HID Retro Number 3 (2Ga Headlights)

[slow gst]

Have you thought about doing a 2gb evo projector retro?

 

[Blurred Talon]

you do some nice work! maybe one day i can afford to pay you to make me a set

Thanks man.

Have you thought about doing a 2gb evo projector retro?

What do you mean? Use the Evo projectors in 2Gb housings? If so then no. I don't know much about the Evo projectors and never bothered to look into them. I chose the TLs because they are 'the best' Bi Xenon projectors out there.


A little bit of trimming and the shroud is mounted.

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Uber cool BiXenon stickers/emblems from The Retrofit Source.

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Back in the housing.

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[InfiniteGSX]

Bow Chica Wow Wow!

 

[Detail]

I want to do this so badly. I just don't have spare headlights. Can't decide which ones to start with. I don't think I want the HID high beams. Think I'd rather have the stock ones and use s2k projectors. Do you think I can do the same stuff you've done with the stock stanley headlights, or do you think its best to start with aftermarket ones? Also, do you think for my first retro I should try the s2k's or should I go with the morimoto's?

 

[Blurred Talon]

I want to do this so badly. I just don't have spare headlights. Can't decide which ones to start with. I don't think I want the HID high beams. Think I'd rather have the stock ones and use s2k projectors. Do you think I can do the same stuff you've done with the stock stanley headlights, or do you think its best to start with aftermarket ones? Also, do you think for my first retro I should try the s2k's or should I go with the morimoto's?

S2Ks and Morimoto shouldn't even be in the same sentence, the S2K will blow most projectors out of the water expect the TL imo.
I'm actually going to run both the stock halogen high beam and Bi Xenon high beam for a bit to see how I like it. It's really dark around here at night time.
I would use stock headlights or stock style lights. Don't waste your money on aftermarket projectors.

I was an idiot and didn't sand the projector to give the urethane something to bite on to so I had to redo the passenger side.
Did some work on the driver side and it's almost done, mounted the LED turns and closed up the back of the turn signal housing with a plug. I'll get some pictures later on.

 

[ramsack]

Would you happen to know of any projectors that are full high beam with no beam conditioning (pattern or cutoff)? I like the bi-xenon because the bulb stays lit but I don't like how only the center gets flipped up.

 

[Blurred Talon]

Maybe it's because it's late but I'm not quite sure what you mean, got a picture?

 

[ramsack]

Notice how only the middle gets uncovered. Is this how all bi-xenons are? I like the bi-xenon idea because the bulb stays on instead of maybe waiting for high beams to heat up in another projector. If there was a projector with no cutoff or beam pattern whatsoever, just projected light, that would be sweet.

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[Blurred Talon]

It's just the middle on most Bi Xenons I've seen. I've had E55s, FX-Rs and now TLs. The TL has an awesome high beam though.
Warm up shouldn't take long at all, a couple of seconds if that. My Bosch ALs are warmed up in under 5 seconds.

Started rebuilding the bottom of the headlight.

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The lens just clears the BiXenon Solenoid by a hair. I still need to put the other part of the headlight channel in there.

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I soldered some leads on to the LED turn signal board and mounted it into the headlight. I grabbed this 1" plug from the hardware store and drilled a small hole in it for the leads to pass though.

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Shaved the headlight shroud down to clear the E46R shroud on the projector. I had the projector moved all the way out to make sure I have lots of clearance once it's back together, there will be a bit of a gap but it shouldn't be too noticeable.

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Headlight shroud sitting on the light. I'm working on polishing the lens but I need to get myself a Porter Cable 7424XP Polisher so I can really get the lenses looking great.

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Projector and LEDs fired up, I'm not sure which is brighter.

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[ramsack]

Awesome work! Maybe I'll just get some random projector and just cut the cutoff optics out of it. My H1 SharpHID 55w kit I have for my fogs takes like 10 seconds to warm up. I saw a video of Morimoto and Philips bulbs and they lit up to full brightness instantly. I'd imagine part of that is in the ballast circuitry, too. At least they have just low-beam projectors, maybe I'll start with that instead of tearing apart a more expensive bi-xenon unit.

 

[97blackwidow]

that looks bad ass bro

 

[Blurred Talon]

Awesome work! Maybe I'll just get some random projector and just cut the cutoff optics out of it. My H1 SharpHID 55w kit I have for my fogs takes like 10 seconds to warm up. I saw a video of Morimoto and Philips bulbs and they lit up to full brightness instantly. I'd imagine part of that is in the ballast circuitry, too. At least they have just low-beam projectors, maybe I'll start with that instead of tearing apart a more expensive bi-xenon unit.

I'm running Morimoto bulbs right now. I had 'Digital' Ballasts from Retro Solutions on my last retro and it took them a good 10 seconds to warm up, it seems to be common with all the aftermarket kits.

that looks bad ass bro

Thanks.

 

[Blurred Talon]

Made a bit more progress over the past couple of days.
Both Headlight shrouds are trimmed and it the process of being painted gloss black. I'm using Krylon Fusion and it should match my OEM paint close enough (The Talon didn't have a fancy black paint just black clearcoat).

The big thing is I started to rebuild the bottom of the headlight housing. I plan to use some filler of some sort on top and paint it once I finish the construction of the box. If anyone knows of a filler that will work on Lexan and plastic, let me know please.

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The last side is in place.

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With the cap on it.

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I also received my Nokya Hyper Yellows, these will be my DRL and maybe halogen highs if I decide I want them.

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I had to see what the lights would look like with everything on of course.

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I also made more head way on sanding the driver side lens, just need to do 1500 and 2000 grit and then it's ready to be polished.

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[shadow001dsm]

looking fantastic!

 

[7naYRu7_rs]

Nice! i was thinking about doing the highbeam yellow too at one point, but i thought maybe i would be made fun of, like being called wannabe jdm. i guess its just the way to do it, and you my friend nailed it!!

Ill be waiting for the results!

 

[Blurred Talon]

Thanks!

Yellow lighting is more European then JDM. Years ago France had (and may still have) a law that vehicles had to have selective yellow lighting for their main beams. Of course now all the JDM wanna bes are rocking it simply because it looks cool and not because it's useful. I'll admit my high beams are only a look thing as they are DRLs.

I'm starting this over with new housings, once I get some work done I'll post pictures.

 

[7naYRu7_rs]

Thanks for the light explanation! Hmm drl's, I would of never thought about that!

Like i mentioned earlier, i cant wait to see the results on these lights.
Best of luck Blurred Talon!!

 

[Blurred Talon]

Thanks.
I can't wait to get these done.

 

[805DSM]

How are these coming along?.. How much would u charge to get some Done on some 2Gb headlights?.. They look sick by the way!!.

 

[Blurred Talon]

You have to PM me, since I'm not a freelancer I can't post openly about my services.

I'm working on a different way of mounting these right now, so I will have rotational adjustment. I'll know by the end of tonight if it is going to work for me or not and if it does I'll have them on the car this weekend maybe. However I'm not driving the car just yet.

Finally working on this again.
Put my stutter circuit into a box, I'll poke this away under the center console somewhere.

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Cover on and the NO switch that controls it.

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Also tried the JNC way of mounting the projectors. I wanted to have rotational adjustment because if I epoxy them in and the rotation is off, I'm screwed. So using the spare set of lights I have (got a set of new mint housings to start over with), I gave it a shot.
Bad rotation.

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Good rotation.

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I don't have the pitch screw in because the ones I bought are too short. This mounting method however should work perfect, now I only wish I had the rest of my housing here so I could test fit the whole piece.

 

[Blurred Talon]

Had some spare time today so I did some work on these.
Transfered the mounts over to the mint headlights.

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Here you can see the rotational alignment set up, just some home made L brackets, screws and lock nuts.

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I was a little more conservative cutting the reflector this time around. You can also see the pitch adjustment screw.

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Lastly, here's an overall picture of the mounting.

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[InfiniteGSX]

how you gonna get the plastic 100% clear? My new OEM headlights I'm picking up a set of Morimento's for is kinda lightly scratched... doesn't look new anymore

 

[Blurred Talon]

What plastic?
I picked up a set of new/used Talon headlights, they've got like no mileage on them.

 

[atownturbo]

Super nice, keep up the good work. I am about to retrofit my 1ga pop up lights. While doing research and looking for products my buddy pointed me towards The Retrofit Source online: headlight upgrades for all applications . So I called them and they are really great people, excellent customer service, and we talked on the phone about the retrofit. They were really helpful and pointed me in the right direction.

 

[Blurred Talon]

Super nice, keep up the good work. I am about to retrofit my 1ga pop up lights. While doing research and looking for products my buddy pointed me towards The Retrofit Source online: headlight upgrades for all applications . So I called them and they are really great people, excellent customer service, and we talked on the phone about the retrofit. They were really helpful and pointed me in the right direction.

Funny you mention TRS, I buy all my stuff from Matt and have been doing business with him for a couple of years. I use him for all of my retrofit stuff wither it's my own personal stuff or customers. They are great guys and they go out of their way to help the customer.

Did a bit more work on the lights today.
Trimmed and tested fitted the shrouds.

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Test fitted the headlight shroud. This one was already trimmed from the previous set of headlights.

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Test fit with the lens on.

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That's when I fit a small problem, the Bixenon solenoid hits the lens so more trimming is in order.

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Mock up of the finished product.

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I also set the headlight up on some wood so it was sitting level (checked with a bubble level) and then turned it on, the cut off looks perfectly level so we'll see what it's like on the car. Another thing that makes me happy, the lens doesn't zap any color from the cut off or soften it at all.

Trimmed the lens today, this is just a junk spare lens I had. I'll trim the actual good one when I confirm fitment on the car.

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To seal this up, I'm going to use a sheet of thin plastic that I'll heat and then press it down over the solenoid so it gives me the right shape. I'll then either use plumbers goop or clear silicone to seal it up.