backroad-junkie

iTrader: (3)

So im retrofitting a set of bi-xenons into 99 combo lights. Upon reviewing a lot of info and such on doing it, such as this thread

https://www.rx7club.com/interior-exterior-audio-26/my-fix-fds-crappy-light-output-835063/

I want to install the projector on the innermost housing (not the blinker housing) and push it a bit more forward to allow a more peripheral beam pattern as I think if I put the projector in the rear of the outer housing then the peripheral of the beam will be constricted due to the housing walls. The smallest bi-xenon projector is 56mm as used by the OP in the thread above. The inner housing is 54mm or a little less and needs a projector about that size to fit in the hole and push forward some. Any ideas?

backroad-junkie

iTrader: (3)

So after a lot of math and internet scouring I decided to install projectors in the outer housings. There are no Bi-xenons that fit in the smaller inner housings. After talking to Andrew at TRS i ordered his morimoto mini D2S kit. I will document the retrofit on here for anyone that is interested in it. If anyone has any questions about the housing measurements I can supply them but I havent cut them yet so idk how thick the plastic is but I estimated 2mm.

czar

are you refering to the Morimoto Matchbox projector they had which are smaller then the blazer?
super interested in seeing what you come up with.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...ited-Time-only

Been using a mini d2s in the pop ups my only compliant is that one of my high beams get stuck some time so i have to flash the highs to un jam it. Need to take it apart and lub it.

backroad-junkie

iTrader: (3)

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=237

backroad-junkie

iTrader: (3)

I finally have all the stuff to start the retrofit as well as modify my taillights while Im at it. I am swapping out my 35w ballasts for 55w as recommended by another member who has done this before as the lense dims the light a bit. Should start tomorrow afternoon sometime. Wish me luck and Ill document and picture-fy as much as possible in case others are interested in doing the same.

muibubbles

iTrader: (36)

looks like an awesome project! cant wait to seey our results

turboIIrotary

iTrader: (9)

Neat project I was going to start a group buy on this exact same thing while using the matchbox or blazers fogs instead but school is taking up too much time to start such a project. Whoever recommended 55w instead of 35w doesn't have much experience with such small projectors. The bowls will get burnt and become useless. I highly recommend against it.

backroad-junkie

iTrader: (3)

Thank you. I'm going to do some more research into it since you bring that point out. To contend with your advice for discussion sake, TRS offers a 55w option for this bixenon kit which others have given positive reviews about (on their site). I'm going to call them today and ask about that because it would seem pretty malicious to sell a kit that's going to damage itself. Would you in a way be thinking that it's the matchbox or blazer construction that leads to this failure since blazers are meant to be used as fog lights and the matchboxes are SIGNIFICANTLY smaller?

mr.veilsidewankel

iTrader: (1)

oh, so i have no experience now? how about running this setup for let see:3 years.
if you are burning you reflectors you a:bought **** projectors made from plastic
or b: was stupid enough to try halogen.
HID doesnt get hot, not nearly enough to burn the bowls (at least not on mine)

mine + a friend who uses the same units have the same lux output now as we did when everything was new.
(im going to make a 3. retrofit with the same part now, for my rx4 wagon)

turboIIrotary

iTrader: (9)

The 55w kit itself is good but coupled with the mini d2s is the problem. There is no way that the matchbox and blazer would hold up to it either. I know blazers burn with 35w.




1. The mini d2s has not been out for three years
2. I have made more retrofits then you have seen in your life
3. Do you even know who you are talking to?

ps: The rx350 bixenon is one of the best projectors and it is made of plastic.

mr.veilsidewankel

iTrader: (1)

1.im not using d2s. im using QSPS 56mm. if the d2s burn out with 55w, then they are inferior in quality, and wouldnt stand 2min with a normal halogen bulb.
2.and you have no idea how many retrofits i have made.
3.I can se that you do have some experience,but if the D2s are that fragile he needs to return them, the 35w will not be able to compensate for the distortion in the 99light plastic. im speaking from real life experience

turboIIrotary

iTrader: (9)

Plastic is around 97% optically clear there isn't going to be any distortion the lights will be perfectly fine with 35w. Adding the 50w ballast will create a number of problems such as burning of the bowl and major increase of foreground lighting. This is a bad thing as your eyes will adjust to that extra light and hinder your distance vision.

The reason for the poor lighting on your retrofit is the projector you used. It looks like it was designed for a halogen bulb. Adding the hid bulb makes the beam out of focus since it wasn't designed to use one.

Edit: I found some output shots on qsps's ebay site and it is definitely the projector not the 99spec housing. Light distribution is very bad and the cutoff isn't good either. It looks like it was not designed very well.

czar

question how are u planing on mounting and aiming the projector ?

mr.veilsidewankel

iTrader: (1)

how can you say that, when i have tested this myself, if the plastic doesnt distort the the light, then how come the light output with the projectors in free air was MUCH stronger than mounted?

and the cutoff on mine is sharp, only problem i have is a little glare from the chrome around the projector /soon to be fixed)

mr.veilsidewankel

iTrader: (1)

by the way, in the pics you mention you do realize this is with one projector? with 2 the distribution is pretty much optimal, and the cutoff is spot on (no glare)



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hi-Low-Beam-...#ht_500wt_1088

turboIIrotary

iTrader: (9)

I say this because have done many retrofits with plastic lenses. Real life experience as you would say. The only way the output would be noticeably dimmer is the lense is foggy or pitted.

1 projector or 2 it does not matter the light distribution is still horrid just look at all the hotspots in the beam.


I don't want to trash the OP thread with arguing if you want to know more about beam patterns or talk about why the projector you used is not good just pm me.

czar

I remember there being some issues with the DDM 55watt kits being used and them for a while at least saying that some of the other after market bulbs run to hot.
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...n-55watt/page1
link in reference to the higher wattage kits


besides the need for a foreground light limiter, the d2s i think has a much nicer even beam pattern then that other projector.

backroad-junkie

iTrader: (3)

ok so heres an update. I spent wednesday cutting the housing and comparing the projector lens bezel to fit the housing....its going to be difficult but nothing worth having is ever easy. Im more than likely going to have to cut into the housing more than I thought but hopefully it doesnt become a problem. The bezel fit in from the front (I removed the housing lens and disassembled the projector as to not scratch its lens either) but is the same size as the housing from the rear so Im going to have to trim a little at a time to find the snug fit. As for aiming and mounting, once I get the projector to fit in the housing, im going to work out a bracket and screw combination but Im going to have to see how it mounts first. I did talk to TRS about the 55w option. Andrew said "I generally steer clear of running a 50/55w ballasts because they are generally less dependable than 35w ballasts. All OEM HID setups are 35w and those seem to produce ample light just fine." I will work on it more this weekend and post up the results.

mr.veilsidewankel

iTrader: (1)

Yeah. im not saying plastic lenses in general ar not suited for retrofits, just that the 99lights have issues,
as you say, they are indeed foggy/dim. not much, but enough to affect light output. this is not an issue when they are used for their intended use(low wattage park/driving light) but when used as main light the foggynes becomes an issue.
This is why i want to get a mold made for a new lens, made from real quality headlight pastic/lexan
that would fix the issue

backroad-junkie

iTrader: (3)

Ok, I took a break for a few days but made some progress today. Finally ot the lens bezel to fit in th housing. I always said I will worry about aiming when I come to that bridge....well now there are are a few concerns at this bridge...aiming and enclosing. The rear of the projector will have to be enclosed to weather-proof and I have to come up with some sort of aiming screw setup. The ambitious side of my brain is saying create a fiberglass enclosure but I also have to worry about creating a seal. Im going to sit here for a little bit before class and brainstorm. Anybody got any ideas?

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Are you Tray from Asheville's friend? If so, he was just telling me about this. Love the project. Can you use something like this to mount the projector?

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=2596

If so, the bracket has mounting/adjustment screws that give you complete control.

Also, what are your plans for the taillights? Very curious.

backroad-junkie

iTrader: (3)

Yes I am. Im Ruben. Thanks for your interest. I was talking to him a couple weeks ago asking about if I could bounce ideas off of you because Ive been following your sleepy eye HID thread for a while now so I figured you had some headlight/fab knowledge. I dont know if that bracket can help, Ill have to make a template of it and see how Id mount it and to what. I appreciate the link.






The taillights...well its nothing crazy beacuse I appreciate stock looking elegance. I didnt want to do the 99 conversion although its beautiful, I just want a little differerence, ya know. Im going to slant the separation of the turn signals and braking lights towards the center of the vehicle.
instead of :
(__I___/=====\ ___I__)

it will be
(__/___/======\___\__)

I hope, hope, hope its going to be easy to open them up because after this bumper light retrofit, I can appreciate an easy project. As far as little details (what I love) im going to blend /attempt to do away with the noticeability of a plastic column between the light housings and cover that up and lay down a flat black vinyl template over the lights to create the seperation and smoth over the plastic column so its not noticeable and define the braking lights so its not going to be a big deal but it will be noticeable from the 99's and not stock, so.....uh, yeah lol.

turboIIrotary

iTrader: (9)

Not sure if you know but your projector looks to be upside down.

backroad-junkie

iTrader: (3)

its not mounted....but thanks lol...i havent gotten to reading the instructions yet and this is my first retrofit. Theres also no lens, way to drop the ball on letting me know that too haha, jk I removed it so I can move the bezel around without scratching it. Just throwing up pics of the projector in the housing.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Good to meet you Ruben. Come on up for a drive. I think I missed you guys last time because I was snowed in.

There ought to be some way you can fit in a bracket that has aiming screws on it. The bracket I posted up comes with 3 aiming screws that provide total aiming capabilities. Besides the trick of getting something like that to fit, you are also faced with the problem of how to aim the unit once you tuck it inside the 99 spec turn assembly - once mounted on the car, how do you get to it to ensure it's adjusted properly?

My immediate thought is for your to mount the light first, aim it, and then slide the 99 spec assembly over it. In this way, you can then remove the 99 unit and still get at the lights. If you permanently mount it inside the unit, then you'll have no adjustability.

Food for thought.

On the taillights, I like your design. It's very easy to open them up. A heat gun makes the job simple so that's a great investment. You remove the screws from the back of the housing and then heat up the edges of the unit. Then start gently pulling to separate. You might have to hit again spots that have not heated up yet, but take your time and it's a snap. If you have troubles, bring it up to Asheville with you and I'll help you.

As for the new "slant" in the design, I think what you describe will work. Once you open it up, you'll see the separate amber and red pieces.

Keep up the good work!