Project projector... (HID)

[s10cyncrvr]

I'm finally going to make the jump to true HID lighting. I'm tired of the horrible lighting from the ebay projector housings...

They don't light the road up well enough with halogens and sticking a HID bulb in them will only cause an uneven light pattern and blind oncoming drivers, so I'm going to convert them the right way.

My plans are to...
- Replace the projector housing with a new HID housing and bulb(retro-fit).
- Build a wiring harness to provide the correct power to the new lights.
- Disable the DRL
- Do some customizing on the angel eye to make it look better at night.

I'm going to run a Valeo HID kit for the low-beams and the stock Halogens for the high-beams. The new harness will allow the low-beams to stay on when the high-beams are turned on. The only real way I could have run HID high-beams were to use a Bi-xenon where the cut-off shield(on the low-beams) is motorized out of view when the highs are turned on. I was worried about the reliabilty of this set-up, so I stuck with a more simple route.

----------------------------
Stock projector housing


First I took off the chrome trim piece around the headlight. There are 5 tabs that hold it in place. You have to carefully pry up on the tabs and slowly work it off towards the front of the light.


Next, there are 4 clips that hold the lense and the housing together. Remove these with a small screwdriver.


You're now ready to pry the lense away from the housing. To do this either put the headlight in the oven or use a blowdryer to soften the glue. I used the blowdryer. It took a little longer since I could only do small sections at a time, but I felt it was safer in the long run. I use a couple of puddy knives and slowly worked my way around the housing using the blowdryer to soften the glue. After the lense is off, everything else can be taken apart with a phillips screwdriver.




Here is a shot of the inside of the projector housing...


A lot of this is new to me, so this project might take a while and may have a few curves thrown in, but I've been doing a lot of research and plan on doing a lot more. Basically what I'm saying is, don't follow me just yet.

I ordered my new projectors today, so as soon as I get those I'll be able to get to the major work.

[Lowsonoma03]

this looks like its gonna be an interesting project. I sorta liked my s-10 front end with the halos, but like you said they didnt throw light to the road that well. So needless to say i'll keep tabs on this project. I've always loved your truck. I'm torn between "bag and drag" and speed.

Keep up the good work man!

[xxosiris9xx]

this should be good

[LT250]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lowsonoma03

this looks like its gonna be an interesting project. I sorta liked my s-10 front end with the halos, but like you said they didnt throw light to the road that well. So needless to say i'll keep tabs on this project. I've always loved your truck. I'm torn between "bag and drag" and speed.

Keep up the good work man!

speed cost money. and tickets cost more money.

[mr. visual]

very cool, i'm anxious to see how this goes.

[Ғяeªκin Яicªn]

i was about to order some off of ebay too. i emailed them and asked them how bright they are and he said "they are brighter than stock lights and you can jusy change the bulb to something brighter if you want". probably fkn lying. so in your opinion they arent good to get?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7985944299&catego ry=33710

[s10cyncrvr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ғяeªκin Яicªn

i was about to order some off of ebay too. i emailed them and asked them how bright they are and he said "they are brighter than stock lights and you can jusy change the bulb to something brighter if you want". probably fkn lying. so in your opinion they arent good to get?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7985944299&catego ry=33710

Those are a different style then mine so I can't really comment about them. The problem with these were that they were too focused. There were 2 very bright "hot spots" on the road, but the other areas of the road had very little light. I tried different bulbs but couldn't get them any better. I could see better with an aftermarket bulb in my stock housings. Just from what I've been reading, it seems a majority of the aftermarket projectors with halogens are like this.

[DNGRS DME]

Awesome! I'm so glad someone is finally doing this. If i still had my 99 and i had the cash for the Valeos i would've done this too.

Keep the pics coming!


EDIT: You've probably already been there, but the www.hidplanet.com forums are helpful for retro information

[Baggd]

hmmmmmmmm....

[Licht]

Great Project... I love your truck. I want to do the SSBC upgrade next year it looks great, and improves braking.

[s10cyncrvr]

Quote: Originally Posted by DNGRS DME

Awesome! I'm so glad someone is finally doing this. If i still had my 99 and i had the cash for the Valeos i would've done this too.

Keep the pics coming!


EDIT: You've probably already been there, but the www.hidplanet.com forums are helpful for retro information

Yeah, that place rocks. I have learned a ton from poking around on that forum.

-------------------------------

While I'm waiting, I decide to sand off all the lettering and numbering along with the 3 nubs left over from when they cast the lense. I wanted a completly smooth lense. The script was on the inside of the lense so a quick 1000/1500/2000 grit sanding eliminated them. Then a lot of polishing to eliminate the scratches.

Before...


To sand off the casting nubs I first put some tape around them to protect the adjacent areas of the lense. Then took a 40 grit flap-wheel on my grinder and carefully ground them down to about 1/16".


Removed the tape and sanded the remaining highspots with 1000 grit.


Then resanded at 1500 and 2000 grit.


Fianlly a couple of polishings with my Mothers Powerball using Griots Machine Polish 2. Followed up with a coat of wax.

[ohsolos10]

got to see this i hate my projectors

[98pewterdime]

off the topic a lil but your truck is bad ass dude...

[tootsie roll]

Signed up now!!!

[Lowsonoma03]

Quote: Originally Posted by 98pewterdime

off the topic a lil but your truck is bad ass dude...

i second that!

[-Tucker-]

Subscribed also. I love what you are doing. During the winter, I plan on doing the same thing to mine.. only I don't currently have projectors...

[Mr Bravada]

thats nice, same project that i will be starting when i can get a hold of an s10 front....

[Mr Bravada]

there is a member of blazinlow with that mod done.... he has picks but i like it like this in the how-to layout
"subscribes"

[s10cyncrvr]

My new lights shipped today, so hopefully they'll be here soon. In the meantime, more small stuff.

Worked on the changing the halos into angle eyes tonight. I love the way some BMW's look with the section missing out of the halo, so I wanted to try and replicate it. Here is the before picture...


There are 3 small phillips screws and a tie wrap on the wires to hold the halo onto the mount. After taking it off you can see the parallel ridges around the entire length of the halo. These reflect light from the 2 LED's on bottom all the way around the halo. Without the ridges it won't light up.


I marked out the area where I no longer want light, and proceeded to file down the ridges. They are about 1/8" deep. After they were gone, I worked my way up through the grits until it was smooth. Any small scratches in the plastic will still reflect light so its important to get it as clear as possible. Since the picture is a little blurry, the green arrows represent the start and stop points for the smoothed area.


Here is what they currently look like. There is a noticeable darkness where they have been smoothed. There is still a bright spot on the very top where the screw hole is at that I want to work on some more(red arrow in the above picture). I have decide to cut that mount off completly and smooth it over. It should reduce most of the light that is still reflecting. Unfortunetly, there will still be a dot of light where the screw hole is at.

[s10cyncrvr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mr Bravada

there is a member of blazinlow with that mod done.... he has picks but i like it like this in the how-to layout
"subscribes"

Thanks man. I'll have to check that out.

[xtrememeasures10]

Awesome dude. im looking foreward to seeing how the HID goes. im planning on doing this swap with my projectors as soon as i can afford it. My projectors spread the light more evenly than yours though. there arent 2 hot spots. My only problem with doing this swap is i dont have stock 98+ headlights. Soo i would need to borrow some headlights from someone while i do the swap. i could do it w/ my next pay check but i dont want to buy headlights just for the swap.

[Mr Bravada]

his s/n is otter

[Mr Bravada]

search HIDplanet and there was a retro done to a blazer with the TYC headlights.... its hot looking but i like the way the halo's look in these lights, this is the route i wanna go too

[Mr Bravada]

http://hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8818&highlight=retro+fit+s10+blaze r

[orangesonoma]

you have WAY to much time on your hands man...

why do you not want it all lit up?

[s10cyncrvr]

Quote: Originally Posted by orangesonoma

you have WAY to much time on your hands man...

why do you not want it all lit up?

I love how agressive looking these are...

[-Tucker-]

Quote: Originally Posted by s10cyncrvr

I love how agressive looking these are...

10-4 good buddy. those look kick ass. You moving leds from white to a diff color at all?

[s10cyncrvr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Foo182

10-4 good buddy. those look kick ass. You moving leds from white to a diff color at all?

The ones that I have now are blue. They do look white in that picture though. I think I took the picture too close to the light.

Here is an old shot of mine...

[S10Blazer98]

That is looking real good so far...... cant wait to see it when it is all finished

[cruisin140]

is the halo ring on the light are they led lights on that