HID retrofit-*pics*...Does it look weird?
04-22-06, 10:02 AM
#1
HID retrofit-*pics*...Does it look weird?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../projector.jpg
I just finished my retrofit last night. Does anyone think it looks weird? It looks like my cars have eyes. lol.
I didn't make a shroud because halfway, I was too tired and I wanted to give this a try. For the bezel, I went out to Ace hardware store and got some plumbing flanges. Home depot and lowes didnt' have this.
My angle rotation is a bit off, but it's driveable. I'll probably fix it later one when I have motivation, say 5 years from now
jk
It takes some time to get use to it, but I was more concern about light output than the way it looks on my car. I know it looks nothing close or good as some of the Q45 retros on here, but I'm faily happy.
EDIT- I'll try to take better pictures.
EDIT #2: new pics;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_01031.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/IMG_0102.jpg
I just finished my retrofit last night. Does anyone think it looks weird? It looks like my cars have eyes. lol.
I didn't make a shroud because halfway, I was too tired and I wanted to give this a try. For the bezel, I went out to Ace hardware store and got some plumbing flanges. Home depot and lowes didnt' have this.
My angle rotation is a bit off, but it's driveable. I'll probably fix it later one when I have motivation, say 5 years from now
jkIt takes some time to get use to it, but I was more concern about light output than the way it looks on my car. I know it looks nothing close or good as some of the Q45 retros on here, but I'm faily happy.
EDIT- I'll try to take better pictures.
EDIT #2: new pics;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_01031.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/IMG_0102.jpg
Last edited by GSteg; 04-22-06 at 04:04 PM.
04-22-06, 10:13 AM
#4
Yes it does light up the road better than the stock HID reflector. The width is definitely better!
My new D2S bulbs should be coming in today/Monday. My current ones are modified D2R bulbs and it's probably on it's last few hours of life. The color is very yellow, where as my friend's is white.
My new D2S bulbs should be coming in today/Monday. My current ones are modified D2R bulbs and it's probably on it's last few hours of life. The color is very yellow, where as my friend's is white.
04-22-06, 10:20 AM
#6
Originally Posted by 1loudLX
yo that looks pretty sick, blacked out JDM style. Nice work, can you take a close up picture of them for us?
This is as close as I can get before my flash kills everything
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../IMG_01031.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/IMG_0102.jpg
(blue light is from my flash bouncing back
Last edited by GSteg; 04-22-06 at 04:04 PM.
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04-22-06, 10:44 AM
#8
Lexus Champion
dude that looks sick! How about parking it out in the sun and not using flash? I really want to see like up close and personal. Like my eyeball was touching the housing, lol!
How long did the retrofit take, and how much of an involved process is it?
How long did the retrofit take, and how much of an involved process is it?
04-22-06, 11:38 AM
#9
Originally Posted by 1loudLX
dude that looks sick! How about parking it out in the sun and not using flash? I really want to see like up close and personal. Like my eyeball was touching the housing, lol!
How long did the retrofit take, and how much of an involved process is it?
basically it's like this:
1. heat the headlight so glue would melt
2. Pry open headlight
3. take out the reflector,
4. put in projector (with Ace Hardware's flange
)5. slap them on the car and aim them so they are leveled (rotationally, horizonally, and vertically.
6. put everything back together.
There is a lot of little steps to do, but by the time I'm done writing it, you can probably finish Moby ****.
These are the TSX projectors. I use them for their sharp cut off and nice width and output. Not to mention, I got them for $100 (after selling the stock TSX housings).
If I had to do it all over again, I would probably be done with the whole thing in a day or two. Though I dont ever feel like doing it again.
here is a picture of one projector (passenger side has projector, driver side has stock reflector)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/IMG_0070.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/IMG_0071.jpg
You can see that the right side has a big hotspot. With the projector, you basically eliminate that as light is evenly distributed. I went for a test drive and ONE projector had better width and output than 2 stock reflector
Light is yellow in the picture because my bulbs are going out. New ones should come in today
04-22-06, 11:53 AM
#10
Lexus Champion
awesome. I noticed with my HID PnP kit for my LX theres a slight "hotspot" dead straight even though i had halogen projectors. I actually like having that one slightly brighter spot as i get better distance from my HID in my LX over the LS. The LS430's projectors are crazy though, they light up so much area with a really even amount of light.
04-22-06, 02:28 PM
#12
Not to mention the LS430 projectors cost several times more
I'm thinking of selling my current retro and building a new one using the new FX35/45 bi-xenon projectors. Seems like they have a pretty nice output and they dont cost too much.
How did you mount your projectors? Did you just drill onto the bowl and bolt it on the actual bowl, or did you make the mounts for the projector to bolt onto the mounting screws on the housing?
Also, just a suggestion, you should of cleared out the turn signals while you were at it . I redid my retrofit last weekend since it had little quirks and things I didn't like the first time I did it. Another thing, if you ever plan to rip the headlights apart again to clear out the turn signals, maybe paint that bezel flat black. The bezels on mine are black and it gives the housing a much cleaner look. 
I'm thinking of selling my current retro and building a new one using the new FX35/45 bi-xenon projectors. Seems like they have a pretty nice output and they dont cost too much.
How did you mount your projectors? Did you just drill onto the bowl and bolt it on the actual bowl, or did you make the mounts for the projector to bolt onto the mounting screws on the housing?
Also, just a suggestion, you should of cleared out the turn signals while you were at it
. I redid my retrofit last weekend since it had little quirks and things I didn't like the first time I did it. Another thing, if you ever plan to rip the headlights apart again to clear out the turn signals, maybe paint that bezel flat black. The bezels on mine are black and it gives the housing a much cleaner look.
04-22-06, 02:35 PM
#13
Originally Posted by JeffTsai
How did you mount your projectors? Did you just drill onto the bowl and bolt it on the actual bowl, or did you make the mounts for the projector to bolt onto the mounting screws on the housing?
Also, just a suggestion, you should of cleared out the turn signals while you were at it . I redid my retrofit last weekend since it had little quirks and things I didn't like the first time I did it. Another thing, if you ever plan to rip the headlights apart again to clear out the turn signals, maybe paint that bezel flat black. The bezels on mine are black and it gives the housing a much cleaner look.
. I redid my retrofit last weekend since it had little quirks and things I didn't like the first time I did it. Another thing, if you ever plan to rip the headlights apart again to clear out the turn signals, maybe paint that bezel flat black. The bezels on mine are black and it gives the housing a much cleaner look.
It'll be awhile before I take apart my headlights again. At this point, I'm too pissed tired to do anything else. Actually, USPS man came and brought me new Philips 4300k bulbs. time to put them in!
04-22-06, 02:51 PM
#15
Originally Posted by GSteg
I completely eliminated the bowl. I made the mounts out of acrylic glass and used the reflector's mounting thing so I could adjust the veritcal and horizontal aiming.
I didn't really like the turn signals all clear. It looks weird to me, though most people find that better
It'll be awhile before I take apart my headlights again. At this point, I'm too pissed tired to do anything else. Actually, USPS man came and brought me new Philips 4300k bulbs. time to put them in!
I didn't really like the turn signals all clear. It looks weird to me, though most people find that better
It'll be awhile before I take apart my headlights again. At this point, I'm too pissed tired to do anything else. Actually, USPS man came and brought me new Philips 4300k bulbs. time to put them in!
. Currently I just bolt the projector onto the bowl so I still retain the vert/horiz adjustability. I'm going to post up a DIY on my retrofit eventually, but im always too lazy .Also, about those HID bulbs. If they are brand new I think there is a 100hrs or so break in period. The lights will be very yellow when you first install it. Then after a while it will whiten out. If they are used bulbs, then carry on.