my low budget projector headlight project....

[guynlidia2006]

Ok well thanks to airborneparainf82 I came up with what i think a great idea for a project. I looked how nice his project came out and thought to myself how could i do that eaiser, cheaper and quicker and without fucking up my headlights. So since i saw that airborneparainf82 did not use his chrome reflector i thought that would be a great opp to try my idea without risking my headlights and with the least amount of amout of pocket money.
He sent me this...



So i was looking thru ebay at projectors and thats when i had my bright idea. To combine a projector and the above reflector, thus still using my stock light bulb/holder. I plan on upgrading to hids but thats besides the point. So I then bought these from ebay for about $50 shipped



So now to my idea to combine them. I want to keep it clean and still look factory but with projectors, So i thought i could split the bracket for the projector lens and split the projector in two just useing the lens and the lense holder like this.



so once i seperated them i simple bent the posts so it fit in the reflector and was straight. i then drilled holes and bolted it in place with small skrews, washers and nuts. Like this...















So now all i need to do is the bake process and switch out the reflector which just bolts in and just aim, i was going to use a shroud but honestly like how it looks without one.

and this is the back of it with the projector in, all u see is four nuts. When u drill the holes just use a sharpie to mark the holes and drill a hole a little bigger to u can line the projector stright.



The projecter is from a 5 series bmw, i know it is not as fancy as others u have seen, but i think your normal car guy can get this done and have it look good. I will post pics on sunday when I bake my lights and clear the corner

[greddy]

Looking good, be sure to post more pics as more work gets done.

[airborneparainf82]

Looks good man... kind of depressing to know I'm still working on mine and yours is almost done already! haha ;)

make sure and get some pics with the lights on too. I wanna see how it came out!! Glad the reflectors found a worthy home other than the local dump lol

[guynlidia2006]

ok here is pics of it lit up... damn its bright

[shockwave000]

damn bro, that's some creative stuff right there. I like where your head is. Keep up the good work on behalf of us cheapskates.

[G-spot]

cheap and innovative. Plus use the stock parts. You win 8)

[Reelax]

umm this will not work correctly. the whole reason of using projectors is to have a sharp cuttof and focused light. by removing the parabolic reflector made specifically for the lens it is attached to (the rear of the projector is integral) and using the non projector reflector, you now have extreme light leak and a complete lack of focus. the rear of the projector precisely reflects and focuses light thought the lens at the front of the projector... they are made to be a unit. splitting them up will put your bulb/capsule in the wrong place and your beams will not throw correctly down the road. your headlights will now just be glaring to look at and will offer pretty much no increase in performance (actually they will probably perform much worse meaning you will see less). also, where is the cutoff plate? w/o a cutoff plate, you will blind everyone since light will be allowed above the level of the projector. since you have the entire projector assembly, just do the normal retrofit by mounting the entire projector to the OE reflector bowl via long bots and nuts... you will retain the aiming dials of the OE housing and now have projectos. and to do this and maintain your high beam without doing a bual beam setup, just get a bi-xenon projector (acura TL for example).

[IceDouTGaLanT]

nice idea very creative, but i would like to see the output on the road

[Fishboy55]

umm this will not work correctly. the whole reason of using projectors is to have a sharp cuttof and focused light. by removing the parabolic reflector made specifically for the lens it is attached to (the rear of the projector is integral) and using the non projector reflector, you now have extreme light leak and a complete lack of focus. the rear of the projector precisely reflects and focuses light thought the lens at the front of the projector... they are made to be a unit. splitting them up will put your bulb/capsule in the wrong place and your beams will not throw correctly down the road. your headlights will now just be glaring to look at and will offer pretty much no increase in performance (actually they will probably perform much worse meaning you will see less). also, where is the cutoff plate? w/o a cutoff plate, you will blind everyone since light will be allowed above the level of the projector. since you have the entire projector assembly, just do the normal retrofit by mounting the entire projector to the OE reflector bowl via long bots and nuts... you will retain the aiming dials of the OE housing and now have projectos. and to do this and maintain your high beam without doing a bual beam setup, just get a bi-xenon projector (acura TL for example).

Not to bash your idea Guy, but Reelax is right. You're never going to get a proper headlight alignment. Basically what you've done is just added a magnifying glass to your headlight. That doesn't mean your project is dead, and I think your idea is a good one for aesthetic purposes only. You can keep this set of headlights for shows. The judges will never know you didn't do a full retrofit. But please don't drive with these for your safety and that of other drivers.

[ericbla03]

Oh no.... like they said, this is not going to work with just the lens in there. This will decrease the performance of your stock headlights. The projector consists of the ENTIRE projector unit, not just the lens.

What others have done in the past thogh is mount the entire projector inside the stock chrome reflector. That way you still use the stock adjustment screws.

[lonestar22]

it would be just as easy to retrofit the entire projector assembly into the headlight as it would just putting the glass in. though u will have to enlarge the rear where the bulb sits.

[mitgalantes]

this would be a neat feature and a classy look for a car show...and i think he mentioned about get HIDs in the future..will that bring the performance up and what look will that have like SUPPER brightness hahha clever idea

[Danger DANJ]

Yeah, I almost did the same thing years ago, but didn't go through with it knowing it wouldn't work right. You should find a way to mount the whole thing to the chrome reflector.

[ericbla03]

this would be a neat feature and a classy look for a car show...and i think he mentioned about get HIDs in the future..will that bring the performance up and what look will that have like SUPPER brightness hahha clever idea

HIDs do not bring the performance up, they just make it brighter and even more blinding to oncoming traffic if you dont have HID projectors retrofitted correctly.

Actually the lens of the projector FLIPS the beam of light upside-down when spaced correctly from the bulb. Think about it, when you see the cutoff sheild inside the projector, it covers the light on the bottom half coming from the bowl.... but when its projected through the lens and is flipped, the blocked portion of light is ABOVE the cutoff line, and the light is below the cutoff line.

So this means the portion of light coming from your stock reflector and passing through the projector lens is actually being flipped, up into the eyes of oncoming drivers.

Not saying your not off to a good start, just mount the entire projector into your reflector. Its not much more work than you've already done. I KNOW there is a tutorial on this kind of retrofit on HIDplanet.com. Its not galant specific, but its pretty much the same method, and even has a rotational adjustment. ( i dont have time to search for it right now, but i know its in the forums section)

[guynlidia2006]

hmmm i have an idea... i created a clynder to go around the bulb so all the light goes thru the projector instead of the reflector... it bolts in where the chrome reflector thing did... what if i add the cut off plate to the end of this cylinder...

[guynlidia2006]

[guynlidia2006]

that actually goes to the tip of the bulb... so all the light goes thru the projector lens... i can cut up the cutoff and weld it on the end if that will make a difference... I wanna make it work with stock compents... so any ideas will help...

[guynlidia2006]

Do you think the pic below will work ????

[mapid145]

lol.. looks like an eye.. i have no idea how that will look

[guynlidia2006]

that is the cut off plate.... i can put it in befor the projector... but i dont like how it looks... i love the way it looks now... i can point them downward since it will be adjustable,,,, i honestly dont care about the cut off point... and i put it in place of my headlight to check it out and it is much brighter than stock and looks really clean... they cylinder above actually makes it too dim... so i took them out... i do realize i am not gonna have all the beneficts of projectors , but thats ok... thats why its projectors on a budjet...