el_baby

Materials - retrofit
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oven
hella Audi a6 hid projector - maybe e46 projectors can fit better
dremel - with cutting disks
drill
drill bits
locking pliers
sharpie
springs..................- 6
#8-32x36".............- one to make the adjusting screws
#8-32 screws.........- 10 to hold the supports
#8-32 nuts............- 18 for the adjusting screws, 14 to hold the supports
#8-32 wing nuts.....- 6 for the adjusting screws
#8 washers...........- 24 for the adjusting screws, 22 to hold the supports
#8 locking washers.- 12 for the adjusting screws, 6 to hold the supports (maybe more)
metal panel - I use part of an old computer case

Procedure
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1--remove the bumper and headlights
2--heat the oven to 250 F for 15 mins, when it stops, put the headlights and wait 10-15 mins
---I suggest to do one headlight at a time, because the glue could become hard while you open the first, re heat the oven at 250 F for 5 mins, then when it stops put the headlight for 10-15 mins
3--fit the projector - I had to trim it in the upper and lower parts, and I had to bend the lower part of the projector and the "reflector divisor"
4--try to look where the adjusting screws will go, to cut a piece of metal where it will be
---I make a long part for the lower adjusting screws and extended for both sides, for the possibility of making a 4th adjusting screw
5--after making some marks, cutting, drilling, you will end with the support of the adjusting screws, mount the projectors with the supports
---I use the same position of the adjusting screws, and when I mark where the screws will go (I use a piece of tape and scratch it with a sharp piece), they were very near to the reflector
---if the marks are too close to the reflector, I recommend to give a space where the nut can be adjusted easily
6--insert the #8-32x36" rod through the adjusting holes, make sure that the projector is the most close possible to the black front cover (the one with the halo rings), put a nut, and cut leaving a bit of excess
---the excess of the adjusting screw will be cut at the end
---try to leave the other screws in the projector, as the lengths may vary
7--with all the screws cut, remove one, place a washer, a spring, a washer, two nuts, a locking washer, insert it back and put a lock washer and a nut, tighten the nuts, and do that for all of them
---the springs and washers (not the locking washers) can be inserted at the end
---you will end with something like this -------|\-\-\-\|0---0||#||0-, where the -=screw, \-\-\=spring, 0=nuts, |=washers, #=metal support
---my fear was if when I will go to adjust it, that the screw could move, but it don’t
8--place the projector, put a washer and the wing nut for all the adjusting screws
---check the position, you can vary it by the nut near the spring, until it is right positioned
9--put the headlight in the car and wait until night to see if the aiming is good and no further fix is required, take them out
10-if no fix is required, you are done, it’s time to cook them again!, repeat step #2 and put them back, and the bumper


the angel eyes and led strip will be explained later...



















which of them looks better, with the led strips or without it?

spin_r_g

Sorry to disappoint you but those are not jdm headlights.

Nice write up but I'd try to figure out how to cover the rear of the housing to keep moisture out. You run the risk of them getting fogged up.

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el_baby

sorry 4 that... i was going to put "JDM" Head...

yea... I forgot to mention that... I still need to do the step 9
I think I will use a box as a mold and add silicone, exposy and/or fiberglass...
-I tried to keep the hole smaller, by putting the bulb holder outside and adding spacers to the lens, but the light output was bad

-the reason of the retrofit is that the have halogen projectors and not reflect the light good with hid kit...
--the reason of that I found it in HID Planet, where the halogen bulb have the filaments horizzontal (---) and hid vertical ( | ), and the projector reflectors are different because of that... dont know if the lense is afected by that too...

AliKhan

I did my retrofit with Audi A4 projectors in a JDM Headlight housing.

With that projector/headlight housing, it works perfectly. I imagine the TSX and/or S2K projectors would work just as good, if not better, because...

The stock headlight housing for the JDM headlights has a rubber cover in the back. With the projector mounted to the front of the reflector (I drilled holes in the reflector to mount the projector), you can use the STOCK aiming screws on the JDM housing to aim your projector's beam.

As for the rubber cover.
The butt of the A4 projector just sticks out of the back of the headlight housing, which is covered with an insulating rubber cover (The JDM headlight has this rubber cover). I put a slit in the rubber cover to give room for the ballast->HID connector and ran the ballast wire through it, and into the HID/projector. I slid the rubber cover on, and filled the gap with silicon. This makes for excellent moisture protection. When the silicon dried, I was able to slide the rubber cover on/off easily if I needed to replace the HID bulb (I actually replaced my HIDs 3 weeks ago, as I bought used HID's and one of them was in 'so-so' condition. It bugged out on me). I always replace both HIDs, even if only one is bad. I don't like having two HIDs with different color/temp. output.

I know you've put money and time into this already, but just throwing this out there for consideration.

By the way, nice job mounting that sucker! One thing you might want to do... Where you have the butterfly nut (the ones you put in to adjust the mounting screws). In place of the butterfly nut, put a regular nut with a washer. Then after you make your adjustments, put the butterfly nut over it. This will make sure that it doesn't get loose over time. The spring will do a good job with applying pressure so that this doesn't happen, however, if you go over bumps, and over time, it may slip on you a little. **You can also do it in reverse: Butterfly nut then secure it with another nut (if the nut fits through the butterfly nut's wings).


I've done a few projector retro-fits with different housings before I finally got it right.

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el_baby

I get noticed of the loosen when I cut the excess of screws... but I think I will put the butterfly nut and then another nut...

thanks 4 that

darkbluelude

Nice job with the retrofit so far dude. As a temporary fix until I find some rubber to make a nice seal like the JDM 1pieces have in the rear to make it look nice, I'm just using some electrical tape. You'd be surprised how well that thing sticks to, just about anything, and how durable/weather resistant it is. Tape looks just like it did 5 days ago and doesn't look to be coming off by itself anytime soon. It's a cheap/temporary fix. I have seen people leave it permanently though.

AliKhan

For the temporary fix... Walk into a shoe store or a target/kmart/walmart (in their shoe department). Grab a few desiccants lying around the floor or in some empty shoe boxes (you will find many). Wrap it/them up with some saran wrap, and punch a few holes in the saran wrap (careful not to puncture the desiccant packet).

Take it and adhere it to the inside wall of your headlight housing, preferrably as far away from the HID bulb as possible. Electrical tape would work :P

This will help you fight moisture.


If you don't saran wrap your desiccant packets, that isht has the potential to make a mess.

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el_baby

the electrical tape is a good idea, but jus as you said... as a temporary fix

the saran to wrap desiccant packets, never heard of it..


maybe a plastic juice or milk half galon to cover it and silicone to seal it? i know that with the time and heat they broke easy...

it should be covered from the outside or from the inside?
by outside i mean, covering all the hole including the bulb conector, bulb holder, bulb...
-by this method i dont know how much clearing i will have to do it... from the passenger side there wont be any problem, but the diver side it have limited spacing

by inside, covering the hole around the projector reflector, leaving the bulb, bulb connector, holder with no covering,
-that will leave the hole uncovered from the outside, but the water, dust, ect should not pass from the reflector because of the inside cover... there i would have to make some drain holes...

AliKhan

The saran wrap/desiccant packets is something I just came up with myself. I've used them in many of my personal projects where I did not want moisture. I forgot to mention that the saran wrap thing would be if you were using electrical tape to seal it off. The desiccant would just go inside; between the electrical tape sealed area and the inside of your headlight housing.

Yes, you do want the bulb and bulb connector free from water/moisture. Those need to be sealed.

You are right about the driver's side, it is very tight. During my first retrofit (it was a lot like your's), I was very frustrated with trying to seal that area. Even without sealing it, I had a hard time trying to get the darn thing to fit (ballast and everything). That's another reason I recommend the JDM headlights. They fit =). It's still a bit tight though. The wiring from the headlight housing->relay->ballast was still a bit tricky because of the lack of space... on the driver's side of course. Passenger side is a breeze, especially if you have an aftermarket intake.

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el_baby

to cover the back part i used a plastic (yougurt) glass, hot glue, and silicone

there is no way that the water can go inside... but i have read and ppl talk about covering the connector... any reason about that?

el_baby

making the angel eye...

Materials
--------
acrylic rod 1/4" or 3/8" diameter (mine are all rounded)
oven
dremel
dill bits
leds & resistors
pcb board (printed circuit board) - (optional)
ruler
sharpie

Procedure
---------
Basically i followed this video
Make Angel Eyes Video

For the high beam halo I used the 1/4" dia. rod
I measured the length with a wire
Cut the amount needed

Found something of 2 1/8" (shave gel can)
I used a toaster oven not the cooking oven, @300 F for "pre heat" then put it to 200 F and wait fot 5-10 mins... it heats faster, uses less electricity, ect, but its the same

I used 2 3mm white leds with a 470 ohm resistor for each led
I used 1/8" drill bit to make the led holes

for the led cover i use a plastic container top, mold it in the oven with the angel eye and some paper clips, and later painted it


for the led strips i used 7/64" drill bit... and 6 3mm white leds for each strip, connect 3 led in series with a 470ohm resistor to match the angel eyes output, its supposed to have a 100ohm resistor, but they are too bright


this will be about my final setup

el_baby

almost finihed... this will be my light output...