BLK13X

Hi guys,

Well after a lot of uhhming and ahhing I've decided to do a retrofit on my Soarer. At the moment it is a work in progress, so this thread will be updated anytime something fails/is accomplished.

Parts Used

• D2S projectors... on some older units you can flip the light pattern shield to be RHD but in many cases the modern ones can't so you'll have to fabricate something from scratch
• Ballasts, either OEM or aftermarket components (if aftermarket you WILL need ballast - D2S bulb connectors)
• D2S bulbs (D2S projectors can't take HB3/4 bulbs...)
• Wiring harness (usually can be found on eBay or just make one yourself)
• Spare headlights (unless you plan on doing this all in one day)
• Junk headlight (this is for me, anyway... I haven't pulled apart a headlight before so I'm going to try a few things with my broken headlight I have sitting on the floor

At the moment I've only got the spare headlights, junk headlight and donor headlights from an RX330. I could use my existing HID kit however I'm planning to go the whole hog and replace the ballasts with the factory stuff.

BLK13X

A few days ago I got the RX330 headlights pulled apart using the oven trick. Before I get to that though I opened up the smashed Soarer headlight (pictured above) and as you can see it is quite murky and generally yuck.

If you've got yellow headlights (and you've done the outside wetsand and can't get rid of it) give it a shot... 9 minutes @ 150C degrees in a fan forced oven. I polished one up to see what the hype was all about and DAMN it looks as good, if not better, than the headlights I've currently on my Soarer. Mind you, I only spent about 5 minutes on each side of the lens and the chrome plastic inside.

Here's a pic of the test headlight with the projectors pulled from the RX330 headlights...


So I got to the good bit of the headlights... the projectors. From what I can see it's quite smaller (length) and wider than the original projector.


Projector Unit Sizes

Soarer: 160mm x 126mm
RX330: 150mm x 143mm

Mind you these include the mounting brackets into the headlight, I will be fabbing up a set of mounting brackets to hold the D2S projectors in place with full aiming adjustment using the original Soarer adjustments. I'll also have to somehow integrate the RHD shield as the shield is press bent into the mounting bracket. You can also see that this projector is one of the newer types and the shiled cannot be flipped to show either RHD or LHD, it is specific to RHD only.


A pic of the factory RX330 bracket...


Even though the RX330 projectors are larger overall the lense (Fresnel type) is about 2.5" compared to the Soarer's 3" - I'm planning on using the factory shroud to fit around the D2S projector.

I had the set up briefly mounted into the junk headlight to see how it looks all fitted and it's barely noticeable (besides being a tiny bit smaller than the original projector lens).

BLK13X

Here's a few pics of the stock headlight housing with the factory and RX330 projector (test fitting... trying to figure a way to rig up a mounting bracket).

Fiddling with the RX330 projector...


Can barely tell that there's a different projector in there... exactly what I'm going for. Look how nice the lens turned out though!!!! It's not only Soarers that have yuck headlights, many Skylines headlights and the like I have seen are absolutely atrocious... even if you're not planning on doing the whole hog retrofit you might as well give your headlights a freshen up.

BLK13X

I was working up until 3am this morning trying to figure out how to make this bracket to fit all the requirements, and I think I'm closing in on it...


Prototype 03

This bracket has the provisions for the aiming adjustment plus fitting snugly behind the chrome plastic (so far).

Here's the original RX330 bracket...

... and the prototype...


Test fitting the RX330 projector onto the prototype bracket...


... and in the headlight. It's a very snug fit in there (rear cap won't go on as it interferes with the headlight retainer clips), so I may need to extend the rear of the headlight (probably use some PVC piping).




I think it's looking alright though... sitting pretty




That's it for the time being I'm going to get a pair of brackets made out of aluminium sheet so I'll update once again when those get done.


Hope you guys enjoyed! Keep posted for updates.




Jose

LXMN

Very nice.

Any reason why you decided to use those particular projectors (RX330)?

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Great writeup, thanks Looking good so far

BLK13X

No worries guys I try to do my best lol

LXMN, a few reasons...
1. Trying to find a set of RHD projectors here in Australia SUCKS... I couldn't source any from the wreckers. These came in a pair of near mint headlights (apparently a warranty replacement part).
2. Output (from pics and real life observation) looks nice. I know they aren't the best but they sure beat the crap outta the factory Soarer projectors.
3. They cost me a case of beer

JnC

iTrader: (3)

I would stick with the OEM RX shield if i was you, a small imperfection in the shield is going to show huge in the output. Your custom bracket/shield looks good but trust me on this one that you dont want to replace the OEM shield with a custom fabricated one. Use your bracket in conjunction with the OE RX bracket. The opening in the middle of the bracket/shield is crucial to the output, cut around the OE bracket and tie in your bracket some how to hold the projector in place while being still able to utilize the factory adjusting screws.

As far as sourcing RHD projectors in AUS is considered, let me know if you need any help with the retro. I personally know 4 guys from Australia who have done retrofits in the past through HIDplanet.com/forums.

Again I can stress it enough to stick with the OE shield rather than the custom fabricated one.

BLK13X

Cheers JnC, I'll keep that in mind

BLK13X

Not much update on this project unfortunately, it's 4am here and I have just finished a design that will hopefully be good for a mounting bracket. It's in the fine tuning stages at the moment




What do you guys think?


Jose

JnC

iTrader: (3)

Looks great, you have access to waterjet machine? or going to cut it with a rotary tool?

ACleanSC4

iTrader: (7)

Great work Jose! Its gonna look awesome!

BLK13X

Thanks guys

It's a mate of mine that works in a steel cutting place, all I have to do is provide the DXF file to them.

BLK13X

Hey dudes,

While messing around with the headlights last night (a mate of mine is doing a retro on his Y32 Cedric) we were discussing if the auto-leveling function could be incorporated into the retro. Has anyone been successful in fitting one to an SC headlight? I'd be worried that the headlight would suffer from leakage if it wasn't sealed properly and that the motor/solenoid unit is too big for the headlight back housing.

What do you guys think?

Rollin'ES3

I say it looks good so far. Cant wait to see it all done.