[Sherhart]

Originally Posted by bienarcis

Been busy with finals last week, but here's CharlieVu's headlights that I've been working on. Finishing it up soon so hopefully I can post up a DIY right after.

Screw finals. You have a full-fledge business here if you want it. Buy a few sets of halogens for cores and go to town. I guarantee you can make $500-700 a set (charge a refundable core deposit) and guys won't even bat an eye. I know I wouldn't.

Jimbo

[IancoleTX]

Clean work brother! You need to start cranking these out for all the halogen guys

[goon]

Originally Posted by Sherhart

Screw finals. You have a full-fledge business here if you want it. Buy a few sets of halogens for cores and go to town. I guarantee you can make $500-700 a set (charge a refundable core deposit) and guys won't even bat an eye. I know I wouldn't.

Jimbo

+1 my only hesitation right now is being without my car for two weeks.

[bienarcis]

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by dtn

Nice work! The rings look nice! Isn't it a b*tch to cut and bend and sand? LOL. I hated the process but it comes out looking so modern/futuristic looking from such a simple design, and the DIY is definitely really fulfilling.
My only gripe would be that your projectors jut out too much. Have you ever though about doing this with the xenon housing?

Thanks bro! It's definitely a lot of work and the process takes forever, but definitely worth it in the end.
Dude I've been griping about the same thing ever since someone mentioned that it would look better with the outer halos pushed out more. I might just get busy this weekend to redo mine and do a bunch of cutting to push the projectors back.

Originally Posted by Sherhart

Screw finals. You have a full-fledge business here if you want it. Buy a few sets of halogens for cores and go to town. I guarantee you can make $500-700 a set (charge a refundable core deposit) and guys won't even bat an eye. I know I wouldn't.

Jimbo

hahahah! wish I could say that Jimbo, but I gotta finish school LOL! that's definitely a great idea though and trust me i've thought about it. But I'm only one guy and it takes such a long time to do. If I get my hands on some cheap halogens then I just might.

Originally Posted by IancoleTX

Clean work brother! You need to start cranking these out for all the halogen guys

Thanks man! I'll try my best lol

Originally Posted by goon

+1 my only hesitation right now is being without my car for two weeks.

Yeah man especially if you daily it. Would be easier if you lived locally from me haha

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by bienarcis

Dude I've been griping about the same thing ever since someone mentioned that it would look better with the outer halos pushed out more. I might just get busy this weekend to redo mine and do a bunch of cutting to push the projectors back.

The reason I asked if your lights and Charlie's lights use the same projectors is that they did seem different. Maybe it was just the camera angle of the two sets of pics (yours and his) but they do seem to stick out more in his case.

I was curious if there are any drawbacks of extending the length of the acrylic extrusions on the outer halos so that they match/line-up better with the projectors? They currently look like they are about 3/4" or so in length... so say, lengthen them to 1" to 1.5"? Would that make them look weird? That might require lengthening the inner ones too to make them match...

Come to think of it, I didn't even consider mounting the projectors further back. When I went back to some of blueaudi18's work, it seems like he was able to recess the projectors pretty far back and keep the acrylic extrusion length to a minimum. I noticed the tip/end of the projector is flush with the LED rings, and even recessed a little ways back like in the last pic (in the dark). I'm wondering maybe if retrofit source might sell mini xenon projectors that have a lower/shorter profile... to fit in tighter/smaller housings. i'll take a look this weekend...

[bienarcis]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

The reason I asked if your lights and Charlie's lights use the same projectors is that they did seem different. Maybe it was just the camera angle of the two sets of pics (yours and his) but they do seem to stick out more in his case.

I was curious if there are any drawbacks of extending the length of the acrylic extrusions on the outer halos so that they match/line-up better with the projectors? They currently look like they are about 3/4" or so in length... so say, lengthen them to 1" to 1.5"? Would that make them look weird? That might require lengthening the inner ones too to make them match...

Come to think of it, I didn't even consider mounting the projectors further back. When I went back to some of blueaudi18's work, it seems like he was able to recess the projectors pretty far back and keep the acrylic extrusion length to a minimum. I noticed the tip/end of the projector is flush with the LED rings, and even recessed a little ways back like in the last pic (in the dark). I'm wondering maybe if retrofit source might sell mini xenon projectors that have a lower/shorter profile... to fit in tighter/smaller housings. i'll take a look this weekend...

Yeah I think it's the angle of the pic but it's the same as mine. The only problem with making the acrylic wider would be fitment issues and not being able to adjust the light output. I had this problem on mine. When adjusting the light output I had to watch the acrylic (particularly the larger ring) carefully to make sure I wasn't forcing it against anything while going up or down. It moves with the reflective housing since I have it mounted there. I'm gonna try to redo mine and try to push the projectors back and hopefully there's enough room in the back housing. I just didnt wanna do excessive cutting in the beginning of this project, but I bet it would look a lot better. I think that last pic maybe an oem xenon headlight with custom extrusions, but I get exactly what you're saying. Dude let me know if retrofitsource has one smaller! Less cutting is always a better solution in my opinion and there's always room for improvement!

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by bienarcis

Dude let me know if retrofitsource has one smaller! Less cutting is always a better solution in my opinion and there's always room for improvement!

Which morimotos do you have? Is it the mini stage III (H1)'s?

[bienarcis]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

Which morimotos do you have? Is it the mini stage III (H1)'s?

yup and when I was reading the specs they seemed to be the smallest

[ji99lypuff]

Yes, the ones in the pics are def oem headlights with custome acrylic on them. The led eye brows give that away.

[squidlyboy]

I was poking around on retrofit source and found a guide that walks you through your retrofit requirements. I measured one of my spare halogen housings and it was around 5 inches (127mm) so I picked the 'tiny' housing size and found these matchbox xenons.

They claim to be the 'world's smallest projector' and have the following specs:

Max Depth: 110mm
Max Width: 75mm
Max Height: 55mm
Lens Diameter: 1.8 inch
Mounting Shaft: Diameter = 22mm
Housing Depth: Minimum = 45mm

When i compared them to the Morimoto Mini H1 6.0 Bi-Xenon projectors (which is what comes default in the Mini Stage III (H1) Retrofit Kit), they have

Max Depth:136mm
Max Width:87mm
Max Height:70mm
Lens Diameter:2.5"
Mounting Shaft: Diameter = 20mm
Housing Depth: Minimum = 107mm

I don't fully understand what these specs mean yet, but in the case of the Max Depth, its a full inch shorter and the minimum housing depth is almost a 5.5" difference! I'm imagining the pics you posted and where the projectors tips would be if they were a full inch more recessed into the reflector housings, and it looks like it would be close to flush in that situation? Seem about right? Btw... were you able to do the re-work on your projectors this weekend? If so, how did it end up...

But one concern i have about these matchbox lights is that in the specs, it says that they are 'Fog Light Specific' even though in the description it says 'Low and High Beam Compatible'

I'm going to give them a call tomorrow to get the scooops

EDIT: I didn't notice this until now, but in the picture of the matchbox, they actually have what appears to be your mini H1 along side of it. If its the same projector you are using, you can see a side-by-side comparison of how much smaller the matchbox is. man, i think it might be TOO small... i'm going to take a look at that Blazer projector in the middle of the two. Maybe thats the sweet spot...

[dtn]

Yep. All of those pictures are the OEM xenon housings. That's the only way to not have the projectors jut out, I believe. There's not a lot of room back there to recess back.

[CharlieVu]

Retrofit source and hid planet has members who sale small projectors to hit. 1.75"-3" if preferred. When I get the headlights this week, I'll take closer photos.

[bienarcis]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

I was poking around on retrofit source and found a guide that walks you through your retrofit requirements. I measured one of my spare halogen housings and it was around 5 inches (127mm) so I picked the 'tiny' housing size and found these matchbox xenons.

I don't fully understand what these specs mean yet, but in the case of the Max Depth, its a full inch shorter and the minimum housing depth is almost a 5.5" difference! I'm imagining the pics you posted and where the projectors tips would be if they were a full inch more recessed into the reflector housings, and it looks like it would be close to flush in that situation? Seem about right? Btw... were you able to do the re-work on your projectors this weekend? If so, how did it end up...

But one concern i have about these matchbox lights is that in the specs, it says that they are 'Fog Light Specific' even though in the description it says 'Low and High Beam Compatible'

I'm going to give them a call tomorrow to get the scooops

EDIT: I didn't notice this until now, but in the picture of the matchbox, they actually have what appears to be your mini H1 along side of it. If its the same projector you are using, you can see a side-by-side comparison of how much smaller the matchbox is. man, i think it might be TOO small... i'm going to take a look at that Blazer projector in the middle of the two. Maybe thats the sweet spot...

I didn't even notice they had these matchbox ones! I think with that depth it might be close to flush. They actually might work man. Yeah that would be my only concern too. Next to the mini h1 they look a lot smaller and might not look right inside the housing. But it also has a shroud so that might fill up most of the dead space. Hmmm... the blazer one looks about right though. I'll check them out too. Wish there was a way to try or sample the projectors before I purchase them lol. Like a demo.

Nah I didn't get to work on my lights. I forgot it was Easter weekend Lol! Hopefully I can find some time to do them soon.

[bienarcis]

after hours of cutting, grinding, staring, & thinking... I managed to push the projector as far back as the reflector housing will let it. The projector's shroud is almost flush with the acrylic ring. Only finished one side, but it was worth it. You guys were right it looks better this way.




how it was before


Sorry CharlieVu... wish I would of tried this sooner before I sent yours out lol!

[Who?]

Hey, how hard wluld it be to put a xenon housing on the inner ring so it looks more oem? Like a dummy housing

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by bienarcis

after hours of cutting, grinding, staring, & thinking... I managed to push the projector as far back as the reflector housing will let it. The projector's shroud is almost flush with the acrylic ring. Only finished one side, but it was worth it. You guys were right it looks better this way.

Very nice! It looks like you took off 3/4" to a full inch How were you able to manage that without destroying the housing, the projectors or both?

EDIT:
Btw... got this back from Retrofitsource.com concerning the matchbox projectors...

Thanks for your email! We do not recommend using the matchbox projectors for the low beams. While it is the bulb and ballast that determines the lumen output the projector dictates how far and wide the beam pattern shines. And with the matchbox projector it would be dangerous using those for low beam projectors.

[CharlieVu]

This guy does quality quality work!! I couldn't even tell the headlights were taken apart. Coming from retrofitted wrx, integra n civic si headlights, these were the only ones that i couldn't tell the difference. I would have thought these were factory if I wasn't familiar with this process. I was so excited I almost called in sick to install them but I'll wait until Saturday lol. Will update with pictures of them operating n installed Saturday. Here's a teaser..

[bienarcis]

Originally Posted by SJ00

Hey, how hard wluld it be to put a xenon housing on the inner ring so it looks more oem? Like a dummy housing

It would involve cutting and grinding like I did for the low beam. I'm sure it is possible and it would be functional, but maybe really difficult to change out bulbs in the future because there is no room in the back housing. And the cap to get into the high beam bulb is on the top. I'm not 100% on this but I'll check it out when I open another set.

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

Very nice! It looks like you took off 3/4" to a full inch How were you able to manage that without destroying the housing, the projectors or both?

EDIT:
Btw... got this back from Retrofitsource.com concerning the matchbox projectors...

Thanks man! yup it was about an inch. I removed the reflector housing and went to town cutting and grinding. I had to cut out a good chunk but the slot that holds the reflector to the back housing is behind there, which prevents you from cutting more and moving the projector farther back.

I guess those matchbox ones won't work. Did you find anything about the blazer?

Originally Posted by CharlieVu

This guy does quality quality work!! I couldn't even tell the headlights were taken apart. Coming from retrofitted wrx, integra n civic si headlights, these were the only ones that i couldn't tell the difference. I would have thought these were factory if I wasn't familiar with this process. I was so excited I almost called in sick to install them but I'll wait until Saturday lol. Will update with pictures of them operating n installed Saturday. Here's a teaser..

Lol!! thanks man! can't wait to see how it turns out for you

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by bienarcis

I guess those matchbox ones won't work. Did you find anything about the blazer?

Those are also more for fog applications :-( They told me yesterday that their mini H1's are the smallest they have that will also produce the level of output needed for low-beams. Anything else they carry would compromise the needed output lumens needed to safely meet DOT requirements for low-beam headlights. So... i guess i gotta go to TOWN on these H1's like you did this weekend <chainsaw>RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR</chainsaw>

[iiBMWii]

Great job, any contact for me to get mine done as well?

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by CharlieVu

This guy does quality quality work!! I couldn't even tell the headlights were taken apart. Coming from retrofitted wrx, integra n civic si headlights, these were the only ones that i couldn't tell the difference. I would have thought these were factory if I wasn't familiar with this process. I was so excited I almost called in sick to install them but I'll wait until Saturday lol. Will update with pictures of them operating n installed Saturday. Here's a teaser..

Dayum.... well, it looks like Santa has shown up early this year to Chandler Arizona Bienarcis is DA MAN!!!!!! can u say MINT?!

[CharlieVu]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

Dayum.... well, it looks like Santa has shown up early this year to Chandler Arizona Bienarcis is DA MAN!!!!!! can u say MINT?!

If you mind me asking, where did you get the plastic for the angel eyes?

Teaser- straight oem lol