comprehensive projector retrofit writeup
 

The first time i tried to retrofit projectors into my headlights i used the regular 'diamond cut' headlights from ebay. I must warn everyone that those headlights are crap. This time i got the 'angel eye' ones, also off ebay, these are of much better quality and are much easier to work with.

tools needed:
- dremmel
- flathead screwdriver
- philips screwdriver
- access to an oven or heatgun

from left to right: one of the new 'angel eye' headlights, one of the 'diamond cut' lights with the projector swapped over, the original Sylvania sealed beam headlights

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0646.sized.jpg

a closeup of the new 'angel eye' headlight and the old 'diamomd cut' headlight

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0647.sized.jpg

here's what happens when you try to take the lens off the 'diamond cut' lights

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0648.sized.jpg

removing the lens from the headlight i wanted to use required a little more work. leaving it in the oven at 250*F for about 10 minutes softens up the glue enough to pry off the lens without the risk of breaking it

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0650.sized.jpg

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0651.sized.jpg

there is a little notch that you can use to pry the lens from the housing (sorry about the blurry pic)

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0681.sized.jpg

the headlight with the lens removed

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0652.sized.jpg

you can see that the headlight has an inner and outer shell, this is unique to the 'angel eye' lights

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0654.sized.jpg

the headlight is going to look nice with the new bezel

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0655.sized.jpg

very nice

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0656.sized.jpg

there's a slight problem the bezel not clearing the lens, this will be adressed later

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0657.sized.jpg

the projector that i will be using

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0660.sized.jpg

unfortionately it will not fit into the housing without some modification

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0663.sized.jpg

to start of, seperate the inner and outer shells of the housing

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0662.sized.jpg

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0661.sized.jpg

here is where you start hacking away with the dremmel

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0667.sized.jpg

i put the shells back together to test fit the projector

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0668.sized.jpg

looks like i need to cut a little more

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0669.sized.jpg

thats better

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0672.sized.jpg

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0673.sized.jpg

now about that bezel, time to sand it down a bit, though i suggest something safer than my rig

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0671.sized.jpg

you can see i took of a quite a bit compared to the unmodified one

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0679.sized.jpg

and here it is with the projector installed

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0674.sized.jpg

now just to make sure theres room to install the bulbs that light up the angel eyes

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0676.sized.jpg

FINISHED :D

http://gallery.azmaximas.org/albums/...0675.sized.jpg

Man! You put a lot of work into that! I just popped the HID bulbs right into the place of the stock bulbs. They're not as focused as the projectors, but enough.

nah, it only took me about 3 hours to do the swap, and that was while i was taking all the pics for the writeup. plus i like working on my car so even if it did take a long time that really wouldn't pahase me ;)


as far as your HIDs, well they're probably blinding everyone who's coming at you. HID capsules aren't designed to work with regular reflector type headlights, so you will be putting out an immence ammount of glare if you put them into headlights that are designed for halogen bulbs. have you looked at what your beam pattern looks like against a wall? i doubt it has a clean cutoff like projector headlights provide.


what your beam pattern looks like with projectors
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...id_011copy.jpg

what your beam pattern looks like with an 'HID kit'
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...6/fb291d25.jpg

Unless I missed it, you forgot to mention what kind of projectors those are, where you got them, and how much. ^^

very nice....yes sticky this most def.

Also what are those bezels from that surround the lense to clean up the look?
How or where do you attach the projector unit to the H4 housing?

Actually, mine are pretty focused.... they make a lil bit of a wider beam, but about the same height as yours. I don't have any pics against a wall @ the moment, but in this pic, you can tell where the beam is focused (the right headlight is easiest to see in this pic). And in my sig pic, you can see the height from the reflection on the side of the garage.

http://www.got-z.com/forums/album_mo...371959fcdc.jpg

the projectors i used are of the junkyard type, which i pulled from some lexus a long while back. i think it was an ES300, though i'm not certain of that. i'd suggest using OEM parts beacuse they are of much higher quality than the aftermarket kits.

i attached the projector to the headlight housing using GOOP glue, this stuff seriously kicks ass, i doubt you can find a higher quality glue for this project.

the bezel i bought off of ebay, but you can be innovative with what you use on your own project. i'd suggest looking at www.hidplanet.com for more ideas, but the site has been down for a few days now and i don't know when it'll be back. there was a huge thread on there where people posted different things they had used for bezels. a popular one is those metal shields that go under the burners on an elecric oven, i would have never have though of that one myself.

any other questions?

EDIT: now that HIDplanet is up, here is the link to that thread: http://hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2822

pretty nice write-up

yes those projectors are from an es300 some where in the yrs from 1992 n1997 i work in a junk yard