Retrofitting and BiXenon Projectors

[DubNDodge]

I have watched a few videos on YT and I have a general idea of how to go about everything. There were a few things that I am still unsure of

Such as, the temperature needed and the time, (saw 300 degrees but also saw different temps), some said that you didn't need any extra glue when resealing, but what glue would I use if I did want to put more on?

What dremel bit would I need to cut into the reflector plastic?

In an old thread I saw that stock reflector housing will actually put out more light because of the cut off line of the projector. I really need as much light as I can get because of all the deer/animals around my area. http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/136294-projector-vs-stock/?hl=retrofit

So has anyone had any experience with a projector that has low and high beams built in (BiXenon)? Does the high beam from the HID in the projector put out the same amount of light that a HID would in a reflector? assuming everything is the same temperature/wattage.

[CommonSyns]

If I were you I would not do retro fit HID's Bad things can happen to other people.

[Torres]

i'm in the process of doing one now. literally...i just came inside to cool off some lol. i'll say one thing....it's been a BITCH to do. and has been an ongoing project for months and months.

with that said, i'm going to love the outcome of it. not saying i'd do it again....but yeah.

i bought aftermarket headlights so i can keep my stock ones in until i'm ready. i heard they were easier to break apart than stock ones so i baked them at somewhere around 200-220 degreen for 8-10 minutes then cracked em apart. did each one in one try, but be careful when you do it. don't want to crack the light.

i've also seen a lot of people reseal the lights without adding anything else. but in my opinion, if i'm taking such a long time and putting a lot of work into a project like this, i'm going to take the time and cash to make sure it's sealed properly. this is what you'll want to use

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=792

as for cutting in the reflector bowl, i used a spiral upcut dremel bit. cuts through pretty easily. also used these to fine tune my opening and smooth it out a bit

also i'd steer clear from using any type of glue or silicone. it may 'gas' when you put everything back in the oven to seal up and cause the inside of your lights to cloud over. JB weld is normally what's used. i've used the epoxy and the weld stick. the weld stick is good to seal the opening between the reflector bowl and the projector when it's mounted in.

EDIT: here's a pic of the spiral bit i used to cut the reflector bowl

also...not sure how open your headlights are, but in my F150 there's just one big reflector bowl that's pretty open, and i had to make some shroud extensions to fully cover the projector and that has proven to be the most difficult process thus far. i think i FINALLY got it worked out though.

[Torres]

If I were you I would not do retro fit HID's Bad things can happen to other people.

yeah? please explain. and i hope you're not saying because it'll blind other people...because any light can do that. aim them properly...just like any light...and it'll be fine.

[CommonSyns]

Aim them properly? A retro fit? HID's are called High Intensity Discharge for a reason....It will be fine when someone crashes because of your retro fit blinding someone else? Sure I guess. If your doing it for looks or because you don't want to do it the right way then that's fine. I know a few people that are my friends back in CT who thought it was okay to have retro fits. It was a bad call on their part. They parked their car and went inside and their lights on their exterior of their vehicle were all destroyed, And no don't think that because you have an alarm or an awesome neighborhood will protect you, If someone wants something done they will do it. When I had my shitty mazda I thought it was okay to modify my lights in to hids. I aimed them "Properly". Turns out it was a bad idea also, I ended up blinding someone. They flashed their high beams and I flashed mine to show them it was not my high beams which I thought they thought it was. It wasn't until I noticed that they started following me where I went.

Also, HID's were not meant for stock housing, They throw light everywhere because they weren't meant for the reflector it has. True HID housing does as its name implys it project its intended light into a focused cut beam.

[CommonSyns]

Hmm, I guess I didn't read this thread entirely through from the first post. I thought he was just putting HIDS without a projector in stock housing.

My bad.

[kickass audio]

The people who put theirs in the oven have their way, mine I just went and managed to pop one lens off the light assembly without any heat and then used a sharp knife to cut off the old adhesive/sealer on that lens. The other light I used my heat gun from harbor freight and slowly made my way around the lens and broke it free. One part of the assembly looks like shit because the plastic got so hot it was bubbling and ripping but I fixed it.

To cut the opening of the stock housing to fit the size hole required to bolt in the projector I simply used my dremel on full speed and used the cutting bit: http://www.plumbersurplus.com/images/prod/5/Dremel-561-rw-95632-161509.jpg to open the hole up. I just slowly made my way around the stock opening and cut it wider. One thing I would have you do that I did not is to take the dremel and cut off the little ledge around the OEM light hole. If you look closely you will see there are 3 ledges where the metal bracket for the stock light screw into, you really need to remove these to make the bolt fit in all the way and have a tight fit. I didn't do that with mine and one of my projectors has a slight wiggle if you hit a bump really hard.

Then for re-adhering the lens back to the housing when you are finished I tried 100% silicone but that crap didn't stick worth shit and my lens fell right off the thing after letting it sit a full week to cure. I then scraped off the silicone I used and bought a tube of 3m window weld and put that in the seam of the lens and pressed them together firmly. After I let it cure one full day I then took the 100% silicone over the window weld just to make sure its a water tight seal and let that sit 2 days. I reinstalled them and they have been fine ever since.

The only 2 mistakes I made were that i didn't cut off the ledge where the OEM screws go to hold in the light adapter and that I didn't bolt in the projector as far as I could have so my projector is barely held in place on one light so the cutoff is not as sharp as it can be but its still within limits and does not blind anyone (so stfu any of the HID haters) and I have 32mm futurevision projectors. I started out with 4300k 35w H1 bulbs on the projectors and then went to 8000k 50w H1 bulbs in the projectors. I love the 8000k ones in the projector. Also I would strongly advise to hook up the bi-xenon wire of the projector to your high beam and disconnect the high beam outlet in your headlight. I use my projectors for low and high beam operation. I also did a DRL bypass so my daytime running lights do not kick the hid's on at all. The only time my headlights come on are when I turn the knob for them.

[Torres]

Hmm, I guess I didn't read this thread entirely through from the first post. I thought he was just putting HIDS without a projector in stock housing.

My bad.

haha it's all good. i started wondering if you knew what a retrofit was after reading halfway into your post. but yeah....this is the *right* way to do it rather than sticking an HID into a stock housing. that is definitely no bueno

[banginhummer]

It's not that hard to do, I was just gonna buy some projectors to retro my fogs, but ended up just blacking them out because the housing wasn't big enough.

The high beam works as a selenoid. Only need to wire the red and black wire to the factory harness.

And it doesn't affect the people in front of you, but I never need to use it because the projectors shoot out so far, literally like 3 blocks. I use morimoto 6.0s, with 8k 55watt hids. I get a bunch of compliments. And I can see better??

[banginhummer]

If you need any help on the wiring, or process to pop the lense open, just let me know.

What car is it?