Headlights/spotties... what have you done?

ZeroDrift

New member
4rsnduction":agdj8ncn said:
would a dimond cut H4 housing like THIS work with HID's........work in a way that keeps the light scatter from blinding everyone

No. Just because its a housing designed for a conventional H4 bulb does not make it suitable for any hid options.
 

~CDUB~

New member
Boo_Guy":idoewu7h said:
You need housings similar to the ones in the link;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8000K-HID-79-86 ... es&vxp=mtr


Those housings are junk i installed that exact kit into a ford probe and it glared very badly.

As a matter of fact I have yet to see any good headlights for our cars that utilize HIDs properly.

I've played around with lots of different options as i Have 5 cars. heres how i currently have them set up and aprox costs.

Mitsubishi Eclipse- Ebay projectors that i retrofitted oem acura TSX projectors in place of the low beam. (this is the proper way of converting to HID but took about 10hours of my own labour and over 500$ in parts)

94 celica GT-4 - Im running some cheap chinese 55w 8000k retro kits (just bulbs in reflector housings) for both low beams and fogs. (light output was vastly improved but glare is horrible i feel very bad for any drivers that meet me but its not my daily driver so its rare that the others are exposed) This is the cheapest route to go as it cost me less than 80$ shipped for the 4 hid kits.

91 celica gt-4 - this car has pop up headlights so its probably the best comparasion to a 165 headlights. for this car I changed out the stock sealed beams for some hella E codes and am running some 90/100 watt h4 bulbs. In order to run the higher wattage bulbs i had to wire a relay in order to handle the extra current from the higher wattage bulbs.

91 Mr2 - stock (light output sucks)

2012 mustang- cheap 35wat hid retro kit in stock housings. Again this isnt the best option as its putting a HID bulb in a headlamp desgined for a halogen bulb it does have some glare but not enough to bother me to go through the hassle of doing a proper retro like i did for my eclipse it is significatly brighter...

Id also like to brag about my light bar that I made to bolt onto the front of my st205 that consist of 4 6" round hella driving lights with 100W hids (obviously this is not road legal in any sense but Im pretty sure you could almost tan in front of the car with a total of 620watts of HID light going in front of the car.

you really get what you pay for when it comes to lighting...

Here is a pic i took as i was changing my st185 stock bulbs and headlights out.

(left side is stock right side is hella E code with 90/100w bulb hooked up to relay harness.) Most people think its HID but it really is just a standard halogen.) The picture also shows the difference between a LHD and a RHD beam pattern. This is your best option as it maintains a proper cut off line and would be about the same price as just throwing some HID h4 bulbs in. ( i payed 140 for the pair of ecodes 12$ for the bulbs and 30$ for the relay harness and wire)

21503110035_medium.jpg
 

Boo_Guy

Member
~CDUB~":16dy5n55 said:
Boo_Guy":16dy5n55 said:
You need housings similar to the ones in the link;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8000K-HID-79-86 ... es&vxp=mtr


Those housings are junk i installed that exact kit into a ford probe and it glared very badly.

As a matter of fact I have yet to see any good headlights for our cars that utilize HIDs properly.


Im hoping the ones I linked to on the first page work properly when it comes time for me to upgrade, unless someone comes up with a quad setup that keeps the flip up lights.

http://www.norcalmr2.com/store/
 

fussellbug

New member
I tried to contact NeelTec through their website listed email address and got no reply. I also found them on facebook and sent a message through there and got a reply almost a month later as shown below. If anyone is interested in organizing a group buy, NeelTec can make the kits again, although they won't be cheap.

image.php
 

entrax

Member
thread revival, but i just wanted to add my contribution:
Autopal H4 housing (ebay $30)
Morimoto Bi-Xenon Mini-D2S Projectors (retrofitsource.com $110)
Morimoto 4300k 35w D2S-HID (retrofitsource.com $40)
Generic 35w Ballast (got it cheap for $20)
Custom Vacuum formed Front glass

555642_10150647470786017_1890515174_n.jpg

542553_10150987454761017_1710051028_n.jpg

29578_10151158408276017_114318137_n.jpg


It's much sharper than the OEM hella projectors in my parent's e46 and i'd say that it's closer to the cutoff/spread of an acura TL/TSX which is considered to be one of the best oem projectors on the market. it's got 0 glare and 0 lumens above the cutoff.

oh and it's got highbeam and there is no problem putting the headlights back down because the back is identical to stock and the protrusion of the projectors are towards the front.
highbeammmm.gif
 

MWP

New member
So what's the custom formed front glass bit?
That can't have been a easy or cheap thing to make?

Are you happy wih the high beam brightness and throw?
It looks a bit dim / unfocused in the ani gif.
 

entrax

Member
the front glass thing i don't have a good picture of but i took some acrylic sheets from a plastic supplier for $10 from their scrap pile as i didn't need it to be a big piece. then i went to my old school where i'm still buddies with the teacher (i buy him a 6pack and i get the woodshop + metal shop for a school year :D) and cut pieces big enough to cover the headlight, but small enough to heat in my kitchen oven. next i took the old glass and made a mold using drywall stucco and added my own shape to it to accommodate the protruding projector. shove all of that into the oven, let the glass melt into the mold and next was back to the metal shop to use the band saw to cut the pieces to size and the rest is easy, some caulking to put it all together. total time spent was probably 3 hours and $15 in supplies.

as for light performance. it's ridiculously great.
- in that picture, i'm about 8 meters from the wall and the width spans approximately 5-6 lanes AT 8 meters. in other words, the spread is serious.
- as for throw, honestly, i only use high beam if i want to see what's above the cutoff, otherwise, the throw and brightness is at least over 300m away. i'm not sure why the gif shows a ghosty cutoff line but in person it's just one big beam, no line in the middle. it's a benefit for me as i drive daily home late on the trans canada hwy where some parts have no overhead lights. by the way, that picture was taken with the generic then 3 year old (currently 4 year old) ebay crapper ballast. when i'm done with my retrofit, it'll be sporting morimoto ballasts and oem philips D2S bulbs.
 

MWP

New member
Nice work, im impressed :)

So are the Mini-D2S Projectors designed to be mounted in a H4 housing, or was that just the convenient way for you to do it?
I wonder if those projectors come in a RHD version. Hmm.
 

entrax

Member
MWP":q1hh2b2o said:
Nice work, im impressed :)

So are the Mini-D2S Projectors designed to be mounted in a H4 housing, or was that just the convenient way for you to do it?
I wonder if those projectors come in a RHD version. Hmm.

the projectors are designed to fit directly in any h4 housing. in fact if the housing wasn't so shallow, it would be a plug and play retrofit, no cutting, no custom brackets/glass.
i like their mini-h1 projectors better though, the cutoff/spread is even more impressive, they also fit directly to h4's but you lose the ability to run oem hid bulbs.

on my parts list i've linked the projectors' website, and when you purchase on the left side, you can pick lhd or rhd :p
 

CSAlltrac

New member
Entrax has probably the best set up you can currently find for our cars. The hard part is starting with a quality housing, then chopping it all up. When you go that same route there are TONS of options to make the exact kit you desire wih the performance you're looking for. That route can also get very expensive and takes a bit of craftsmanship. But in the end you're paying for quality components as well as a good spread so you're not a boy racer blinding people with your sweet blue lights. Anything else on the market for us is next to a waste of money. I would still love to try the "trucklite LED 5x7" Super expensive but looks to be a quality item. Just unsure of how they would look/perform on our cars.
 

FC Zach

Active member
I've been eying those LED lights for some time now just like CSAlltrac has and I think I may make the purchase later this week. After reading the great reviews on the Yotatech (thanks for the link 801Alltrac) I have no reason to doubt these lights now. Will make pics sometime after they arrive.

The website I'm ordering from seems to be a little better on the price compared to others.
http://www.drivetrainamerica.com/p-...ar-led-5-x-7-truck-jeep-xj-yj-headlights.aspx
 

ZeroDrift

New member
I actually just picked up a set of the Trucklite LED headlights. They are currently on my MK1 MR2 while I am rebuilding my 'Trac. Must say they work quite well- however with the low amp draw these have, the MR2 no longer has an operational hi-beam indicator lamp.
 
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