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HID Retro Number 3 (2Ga Headlights)

23K views 80 replies 23 participants last post by  Blurred Talon 
#1 ·
This is HID Retro number 3 for me, always in the quest of the perfect HID set up. My old set up was 4 FX-R projectors but only 2 worked and it looked like ass. I wanted something more OEM looking so I scrapped the old set up.
I'll try and give as much tech in this post as possible.



Set consists of:
Acura TL slope Bi-Xenon Projectors
ZWK-R Clear lenses (for a sharper cut off)
Boosted Bosch AL Gen 2 Ballasts (Rotary switch allows me to turn the wattage from 35W to 70W, not pictured)
Morimoto 5000k D2S bulbs
E46R Extended Shrouds
Cree P4 White and Amber LEDs for Markers/Turns
Nokya Hyper Yellow Bulbs (For DRL use only, not pictured)

Swapped the clear lens into the TLs today. Stock fresnel lens compared to the ZKW-R clear lens.



Separated both headlights.


Going to have to refinish my plastic lenses on both headlights.


I've got a lot of work a head of me making the TLs fit into my headlights.
 
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#58 ·
I just want to say awesome man. Truly cool stuff your doing.

You've given me many good idea's. Can't wait for the finisher. Just a question though, have you had any problems making it all fit inside the Headlight Housing on the Car? I guess what I mean is, is anything hitting on the frame of your front end? Things appear to be fitting snug.

Again, Awesome.:D
 
#59 ·
I might have to trim my crash bar a tiny bit but that's not a big deal.
I'm going to test them on the car next time I get out to it (provided the weather isn't shit), that will be in at least a months time though.

I want to try and mount my ignitor to the headlight housing so I need to see what kind of room I have for that. I also need to gauge the room I have for closing up the back of the headlight.

Thanks for the kind words, glad I'm inspiring some people.
 
#61 ·
I'm still working on these, though not as much now. I've got a whole wack of amber LED now so I'll be redoing both turn signals on either side.
I've got my PWMs now too, so I can get a better idea of what it all looks like. I didn't put the lens in front of the housing but this gives you an idea.
Marker.


Turn.


Also here's a video of my Bi Xenon stutter.
 
#64 ·
Finally working on this again.
Put my stutter circuit into a box, I'll poke this away under the center console somewhere.


Cover on and the NO switch that controls it.


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.


Good rotation.





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.
 
#67 ·
Had some spare time today so I did some work on these.
Transfered the mounts over to the mint headlights.



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


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


Lastly, here's an overall picture of the mounting.
 
#69 ·
Did a bit more work on the lights today.
Trimmed and tested fitted the shrouds.



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


Test fit with the lens on.


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


Mock up of the finished product.


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.
 
#70 ·
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.


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.
 
#75 ·
Working on a little idea I've got, this came from seeing it on some OEM cars.
This is only a test on one of the factory lens I had, not my clear lens. It is not centered and I know that. The one on the clear lens will be.



It's a custom Eagle emblem etched into the projector lens. It doesn't effect the output either.
I tried to repeat this on the clear lens but the Etching Cream won't work so I'm going to have to sand blast it.

I also played with some LEDs to do the demon eye mod, this is a pure show thing for giggles. I actually meant to put the LEDs on the bottom so I will need a new front half.



I've actually got my work shop clean so I can start working on this again. I've got new shrouds to try out on the retro too!
 
#79 ·
Time for an update of this thread lol.

First off, I'm back to E46R extended shrouds. These are the only thing that will fit my housings. I've got a LOT of trimming to get these to fit the TLs and then to get it all to fit into my headlight.


I've always liked having fog lights on my car especially were I live since we get so much fog. Since I've got a front mount intercooler that uses the factory fog mount holes to bolt up I had to think of something else.
Some time in the last year I picked up a set of BMW X5 LED fogs.


I held them up to the car many many times and tried to imagine how to mount them where I wanted them.
I knew I wanted them in the outside vents on the bumper but due to their size this could prove odd.

TRS released a bunch of new model XB LED fog lights and had a group buy earlier this year. I picked up a set of the wife's JK since they had a bolt in option and also a set for my Fiesta (which didn't even have a fog light option).
However, after numerous warranty repairs, I've now deemed the Fiesta unmoddable! It's just a grocery getter until I trade it in and it doesn't need any extras that I won't recoupe. Plus I never drive the thing at night because I'm never home. As a result the XB LED Fog lights are now going on the Talon.


I determined that the ends of the fiberglass bumper/crash beam would put the fog lights exactly were I want them. A bit of aluminum flat stock, some drilling, cutting and grinding later I had them mounted.



One issue, they point to the sides and not straight ahead! But wait! This is why I LOVE thin flat stock aluminum! A pair of vise grips, a lil flick of da wrist and BAM!!!! They're point straight.


Since I'm only using 2 mounting points on either side the opposite unused ones had to go. Bit of dremel action and you can't even tell they were there.



I did more work on the headlights and sort of had them all fitting together and painted. I had to do a test fit to make sure the solenoid cleared on the car. You can see where the fog lights fit.


What happened to the X5 LED fogs you ask, well....I hate visiting this site sometimes.


I'm thinking DRL/secondary fog.

I'm home for my final block of school for my apprenticeship now so this project and some others will be getting some attention and getting closed off finally!
 
#80 ·
Cut the X5 LED housings apart with my trusty Dremel.


Reflector bowl ready to be cut up even more, you can see how much material is removed for the TL projector.


A made a spacer so the hole saw drill bit will stay centered and the hole saw doesn't wonder, I got it to fit better after this picture.


Grabbed my super sweet Milwaukee M18 Fuel Drill and my equally sweet Milwaukee hole saw and cut up the housing. I had to do some trimming with my Dremel of course to get it all to fit 100%.





Should look pretty sweet in the end. Going to paint the reflector bowls Mica black (not sure if rattle or pro) and get either Iris or E55 shouds for X5s.
I'm thinking about painted the center part of the Fog black or maybe red to match the demon eye on the projector.


Used some JB Weld SteelStick to attach them to the reflectors temporarily, that way I can see how much trimming I have to do.



Mounted the reflector bowls back in and messed with the mounting screws a bit, heat sinks on the LED fogs clear perfect so I won't need to do any trimming.


We'll see when I get the lights on and leveled but it looks like the cover will fit too!


I had a single Apollo shroud around so I hacked it up to see if I could get a shroud to fit. It will so I'm going to order some.


Here's the beam shot of the X5 LED fogs, I'll aim them down a bit more when I secure them into the housing finally.


Also tuned the cut off on my TLs, ugly yellow stock cut off.



Sexy purple modded cut off. Used 2 paper lens spacers (the funny beam pattern in the first pic is because the X5 was on....oops).



Taken apart again, I'm going to paint them over the next couple days.


Using Subaru Obsidian Black Pearl. Used it on the wife's retro and really liked the results.
 
#81 ·
Some people collect turbos....I collect LED/HID projectors.

Just before Christmas I picked up a set of Corolla LED projectors for steal. They came complete with the whole headlight bucket and drivers.


Bit of JB Weld Steelstik and they were mounted.


Quick test, much better beam pattern and cut off then the X5s. These are an actual main beam and not a fog light, there was a high chance the X5s would have been cosmetic only and that just didn't sit right with me.



The headlight housing had to be trimmed a tiny bit but other then that they fit fine and the rear cover should go on.


Should look pretty sweet when all done.



I picked up some mirrored acrylic to make block off plate out of, they will go around the projector and hide most of the guts.


My mirrored arcylic idea didn't work out as planned, it's a bugger to cut unless you've got all the right tools plus it's rather brittle.

So I made myself a cheap vacuum table out of some MDF and peg board, the frames were made from screen frames.


Bought some polystyrene sheet, put in the frames and into the oven for a couple minutes till it started to sag.


Turn the shop vac on and pressed the sheet over the headlight.


Molds held on to the headlight reflectors nice and tight.


I made a total of 4 pulls and got 2 decent moulds, I'll likely make some more pulls later as once I trimmed them they were not 100% perfect.



Final trim and laid over the projector. I'll use some Goop or JB Weld to secure it to the projector when the time comes.



I modded the Colloras to get more light and a bit of color back, lens is moved around 2 mm forward and has 3 lens spacers installed. 2nd picture is the stock Corolla on the top and modded on bottom. 3rd picture is a comparsion to the TLs (3Five bulb and ballast, color modded with 2 spacers IIRC).



Finally everything laid back into the headlight, Corolla LED covers and headlight bucket have been painted, still need to repaint the headlight shroud. By the end of the weekend I should have everything hard mounted back into the buckets.


I've now painted the reflector buckets and hard mounted the Corolla LEDs, I've got to make another pull for the cover as the ones I made didn't come out 100% to my liking.
 
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