04-28-21: After doing the frankenstein LED side markers with OEM lenses, the VW Golf/Jetta smoked LED side marker lights just wasn't "working". In all honesty, I pretty much realized right away that I didn't care for how much they stuck out(from the fender), nor the pill shape and obviously the smoked lens.
I knew I wanted a round side marker but was limited by size due to the oblong shape of the hole, which by my measurements I needed at least a 2" and anything bigger than 2.5" was too big. So after spending WAY TOO MUCH time looking for replacements I decided on these....
....United Pacific 2" amber GLO light led side markers, which is technically a manufacturer for semi truck parts.I actually came across these when trying to find LED lights for my custom tail light project which I have everything for except for the housings which are coming from Greece. I am VERY excited about that project but that is all the details for now.
Installing these was pretty straight forward. I laid out blue masking tape and used the grommet as a template, which the grommets were necessary to fully cover the front/rear(left/right) edges of the original opening, traced with a permanent marker and used a dremel rotary tool with cut off wheel to make the initial cuts. I then used a sanding stone on the dremel to round out the hole and obtain the right size, test fitting the grommet along the way. The grommet JUST barely covered the left/right edges of the original hole!
I think they turned out pretty good in terms of placement, how much they stick out...which is about the same as OEM side winkers/markers and they look MUCH better than the smoked VW side markers.
They have a real nice even light distribution due to the light diffuser ring but then one single LED in the middle, which I could have done without but is the only one I could find in that size in amber. It is hard to capture with it hooked up with the turn signal and definitely not the most accurate representation but this is typical when trying to capture lights on film...especially for a amateur such as myself.
I probably should have just hooked up to a steady 12v to show how they light up, which I may still do. I am much happier with these and that basically comes down to shape and color.
*Ford Motorcraft transmission fluid update*: Misfire has around 100 miles since the fluid change and while the 5th gear scratch is greatly reduced and depending on speed/rpm may not even do it but it is still there under certain circumstances. It SEEMS it has smoothed other gears changes but with the very mechanical GRacing shifter, it is kind of difficult to tell.
Odd thing has happened since the fluid change and that is the clutch would slip in 4th/5th(has happened a handful of times), so engine RPM's keep going up but not accelerating accordingly. It is very odd timing but can't see how it would be related to the fluid.
The times the clutch has slipped before is when accelerating rapidly and going to redline. Obviously the SuperMiata organic clutch that is sitting in the garage needs to go on in the next few months.
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