upgraded headlights finally

Guess I would put this in a van forum if there were one... but upgraded my headlights finally to be true HID projectors..

Basically, got some new headlights housings, pulled them all apart, cut them up some, and installed some new projectors and shrouds with the LED halos. Once i got it all lined up and secured i glued the headlight back together.

I started out with the 50 watt bulbs and the 50 watt ballasts but I felt they were getting too hot for my headlight housing so i downgraded to the 35 watt ballast which runs alot cooler and puts out about the same light output.

If you want I can post up the site where i got all the goodies, pretty good guys I think.

Now I have the really nice sharp cutoff line when on low beams and when switched to high beams it lets all the light flow out which you can see in this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ0ox7LrCBQ

Here are some pictures to show the new setup sorta.
This is just the lights obviously. Looks about normal compared to standard.


Here is them lit up, halos and projectors.


Here is just halo lit, which i currently have rigged up basically as a Daytime running light.


Here is low beam on road, kinda crappy picture...


Here is high beam.

THANK YOU for this write-up and pics!! This is the proper way to do an HID conversion, and from the video and the pics, it almost looks like it belongs there I will be doing a similar mod at some point. It's nice to see a "real-life" application of this setup.

And, this is coming from someone who's actively against most HID conversions i.e. people who throw HID bulbs in incandescent housings...

tyvm if you don't mind can you throw up parts list/source?

The Warden said:

THANK YOU for this write-up and pics!! This is the proper way to do an HID conversion, and from the video and the pics, it almost looks like it belongs there I will be doing a similar mod at some point. It's nice to see a "real-life" application of this setup.

And, this is coming from someone who's actively against most HID conversions i.e. people who throw HID bulbs in incandescent housings...

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hah, well you're welcome. I once had HIDs in my original housings but after was unsatisfied with light output by having to aim them so low to avoid blinding everyone and the lack of high beam. I can now not stand everyone else with their HIDs in normal housings. Thing is, it's really not much more expensive to do it this way than not doing it. If someone already makes the housings with the projectors in them too all pre-made for your vehicle then it's super easy. Having to buy the projector separate and modify the housing is a little challenging but not too bad.

Here is where i got most everything.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/
They have some complete kits that come with the projectors, bulbs, ballast, shroud, and halos.

I believe there are other sites out there with similar products, if not the same products. I got the mini projectors as the van doesn't have much room up there. I might have been able to fit larger ones but didn't want to risk it for not that much gain.

I bought the new headlight housings on ebay. Have to put them in the oven to heat up the glue to get the covers off to work on it. The shroud and halos are epoxied in place with JB weld putty epoxy.

i was gonna do this with mine.......would frickin' LOVE projector HID's in my truck, but couldn't justify the HUGE cost on a truck that i do not plan on having for ever.

yARIC008 said:

I once had HIDs in my original housings but after was unsatisfied with light output by having to aim them so low to avoid blinding everyone and the lack of high beam. I can now not stand everyone else with their HIDs in normal housings.

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I hear that As a professional driver who spends a lot of time on the road at night, one of my biggest pet peeves are the morons who put HID's in normal housings and blind everyone else on the road. Doing that is illegal for a reason!

The Warden said:

I hear that As a professional driver who spends a lot of time on the road at night, one of my biggest pet peeves are the morons who put HID's in normal housings and blind everyone else on the road. Doing that is illegal for a reason!

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Yeah, with these now, you can literally stand right in front of the truck, and if you're above that cutoff line you get ZERO light in your eyes. You can hardly even tell the headlights are on, it almost looks like just the halos are lit up.

So heres a loaded question howd you smooth out the lenses so they don't have the reflective ability(?) in them anymore?

yARIC008 said:

Yeah, with these now, you can literally stand right in front of the truck, and if you're above that cutoff line you get ZERO light in your eyes. You can hardly even tell the headlights are on, it almost looks like just the halos are lit up.

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I believe that completely...the E-code incandescent housings on my '84 are the same way. Kinda sad how long it took the DOT to realize that the EU had the right idea on lighting...

kc0stp said:

So heres a loaded question howd you smooth out the lenses so they don't have the reflective ability(?) in them anymore?

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Hmm, not sure i understand the question.

I used these headlights
http://m.ebay.com/itm/370924292780?nav=SEARCH&sbk=1

They have a clear front lens and just mounted the projector to be where the halogen bulb normally sits

The headlight housing is still reflective behind the projector.

The projectors look like this
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=236

nice work. those look great. just as a heads up for those who want hids and have a truck this guy makes them for obs and slant nose. he is working on brick nose trucks. sorry no vans, though you could ask if you dont want to do it yourself.

Would be nice to have some.

On this note, I hate the guys who insist that the cheapo HID conversions without projectors are awesome. They don't listen to reason.

heh sry for some reason was thinking you had a bricknose Ford built a portion of the reflector on the bricknose trucks as the lens itself and no one makes a clear/non reflector lens which is why no one makes an HID kit for them...yet