Winter Project comming early

[RickHigginsHtbr]

Got one of the first parts of my winter project in today :) The layout will be comming soon, something similar to the tails for the signals...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/rickhigginshtbr/newtoys001.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/rickhigginshtbr/newtoys002.jpg

[pyro]

bi-xenons eh? what car you putting those in? i picked up a pair this week for my sister cavi. too bad the damned things dont fit in our housings. :tears:
are they the E46's?

[Chain]

Projection rocks.

[pyro]

Originally posted by Chain
Projection rocks.
i concur

[RickHigginsHtbr]

Originally posted by pyro
bi-xenons eh? what car you putting those in? i picked up a pair this week for my sister cavi. too bad the damned things dont fit in our housings. :tears:
are they the E46's?

when there's a will there's a way. Probably gonna have to cut + glass a little out of the back, no biggie. Yup, came out of a E46, bi xexon's. I think the hardest part is going to be wiring. I want to keep the stock switches functional. Here's what I'm going to attempt to do:
A - CCFL's in the headlights will become DRL
B - Stock High Beam switch will work
C - Fogs with Highs, but need to make new brackets for my new fogs.

If anyone can send me any wiring schematics for that area, it would be greatly appreciated.

[ga5speed02]

i hate you :lol:

[pyro]

Originally posted by RickHigginsHtbr
when there's a will there's a way. Probably gonna have to cut + glass a little out of the back, no biggie. Yup, came out of a E46, bi xexon's. I think the hardest part is going to be wiring. I want to keep the stock switches functional. Here's what I'm going to attempt to do:
A - CCFL's in the headlights will become DRL
B - Stock High Beam switch will work
C - Fogs with Highs, but need to make new brackets for my new fogs.

If anyone can send me any wiring schematics for that area, it would be greatly appreciated.
first of all its been attempted multiple times by multiple people over on gagt. the projectors stick out way to far and hit the header panel in the back, and leave no room for the bulb wires to the ballasts. trust me, if we could fit them in there it would be done.

A. why would you have them as drls? just wire them up independantly? seems like a waste to me.
B. check, done and done
C. no point, but i see what youre getting at...i would rather wire up my fogs independantly so you can use them as "drls" during th day if you want, but still be abelt to use them independantly.

[Gagt518]

Oh So Bright

[RickHigginsHtbr]

Originally posted by pyro
first of all its been attempted multiple times by multiple people over on gagt. the projectors stick out way to far and hit the header panel in the back, and leave no room for the bulb wires to the ballasts. trust me, if we could fit them in there it would be done.

A. why would you have them as drls? just wire them up independantly? seems like a waste to me.
B. check, done and done
C. no point, but i see what youre getting at...i would rather wire up my fogs independantly so you can use them as "drls" during th day if you want, but still be abelt to use them independantly.

blah, I'll make'em fit. The header panel is plastic and can and will be modded. I want to keep those as DRL's in hopes that I wont need to convert back to stock for inspection. Plus, don't want the HID's on constantly. And H3 fogs + bi xexon's = i'll be able to see a mouse running across the road at midnight a mile away :)

[ManktheTank19]

Sweet Idea, why dont you make your own paintable aed headlights by using those or ones similar to HighwayProwler (sp?)

[Big Joe]

The project isnt coming that early, I mean it is november.....

[pyro]

Originally posted by RickHigginsHtbr
blah, I'll make'em fit. The header panel is plastic and can and will be modded. I want to keep those as DRL's in hopes that I wont need to convert back to stock for inspection. Plus, don't want the HID's on constantly. And H3 fogs + bi xexon's = i'll be able to see a mouse running across the road at midnight a mile away :)
for someone whos never done a retro before, youve got alot of faith in yourself. ill believe it when i see it.

[coupe]

I find this funny.
Winter project coming early, its cool becuase winter is coming early too.

Your gonna crash and burn, there is no way your gonna fit those. Even if you pull it off it will look horid.

[RickHigginsHtbr]

just like the tails when seth and magyver said it wouldn't work... can't wait to prove you guys wrong :D

[lowrider2962]

well hey good luck buddy. I hope u can find a way to do it. I'm not gonna say u can or u can't. just let me know how it goes. if u need some special kind of braket made to mount thosethings right just I'M me and well talk about the design and whether ill be able to machine them for you. however u wanna do it I'm willing to help if u need it. no garentees ill be able to tho

[pyro]

Originally posted by RickHigginsHtbr
just like the tails when seth and magyver said it wouldn't work... can't wait to prove you guys wrong :D
what tails? throwing in LED bulbs? who said you cant throw in LED bulbs?

[RickHigginsHtbr]

very very rough idea of what i'm shootin for... gonna glass the whole insides smooth with the base of the projector. then the bottom darker row of led's will be the parking lights, 15 of them. Probably use 10mm led's again to keep it consistant with the tails. then the 30 others will be for turn signals, every other one blinking instead of the inside/corners blinking like they do. definately need to do another one to scale, but this'll do for now:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/rickhigginshtbr/headlightveryroughidea.jpg

[RickHigginsHtbr]

Originally posted by pyro
what tails? throwing in LED bulbs? who said you cant throw in LED bulbs?

know your facts before opening your mouth, kid.

http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=58654

[pyro]

say what? no offense, but good luck changing out a bulb or even wiring all of those in and fitting resistors in there...nvm, this is a job for magyver. hes th master at this, im sure he has some insight. having completed the only successful custom LEd retro im sure hell have plenty of tips.

EDIT: ironic timing

[magyver]

Originally posted by RickHigginsHtbr
just like the tails when seth and magyver said it wouldn't work... can't wait to prove you guys wrong :D

well, you may fit in the bi-xenon's, but your not gonna have a mounting bracket. your headlight is gonna flop around like some 80 year olds titts. or have to fab up some sort of bracket to hold in the headlight. wiring is gonna be fun if you dont want to throw codes or have idiot lights on. its gonna take knowledge, relays, and resistors. and how the hell is ccfl halo's gonna help u for inspection for DRL's? not gonna happen IMO.

and please inlighten me on how you proved me wrong about your tails? your using narrow a$$ 10mm's running off a 3157 jamstraight right? check the V at those led's, there not running at what they were rated for.. i can tell the quality just from your signature as i only see 1, i say 1 led that is bright/safe enough for a tailight. 5mm's are ok if they are surrounded by chrome. drilled through plastic and no sir, not safe. and you cant tell me any different as ive done/ seen it all.

why spend so little on the tails and so much on the headlights? i mean, you dont realy match.. your tails should be high quality if your attempting to retro in bi-xenons.. just makes me wonder the quality of this retro by the concept that you thought was ok for the tails.. i hope you do more research for the headlights than you did on the tails as its alot more expensive if you screw up or dont like the results. plus other peoples saftey is still #1. dosent matter how much you like it, it has to be safe.

all i can say now is good luck.. dont let it be a money pit... cause you wont get it back out... regardless of quality...

[Big Joe]

umm yeah, lets keep the restarted comments to a minimum shall we......

[RickHigginsHtbr]

Originally posted by magyver
well, you may fit in the bi-xenon's, but your not gonna have a mounting bracket. your headlight is gonna flop around like some 80 year olds titts. or have to fab up some sort of bracket to hold in the headlight.

Mounting I'm not as concerned about as I am the wiring.... gonna need to study hidplanet a good bit before trying anything.


wiring is gonna be fun if you dont want to throw codes or have idiot lights on. its gonna take knowledge, relays, and resistors. and how the hell is ccfl halo's gonna help u for inspection for DRL's? not gonna happen IMO.

drl's for inspection = bright enough white lighting to be noticed during the day. the ccfl rings are bright enough to be noticed during the day.


and please inlighten me on how you proved me wrong about your tails? your using narrow a$$ 5mm's running off a 3157 jamstraight right? check the V at those led's, there not running at what they were rated for.. i can tell the quality just from your signature as i only see 1, i say 1 led that is bright/safe enough for a tailight. 5mm's are ok if they are surrounded by chrome. drilled through plastic and no sir, not safe. and you cant tell me any different as ive done/ seen it all.

10mm, and hardwired into the factory board. that pic was from more than 20 feet away at an odd angle. want me to post better day pics? no issues with near rear-endings since i put them in a week before albany and almost 15k miles later. 1 issue with a blind cop thinking my running lights were controled by a switch in the dash, but i proved him wrong and got no warning.


why spend so little on the tails and so much on the headlights? i mean, you dont realy match.. your tails should be high quality if your attempting to retro in bi-xenons.. just makes me wonder the quality of this retro by the concept that you thought was ok for the tails.. i hope you do more research for the headlights than you did on the tails as its alot more expensive if you screw up or dont like the results. plus other peoples saftey is still #1. dosent matter how much you like it, it has to be safe.

it'll be safe, i'm not concerned about that. the tails i'm going to redo, never sanded down the tips like i wanted. Plus i'm going to clean them up a bit so it dont look like garbage with a normal gt lense on them. the tails were only cheap cause i got the led's for cheap.


all i can say now is good luck.. dont let it be a money pit... cause you wont get it back out... regardless of quality...

like i said, the fab and led work i'm not worried about... but i definately need to study hidplanet before tackling the main issue.

[pyro]

Originally posted by RickHigginsHtbr
know your facts before opening your mouth, kid.

http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=58654
either way they arent meant to be stand alone, like magyver said, they should be infront of a mirror lense or something. good luck to you, ill give you $5 if you can fit a bi-xenon in our housings that actually looks good. the projectors are too big to fit in there, as i am sitting here looking at a pair and a pair of housings i can tell you that. from one retro fitter to another, i look forward to seeing this idea completed. good luck

[RickHigginsHtbr]

Originally posted by pyro
say what? no offense, but good luck changing out a bulb or even wiring all of those in and fitting resistors in there...nvm, this is a job for magyver. hes th master at this, im sure he has some insight. having completed the only successful custom LEd retro im sure hell have plenty of tips.

EDIT: ironic timing

ummm, what? it's been finished and installed for months. like i said, do your homework first kid...

[pyro]

Originally posted by RickHigginsHtbr
ummm, what? it's been finished and installed for months. like i said, do your homework first kid...
1. stop calling me kid, you are 4 years older than me
2. good luck, im done arguing with you. i look forward to seeing this completed.

[magyver]

blinkers for the front are the most important. i wouldnt use 10mm. id use superflux so you have your brightness and viewing angle taken care of.. future electronics has a 70 degree 2.5 lumen superflux... thats the only led i would use..

[freekLED]

Good luck. I agree with most opinions here that Bi-Xenons from the E46 are not the best solution. There are HID fixtures out there in all conceivable shapes, sizes & diameters that could possibly fit better (i.e. diameter and/or depth, integrated bracket, etc.) than the E46.

Now for the LED issue, well I agree with magyver here. Most 10mm LED's do not have the proper viewing angle for automotive use (there are exceptions). Superflux are a much better choice due to the wide viewing angle.
I prefer Luxeon LED's in 1W, 3W & 5 W versions but they are expensive, require drivers or PWM and a heat sink, so maybe not for your budget or taste.

I forgot to add: Superflux makes automotive use LED's but not cheap either. A lens or diffusor can do wonders for the spreading of the light as well as not blinding others.

[DontPassTheFence]

While Ill say the attitudes in this thread arent that great, I believe in Rick's skills to pull this one off, much like the LED tails which everyone was SURE wouldnt work (although they almost didnt, macgyver was integral on that one) and they look effing GOOD. If there is a will, there is a way, guys -- maybe sometime in late spring/early summer we shall see who is right, and who is wrong, eh? :thumbup:

I cant wait to see in progress pics and the finished product. Keep the mods a`commin', its that real custom shit that sets you apart.

[VanishingImage]

I say encouragement when others say it won't work. If it doesn't work,fine,he learned this time but if it works then ya,most of the people will feel bad for bashing the idea. So I say go for it and make it work.