New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

[markpetersonii]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Maybe just a little...

Ya think?!?!!?

I don't think you're helping

[mi04se1]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I have just completed the additional modification I mentioned (about modifying the blocking plate to get rid of the dim spots).

I must say, I am very pleased and will be posting pics if not this weekend then sometime next week.

you know how some factory projectors have this sort of blue cut off line....well now I do too (at a close distance anyway).

and NO MORE DIM SPOTS. I SEE EVERYTHING now.

Very exciting...I guess I'll post a how to as well.....you can find how to's for other car sonar/spyder headlights, but many of the projectors for other cars have different blocking plates and slightly modified housings, etc.

I'll tell you now that my cut off is still not factory if compared side by side (as you can imagine it is very difficult to get a perfectly straight cutoff line when your blocking plate is curved like ours are), but it's damn close.....and i doubt anyone would be able to tell from the passenger seat even that it wasn't factory.

pics to come.

Was it hard to do and cheap? I am curious to see a how to.

[camdogie]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Things you probably need: flat head screwdriver, Phillips head screwdriver, retractable knife, scissors, silicone RTV (pepboys or other place), aluminum (like a cheap deep roaster from walmart), hair dryer (maybe), opening pliers, regular pliers, drill, PATIENCE, TIME.

Remove your headlights...you'll need a 7 millimeter socket to remove the two screws attaching each headlight to the body. You will also need to pry up the six fasteners using the flat head screwdriver that attach the top of the bumper to the body of the vehicle.

Remove turn signal, side marker, headlamp bulbs, all bulbs (except high beam and low beam)(unless you want to)

Crack open your headlights...There are four screws on the back of each headlight, two of them are along the top of the housing, the other two are somewhere in the middle of the back of the housing...you'll see them. There are also five metal clips - two run along the side near the high beam housing, the other three run along the bottom. Make sure you take these out before trying to open up the headlight.

I did some research, and to separate the clear cover from the black cover (which is the back cover), you can either use an oven or pry them open manually with a screwdriver/exacto knife and a hair dryer. I used the latter. I would recommend starting in the upper corner above the turn signal. stick the flat head in under the black (you will be able to see the sealant they used - it is grey) as far as you can and then pull up...the goal is to get the screw driver in far enough that when you pull it up, it catches the edge of the clear cover and pushes it away from the black cover. Once you have got some clearance, use the retractable knife to cut the sealant. This is an extremely tedious process, so take your time and don't be too aggressive (though you will have to put some muscle into it).

Once you have a foothold on that corner, move along the top towards the high beam side. Be careful not to damage the threaded holes that two of the four screws utilized (you will see them when you remove the screws). Then move down the sides...this is where things get a little bit harder. The bottom is by far the most secure of the housing...again, just keep up the process of prying with the screwdriver and then slicing the sealant. It might even be useful to use some opening pliers (I did) in place of the screw driver once you get to the bottom.

All the while, you might also find it useful to heat up the sealant using a hair dryer before prying and slicing.

Once you have them open, don't just rip them apart, you need to make sure you don't damage the wires running to the ring of fire (but you might want to cut them - will explain later). Pry away the rubber grommets where the wires pass through the bottom of the housing and either cut the wires or allow more wire to come through the openings so you can lay the two halves down separately.

Do you see the projector?

Excellent.

you will see 4 screws around the projector lens. Remove them and take off the lens and it's metal securing ring. don't touch the lens and place it in a safe, scratch-free place.

Very good.

Turn the black side over so that you are looking at the adjusting screws. You will need to drill four holes so that you can access the screws holding the blocking plate in place. The holes the picture below worked well for me and you can see the RTV silicone I used to fill them in when I was done. Use your judgement and decide where you'll need to drill, but as a guideline, use the picture. But again, use your judgement...and if you screw up a hole, like I did the first time, it's not a big deal, you will just fill all of them in with RTV at the end anyway. ONce the holes are drilled, use the phillips head and remove the blocking plate.



The blocking plate, what a piece of shit. just kidding. but not really


Now this is where the aluminum comes in. I saw this idea on another forum and it turned to be the most helpful thing I read about. Let me say that if you used an item like what i suggested, the aluminum is thin enough that you can easily bend/cut it. You will need to fashion strips of the aluminum. Obviously, try to be as precise when you cut them as possible, since whatever side is turned up will become your new cutoff line. This is also where you can fashion steps, Espec cutoffs, etc. And know that if you want to have a step UP in you beam on the right hand side (from the driver seat) you need to have a step DOWN on the left hand side on your new cut off line on the piece of aluminum (again observing from the driver seat). Take a look at one of my photos below to see what I mean.

I made one flat and one with a cutoff...but as you will see later, the flat one was actually slightly curved...but I digress.






I didn't use either of these in the final cut (I believe), but this gives you an idea of what you need to create.
The way you can attach these to the blocking plate is via the screw that is conveniently already there, as pictured below. It is difficult to get the correct height on each side since when you tighten the screw, the aluminum will shift, so you will need to hold it down with two fingers (gentle enough NOT to bend the pieces) while tightening...take you time and don't f!ck it up.







Every time you secure a piece in there, you will need to re-attach everything to the black side and take the light back to you car and hook it up to make sure you are satisfied with the cut off. This is why earlier I said it might be better to just cut the wires running to the halos or you will have to take the entire head light to your car and yada yada yada.

You should probably also try lower (meaning thinner) pieces up to higher so that (if you have HIDs in there) you can see which height is enough to get rid of the dim spot completely but not too high over the dim spot that you block too much of the light.

I'm sorry I didn't measure my pieces, but the first time I tried this mod, I was just trying to figure something out that would work, but the ends should probably reach into the meeting of the round portion of the plate and the side of the plate so that is stays there.

I did not use any sort of epoxy or soldering to keep the sides of the two aluminum pieces in place for two reasons. 1) I probably would have shifted them into an undesired position in the process of securing them further and 2) I didn't think it was necessary since the pieces are held in by themselves against the sides of the blocking plate (plus the screw) and I think it is very unlikely they will shift since they are so light and completely insulated from wind, etc. And no problems so far...but if they do shift, I can crack them open again and see what I can do.

On a side note, the picture below shows you the strange metal piece that I assume was meant to reflect some light back up into....peoples' eyes...light up signs...I'm not sure, but I think this is part of the cause of the glare that these headlights produce with no modifications or alternate mounting methods. I left it in there because the screw will not screw directly into the blocking plate, and is secure because it screws into the metal piece. I also can no longer notice it being there when observing the beam pattern



Once you think you are satisfied, put the headlight back together. Probably don't seal it with the RTV yet until you confirm that you want the modifications you have made by observing your new beam patterns against a wall from a few different distances. If you want to, rewire the halos ( I left mine off and I think I am going to keep it that way...it sort of took away from the HIDs at night). I also removed the three LED bulbs that were under the turning signal for the same reason.

When you reseal your headlights, you'll probably need to use pliers to press the two halves together when you re attach the metal clips along the bottom and side. Don't forget the screws or the RTV silicone either. Also don't forget to fill in the holes you drilled in the black half with the RTV also. Don't want water getting in there.

You will have to re-aim your headlights once you have finished using an 8mm socket...the cut off line will be a lot lower since you essentially raised the blocking plate (but the road will be better lit up interestingly enough once you adjust to a correct height)

Don't be surprised or discouraged if you find yourself adjusting the aluminum 6000 times and reattaching the light to your car to test 6000 times. I went back and forth probably 20-25 times trying to see what worked. (This method wasn't the first one that I tried).
And you probably won't get it perfect...unfortunately human hands are not nearly as precise as machines...but when you see your new cut off on the road and it's slight imperfections, you will remember that you made that cutoff by hand having sacrificed time and energy and you will be proud.
__________________________________________________ ___________
Results

My driver side cut off turned out to slope upwards a little going from left to right.
My passenger side has a step in the center and is slightly uneven if you look along the beam.
On the road, driving around, I LOVE IT. So glad I did this.

And if you don't like my cutoffs, don't forget that you can still make yours "perfect"...it's just harder than shooting for good and ending up with something like what I have, which I think is pretty good for a non-professional and without doing a retrofit (which would have cost me $25.7 million).

This camera also doesn't do the light output justice in the far shots...I can see things at the back of the parking lot from where I was, just too faint to show up on the camera's image. I also compared output to my mother's 2006 CTS and adjusting for her brighter HIDs (hers are stock so aroun 4100-4300K and mine are 6000, so she has more lumens), our outputs are pretty much the same. Let the pictures begin:

RIGHT SIDE ------------- (there are two pieces of tape on the wall i left there a few weeks ago when I was aiming them - it's the back of an abandoned bally total fitness building)


FAR AWAY RIGHT


Isn't this line beautiful?


left




FAR AWAY LEFT


BOTH












DIFFERENT SHOTS






















CUT OFF ON MY LEG


BACK OF PARKING LOT


ABOVE CUT OFF


BELOW CUT OFF


Closeups







If anything is unclear, feel free to ask and I will answer to the best of my ability. Sorry I don't have more picture of the inside of the headlight housing, I just didn't think about it.

And one more thing on my cutoff...you know how all stock projector have either a step or an espec step to light up the left side little bit more farther away...my cut off also achieves that to a degree...it's just more of a "swoosh" or a "hill" shape that goes over the entire beam rather than each beam having it's own step....BUT YOU CAN MAKE YOURS WHATEVER YOU WANT.

Like I said, or didn't say earlier, on the road, I can finally say these headlights are fantastic. Had to change them a bit, but now it's good. and the non-factory cutoff would not be noticed by a passenger (I don't think).

Before doing this, remember that nothing you are doing will create permanent modification to your headlights, so if you aren't satisfied, or can't seem to get it right, don't be mad, just remove the aluminum, close up the headlight and reseal it...nothing you would be doing with this mod cannot be undone.

Buena suerte.

[Ghost]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

looking better. do you have them aimed too low? kinda looks like that in the distance.

[beefiesG6]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

send that shit to spyder and they forsure be getting more sales!!! camdogie

[Ghost]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

send that shit to spyder and they forsure be getting more sales!!! camdogie

[BryceKnez]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

send that shit to spyder and they forsure be getting more sales!!! camdogie

[markpetersonii]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

send that shit to spyder and they forsure be getting more sales!!! camdogie

I would def buy some then!

[camdogie]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

looking better. do you have them aimed too low? kinda looks like that in the distance.

I'm pretty sure they're not too low. The camera didn't pick up all of the light far out because it was too faint, but there definitely was light out there with the cutoff still visible, and the beam hadn't gone all the way to the ground yet. I'm afraid if I aim them higher, I might blind oncoming traffic. And I haven't felt that I couldn't see adequately yet. So for now, I'll keep them there.

I did the 25 ft/ 2-2.5 inch drop for the whole beam on the driver side (since it slopes upwards overall). And now that I think about it, I did make that side a little lower because I didn't want the slope upwards to go to high and be like a high beam rather than a low beam.

So maybe they are a little low, but like I said...I haven't felt like the road wasn't adequately lit up yet.

[Ghost]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

oh i see. ok. the pic suggested too low.

[snowmanG6]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

looking much better, if you dont send your results back to spyder. you should make a fix kit and sell it your self.

[Blue6851]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Those lights are looking better and better all the time!

[Ghost]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

looking much better, if you dont send your results back to spyder. you should make a fix kit and sell it your self.

that can work.

[beefiesG6]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

looking much better, if you dont send your results back to spyder. you should make a fix kit and sell it your self.

that can work.

[camdogie]

Re: New Projector Head-lights- UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I have just completed the additional modification I mentioned (about modifying the blocking plate to get rid of the dim spots).

I must say, I am very pleased and will be posting pics if not this weekend then sometime next week.

you know how some factory projectors have this sort of blue cut off line....well now I do too (at a close distance anyway).

and NO MORE DIM SPOTS. I SEE EVERYTHING now.

Very exciting...I guess I'll post a how to as well.....you can find how to's for other car sonar/spyder headlights, but many of the projectors for other cars have different blocking plates and slightly modified housings, etc.

I'll tell you now that my cut off is still not factory if compared side by side (as you can imagine it is very difficult to get a perfectly straight cutoff line when your blocking plate is curved like ours are), but it's damn close.....and i doubt anyone would be able to tell from the passenger seat even that it wasn't factory.

pics to come.

Was it hard to do and cheap? I am curious to see a how to.

Assuming you have all of the tools you'll need, it wasn't expensive at all...the RTV silicone can be purchased from wal mart for like 3.50 or 4.00 and the deep roaster is i think 1.50 or 2.50.

Those things.....and patience/time are all it will cost you.