|
|
SUPPORT ZPOST BY DOING YOUR TIRERACK SHOPPING FROM THIS BANNER, THANKS! |
Post Reply |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
02-27-2012, 08:20 PM | #1 |
Colonel
140
Rep 2,120
Posts
Drives: ///M Roadster + E92 335i 6MT
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Park Ridge NJ + Windermere FL
|
Built my own 3M Sun Gun for under $40 :)
10% of the original cost of a 3M sun Gun I have the exact same thing except I had the fun of building it myself lol
OK so for those NOT in the know, What the bloody hell is a 3M Sun Gun? Well, I'll show you, http://3mcollision.com/3m-pps-sun-gu...kit-16400.html Its a cordless light that is widely known to the detailing community to be the best swirl finder money can buy, Sadly these little buggers come with quite the price tag, The retail on them is around $400, To me that is ludicrous for a light, So I decided to make my own following various other detailing enthusiasts ideas, So where to start, Well Firstly you need a 12v Cordless Drill, and 12v is very important, 18v is too high for the bulb, 14.4 is ok but 12 is ideal, So First you need the 12v Drill, Then you need the exact same bulb that's in the 3M gun, The Solux 4700K Daytime light, Then you need a holder for this light and then its pretty much plug and play, I'll walk you through my steps, First the drill, a wonderful absolutely nothing wrong with run of the mill 12v Skil Drill, (even came with its own case) Next the Solux bulb and connector, After which you open the drill, and then take out the motor and chuck, Test fit the bulb in the chucks grooves, and wire the 2 very simple wires that come from the trigger to the bulb connector Of course now would be a good time to test it before you put it back together, Great! Now simply put the case back together and your left with something that should look like this and it fits nice back in its case with room even for a spare bulb! Ok so now on to some test shots (I know they are not the greatest) Firstly a badly swirled Ford F Series Pick Up, Next a Chevy Malibu in a sad state Finally my other BMW *smug* * smug* with no swirls a deep gloss Hope you guys like it, I was even thinking of wrapping the Skil red case in carbon fabric material lol, Even though the first thing you think is that this bulb will melt the housing your wrong, It gets slightly warm to the touch, but never hot, You don't really have it on for more than 30 seconds at a time anyway, Its not a flashlight, Its a swirl spotting light, Even though it will light up a room better than any flash light I have ever seen lol, I was thinking of going the extra mile and adding a small computer fan so blow on the back of the bulb but it really doesn't get that hot, Not sure how many detailers we have on this site but its pretty cool to me,
__________________
Imola Red Roadster |
02-27-2012, 09:20 PM | #3 |
Colonel
140
Rep 2,120
Posts
Drives: ///M Roadster + E92 335i 6MT
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Park Ridge NJ + Windermere FL
|
Something always comes in handy after you have thrown it away!
This little bugger is a new unit that I got for a stupidly low price I didn't feel so bad breaking it up
__________________
Imola Red Roadster |
Appreciate
0
|
02-27-2012, 10:11 PM | #4 |
Lieutenant Colonel
100
Rep 1,546
Posts |
Awesome! Love the DIYers out there that come up with this kind of stuff!
__________________
|
Appreciate
0
|
02-27-2012, 11:41 PM | #6 |
Brigadier General
463
Rep 4,531
Posts |
That's awesome.
I use 2 500w Halogen Stands, but they don't really help much on the roof, hood and trunk. I have to depend on a smaller 250w bulb and fluorescents. I may have to do this |
Appreciate
0
|
02-28-2012, 12:45 AM | #7 |
Second Lieutenant
19
Rep 232
Posts |
Awesome! I'm going to do it!
__________________
CDV delete, clutch stop, BMW pedals, Strongstrut bar, CF rad & coil cover, M3 reps, roundel under hood, Intravee II, air bag sticker delete, first aid storage, painted reflectors, headlight washer disable, Skyer CF front lip, Short shift kit, Leather Z arm rest, Stromung exhaust, RPI scoop, RTAB limiters, powerflex bushings, TC Kline DA coilovers, PB big brake kit, Skyer CF rear spoiler and diffuser, oil pressure and water temp guages.
|
Appreciate
0
|
02-28-2012, 05:53 AM | #8 | |
Colonel
140
Rep 2,120
Posts
Drives: ///M Roadster + E92 335i 6MT
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Park Ridge NJ + Windermere FL
|
Quote:
and 3M's gun is known as the best of the best and I've always wanted one, I just couldn't justify the price, so I made my own lol, Its the exact same spec bulb as 3M use too,
__________________
Imola Red Roadster |
|
Appreciate
0
|
02-28-2012, 05:56 AM | #9 | |
Colonel
140
Rep 2,120
Posts
Drives: ///M Roadster + E92 335i 6MT
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Park Ridge NJ + Windermere FL
|
Quote:
I've seen people put them in a bunch of different drills, mostly over at detailingworld.co.uk, British site, But then again I am a Brit lol, Just most of the drills they use are not available in the US so I had to do some searching for one over here that I could use, and even though its a good thing, for this project its not, but most handheld powertools are 18v now, Rare to see a 12v anymore,
__________________
Imola Red Roadster |
|
Appreciate
0
|
02-28-2012, 09:07 AM | #10 |
Second Lieutenant
7
Rep 273
Posts |
What is the diameter on that MR16 bulb? I could do a quick 'snout' measurement to make sure it would fit, if I happened to run across a cheap 12V donor drill ...
|
Appreciate
0
|
02-28-2012, 11:09 AM | #12 |
Second Lieutenant
7
Rep 273
Posts |
I saw you had a spare in your case (perhaps it was just the box from the original), so thought it might be handy to check. I found this info online - it looks like it's a 2 inch bulb:
The number after "MR" indicates the diameter of the bulb in eighths-of-an-inch. If you are using an MR16 light bulb, your bulb is 2" in diameter. I'll keep my eyes open for a suitable cheap 12V drill kit ... Cheers |
Appreciate
0
|
02-28-2012, 12:12 PM | #13 | |
Colonel
140
Rep 2,120
Posts
Drives: ///M Roadster + E92 335i 6MT
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Park Ridge NJ + Windermere FL
|
Quote:
__________________
Imola Red Roadster |
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-01-2012, 06:05 PM | #15 |
Lieutenant General
2444
Rep 11,667
Posts |
Very creative.. I love it!!!!
__________________
'21 M2C Hockenheim Silver
'18 718 Cayman S Lava Orange (sold) '13 E92 M3 Santorini Blue (sold) '07 Z4 M Coupe Alpine White (sold) |
Appreciate
0
|
03-01-2012, 06:13 PM | #16 |
M = Midlife Crisis
67
Rep 2,006
Posts |
I happen to have an old 12V Dewalt handy!
__________________
2006 Z4MC - #LL93158
SS Race Cans, RE X Pipe, DKF Sec 1, Fabspeed Headers, OE STB, AS Shifter, Dave Z CDV, GC Coil Overs, Stoptech lines, Hawk DTC Pads, RE Clutch Stop, RE Transmission Mounts, Vibra-Technics Engine Mounts, Poly FCAB & RTAB, LeatherZ M Shift Boot, Tekarbon Rear Spoiler, CF Grills, Advan RS DGM |
Appreciate
0
|
03-01-2012, 06:15 PM | #17 |
Captain
116
Rep 855
Posts |
nice i will make myself one of these very soon
__________________
2014 335i M Sport
2010 328i M Sport 2007 Z4MC #1019/1815 (Sold) 1997 M3 (Sold) 1991 325i |
Appreciate
0
|
03-02-2012, 03:31 PM | #18 |
Lieutenant
66
Rep 483
Posts |
This is awesome! I love the resourcefulness of our community!
You should post this over on autogeek.net/forums. They'd go ape over something like this. Thanks for the DIY! |
Appreciate
0
|
03-02-2012, 04:06 PM | #19 |
Colonel
140
Rep 2,120
Posts
Drives: ///M Roadster + E92 335i 6MT
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Park Ridge NJ + Windermere FL
|
I'm always buying stuff from autogeek,
Didn't even know they had a forum lol! Love this little light
__________________
Imola Red Roadster |
Appreciate
0
|
03-05-2012, 09:12 PM | #20 |
Lieutenant General
2444
Rep 11,667
Posts |
__________________
'21 M2C Hockenheim Silver
'18 718 Cayman S Lava Orange (sold) '13 E92 M3 Santorini Blue (sold) '07 Z4 M Coupe Alpine White (sold) |
Appreciate
0
|
03-05-2012, 11:13 PM | #21 |
Private First Class
40
Rep 170
Posts |
What's wrong with a flashlight, what makes this so much better? Real question not trying to sound like a di*k
__________________
08 M roadster
|
Appreciate
0
|
03-06-2012, 09:47 AM | #22 |
First Lieutenant
68
Rep 313
Posts |
The light from the sungun can replicate the effect of the sun hitting your cars paint, that's generally where you see the most swirls or spider webbing. Basically its a very strong concentrated light vs the dispersed light of a flashlight (someone chime in if I'm way off lol).
More info here: http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/foru...d.php?t=202530 There are a bunch of threads about it there. |
Appreciate
0
|
Post Reply |
Bookmarks |
|
|