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Projector retrofit progress

11K views 61 replies 14 participants last post by  nighthawk306 
#1 · (Edited)
Well, rather than constantly barging into Soontobesrt's thread, I figured I would make my own. This one will just be to document my progress; I will do a complete How-to when all is said and done.

Today, I pretty much prepped the driver side reflector for my projector. Since its not a complete how-to, I am going to skip the steps up until now.

First, I made myself a little aiming "rig" complete with an old computer supply converted to give the lights 12V. I plugged in the halogen bulb to get an idea of where my cutoff should be. I measured it to be around 44.5" from where I set everything up.



The old halogen cutoff...its so yellow! However, it was surprisingly sharp.



Since I have an idea of where the cutoff is going to be, I started to cut! First I removed the old mount for the halogen bulb. Then I removed the shield over the tip of the bulb and clearanced the bottom for the projector.



Then came the fun stuff, test fitting the projector and cutting the reflector accordingly. It took me a bit, but I am ready to mount and aim the projector.





A couple of things I learned today...number one, wear a respirator or dust mask! I did not and I am paying dearly for that one. Second, doing this with the reflector still attached would be a pain. You can see the hole in the back is not perfectly round. After cutting off the 9006 bulb mount, I just kept enlarging the hole until I had the projector close to where I wanted it. I also found out that the E-46 shrouds do not look like they are going to work. That is fine by me because I was planning on some custom fiberglass shrouds. I just need to find a simple shroud to put a nice finishing touch where the fiberglass will meet the projector. I foresee those shrouds taking some time!

Oh, I apologize for the pics. I found out today that the flash on my old digital camera does not work. Its still going to produce better pictures than my cell phone. Unfortunately, I do not have the funds to purchase a new camera to properly document the project...the whole retrofit kinda cut into my funds a bit. :)
 
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#2 ·
Awesome Stuff! I'll be on here myself a lot so be sure to keep up on my thread as well! Im really going to need you to talk me through removing the reflector because I honestly see no way to remove it safely with anything I have and I don't believe I have a drum spoon like you mentioned haha. Im thinking about ditching the reflectors 100%, but not sure, what do you think? Have only projectors, some fiberglass and shrouds in the plastic housings maybe, still brian-storming before I tear/cut.

Nice job w/ aiming them as well, Ill have to do something similar I guess, good ole level ain't gonna be enough here haha :)
 
#3 · (Edited)
I still have to do everything to my passenger side light once it gets here so I am still looking for a better way to remove the reflector from the housing. I did buy something from Lowes today and I am not sure if its going to work any better. Same concept, but its bent a little bit different.

My purchase today...



The modified brake spoon. By the way, these things are CHEAP and you should be able to find them at any reputable autoparts store.



In this picture, you can see how I cut the end so it would fit around the ball stud used to hold the reflector to the housing.



Assuming the aftermarket housings are similar...

To remove the reflector, the first thing you need to do is remove the adjuster. This part is easy. Just twist the adjuster counter clockwise and it will release from the housing. Its still attached to the reflector, but using a large pair of vise grips as a fulcrum you can gently remove it from the reflector mount. That's one down and two to go. For the other two, you will need something to pry with...which is why I had to create a tool. I sprayed them with some lithium grease to aid the process although I am not sure if it helps at all. Regardless, with the adjuster mount removed you can freely move the reflector up and down. I was able to squeeze the tool in there and gently pry until they released. Gently is actually more like forcefully, but it did work out.

As far as just doing away with your reflector completely, I don't necessarily think its a horrible idea. I have a couple thoughts for you...first, you will possibly have 8 new mounting points to keep sealed from the outside. On a plus side, you now have some type of adjustment for the projector even after everything is sealed. Next, you are going to have a whole lot of extra space to fill in with something...maybe like a custom fiberglass shroud?

How about a picture of a headlight assembly "sealed" without the stock reflector? Hmmm, let me see what I can dig out of my box of goodies...imagine that, a housing with no reflector and a lens with the stock bezel!



PM me if you want, I'd be glad to answer any questions you have or to just discuss the retrofit process.
 
#7 ·
I like that pic lot. Looks nice. As far as the ballast inside, like Rob said then if anything goes bad your ripping it open again. UNLESS someone could come up with a door type of system but I highly doubt its possible to make a headlight openable without having any moisture issues :( Anyway, keep going, I look forward to the progress. That picture is just the housing and the chrome headlight bezel piece without the main reflectors correct? I think Im going to go that route but I have a few weeks to sit on it and think haha. Good work though :)
 
#4 ·
I just had a great idea...at least I think I did. I might try to mount the ballast inside the housing. This keeps the ballast away from the elements and the whole housing will be sealed. I need to improvise a cap like the stock projectors have, but it might be pretty slick. I will also need to cut a hole in the housing so I can make the 9006 connector on the ballast accessible, but it would be much easier to seal that rather than figuring out how to enclose the back of the projector and the D2S connector.





Sorry again for the poor pics.
 
#6 ·
Yeah, I thought about that aspect, but I really like the idea of being able to keep everything sealed. With the projectors and halos, the last thing I want in the housing is moisture. I may be willing to take that chance. I'm going to explore some options, but I will obviously let you guys know the route I take.
 
#9 ·
Man, this is a tedious process! I can't wait to do the other side; it should go much smoother. Today I worked on mounting the projector to the reflector. First, I started out with a refined aiming rig. Its simply too hot to do this stuff in the garage and I'm living a bachelor lifestyle in one room of a house. Work is delegated to the carpeted basement! I purchased a 2'x4' sheet of OSB to lay on the carpeting. I laid out two sets of lines on the board so I can move it closer to make sure the vertical aspect is in line. As I progressed I realized its not that important. The reflector has lines to use as a reference point for horizontal and vertical alignment. As long as I get the cutoff to the right height, the only thing I really need to worry about it making sure the rotational plane is level. I taped off a level mark on the wall in the general vicinity of the halogen cutoff so I will be able to fine tune that with the stock adjuster once they are installed on the Jeep. As long as its level, and I keep the projector face perpendicular to the reference lines, I will call it good.



After a long process and much frustration, I have all the mounting holes drilled and ready to go. Two of them are a bit oblong and two are fairly decent size. Once its all bolted together, it should be nice and solid. I might try to use a body filler or some plastic epoxy to fill in the larger holes, but I'm still unsure.









Now I just need to make some spacers for the back so I can tighten down some nylock nuts and I will finally have the driver side mounted and ready for a shroud.

I almost forgot...satisfied with the rotation of the projector!



This thing is ridiculous, just look at how wide the light is compared to the halogen bulb.

 
#12 ·
You know, I keep forgetting to switch it on! Next time I hook it up, I will put power to the solenoid and snap a pic.
 
#14 ·
So far nice man, i like that mounting option versus using adhesive only, may go that route as well. I agree about aiming as well if you get the cutoff where you want sideways its gonna be fine because you cant control that really anyway can you besides keeping it straight and as close to 180o in the reflector?

And you're using 08+aftermarket housing ehhh, dint notice till those pics, you get them off AM-auto or some other source? And which projectors are those, nice cutoff/beam pattern as well! - Anthony
 
#15 ·
When you mount the projector, you have three "planes" to align. The horizontal alignment can be adjusted using the stock mechanism, so getting it close is going to be sufficient. I have mine set at the height of the halogen beam, so I know I will have plenty of adjustment to dial it all in when I am finished. The next one is the vertical alignment; it cannot be adjusted after everything is sealed. This one is to ensure your headlights are pointed straight ahead and not crossed or pointing away from each other. To achieve this, I just put a reference mark on the bottom of the reflector housing. As long as the flat part on the front of the projector is parallel, I should be good to go. The last is the rotational aspect, and like the vertical adjustment, it cannot be changed once everything is sealed. This one is pretty simple, if your cutoff is angled, the rotation is off.

That is an '08+ OEM housing I bought from a member here. They don't actually make any aftermarket options for the newer style yet. The projector is an FX-R using 35W Morimoto ballasts and a 5000K Morimoto D2S capsule.
 
#16 ·
I like how you are making a step by step process for people to follow. I will definitely have to do this to my jeep, most likely just the low beams though. Great work!
 
#18 ·
Got a little bit more done today before work. I made some nylon spacers that I will epoxy to the back of the reflector so I can tighten down some nylock nuts on a flat surface. I still need to make some sort of spacers for the inside on the right side of the projector so it cannot move inwards. I doubt it would, but I may as well put something there as a stop. I'm not sure what I can use the fill in the holes, I would like to use some kind of sandable epoxy so I will have to see what is available...any suggestions?

Here is what the back looks like with the spacers mocked up.







I will be trimming them down as well as the screws so it doesn't stick out so far. I hope the get it completely mounted and start the shroud this weekend. I did receive another passenger side light yesterday so I will begin work on that sometime in the near future. The housing has a small crack which will need to be repaired and I am going to have to swap lenses with my other spare. However, it should turn out just fine. I'll document the repair process too.
 
#19 ·
Cool, I like the spacers and as far as for the front, are you referring to the the area inside the housing between the projector and the back of the reflector? Once you torque it don't I cant see it moving but as you said its a good idea to fill that space. Im sure they make some of the expandable foam stuff that hardens up and is heat resistant I believe to as I have seen/found tons of it while I was doing my SRT conversion.
 
#21 ·
I am concerned with the area between the screw and the back of the reflector. Without anything between that area, the projector would technically be able to move towards the reflector. My upper left mount touches the reflector, so that will be solid, but the rest have a gap. While tightening down a bolt on the back side will keep it from moving forward, without anything on the other side, it could move backward.

And thanks for posting in my thread Steve, its good to have feedback from a professional like yourself!



The gray part is the projector, the red is the screw, blue are the locking nuts, orange is the spacer on the back and black is the reflector. Right now, the green is showing what I mean. If nothing is between the projector and the reflector, the whole thing could move towards the reflector...I hope this illustrates what I am trying to say! I think two or three solid mounting points will be more than enough. With one solid already, I should only need one or two spacers to satisfy me!
 
#23 ·
Yeah, its not that there will ever be any pressure applied to the front, its simply due to the vibration of hitting bumps. I considered just using a nut, and I might do something like that with a nylock nut in a position that it will bottom out against the reflector. There is not a cosmetic function to it; it is simply to keep the projector from moving when hitting bumps. I will try to take a pic this weekend when I work on it. Unfortunately, waiting for the halos is really going to be the critical step in this project. I might put the shrouds on hold until both of my projectors are mounted. Really, if I am going to wait until October for the halos, there isn't a rush to finish one before I start the other. I definitely have the time!
 
#25 ·
Yup Im in the same boat, Steve said my halos would go out late august/ealrly Sept since Ive been on that list AWHILE now haha, plan is to have them go out so thatd I could have them by end of the first week in Sept. Im going to try and have the HL's done by the 11th which is when I leave the country for some tropical vaykay :D I return the 18th so no big deal if I dont finish. As long as I get the halos though, Ill be good to go, thats the only thing stopping me, that and well Im sitting on a beach till September haha. ANYWAY, did you see Robs headlights :eek::eek:

They look sick, thats some more motivation for us haha, I want the same thing except the black will be body color for me :) They looked really sharp and leavign the shroud chrome looks sick. I know what Im doing, I think yours are going to look sweet too! Im sure you'll be fine mounting wise, just try stuff out and see if there any play, if not Im sure you'll be fine, worst case you can ass some industrial strength adhesive in the cracks/joints to firmly hold them? GL whichever you do - Anthony
 
#26 ·
Another idea for making sure the projectors don't move would be to affix a nut to the backside of the projector. That way you could make adjustments and the nut would hold the projectors from moving. Just a thought.

Btw- What type of projectors are you using xenon or bi-xenon?
 
#28 ·
I'm not cool enough to go quad projectors. But the projectors in my low beam spot are going to be bi-xenon. When I flip on the high beams there will be two xenons, and two halogens. I don't care how it looks to oncoming traffic because, well, oncoming vehicles should never see my high beams! I am definitely putting an HID kit in my fogs though, I just hope it doesn't scatter so much light it makes my fogs unusable in conditions that require them. On a side note, I began epoxying the mounts to the back of the reflector. Using my current mounting points, it aimed my cutoffs about 4 inches below what I wanted, but I will be able to rectify that using the stock adjuster. I made sure that it only takes a couple of degrees of rotation to achieve a 4" rise at 10 feet. As long as I can achieve the proper cutoff at 25' I will be just fine. If my "calculations" are correct, everything is fine and I can start on my shroud this week.
 
#29 · (Edited)
cool beans, i wasn't sure if the FXRs had a factory adjust but I assumed it had to, didnt see anything on the projector, but I didn't look very hard haha. I cant wait to get home and get in on this project, after seeing Robs im so excited! I too need some HID fogs, have LED now and it completes " the look" but the output isnt there so Im gonna hafta see, hope it doesnt scatter as well, otherwise a fog retrofit may be in order :eek: (no good aftermarket projector fogs out there from what ive seen :()
 
#30 ·
Well, I have my mounts epoxied to the back, a spacer in between the projector and the reflector and they are aimed to my liking. So, I proceeded with my first attempt at using fiberglass. I bought some "ponte" fabric, attached it to the projector with a hose clamp and glued it all around with some hot glue. There are a few ripples in there, but I think when I build up the shroud, I will be able to smooth them out. Its my first time trying anything like this, so if it doesn't turn out, I will just redo it using what I learned. I also figured something out when aiming too. I have been looking at it like it is rocket science. However, if you just aim them level on the horizontal plane, and keep them level in the rotational plane, I think I will be just fine. I've been caught up trying to mimic the stock output, but I don't think that is the the proper approach. Anyway, here are a couple pics of the progress.





We shall see how this turns out!
 
#31 ·
Hahaha, learning experience number one! That didn't take long at all. The fabric I bought is not going to work for this application. I did some reading and it looked pretty good. It had some nice stretch to it, and it was supposed to yield some smooth results (less sanding). However, to get it pulled properly was a bit too much stress for the glue. Its all coming loose and it has ripples everywhere. Looks like tomorrow I will go buy some fleece and see how that works out.

Oh, and I will also be doing this in the garage in the future. The roommates probably won't be happy tomorrow when they open their doors!
 
#32 · (Edited)
I was going to say, regarding the aiming situation, you had me thinking it was rocket, when in fact, my original knowledge suggested exactly what you have now realized lol, you convinced me it was going to be much harder than I think it should be lol. Anyway, I think if the cutoff is level and its within the horizontal markers, how else can you aim it really? As long as the base is as near the level it will be mounted, Id say you can just use the standard assessment of aiming the cutoff from this website (all based on US DOT legal regs. etc):

http://www.midstatedmc.com/tech/aim.htm

OR an easier approach Ive found works, from 25 feet, mark a spot on a vertical surface that is exactly the same height as the middle of your beam point (middle of headlight) and the cutoff should then be about 2-3 inches below that line, then make sure they are both aiming mostly straight (reflector has line?) and you're good :)

And FTR - these cannot be changed whatsoever according to Matt at TRS, so once we mount them thats it! So Id better get it perfect the first time lol.
 
#34 · (Edited)
I was going to say, regarding the aiming situation, you had me thinking it was rocket, when in fact, my original knowledge suggested exactly what you have now realized lol, you convinced me it was going to be much harder than I think it should be lol. Anyway, I think if the cutoff is level and its within the horizontal markers, how else can you aim it really?
The problem is that you read so much and you see all these people having problems that it makes it appear harder. Until you actual do it, you realize that maybe some people should not be attempting certain things! I'm a bit ambitious with a lot of projects and I've definitely been in over my head before. This one though, I wasn't messing around. Problem is...its not really that hard!

an easier approach Ive found works, from 25 feet, mark a spot on a vertical surface that is exactly the same height as the middle of your beam point (middle of headlight) and the cutoff should then be about 2-3 inches below that line, then make sure they are both aiming mostly straight (reflector has line?) and you're good :)

And FTR - these cannot be changed whatsoever according to Matt at TRS, so once we mount them thats it! So Id better get it perfect the first time lol.
Yeah, I will be aiming them at 25 feet once they are on the car, right now its just 10 feet from a wall to ensure level cutoffs. I'm trying to get them as straight as possible on the reflector because they are not adjustable once they are mounted. Although, you will still always be able to adjust the horizontal plane using the stock adjuster for the reflector. The projector doesn't have any type of adjustment itself, its all based on how its mounted. Its really rotation and vertical that need to be permanently fixed properly...and I typically don't like to settle for close enough. At least not right away. :)

If you do go the route of mounting them directly to the housing, you should still have a pretty good amount of adjustment when everything is closed up. As long as you can get to the screws outside of the housing, you can still do a little fine tuning.
 
#36 · (Edited)
Well, I am assuming all OEM projectors are rotationally and vertically aligned...so the only thing that needs to be adjusted is the horizontal plane. And you said it, most of them have leveling motors. We unfortunately don't have that ability with a retrofit. So, your adjust-ability comes down to how you mount them. I'm not sure if you have browsed the links section at the TRS website, but there is a great HID specific forum. I am a member there as well and it has some great mounting ideas. However, with the bottom of out reflectors being visible, it really limits what we can do with the WK lights. If you haven't already, check out those links.

All reflectors have some great alignment lines built right into them. Every line that is vertical on reflectors is supposed to be perpendicular to the ground. So, if you use those as a reference with a square piece of material, you will be able to draw out a line that can be used to vertically and rotationally align the projector. I have pretty much just been eye-balling it as of late and it has come out decent. What I need to do is crack open my other assembly and get the passenger side mounted. I'm thinking I want to do both of my fiberglass shrouds at the same time. Technically speaking, it will cut my curing time in half if I do both sides at the same time. It's really a labor of love, tweaking is a hobby of mine I suppose!

I realize we are basically conversing between ourselves here, but I hope our threads provide some good info for future WK retrofitters. I think we are doing a good job so far!
 
#38 ·
Thats what I thought but even then, the beams may aim out different ways or be rotationally off of 180 degrees perfectly. I do trust my eyes and all but at the end of the day Id like the to be almost 100% perfect being as once they're set thats it. BUT even more important being the way we mount it so it doesnt ever more in the future due to a pothole or a quick swerve or something like that. I really cant afford to have these things go off line once they're mounted, would break my heart :( Im sure well be fine though :) All in time
 
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