lowrider2962
02-24-2007, 09:10 PM
well i just so happened to have a broken headlight laying around so i decided to have a little fun and make a how-to for a pretty kool headlight mod. ive done the same thing to my fog lights and theyr pretty kool to. all it is is a ring of LEDs installed in the housing. my LEDs have a pretty narrow veiwing angle (means the light is more concentrated) and they still light up the chrome really good. ive got 7 in my fog lights and the headlight im going to show u has 16 in it. dont blame me for ur ruined headlights if u mess up. also make sure that this is legal where u live. its not my fault if u get a ticket for these things. with that said, first things first. the tools/parts list.
electric drill
3/16 (5mm) drill bit
very small drill bit
xacto knife
LEDs (buy extra)
wire
solder
soldering iron
silicon sealer
wire cutters
~20 ohm resistor (1/2watt)
center punch and small hammer
marker
ruler
STEP 1
you need to pull apart the headlight by using the xacto knife to cut the sealant. after u cut all around u should be able to pull the lense from the housing. u could proly get away w/o doing this but it would be a big mess inside the headlight.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2199.jpg
STEP 2
now u need to lay out the design of ur LEDs. i used a ruler and a marker and marker and put dots just over 1/2" from the outside of the headlightbulb holder part spacing them 1/2" apart. this gave me an even number of 16 LEDs. if u want to have more then ull need to put them closer together. and u can also make the ring bigger by putting the holes farther out from the light bulb holder. after i was satisfied with the possitioning of the dots i had put on the back of the housing i used a small center punch(acctually its a prick punch but a cener punch will work fine) and i made little indentations on the dots. BE CAREFULL and BE GENTLE if u hit it to hard u will either push the punch to deep and chip the chrome on the other side or break a hole in the housing.i did it twice. thank god this is a broken headlight that i wont be using.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2200.jpg
STEP 3
now u get to put a bunch of holes in ur headlight. i started by using a very small drill bit (1/16) because it fit in the indentations i made with the center punch better then my 3/16 bit. i used the smaller bit to pilot drill the holes so they would be right where i want them.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2203.jpg
after i got all the holes drilled i switched to my 3/16 bit and bored them out to size. if u have a 5mm metric bit that is the tool to use. once again BE CAREFULL and BE GENTLE dont put ANY pressure on the drill at all. just run the drill at high rpms and let the weight of the drill SLOWLY push it thru the matterial. this way there is minmum chipping when u break thru. when drilling all of your holes be sure to keep the drill bit pointed towards the center of the opening for the bulb.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2204.jpg
STEP 4
its time to test fit ur LEDs. unless u used a 5mm bit to drill your holes u will probably need to bore them a little bigger. start by test fitting an LED. if it does not go in easily or all the way u need to pull it back out. u should be able to push your LEDs in with ur fingers. if they dont go in then u need to use your drill and wiggle the bit around in the hole while pulling the trigger. if u dont want to mess things up u need to take ur time at this. only drill for less then a second at a time. then try again. if u elongate the hole too much the LED will be loose and proly wont look right. drill for half a second, then test fit again, and repeat until all the LEDs fit in their hole. i marked the holes off with my marker as i did this so i didnt accidentally drill in the wrong hole. after u finish this go ahead and insert all the LEDs.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2207.jpg
notice the chip i made earlier with the center punch
STEP 5
ur almost there. now u need to wire up your LEDs. when i inserted mine i arranged them so that the positive lead was towards the center and the negative on the outside. this made it easy for me to wire them for 2 reasons. #1 i knew which lead was + or - #2 i was able to just run a bare wire around all the leads and solder where it touched. to do this i soldered both wires onto the first LED and then inserted it. then i ran the outside wire around all the leads and tacked it to each one.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2211.jpg
then i went back and did it again with the inside wire. in the end it almost looks like train tracks and it took me lots less time the wiring them individually.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2215.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2218.jpg
next u need to solder a resistor to one of the wires.
STEP 6
now u need to use some silicon sealer and cover the entire project with it. silcon works as an insulator, water sealant, and glue. it will hold the LEDs in place, keep the headlight water tight, and prevent shorts (make sure no wires are touching). bare wires LEDs and everything should be covered and with a fair amount too. i didnt do this to my broken headlight because i dont plan on ever using it. as i mentioned before, i did this same thing to my fog lights with 7 LEDs. so heres a pic of what my fog light looked like with the silicon on it.
before silicon
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2100.jpg
after silicon
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2102.jpg
STEP 7
clean all the old silicon off the housing and lens if u havent already. now put the 2 pieces back together. there should be a little grove all the way around where the lens sorta overlaps the housing. u need to fill that completely with silicon. use ur fingers to spread it around and push it in there really good. u dont want ANY bubbles in there because there might be a leak there. let the silicon dry for proly about 4-5hrs before u do anything else. this would be a good time to either work on the other headlight or install the one thats already finished.
so there ya have it, the finished product
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2221.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2224.jpg
i dont have any pics of this thing on my car because its a broken headlight. but i do have some more pics of my fogs.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2110.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2111.jpg
by the way the headlights are red because all the amber bulbs have been replaced with red ones and the halogens are turned off.
electric drill
3/16 (5mm) drill bit
very small drill bit
xacto knife
LEDs (buy extra)
wire
solder
soldering iron
silicon sealer
wire cutters
~20 ohm resistor (1/2watt)
center punch and small hammer
marker
ruler
STEP 1
you need to pull apart the headlight by using the xacto knife to cut the sealant. after u cut all around u should be able to pull the lense from the housing. u could proly get away w/o doing this but it would be a big mess inside the headlight.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2199.jpg
STEP 2
now u need to lay out the design of ur LEDs. i used a ruler and a marker and marker and put dots just over 1/2" from the outside of the headlightbulb holder part spacing them 1/2" apart. this gave me an even number of 16 LEDs. if u want to have more then ull need to put them closer together. and u can also make the ring bigger by putting the holes farther out from the light bulb holder. after i was satisfied with the possitioning of the dots i had put on the back of the housing i used a small center punch(acctually its a prick punch but a cener punch will work fine) and i made little indentations on the dots. BE CAREFULL and BE GENTLE if u hit it to hard u will either push the punch to deep and chip the chrome on the other side or break a hole in the housing.i did it twice. thank god this is a broken headlight that i wont be using.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2200.jpg
STEP 3
now u get to put a bunch of holes in ur headlight. i started by using a very small drill bit (1/16) because it fit in the indentations i made with the center punch better then my 3/16 bit. i used the smaller bit to pilot drill the holes so they would be right where i want them.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2203.jpg
after i got all the holes drilled i switched to my 3/16 bit and bored them out to size. if u have a 5mm metric bit that is the tool to use. once again BE CAREFULL and BE GENTLE dont put ANY pressure on the drill at all. just run the drill at high rpms and let the weight of the drill SLOWLY push it thru the matterial. this way there is minmum chipping when u break thru. when drilling all of your holes be sure to keep the drill bit pointed towards the center of the opening for the bulb.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2204.jpg
STEP 4
its time to test fit ur LEDs. unless u used a 5mm bit to drill your holes u will probably need to bore them a little bigger. start by test fitting an LED. if it does not go in easily or all the way u need to pull it back out. u should be able to push your LEDs in with ur fingers. if they dont go in then u need to use your drill and wiggle the bit around in the hole while pulling the trigger. if u dont want to mess things up u need to take ur time at this. only drill for less then a second at a time. then try again. if u elongate the hole too much the LED will be loose and proly wont look right. drill for half a second, then test fit again, and repeat until all the LEDs fit in their hole. i marked the holes off with my marker as i did this so i didnt accidentally drill in the wrong hole. after u finish this go ahead and insert all the LEDs.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2207.jpg
notice the chip i made earlier with the center punch
STEP 5
ur almost there. now u need to wire up your LEDs. when i inserted mine i arranged them so that the positive lead was towards the center and the negative on the outside. this made it easy for me to wire them for 2 reasons. #1 i knew which lead was + or - #2 i was able to just run a bare wire around all the leads and solder where it touched. to do this i soldered both wires onto the first LED and then inserted it. then i ran the outside wire around all the leads and tacked it to each one.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2211.jpg
then i went back and did it again with the inside wire. in the end it almost looks like train tracks and it took me lots less time the wiring them individually.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2215.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2218.jpg
next u need to solder a resistor to one of the wires.
STEP 6
now u need to use some silicon sealer and cover the entire project with it. silcon works as an insulator, water sealant, and glue. it will hold the LEDs in place, keep the headlight water tight, and prevent shorts (make sure no wires are touching). bare wires LEDs and everything should be covered and with a fair amount too. i didnt do this to my broken headlight because i dont plan on ever using it. as i mentioned before, i did this same thing to my fog lights with 7 LEDs. so heres a pic of what my fog light looked like with the silicon on it.
before silicon
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2100.jpg
after silicon
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2102.jpg
STEP 7
clean all the old silicon off the housing and lens if u havent already. now put the 2 pieces back together. there should be a little grove all the way around where the lens sorta overlaps the housing. u need to fill that completely with silicon. use ur fingers to spread it around and push it in there really good. u dont want ANY bubbles in there because there might be a leak there. let the silicon dry for proly about 4-5hrs before u do anything else. this would be a good time to either work on the other headlight or install the one thats already finished.
so there ya have it, the finished product
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2221.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2224.jpg
i dont have any pics of this thing on my car because its a broken headlight. but i do have some more pics of my fogs.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2110.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/lworider2962/CIMG2111.jpg
by the way the headlights are red because all the amber bulbs have been replaced with red ones and the halogens are turned off.