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Experiment DIY: Getting that HID cut off. (LHD)

Discussion in 'Electronics' started by eNtraxGT88, Mar 10, 2012.

  1. Mafix

    Mafix Owner Staff Member Administrator Donated!

    while i love what you've done and such...
    where in the hell does it say you NEED to have projectors to use HIDs? because i've missed it and so have very many OEs

    my point is that this is freaking great.
    you don't NEED to do this to use HIDs
    every housing and manufacturer of the same housing is different, be smart in what you buy.

    example, i use autopal EDM housings. hence a blind spot in the dead center of the beam path. which i'm fine with.
     
  2. eNtraxGT88

    eNtraxGT88 Well-Known Member Donated!

    i never said to you NEED to do this for HIDs. there is no law or statement that says that, this thread was just to show what can be done if you want to one-up a 4th gen's lighting better than your generic plugnplay hid kit.

    Your argument about "very many OEs":
    there are NO OEs NOW that still produce cars that have HIDs and reflectors. it was only in the transitional period between halogen->hid in higher end models that some manufacturers tried it out. pre-2003 acura tl/rl/cl come to mind, as well as early 2000s is300. AND even with those, those were specifically designed reflectors that won't work with halogens ALSO, these specifically designed reflectors were never engineered for the h6054 basically this experiment was done because no housing regardless of manufacturer has done a h6054 replacement that can do all of what projectors can.

    you will have that same dead spot even if you go all out and get hella/cibie housings.
     
  3. cliffmeister3

    cliffmeister3 Well-Known Member Donated!

    Because aftermarket HIDs in "reflector" type housings light pattern is horrible. It blinds oncoming traffic or cars upfront.

    Projectors are more precise and "projects" the light more accurately. You'll notice the very sharp cutoff as opposed to the "reflectors" being all over the place.
     
  4. lone wolf

    lone wolf Well-Known Member Donated!

    true, +1 to that. I have reflectors in both celica and corolla and have/had HID in them. It will never be as sharp as it is what I see here with projectors.
     
  5. scottjackson1209

    scottjackson1209 Well-Known Member Donated!

    are these projectors still holding up for you? I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I've never taken our headlight assemblies apart so i dont know how much room there is behind the actual light assembly. Is there room to mount it back further? I also emailed TRS and they said they didnt have any of the discounted projectors:sad5
     
  6. eNtraxGT88

    eNtraxGT88 Well-Known Member Donated!

    Factory-direct (untested and no warranty) Morimoto Mini Projectors available at 50% off retail. Email Us or Call 404-220-7940 to order a set!

    that is on their front page.

    the projectors are great, same as when i got them new. the bulbs are great, the exact same color as they were when new. never flickers. even when the car is off, it never flickers. i don't even have that special harness shit to make it better. it's running off of the stock harness for me LOL.

    there is a slight bit of space to mount it further back, but i decided to make it poke out a bit more instead of dealing with the back business.

    1348470090085 (1).jpg
     
  7. scottjackson1209

    scottjackson1209 Well-Known Member Donated!

    What brand ballasts are you using? you said they were E-Bay ballasts. are they the xentec?
     
  8. eNtraxGT88

    eNtraxGT88 Well-Known Member Donated!

    no, not even. they're the cheapest i could find no name ballasts. although now i can tell they're getting weak (2 years later) because it takes more time for the bulbs to warm up. i'm saving up for morimoto 3five ballasts. pretty much the best aftermarket ballasts out there.
     
  9. Sorry to reply in old thread but it is wrong perception cheap lights don't perform well. My hids are not expensive at all and they are working fine for me:)
     
  10. eNtraxGT88

    eNtraxGT88 Well-Known Member Donated!

    Wow, never read this until now. I don't think that cheap lights don't perform well. However, getting the correct cheap items make a huge difference. My projectors only cost $55 which is really the cost of any other housing. So instead of buying 30+ year old technology, why not buy new technology with obvious advantages?

    UPDATE: The same projectors made in the 1st page of this thread still being used and working great. It now lives in my girlfriend's AW11. It recently made a 4200km trip and needed the lights through some of the mountain passes. The projectors were in my 87 GTS, 91 SW20, and now in the 86 AW11.

    Because the front molded glass I made cracked, I've opted to use the projectors exposed to the elements. This means all of the mechanics, including the highbeam cutoff shield solenoid, are all exposed to coastal Canadian weather. I've had to disassemble it, clean it up, reassemble them once since installing them.

    I've since upgraded to Morimoto FX-R (available for RHD and shipping to Europe!) projectors in my MR2, but all effort put into this has been useful ever since. I still use the same wiring technique (unique to toyota flip up light wiring), projector installation. The only upgrade I've built on is:

    1) low-rise as requested by John 3+ years ago. These use shorter arms for the retract motor. Functionality is the same, no touching the wiring. The shorter arm just makes the flip-up assembly come up shorter.
    2) custom bracket to mount the projector. No more need to use Autopal housings. these bolt onto the 4 bolt holes that hold the original lights, so the factory adjustment still work.

    result:
    [​IMG]
     

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