How To: retro fit you headlights

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aww sheet
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How To: retro fit you headlights

Post by aww sheet » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:43 pm

This is a general how-to on retro- fitting projectors into your oem style headlight using vacuform.

Parts needed
-dremel w/ various cutting wheels
-.080 thick sheets of acrylic (size depends on the size of your oven and frame)
-vacuforming table, and frame (instructions on how to make one found here http://www.studiocreations.com/howto/va ... index.html)
-oem depo headlights (stock one can be used but plan to spend an hour on each light taking them apart)
-projector of your choice. ( g35 3” projectors will be used for this example)
-paint and primer color of your choice
-22ga or thicker sheet of steel
-machine screws, nuts, and washers
-nissan taillight sealant
-jb weld
-goop
-$200 to give to your g/f to go away while you do this


Instructions

taking apart headlights no pics
-Preheat oven to 225o
-place one headlight on a cookie sheet in the oven for around 10 mins w/ the door open
-with a flat head, carefully start prying the lens apart where the turn signal is until you are able to get a few fingers in to pull the rest of the way.
-now that the lens is off, take a flathead and put between the reflector and the inside of the housing. Carefully pop each mount off the back of the reflector. So now you should only have the reflector in your hand.
-repeat processs for the other headlight
Last edited by aww sheet on Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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aww sheet
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Post by aww sheet » Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:56 pm

Cutting and test fitting
g35 projectors
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This is where it gets messy.....
-take your dremel with cutting wheel, and cut out a 3.5" diameer hole in the center. (one thing you can do is have a squirt bottle handy to spray while cutting to keep the dust at bay.
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test fit the projector there will be more cutting needed. thats the good thing about vacuforming, its hides everything.
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Making a bracket

There are 2 reasons for making a bracket
-to retain your stock headlight adjustments
-projectors are heavy (especially bixenons) doing this will take the stress off the reflector

start with a template. transfer it to you sheet of steel, and cut away.
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*to ensure that you will have a level cutoff. reference the 2 bigger mounting point at the top on either side. when in the the car, they are perfectly level. when making the mounting points for the projector to attach to the bracket, make sure that the cutout shield is level (not aligned) with the two mounting points of the housing.

once you happy with the way the projectors are mounted to the bracket test fit them in to the housing with and without the lens, and use the stock adjust to make sue that it does not hit the lens.
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assemble your bracket, projector and reflector.
it will go in this order
-projector ->bracket
-projector and bracket->reflector
the projector should not be attached to the reflector at all. it will look like this.
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Time to vacuform

place the entire assembly in the center of your vac table. prop it up to that it can stacd stragith up and can't be tip over easily.
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-Preheat oven to 350o
-Place sheet of acrylic in your frame and remove the bottom protective covering.
-place in oven ( i would suggest elevating it with something to keep the acrylic from sagging on the the oven rack.
-let it heat for 5-7mins. (until the center of the acrylic sags at least 3-4"
-turn your vacuum on
-remove frame from oven and immediately place over the assembly. make sure the frame is completely sealed against the table so you can get decent suction (no jokes please)
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*for a better draw while vacuforming remove the lens from the projector

turn vac off, and let you mold cool. at this point, if you picked up the the acrylic the assembly will come with it. take your dremel and carefully cut around the out perimeter of the reflector. i cut about 1/8" more so that that acrylic can snap on the reflector, eliminating the use of glue. but i still used alitlle.

once you're done cutting, it should look like this
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painted
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fitment
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ok time to add alittle subtle accents

drain stoppers purchaced @ target
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cut the out rim
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with alittle goop attach it to the assembly
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Close it up
-take your nissan sealant (rubber butyle), stretch and place into the groove of the housing.
-you should be able to get 2 headlights out of 1 roll.
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-Carefully pop the entire projector assembly back into the housing
-place lens onto the housing and clamp down just enough to ensure a good seal be careful not break the lens.
-take your oem headlght sealer and place around headlight
-take the rear gasket and cut to size, and re-install.

*if you're using a bixenon projector you will need to put a small hole in the back of the headlight to run the wires out, i would use a grommet to ensure that it is sealed.

here is the finisher product
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night shots w/ 8000k d2s bulbs. (its all i had at the time)
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How to aim you new retros
follow these steps
1. park on level ground, 25 feet from a wall
2. measure the height from the ground to the center of the headlight projector.
3. then measure that same distance up at the wall and make a mark.
4. the lower cutoff should shine 2-3inch below that mark.


disclaimer
try this at your own risk. i am not responsible for any mishaps.
this was a general how to for retro-fitting. depending on the projector, some steps will differ.


hope to see some of you try this out
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Sykora
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Post by Sykora » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:37 pm

duuuude that's awesome! :D
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Post by blueneo03 » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:31 am

ugh i wish i had the time and money to do this those look sick...
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Post by sxmania » Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:22 am

Waaaa I wanna start my project. Looks awesome tho man, very innovative with the drain ring :)
From the close up pictures of the lens, does anyone know what the "stepped" appearance is for? i have 2 sets of lenses and only 1 set are that way, the other ones are "frosted" and i dont know what to use.

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sidepipe87
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Post by sidepipe87 » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:52 pm

great how-to man!
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Swordfish2Cowboy
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Post by Swordfish2Cowboy » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:23 pm

Damn, that's a lot of work. I should do this. Do you get any glare from the cutoff lines in the stock housing?
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Post by aww sheet » Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:54 pm

sxmania wrote:Waaaa I wanna start my project. Looks awesome tho man, very innovative with the drain ring :)
From the close up pictures of the lens, does anyone know what the "stepped" appearance is for? i have 2 sets of lenses and only 1 set are that way, the other ones are "frosted" and i dont know what to use.
i'm little lost as to what you are talking about. clear vs, fresnel lens?

btw for you projectors, the best place to get them is here RETRO they are by far the best in customer service
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Post by SOKADAO954 » Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:57 pm

sick write up man...
great info.
thanks mate.
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Post by Swordfish2Cowboy » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:04 pm

aww sheet wrote:
sxmania wrote:Waaaa I wanna start my project. Looks awesome tho man, very innovative with the drain ring :)
From the close up pictures of the lens, does anyone know what the "stepped" appearance is for? i have 2 sets of lenses and only 1 set are that way, the other ones are "frosted" and i dont know what to use.
i'm little lost as to what you are talking about. clear vs, fresnel lens?
Maybe he's talking about the stock lenses on the assembly itself, which kinda ties into my question.
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aww sheet
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Post by aww sheet » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:39 pm

Swordfish2Cowboy wrote:
aww sheet wrote:
sxmania wrote:Waaaa I wanna start my project. Looks awesome tho man, very innovative with the drain ring :)
From the close up pictures of the lens, does anyone know what the "stepped" appearance is for? i have 2 sets of lenses and only 1 set are that way, the other ones are "frosted" and i dont know what to use.
i'm little lost as to what you are talking about. clear vs, fresnel lens?
Maybe he's talking about the stock lenses on the assembly itself, which kinda ties into my question.
if thats the case than i'm not sure. i do know that little dot in the center of the lens is for computerized headlight alignment. the step might have something to do with that as well

as far glare on the lens; there is none
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Post by aww sheet » Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:30 pm

here are some day shots
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sxmania
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Post by sxmania » Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:41 pm

sry guys, I got mine from retro and they described the non stepped ones as "frosted" and indicate they are better, i was hoping for some feedback lol but it is still awesome :)

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take apart oem stock headlights

Post by aww sheet » Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:59 am

this is for those you who want to use oem and not depos.
oem sealant is virturaly impossible to take apart, but wiggy found away, and i've been following his instruction:


1) Preheat the oven to 250°F

2) Place 1 lamp at a time in the oven on a cookie tray and let soak for 15 minutes

3) Remove from oven and start prying with a flat head screwdriver or small pry bar at the point closest to the turn signal area (I've found having at least two screwdrivers or pry bars is a huge help, as you can get one through, then further down the lamp start prying with another to help open the gap)

4) After about a few minutes (3-5) of prying (don't sit there for 15 minutes trying to get it apart, the lamp will cool down too much), return the lamp to the oven for an additional 5-8 minutes

5) Pull lamp out again and keep prying

6) Repeat steps 4 & 5 until you can get a couple of fingers of each hand in between the lens and the housing and pull them apart. Once you can get a few fingers in there, you're pretty much set. Just pull gently, but firmly until the two halves pop apart.
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Post by Jenni » Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:09 pm

That's awesome! I definitely need to know more about the vacuforme procedure!!!
That is sick, i MUST know how to do that!!!

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Post by aww sheet » Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:21 pm

Jenni wrote:That's awesome! I definitely need to know more about the vacuforme procedure!!!
That is sick, i MUST know how to do that!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg_C_jto ... re=related

here you go
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Post by Jenni » Mon Jun 15, 2009 2:07 am

AMAZING!!!

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Post by c987long » Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:22 am

thread is full of w1n
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Post by Swordfish2Cowboy » Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:05 am

c987long wrote:thread is full of w1n
Let's do it up, man. We'll do yours first so we get the general idea for it. Then we can do mine. :lol:
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Post by SlvrACR » Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:42 pm

You should sell the acrylic molds. You would make a killing
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aww sheet
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Post by aww sheet » Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:09 am

SlvrACR wrote:You should sell the acrylic molds. You would make a killing
i'm going to make a carbon fiber or carbon kevlar mold from the acrylic

the only thing about mass producing this is depending on who the someone makes the bracket, the projector might not always mount the in the exact same spot. so i would have to make the molds and the bracket.
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aww sheet
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different material

Post by aww sheet » Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:19 pm

i recently found out that the use of polysteryne yeilds better results than acrylic. if you anyone is attempting this i would suggest using that instead. heat @300o for 3 mins w/ an electric oven and you' re set

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Post by Jenni » Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:02 pm

i prefer epoxy (like fiberglas resin) plates.
Metal sheet can bend - but that epoxy not.
And it is easier to work with.
You can buy that in model making shops.

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Oh and i found out that i definitely need a vacuum table.
All other ways to build the molding are somehow stupid.
Planed to fiberglas that - but thats such a pita and building that table sounds better.

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Post by wiggyx » Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:17 pm

Epoxy can crack though. I would still prefer to use metal plates. Bending will not be an issue in this application in my experience. That being said, it's far easier to fabricate plastic parts over metal.

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Post by Jenni » Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:24 pm

hmmm - that material is very resistable, they use that as chassis for RC-cars.
But - crackicng should also not be a problem here.

First i planed to use carbon fiber, but it was 3 times more expensive - and that was to much for just a small note to tell other people "yeah i have real cf in the headlights"... :lol:

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