DIY sidemarker install

[markeo]

i did this on my 98 civic, so the specifics are for that car, but other than that its basically the same process

step 1: remove front bumper. i can do this in my sleep and if you cant, this might be too much for you


step 2: remove screws/clips/bolts shown, i broke some of my clips, but the car went back together, so


step 3: take out screws/clips under car and slide side molding toward front of car to remove it


step 4: remove 3 bolts on top of fender under hood, 2 behind where the side molding was, and 1 behind the door, the door has to be fully open to get it out


step 5: i found these measurements from jdm universe, its about 5.5" and 6 1/8". then i drilled a hole at the center of where the tape crossed so i could line up my template on the back of the fender


step 6: line up the your template on the back of the fender centered on the hole, make sure its facing the right way too. i made my own template out of sheet metal, i cut out the basic shape, then gradually made more cuts to get the side marker to fit, and drew it on the tape i put on the fender. im not sure how much if any the tape helps, but it made me feel better, i taped both sides, and touched everything up with paint


step 7: basically the same way i made the template, i cut a smaller hole and gradually got it to the right size to ensure a good fit


step 8: tap into the existing signal wire, on my car (98 civic) its green/red wire for left and green/yellow for right, then just get enough wire to get to where the hole in the fender is, and probably secure it somehow, on this side i wound it around whatever that is in the pic, on the other side i used some zip ties


step 9: get a few of the bolts back on to hold the fender in place, i left the one behind the door out because i used that to ground the light, i just wound a bit of wire around the head of the bolt and tightened it in there. just make sure you are getting a good contact before you seal everything up by turning on the turn signal or 4-ways


step 10: put the rest of the bolts on to finish one side, repeat everything for the other side, put the bumper back on, drive in style

[markeo]

oh, and im going to put a black silicone bead around it to seal it from water getting in there

[Meso Teggy]

nice write up y0

[Frisbie217]

hey, nice write up im thinking about doing this to my teg, but how did you know how big to make the template?
lmk,
-josh

[markeo]

Originally Posted by Frisbie217

hey, nice write up im thinking about doing this to my teg, but how did you know how big to make the template?
lmk,
-josh

i made my template kind of like trial and error, i knew the basic shape and some rough dimensions, and from there i just kept test fitting it and cutting slightly bigger any parts that didnt fit right

[Frisbie217]

alright, so you just test fit the side marker into the template before actually cutting it into the car?

[markeo]

Originally Posted by Frisbie217

alright, so you just test fit the side marker into the template before actually cutting it into the car?

right, i made sure the side marker fit in the template, then used the template to draw the shape on the fender so i knew how big to cut

[Anomoly]

wow you made that way more complicated than it should be YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMOVE SHIT TO DO THIS, all you need is a tape measure, a coat hanger and a unibit in a simple DRILL, you measure both sides, you drill both sides, and you use the coat hanger to pull the wires....you made about 3 hours of work out of 1 if anything you MAY need to pull the inner fender liner, but not the whole fender and bumper cover wtf were you thinking?? ive rewired reastaraunts, and houses, as well as cars, you deffenently made it harder than it has to be, maybe you just dont have the tools?? about the smartest thing you did was tape shit off so the paint didnt flake during cutting

[markeo]

Originally Posted by Anomoly

wow you made that way more complicated than it should be YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMOVE SHIT TO DO THIS, all you need is a tape measure, a coat hanger and a unibit in a simple DRILL, you measure both sides, you drill both sides, and you use the coat hanger to pull the wires....you made about 3 hours of work out of 1 if anything you MAY need to pull the inner fender liner, but not the whole fender and bumper cover wtf were you thinking?? ive rewired reastaraunts, and houses, as well as cars, you deffenently made it harder than it has to be, maybe you just dont have the tools?? about the smartest thing you did was tape shit off so the paint didnt flake during cutting

i cut from the inside of the fender to not mess up the paint. yeah, i probably could have been fine doing it from the outside, but i didnt want to take any chances on it

[Anomoly]

Originally Posted by markeo

i cut from the inside of the fender to not mess up the paint. yeah, i probably could have been fine doing it from the outside, but i didnt want to take any chances on it

you took more of a chance by cutting inside than outside, if you used a rotary tool , you can rip the shit out of the paint by cutting inside to out, you can as well rip the shit out of it by cutting out to in....masking tape was smart, taking the whole car apart was not...........

[CISCODC5]

nice and easy to follow have you done one for a rsx

[markeo]

no, i only did it on my civic, but i would imagine its the same basic process

[soto2635]

nice write up

[Frisbie217]

what did you use to cut it out with