My lens making thread.

[67-Fury]

This feels like a pivotal moment in the Mopar hobby. Just in awe of how this experiment turned out. Job well done.

 

[GJS]

Gotta say, this is some next level stuff going on here. Cheers, man!

 

[65sporty]

Looking really good, I am sure your next one will be spot on

 

[Slantsix]

Test those lenses against bright sunlight or working bulbs. Difference in original material etc maybe cause them look too dark or too light.

 

[bluefury361]

Incredible effort and results Mike. Very impressive. I suppose a UV test period will be in order soon.

 

[commando1]

Jeezes, you guys gonna want DOT approval, too?

 

[300rag]

Jeezes, you guys gonna want DOT approval, too?

Don't need to. It's already marked on the lense.

 

[Ripinator]

Jeezes, you guys gonna want DOT approval, too?

Yes.

 

[LocuMob]

It took me over a decade to score a pair of near mint original lenses, I can only imagine these 66 300 owners trying to find a pair, Zymurgy could keep busy for a couple years just meeting their demand! And I don't think they will settle for anything less than perfect.

 

[Slantsix]

Jeezes, you guys gonna want DOT approval, too?

Next we want tinted -69 300 tail lenses

 

[Zymurgy]

Addressing he UV situation, the urethane resin is a UV product made specifically for this situation and will not yellow. The resin dye has excellent color retention claims from the manufacturer, only their yellow dye does not.

Just poured the big half of the wrap around lens. Freaking 20lbs of product. I had to do it in 2 pours to fill the box, because my intial calculation was off.

 

[Zymurgy]

Next we want tinted -69 300 tail lenses

I can do that too, I have purple, blue and turquoise. .

Stan got me thinking about color sample slides. The plexiglass is almost the same thickness as the lens. I made a simple open mold that I can made 8 samples.

 

[live4theking]

Go Mike!

 

[Zymurgy]

By the way I did look into an accelerated UV. 10 years would cost me little under 2 Grand sorry I'm going to do it, I will take the manufacturers word for it.

And no I'm not going to get a Rabbi 2 bless it and make it kosher that would be even more expensive.

 

[65 500]

By the way I did look into an accelerated UV. 10 years would cost me little under 2 Grand sorry I'm going to do it, I will take the manufacturers word for it.

Just send one to somebody in Arizona and have them throw it out in their yard for a couple of weeks in the summer.

 

[MarPar]

Paging @azblackhemi...

 

[detmatt]

Incredible Mike, very impressive! As far as how they do in the uv, I would say as long these cars now spend 95% of their life in garages and under covers there shouldn’t be any issues.

 

[Zymurgy]

Slight problem, can't seem to release Excalibur from the stone. I think 2 or 3 men could, but not my wife with no hand strength. The way the lens is made you need to pull the mold from 3 direction and 2 more hands to pull the lens out.

I slept on it and have decided to go ahead and do the second pour to complete the mold. I know I can make a small cut in the mold to remove it safely, and may need to do this just to remove the reproduced lens.

 

[bluefury361]

Perhaps a two piece mold for large items? Are you using a release agent?

I once took on reproducing the speaker grilles used in 1962/3 B body's. I hired a auto plastic prototype company in Michigan to do it. It took a few attempts to get a good mold. I got 40 OEM quality parts before the mold gave up. (They were featured in MCG). Next step was a very expensive aluminum mold.
I sold all the grilles in a short time but the cost was to high and demand to low to justify continuing.
An old mans hats off to you Mike.

 

[Big_John]

Just a thought... You might have a slight vacuum holding the lens in place. Maybe a little bit of low pressure compressed air shot down the sides of the lens might break the vacuum.