further with that mod next week-end.

Btw, if I can find an elegant and efficient way to do the mod, do you think it could be a good idea to offer this as a service for a reasonable fee? Just thought of that today. What do you think? Would you be interested?

Well i think it could be a good idea to offer the conversion as a service. Depending on how the results are and what the reasonable fee would be like of course ;-)

Thanks for the feedback, ol@fson. As of yet, there is obviously nothing done. We'll see once I get my headlights properly modified...

I hope i will have the time next weekend to get my headlights out and see if i can manage it without opening the lamp too :-) Is the material in there thick enough to drill a blind hole or do you have to drill thru?

Here's my solution for this ;)
The piece of metal is cut from a spray can :)
http://irc-galleria.net/user/Zygi/picture/97777571

That looks good! Great idea to use a piece of a spray can, so you already have the round shape :-) So you used the 'open-the-headlight'-method, right? Was it hard to separate the shells?

Try to get hold of some projector lamps from an LHD S14 Nissan 200SX / Silvia, as I think these are the same as R32 Skyline projecotrs which are the same as Cappuccino projectors.

R32 Owners in the US use S14 LHD lamp parts to make LHD R32 headlamps.  Could be worth a look?

Andy

Good hint! Just checked them, it has to be the headlight from the S14a, the past-facelift version after 1996. They're quite expensive tho.

Zygi, well done. Basically you did the  same thing than me, only that I would like to achieve it _without_ opening the headlight at all...

Ol@fson, a blind hole probably won't be achievable. But I don't think it does matter: once the screw is in, blind it will be again! ;-)

True :-) Was just curious.

Small update: received the missing tools and the raw material I missed. Hopefully I can go on with this experiment soon.

Hello!

I worked further on this mod today, and I must say that.. It worked! I was able to drill, then thread 2 holes inside the headlight, without opening it. Eg, all the work was done through the bulb opening, on the back.

Here is how it looks like from behind, after drilling/threading:


To make sure the beam has the correct shape, I made comparative pictures. They are not very good quality, but show what has to be seen.

Here is how the beam looks like with no modifications (well, apart the holes, which could be easily blocked by simply inserting a screw in them):


Now, here is how the beam looks like with my added part mounted in place. One can see that the beam shape is perfectly symmetrical with the unmodified one above.


Here is how the added light-guide looks like:


Now, one thing is not perfect, it is the lateral alignment.  But it will be easily fixed by simply making another light guide, which will mount a few mm more to the left. I already made 4 of them to get this result, so one more or one less... ;-)

What do you think of this all?

Py

That looks great :-) Very well done!

Thanks, ol@fson!

One headlight (nearly) done, 3 to go. Yes, I was looking for one cappuccino for more than one year, and ended up buying two of them, 2 weeks apart. One red and one silver...

Congratulations! :-)

BTW, you said you live close the border, did you ever see this Cappo?

Sounds interesting.

Thanks!

No, never seen it. A little bit too "flashy" for my personal taste. I much prefer a stock-looking car, with "invisible" tuning made to enhance performance. I find it really fun to be faster starting at the red lights than some wannabe boy-racer while driving some odd looking car. Well, the cappuccino is not odd looking at all, but you get the idea ;-)

Py

Yeah i know what you mean, i don't like the colour either but it's 1999er with a very low mileage ;-)

According to wikipedia:

“ Quoted Text ” Production of the Cappuccino ceased in late 1997 as the Kosai factory was gearing up for another Suzuki vehicle, and sales came to an end in 1998.

So I'm somewhat curious about that "1999" claim... 1999 import?

71k km are 44k miles. One of mine (the red one) passed the 50k mark while I was driving it home :-) The silver one passed the 68k mark in the same circumstances.

Py

1999 is a bit late indeed .. maybe it just stood in a dealer's showroom for a while. It might be a direct import from Japan. Well anyway, could be worth a look - maybe it's just crap. I live too far from there for "just having a look" unfortunately ;-)

in Belgium, you can only import the '94/'95 models, due to the strict regulations anyway :(

You've done a great job with the headlights!! I am very hapy someone did it for me. In case you get tired of doing the other 3 headlamps, the modified set is for sale at Dour Automobiles where I bought my Cappuccino (he does the mods himself) for 180euros per set (as he told me 2weeks ago). I thought this was a reasonable price? He needs your old headlamps as a parts exchange.

Thanks for your appreciation of my work :-) I spent a few hours figuring out the best way to perform this work, but now I did it once and acquired the tooling required, it is much more straightforward. So the next 3 definitely won't be as painful. Didn't know there was somebody offering this kind of service in Belgium, however.

It is not true that only 94/95 models can be imported in Belgium. All models can get registered in Belgium (even Japanese imports), using what they call "approval on an individual basis" ("homologation à tire individuel" in french). Basically it means a deeper test, and more time and money for the paperworks and this all (about 2 months and 350¤).

So nothing impossible at all, but more annoyance just for a piece of paper...

oh, that is good to know!  I have some friends with Caterhams and they have the same problem.  You can import them, but some of them had to wait for 9 !!! months before all the paperwork was finished. Must be hell if you buy a car and if you can't drive it for 9 months!

After Suzuki Germany didn't want to give me a CoC i contacted Suzuki England to see if they can help me. I got a document from them which says:


Certificates of Conformity (CoC) - AUTOMOBILE
CoCs were a legal requirement for new motor vehicles from 1998, the CoCs have 51 numbered lines and are generally not available for any motor vehicles built before early 1998.
The DVLA will not accept any vehicle to be registered after 1998 without a certificate of conformity.


So it seems as there's no chance to get a CoC at all for most of our Cappos.

Hum, really strange. I have a written confirmation from Suzuki Belgium that they can provide me a CoC for one particular cappo I planned to buy (but didn't at the end)... Still waiting for mine however.

Just thought of this: if I finally can get the proper document, you could go with a copy of it and ask German authorities if it is what they need. If it is, we maybe might organize something to get the paperworks in Belgium first, before registering the car in Germany?

If something can be done this way, I'll be glad to assist and get the paperworks for your here in Belgium.

But there are quite a lot of (well, you see what I mean) of imported cappo on German roads, so there definitely should be a way to get it done. Another paperworks-induce headache!

Thank you for that offer. I will be very happy for any support i can get! I just called my Suzuki Dealer today and told him to get hold of that "Certificate of Construction". It will be car-specific, he needs the buyer's contract and the VIN for it, so i hope it will be kind of "official" enough to help with TÜV. I will post a copy as soon as i have it, which will probably end of next week.

Still waiting for mine... Called the Suzuki dealer to ensure there wasn't another stupid problem, he told me nothing was wrong so far, and I'll get it as soon as he receives it back from Japan...

Finally got a call from the Suzuki guy: he got the CoC for my car in today morning's mail! Now I just have to go, pay and get it!

Hopefully I'll find a way to get there in the upcoming days, because I broke my shoulder 2 weeks ago while skiing, and as such am not able to drive anymore, for the next few weeks :-(

OK, I'm undigging this thread just to let you know that my red Cappuccino passed it's "Belgian MOT" yesterday with flying colors!

I didn't mention anything about having touched the lights to the guy in charge of the check, and here is what he told me:

"Your lights are spot on, and the ray of light's shape is perfect. It's great because with right-hand drive cars we usually get a lot of trouble, but here, there's nothing to complain about, it's just perfect!"

Of course it was a pleasure and a relief to hear such a praise :-). FYI regarding the adjustments after the mod, I just carefully followed the instructions in the service manual (10m from a wall, etc), and it seems it was good enough. So no need to pay garage for this.

Conclusion is, I have figured out a way to modify the headlights for continental usage unobtrusively, and without opening them at all (everything is done through the bulb's hole, as explained earlier).  So I can keep the factory default condition and look of my headlights, and even better, the mod is quite easily reversible if it ever needs to be cancelled. I'm happy :-)

The car is now registered, all I have to do is just drive it! And obvisouly it's heavily raining right now...

Good job !

And you could take advantage of the rain to learn how to drift your Cappu (if you don't already know), it's fun & useful  ;D