Would there be a demand for these?

[Kris Guilbeaux]

I have been looking for reproduction Mazda Navajo headlamps and turn signals. No one makes them. If you own a Navajo you might be aware but they are discontinued. Mazda suggests you convert your headlamps to Explorer ones. The driver side lamp has not been made since 1997 and the passenger side was made last in 2004. So driver sides are much harder to locate in the condition as seen below.

If you are a Navajo owner would you look in to purchasing reproduction lamps if they were available?

 

[Anime]

There probably would, but it might be pretty low as most people looking to replace their headlamps usually do so because of a front-end collision, and they wind up needing the other hard-to get parts like the grille, which is what seems to prompt the change to the Explorer parts.

New lamps would probably need to come from a supplier in China or Taiwan, and likely wouldn't be as high quality as the factory originals.

There might be a small market for those who want to replace them due to UV damage and yellowing, but the repair kits for polishing and protecting polycarbonate lenses are getting better and that might be the best option.

As always, it'd probably be about price. People probably wouldn't want to pay twice as much for new knockoff parts when an Explorer conversion is a lot less.

I'd say maybe the way to go would be with the newer diamond-cut lamps, which would offer an alternative to the factory fluted lenses. The quantity for an order from a major supplier would be pretty big though, even if everyone on the site with a Navajo ordered two pairs, I doubt it'd even come close to the minimum quantity. Worth looking into though, maybe some of the manufacturers would be interested but just never produced them.

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

The reason I am asking is because like myself. Most of the Navajos I am seeing these days have pretty shabby looking lenses due to age. The polish works ok, but not near a like new result. I have been looking at different manufacturers for what cost would be to get these made for the Navajo owners that want reproductions.

Also if I was able to move forward with this, would a crystal clear lenses be the choice of people looking to purchase new lamps for there Navajo

 

[Anime]

The polish should give a like new result, if the lenses are sanded first to remove all of the old UV coating, then polished several times, and finally protected with either a temporary or permanent UV protectant.

My only concern with the diamond-cut housings would be if a company would actually put the R&D in to design the reflector correctly. Plenty of the diamond-cut housings on the market do a pretty poor job because the reflectors are just thrown in there and not designed specifically for the particular housing or the bulb that goes in it. If you get a bargain price from a manufacturer I'd be worried this is what you might get.

Also, if I were paying someone to manufacture new housings, I probably wouldn't have them design it to use a 9004 bulb like the stock one. Something like an H13 or even just a good 'ol H4 would do better. Obviously you'd need to change the plugs or use adapters. I'm not sure any manufacturer would do this though, since those who make new aftermarket lamps tend to rely on making a carbon copy of the original rather than making any sort of improvements.

Another alternative (probably more expensive though) would be to have the new lamps designed as projectors or even HIDs.

If you're not able to get enough interest for a bulk order of reproductions, you might look into re-using stock Navajo housings as bases for projectors / HIDs (same as done with many model years of Explorer housings), and just having clear, non-fluted plastic lenses made as protective covers for them.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280035