HID's AGAIN..... Projector mount question...

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OurPathfinder
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HID's AGAIN..... Projector mount question...

Postby OurPathfinder » Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:09 am

So it seems some of us are really digging the HID performance. I'm curious, has anyone tried doing a projector mount into their stock housing?

Also, some have done the HID retrofit, and the rest of us have read that light gets scattered all over the place causing a mess of light on the road.

So, I'm curious what the real deal is? Any information, and pictures would be greatly appreciated to see the differences. Of course since I'm running Slyvania Ultras, there probably isn't much difference between those and HID's.

Thanks!


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NVSteve
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Re: HID's AGAIN..... Projector mount question...

Postby NVSteve » Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:43 am

OurPathfinder wrote:Of course since I'm running Slyvania Ultras, there probably isn't much difference between those and HID's.

Thanks!
Please tell me that was a subtle tongue-in-cheek jab at Sylvania, and that you weren't serious.

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blink32
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Postby blink32 » Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:53 pm

I read your post and to me it seems like you consider a "HID Retrofit" just sticking D2S or similar bulbs in place of the 9007's so I'm basing my reply off that. I don't know of anyone on this board doing a projector retro-fit into the stock housing. But I don't know everything, nor do I claim to, so someone might have. I do know of one person on another board who has completed the mounting of TL projectors but there were no details or in-progress pictures.

I am currently working on the same retro-fit but hesitant to create a thread because of a lack of complete info at this point. I'm taking the conversion nice and slow. The opening in the stock housing where the 9007 bulb would go and where the rubber seal is located is just a little too small to fit the Acura TL projector and any other 3" projector through. Some minor trimming and it would slide right in. The reflector would require trimming also. This would allow the projector to be mounted and adjusted from the rear in the engine bay.

Another route would be to to make a larger hole in the reflector and mount the projector to it. This would require using chrome shroud from another 3" projector or vacu-forming your own out of acrylic and painting how every you want. In this scenario you would also adjust the left/right rotation and level of the projector prior to sealing up the head lights.

Regarding sticking DS2 or similar bulbs into the stock housings there are plenty of caveats with that. My opinion is that it's a far from optimal choice and waste of money.

Some real good info on the HID forums out there.

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OurPathfinder
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Postby OurPathfinder » Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:06 pm

Well... it's somewhat of a subtle jab at Sylvania. My Ultras are very bright, but they don't have the fine-tuned cutoff like HID projectors do. When the weather turns foul (heavy blowing snow), the Ultras are just WAY too bright and reflect back at me while I'm driving. Frustrating.

I was looking at the Euro Spec Pathfinders and the head lamps are standard reflector types like here in North America, but they are running HID's.

Since I do A TON of back road driving in the sticks I am looking for some quality driving lights. I see one of our other members replaced his fogs with Hella 90mm driving lights, and that's great as he doesn't get any fog. However here in south central Colorado mountains, we get blowing blizzard snow conditions and fog.

So... my long winded question is... is it worth trying to do a projector retrofit into my stock housings? Or do the $169.99 special online for the hi/low HID bulb and balast? Or leave the headlights alone, and add an aftermarket HID/high watt Halogen (Hella, PIAA, etc) to the bumper?

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for trudging through my banter. -D

NathanJax
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Postby NathanJax » Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:55 pm

HID projector mount into their stock housing retrofit like these...

Image

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Same headlights, but on frontiers...

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f10/ ... bqn-35650/

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f13/ ... ght-34902/

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blink32
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Postby blink32 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:37 am

OurPathfinder wrote: is it worth trying to do a projector retrofit into my stock housings?
To me it's worth it. I didn't even think to look at the Fronty's as pointed out above. And it's really only as expensive as you make it. Any projector will likely increase visibility umpteen times over halogens so watching for deals and taking your time will get the project into the fairly low $3-400 neighborhood easily. Apparently E46 bi-xenon projectors are regarded ad some of the lowest quality projectors so they can be had cheaper than say the TL's, but they are still leaps and bounds better than halogens.

The two hardest parts of the process are deciding what projectors you want to use and how you want to handle the shroud. The pics above show the more direct route of not replacing with a chrome shroud, there are other options out there that use painted shrouds for a blacked-out or body color matched look. And you always have the option of sending out a custom shroud you build for chroming.
Last edited by blink32 on Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Postby NVSteve » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:22 am

OurPathfinder wrote:Well... it's somewhat of a subtle jab at Sylvania. My Ultras are very bright, but they don't have the fine-tuned cutoff like HID projectors do.
You must have some other kind of Ultras, because mine are far from bright, especially the low beams. I don't think the problems you have with them being too bright in the blowing snow actually has anything to do with brightness, but rather color. That will happen with any 9007/OEM-ish bulb. I've always had the same problem with all of my cars in blowing snow. I usually have to experiment with the fogs (real fogs-yellow/orange), low & hi beams to get some combo that will work safely. Sometimes when I'm driving on a highway/freeway & blowing snow, the moving snow in my vision will give me motion sickness, which is always disconcerting. Shine a light at something that is reflective, your light gets bounced back.

I'm going to order up some replacement 9007 bulbs that are substantially brighter (and whiter/bluer) than the Ultras. I'll let you know if they really work as advertised.

Blink-this is off topic, but I never saw any trip report from your cross country venture. Did that not happen, or are you just being lazy with the post? Or am I just blind :oops:

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Postby blink32 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:27 pm

NVSteve wrote: I'm going to order up some replacement 9007 bulbs that are substantially brighter (and whiter/bluer) than the Ultras. I'll let you know if they really work as advertised.
Keep us updated on those new bulbs. I'm liking my Ultra's once I adjusted the light up higher. But still could be improved upon.

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Postby Gonzo » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:06 pm

blink32 wrote:
NVSteve wrote: I'm going to order up some replacement 9007 bulbs that are substantially brighter (and whiter/bluer) than the Ultras. I'll let you know if they really work as advertised.
Keep us updated on those new bulbs. I'm liking my Ultra's once I adjusted the light up higher. But still could be improved upon.
Why would you need to adjust the beam. Changing the bulb shouldn't affect the beam? Is it just personal preference or did the bulb change something? Just curious.

Joel

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Postby blink32 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:16 pm

I think the lights were adjusted a little low stock, then after I installed the Ultra's then the OME lift it was a more pronounced mis-adjustment. So I raised them up to be just below where it would be annoying if I hit bumps but when traveling normally it would never bother the other driver.

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Postby Gonzo » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:32 pm

blink32 wrote:I think the lights were adjusted a little low stock, then after I installed the Ultra's then the OME lift it was a more pronounced mis-adjustment. So I raised them up to be just below where it would be annoying if I hit bumps but when traveling normally it would never bother the other driver.
Duh! My bad. That would make perfect sense. I usually think every other Pathy is mostly stock like mine. I had issues like that when I had my lowered Civic.

Joel

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Postby blink32 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:39 pm

I hear ya. It wouldn't be a fun if we were perfect all the time. Ha. Not enough arguments that way. Need to mix it up a little.

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Postby blink32 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 4:20 pm

Since we are yapping about all this and posting info I guess I'll put some pics up of my progress. I'll admit that progress is super slow but that's because I've never done this and I wouldn't be thrilled if I damaged my spare set of headlights. Removing the reflector was what I was worried about most. Some lights you need to drill holes to get at screws to remove them, then plug, etc etc. Oh yea, don't break a tab like I did. There was damage to it prior to me handling business so I don't think it was entirely my fault. I'll have to see how JBWeld holds up :-/

Stock Lights taken apart

Image

Image

Reflector separated from housing.

Image

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Postby NVSteve » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:55 am

blink32 wrote:
NVSteve wrote: I'm going to order up some replacement 9007 bulbs that are substantially brighter (and whiter/bluer) than the Ultras. I'll let you know if they really work as advertised.
Keep us updated on those new bulbs. I'm liking my Ultra's once I adjusted the light up higher. But still could be improved upon.
The Luminics that I've had sitting on my desk for 3 weeks finally went in yesterday. I've only driven around in kind of twilight conditions, meaning that it hasn't been dark. They are definitely white & seem just as bright as the Sylvanias when looking straight at them from outside the vehicle. It's just hard to tell overall-I'll need to drive at night to get a better idea. It's similar to when I compare my maglite that has a very yellow light, to one of my LED flashlights that have pure white light. The yellow light seems brighter, but one can see much easier with the white light.

I believe I have a few pics of the actual bulbs in question, but none of them actually working/installed at night. I keep seeing before and after night pictures of headlights shining on a flat surface-talk about the worst possible conditions to photograph something. If I find that these are the bomb for night driving, I'll see if I can get a photo or two posted.

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Postby NVSteve » Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:32 am

I finally tried out the Luminics at night. Still a bit odd driving around with white light instead of the harsh OEM yellow. They certainly make things easier to see, and I'd say a much needed improvement to the crappy Sylvania Ultras. I'm reserving any rating, aside from being better than the Sylvania, until I have a chance to drive at night with no other lights around.

The Luminics and OEM:

Image

Good comparison of the two:

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