Twilight Light Kit for North American M1 MX-5s

		Twilight Light Kit I really don't know the reasoning behind Mazda's use of a not quite ready for primetime front turn signal housing. It increases costs, parts inventory and such. But, that is what we have so we deal. The Twilight kit is pretty strait forward, and $20 well spent if the incomplete look gives you night sweats. Here's a shot at dusk of Tatjana with one Twilight Kit installed (right side looking at this picture) Closeup of a turn signal with the twilight kit installed, taken at dark. Closeup of a turn signal without the twilight kit installed, taken at dark. Here is the parts inventory from the kit. We have: 2 Amber bulb assemblies, with a black and brown lead 4 T-Taps (I call them vampire taps) First step is to remove the turn signals assemblies. 2 phillips heads screws attach them to the front bumper cover. Note these screws are different lengths, so upon reassembly, if you are having problems getting one of the screws to attach to the bumper, this is most likely is the problem. With the assembly out, rotate the bulb wiring harness about 45 degrees. It simply twists in and out, with 3 tabs holding it in (at 120 degrees apart). It should only rotate about 1/4 inch or so. Now the fun begins. The instructions are strait forward, but I disagree with 2 points. The first is their call for a 5/8" drill bit to cut a hole for the new bulb. I didn't have a 5/8's, but I did have a 3/4" from a previous project. When I put the 3/4" bit up against the new bulb housing, it was pretty much the same diameter. If I had used a 5/8" bit, I think the bulb housing would not have pushed very easily into the smaller hole, if at all. So for once, I was not caught with the wrong tool. One thing to note here is that plastic pieces will drop into the reflector part of the turn signal. Shake Shake Shake. Out they come. Be careful not to damage the reflector with a heavy hand on the drill. With the nice tight fit of the 3/4" hole, the new bulb went in without any fuss. Now its time to finish the wiring. The T-taps supplied make this job quite easy. They only problem here with the directions is that they say to tap the black wires together, and the red wire (new bulb) to the red/green stripped wire on the stock harness. Look closely and you see the supplied kit has brown wires, not red ones. I used some baby vice grips to clip down the T-taps securely. The T-Taps splice into the wire, and then an end connector from the new wire leads simply clips into the other end of the tap. Re-connect the turn signals to the bumper with the 4 phillips head screws, wait for some darkness, and go find another miata to park next to :)

Twilight Light Kit

I really don't know the reasoning behind Mazda's use of a not quite ready for primetime front turn signal housing. It increases costs, parts inventory and such. But, that is what we have so we deal. The Twilight kit is pretty strait forward, and $20 well spent if the incomplete look gives you night sweats.

Here's a shot at dusk of Tatjana with one Twilight Kit installed (right side looking at this picture)

Closeup of a turn signal with the twilight kit installed, taken at dark.

Closeup of a turn signal without the twilight kit installed, taken at dark.

Here is the parts inventory from the kit. We have:

2 Amber bulb assemblies, with a black and brown lead
4 T-Taps (I call them vampire taps)

First step is to remove the turn signals assemblies. 2 phillips heads screws attach them to the front bumper cover. Note these screws are different lengths, so upon reassembly, if you are having problems getting one of the screws to attach to the bumper, this is most likely is the problem. With the assembly out, rotate the bulb wiring harness about 45 degrees. It simply twists in and out, with 3 tabs holding it in (at 120 degrees apart). It should only rotate about 1/4 inch or so.

Now the fun begins. The instructions are strait forward, but I disagree with 2 points. The first is their call for a 5/8" drill bit to cut a hole for the new bulb. I didn't have a 5/8's, but I did have a 3/4" from a previous project. When I put the 3/4" bit up against the new bulb housing, it was pretty much the same diameter. If I had used a 5/8" bit, I think the bulb housing would not have pushed very easily into the smaller hole, if at all. So for once, I was not caught with the wrong tool. One thing to note here is that plastic pieces will drop into the reflector part of the turn signal. Shake Shake Shake. Out they come. Be careful not to damage the reflector with a heavy hand on the drill.

With the nice tight fit of the 3/4" hole, the new bulb went in without any fuss.

Now its time to finish the wiring. The T-taps supplied make this job quite easy. They only problem here with the directions is that they say to tap the black wires together, and the red wire (new bulb) to the red/green stripped wire on the stock harness. Look closely and you see the supplied kit has brown wires, not red ones.

I used some baby vice grips to clip down the T-taps securely.

The T-Taps splice into the wire, and then an end connector from the new wire leads simply clips into the other end of the tap.

Re-connect the turn signals to the bumper with the 4 phillips head screws, wait for some darkness, and go find another miata to park next to :)

http://www.eclipse.net/~magnum/miata/twilight-lights.html
Last updated: Tue Jun 15 13:09:08 1999
bvl - bvl@attglobal.net