New Project in the works.

[parapraxis24]

That picture shows where we stopped. The channels were pretty clean when we were done with them. Basically just as long as no permaseal can get in the way of the lenses from smushing back into the channel with the butyl.

Thanks. I discovered that heating just the housing to remove the small pieces is a waste of time. It doesn't retain heat at all without the lens in place so 7 mins in the oven and it's toasty, but that only gives you 1-2 minutes of work time because it cools too fast.

I also decided that scraping the channel with a flat head is the best way to remove what's left, yea it removes a bit of the housing plastic but it's so much faster once the big pieces are gone.

Going to break for lunch, then start working on aiming the projector.

 

[posts]

Thanks. I discovered that heating just the housing to remove the small pieces is a waste of time. It doesn't retain heat at all without the lens in place so 7 mins in the oven and it's toasty, but that only gives you 1-2 minutes of work time because it cools too fast.

I also decided that scraping the channel with a flat head is the best way to remove what's left, yea it removes a bit of the housing plastic but it's so much faster once the big pieces are gone.

Going to break for lunch, then start working on aiming the projector.

You really need to just use a heat gun, no way around it for clearing the channel. My expensive milwaukee heat gun paid for itself this weekend.

When aiming the projectors, if I had to do it again, I would have used a laser to check left and right alignment. Basically point it in the exact direction the projector should be and then determine if it's "good enough" or worth taking the time to shim left or right. I skipped this step and it kept me up at night. Driving it the first time at night I looked like this because I couldn't tell if they were dead on or pointing outwards.

Also, when you go to bake them closed, get them good and hot. I really like using the heat gun because it brings the temp up slowly, like one degree a minute, and then once it hits say 200F count to about 8-10 minutes. You have to shove the lens in at an angle and it's a real pain if the butyl is even remotely stiff.

 

[parapraxis24]

Welp, got one sealed and back on the car. I used zip ties instead of just pushing it together for a few minutes. Popped it in the oven at 250 for 5 minutes to get the butyl soft, squished the lens on as best I could and popped it back in the oven for another 5 minutes. When it came out I made sure it was lined up correctly, put a microfiber over the lens and tightened some zipties down the best I could. It feels sturdy but I guess time will tell. At least the retrorubber is MUCH easier to get apart if I need to, it should just take one reheat then it'll break loose.

Also got into the passenger headlight, in what felt like a record of <45 mins, and that includes 25 mins in the oven (first for 15 then again for 10). Now the fun part of clearing out the remaining permaseal on the housing :/

Should have that done hopefully tonight to leave only installing the projector and wiring harness tomorrow

 

[posts]

Washed the car today, no fogging up, not obvious leaks. The high beam hole is getting on my nerves the more I look at it. I might look into a dummy lens or put something there.

 

[parapraxis24]

Finished cleaning out headlight #2 a bit ago, the second one goes much easier. I should get the second projector mounted and the wiring done by early tomorrow afternoon.

 

[parapraxis24]

Finished up the passenger side this morning, and now it's cooling off after being baked back together. Gonna stop for lunch then work on the wiring next and should be good to go. Going to have to wait a bit for it to get darker around here, it doesn't get dark until 9pm now so it might be a while before another update.

 

[parapraxis24]

All done, and thankfully everything works. Now I just need to head over to a parking garage to check for any height adjustments I need to make.

Just the one picture for now more later.

 

[posts]

Have any trouble getting them back together? It was such a pain since they were on fire and you had to smush them at an angle.

 

[parapraxis24]

Have any trouble getting them back together? It was such a pain since they were on fire and you had to smush them at an angle.

Nope, pretty easy. Mechanic's gloves made handling them a non issue.

 

[parapraxis24]

Measured the rubber gasket at 75mm exact so it should fit no problem. Going to order the 75mm gaskets from TRS as well as amp extensions. Good luck on your retro, hopefully you don't run into any issues. Save that spare reflector! It will be very nice to have should something happen in the future.

Do you need both amp extensions? The driver's side on mine is short about 3" but the passenger is fine.

Also I screwed up on the horizontal alignment for the driver's side too [emoji26] it off to the side just a bit too much. Turns out I missed a fingerprint on the reflector anyway so I'll need to open it up again at some point.

I tried using aluminum tape to adjust that side but when tightening down the lock ring it just smooshed it flat and squeezed it out.

Not entirely bad for a first time, livable for now but eventually I'll fix it.

 

[posts]

Do you need both amp extensions? The driver's side on mine is short about 3" but the passenger is fine.

Also I screwed up on the horizontal alignment for the driver's side too [emoji26] it off to the side just a bit too much. Turns out I missed a fingerprint on the reflector anyway so I'll need to open it up again at some point.

I tried using aluminum tape to adjust that side but when tightening down the lock ring it just smooshed it flat and squeezed it out.

Not entirely bad for a first time, livable for now but eventually I'll fix it.

Yep, need both. They are cheap to buy on TRS or amazon though. I still need to shim that bulb, but damn is the output amazing. Driving home last night and I was just floored at how much light the mini H1 throws. I retroed my frs with the 6.0 before and it was good but the 7.0 is just amazing.

 

[V_2]

Great work fellas! You guys are tempting me bigtime, lol. I miss my HIDs. I'd love to get this project done on mine, but I absolutely LOATHE working on headlights. I am going to be doing a retrofit soon on a buddy's car, too, so even less motivation to do mine.

 

[posts]

Great work fellas! You guys are tempting me bigtime, lol. I miss my HIDs. I'd love to get this project done on mine, but I absolutely LOATHE working on headlights. I am going to be doing a retrofit soon on a buddy's car, too, so even less motivation to do mine.

Do it. July 4th TRS will probably have a sale too. It's really not that hard. Just need to make sure you get the permaseal out and triple check left and right alignment.

 

[parapraxis24]

Yep, need both. They are cheap to buy on TRS or amazon though. I still need to shim that bulb, but damn is the output amazing. Driving home last night and I was just floored at how much light the mini H1 throws. I retroed my frs with the 6.0 before and it was good but the 7.0 is just amazing.

I looked over your install pictures, and I mounted my ballasts with the plugs facing the fenders. With the wiper fluid reservoir on the driver side in the way that one is a bit too short and wont likely work once I get the dust caps back on. Yea I need to adjust my passenger side, it's only slightly off and the cutoff isn't as sharp as the driver's side.

I need to reaim mine (working out how to do that) but yea they definitely throw some light, and I'm certain once I get it more dialed in they'll be really nice.

Great work fellas! You guys are tempting me bigtime, lol. I miss my HIDs. I'd love to get this project done on mine, but I absolutely LOATHE working on headlights. I am going to be doing a retrofit soon on a buddy's car, too, so even less motivation to do mine.

The hardest part is cleaning out the permaseal from the housing, the rest of it is ridiculously easy.

 

[posts]

I looked over your install pictures, and I mounted my ballasts with the plugs facing the fenders. With the wiper fluid reservoir on the driver side in the way that one is a bit too short and wont likely work once I get the dust caps back on. Yea I need to adjust my passenger side, it's only slightly off and the cutoff isn't as sharp as the driver's side.

I need to reaim mine (working out how to do that) but yea they definitely throw some light, and I'm certain once I get it more dialed in they'll be really nice.



The hardest part is cleaning out the permaseal from the housing, the rest of it is ridiculously easy.

Post some pictures!

 

[parapraxis24]

Post some pictures!

I only have these two for now:

Driver's

Passenger's

 

[posts]

Completely forgot to update, 75MM does NOT fit the headlight ugh. Thought I was being clever in that it would fit in the notch the stock ones use. Nope. Probably more like 85mm to fit the outer rim.

 

[parapraxis24]

Completely forgot to update, 75MM does NOT fit the headlight ugh. Thought I was being clever in that it would fit in the notch the stock ones use. Nope. Probably more like 85mm to fit the outer rim.

Damn that sucks. Good thing I held off on ordering them since I assume that TRS will be having a July 4th sale and I'll order stuff then...going to pick up a few extra goodies.

Since I couldn't get the LED strips to work, I'm tossing around the idea of switchback halos instead but I can't decide if it'll look tacky or not. Plus they're kinda small at only 70mm and I think that partially why I can't decide.

 

[twofortydrifter]

Have you looked into 5 pin 12v relays? Many of those have two 12v output pins that actually alternate because one output is normally open and the other normally closed. So you would just feed the relay 12v and trigger it with the blinker input. Blinker on - amber, blinker off - white. Only one light at a time, but constantly. The lock double blink would stay amber. (pretty sure)

 

[parapraxis24]

Have you looked into 5 pin 12v relays? Many of those have two 12v output pins that actually alternate because one output is normally open and the other normally closed. So you would just feed the relay 12v and trigger it with the blinker input. Blinker on - amber, blinker off - white. Only one light at a time, but constantly. The lock double blink would stay amber. (pretty sure)

Yeah I had someone smarter than me draw up a diagram on how to wire them correctly. But I gave up on the idea because I couldn't get the strips to mount how I wanted, and I wasn't really sold on the idea of halos either.