EG projector HID retrofit!...

[pgpunkguy]

here's preview of my soon-to-come complete DIY writeup for an EG projector HID retrofit. i used Audi TT projectors (one of the smallest/easiest to work with available). also have new philips 4100k d2s bulbs and a set of hella gen3 ballasts from a misterjung ( ) rebased kit... the important part here is that i had to "safely" extend the high voltage wiring and attach a high voltage D2S plug... but all that is to come... (i took extensive digital photos) for now, here's a pic of difference in light output between a honda stock halogen beam and an HID retrofit beam... (hopefully this animated gif files shows up!) EDIT: clarification... the passenger side uses a stock honda headlight (fluted lens cover) the drivers side is a aftermarket projector headlight housing (clear glass cover) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ what you need: HID ballasts (x2) HID projectors (x2) D2S HID capsules (x2) - capsules are HID talk for bulbs D2S plugs (if going from a rebased HID kit like i did) relayed wiring harness (you want your HID's to be on even when using high beams, and you want to pull power straight from the battery) tools: heat gun dremel and/or drill soldering iron / solder (if going from a rebased HID kit) plasti-dip (if going from a rebased HID kit) epoxy butyl rubber sealant silicone sealant (optional) aluminum duct tape (high temp 200*F) creativity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ so i started off with a crappy misterjung HID kit for my ebay halogen projectors here are pics of the back of the rebased H3 HID bulb (in and out of the housing) remove all those metal tabs, caps, etc. from the housing and preheat your oven to 225-250*F... then stick the headligh housing on a cookie sheet (glass side down as to not melt the plastic) for 10 mins... afterwards, quickly use a butter knife and/or flat-head screwdriver to pry the front from the back as seen here: now your housing is apart and you can clearly see the halogen projector... using the aiming screws in the back, unscrew the halogen projector from the housing. (this is a PITA cause it take f'ing forever!) here are comparison pics of the halogen projector (left) vs the Audi TT HID projector (right) NOTE: the HID projectors are much smaller, which is an advantage in trying to fit them into the housing... here's an exploded view of the halogen projector: side note: using an oven or over exposing a reflector bowl to heat will cause the "chrome" to bubble up... here are pics from the halogen reflector bowl: my idea was to use the base of the halogen reflector bowl as the "bracket" for the aiming screws / an easy way to mount the HID projector into the housing take the handy-dandy dremel to it, and see how the bracket fits... now time to permanently fix the bracket to the HID projector... JB weld like a fat kid on cake here's a pic of my "sophisticated" projector holder while the epoxy cured. NOTE: be sure that your bracket is on straight before the epoxy dries or you might have some bad rotational beam problems... (mine wasn't perfect but close enough for now...) test fit the HID projector and attached mounting bracket NOTE: the D2S plug is also attached in the back to test for clearance here's where i neglected to take some pics. (sorry) since i'm starting with a rebased kit, my ballasts didn't come with the needed D2S plugs. here's a pic of what D2S plugs look like (stole the pic from ebay ) basically i needed to extend the lines from the ballast and connect them to the D2S plugs. here's where you need to be VERY cautious! the voltage from the ballasts is in the area of 23,000volts. you should note the thick insulation around these wires. i went to a local lighting store which frequently deals with HID lighting and ballasts. they said to use standard 105*C wire. they hooked me up with some. the insulation doesn't look to be thicker than normal, but the wire itself is probably about 12 or 14 gauge. anywho, use a powerful (~100W) soldering iron and make sure the connection is good. the center of the D2S plug is positive (+) and the outside ring is negative (-). after you solder, use heat shrink wrap and either electrical tape the heck out of it... OR use a few coats of plasti-dip (good for water-tight insulation) pressing on... since the HID projectors i chose are open (vs sealed), a shroud is in order... a shroud basically masks off any light not coming through the lens... (i.e. light that comes from the sides due to the open projector design.) if you neglect this step, you can have some SERIOUS glare issues for oncoming drivers... anyway, my first idea was to use a soda can the results were less than impressive, so i went to lowes and found some aluminum duct tape which has a heat range of between (-60* and 200*F). this should be fine for now... (we'll see how it holds up over time) NOTE: rather than having the sticky side of the tape exposed on the inside, i cut a smaller piece of aluminum tape and stuck them together before i put it on the projector... here's a pic of the back of the housing with the D2S plug sticking out... the clearance obviously doesn't allow the housing cap to be used again... so, it's back to trying the soda can... suprisingly, it's a snug and PERFECT fit!!! use more aluminum tape to ensure the new "cap" doesn't move now, hook up the lights to see if she works before closing up the housing... looking good... to close up the housing, use a heat gun to warm up the sealant... there should be a decent amount of sealant to close your housing, but if not most OEM headlights use a butyl rubber based sealant (usually grey or white)... i had a hard time finding some, so i used a rubber-composite based sealant to ensure a good seal. REMINDER: don't risk using the oven to re-seal the housing. you may ruin your HID reflector bowls!!! you may want to use silicone sealant to seal caps and so forth on the outside of the housing. HOWEVER, it's strongly advised NOT to use silicone inside the housing. as silicone cures, vapors can eat away at or fog the reflector bowl... then you're screwed! what it looks like on the car: here's a good headlight aiming tutorial: http://faqlight.carpassion.info/hl-aiming.htm NOTE: the first pick at the very top of this post was taken after a rough aiming before i re-sealed the housing... night time beam pattern shots: (the light about the cut-off isn't glare... it's from a parking lot light) LINKS to other HID retro thread (saves you on searching): http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=758326 http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1140538 http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1126677 Modified by pgpunkguy at 11:26 PM 4/4/2007

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[ian.]

not bad the beam looks pretty decent

[Neighborhood Superstar]

looks good.

[vtec y0]

much brighter

[John in NorCal]

[93civicsedan]

looks good. did you retrofit them into the stock housing? cant wait for the write up.

[Outrun]

You need to do some tests with other people when you're done. Drive behind a friend for a bit. Then have them come towards you in the opposing lane.

I hate half-ass HID retrofits with a passion. Most kits are awful, and I'm glad they are illegal.

With that said, I have seen a few that actually aren't too bad. The fact that you're using TT projectors (I'm assuming TTs have HID right?) could mean you're on the right path to enlightenment!

[Mario.]

Yep. But if he's still using the stock fluted Honda headlights it can't be that great. IMO, you need to retrofit into the TYC clears.

[JDMlyfestyle]

Retrofit in EG housings = hid kit look = disaster.

I learned first hand on doing the retro into the stock housings and it looked worse than a HID kit. light just scattered. the flutted lense acted like a reflector and spread out the light unevenly

[pgpunkguy]

Originally Posted by 93civicsedan

looks good. did you retrofit them into the stock housing? cant wait for the write up.

no, these were a set of ebay h3 low beam projector housings (with h1 high beam)
the high beam is still halogen...

[sockvtec]

looks good....but wont the ebay projectors burn up?

[pgpunkguy]

Originally Posted by Outrun

You need to do some tests with other people when you're done. Drive behind a friend for a bit. Then have them come towards you in the opposing lane.

I hate half-ass HID retrofits with a passion. Most kits are awful, and I'm glad they are illegal.

With that said, I have seen a few that actually aren't too bad. The fact that you're using TT projectors (I'm assuming TTs have HID right?) could mean you're on the right path to enlightenment!

i totally agree about rebased HID kits...
i actually had a H3 6000k rebased kit. it looked "okay" but the light output sucked and the halogen projectors are not designed for HIDs... also there was glare for other drivers like a mofo!

i compared the rebased HIDs in a halogen projector VS authentic D2S HIDs in a HID projector (and yes, the TT has an HID option). the authentic HID was so much brighter and wider that you couldn't even see the rebased HID was on!!!

btw, when you use OEM HID projectors there should be minimal glare for oncoming traffic... (assuming you aim your headlights correctly!)

[pgpunkguy]

i'm not sure people are understanding what is meant by an "HID retrofit"...

when doing so, you use OEM HID projectors. (projectors from headlight housings on cars that come with HID from the factory!)

when you custom mount these projectors inside your car's headlight housing, you can get an OEM HID beam pattern...

to reiterate: i am using AFTERMARKET halogen projector headlights to start.
then swap the halogen projectors for OEM HID projectors.

those rebased HID kits you can buy online or on ebay are "okay" but a far cry from true retrofitted HIDs! trust me, i used to have one of those rebased kits.

and for those who don't know what is meant by "rebased": basically it takes an HID capsule (bulb) and converts the D2S or D2R base (OEM HID base) to a base found in most halogen headlights (i.e. H3, H4, 9006, 9007, etc)... rebased kits are a quick and maybe cheaper solution, but beware!

[pgpunkguy]

Originally Posted by sockvtec

looks good....but wont the ebay projectors burn up?

by "projector" i assume you mean the reflector bowl and not the actual glass projector lens... and yes, the "chrome" on those cheap ebay halogen projector bowls are quite susceptible to heat... i'll try and show a pic in the writeup of how the "chrome" bubbled up with a little heat...

but not to fear, the OEM HID projectors are designed take HID bulb temps. though, i'm not so sure if HIDs run hotter since they actually consume less wattage... hmm...

[rice4life]

damn, that's a huge difference. the HID completely over shadow the oem light. good write up BTW.

[703_Sleeper]

Good work! But this is something i would never do because there are too many errors that i personally would make and blind someone, but props to you if you think you've perfected it.

[pgpunkguy]

Originally Posted by 703_Sleeper

Good work! But this is something i would never do because there are too many errors that i personally would make and blind someone, but props to you if you think you've perfected it.

the main error for most people is in the rotation. if you get the rotation wrong, the beam won't be flat but tilted. of course you can make a rotation adjustment screw, but that would require a custom mounting bracket... i chose the easier way... my rotation isn't perfect, but it's close enough for showbiz

[patastinky]

Documented and presented very well. I appreciate that. Thank you

[chameleon]

great work!

[Soccerking3000]

Originally Posted by pgpunkguy

by "projector" i assume you mean the reflector bowl and not the actual glass projector lens... and yes, the "chrome" on those cheap ebay halogen projector bowls are quite susceptible to heat... i'll try and show a pic in the writeup of how the "chrome" bubbled up with a little heat...

but not to fear, the OEM HID projectors are designed take HID bulb temps. though, i'm not so sure if HIDs run hotter since they actually consume less wattage... hmm...

HID's run cooler than halogen bulbs

[pgpunkguy]

Originally Posted by Soccerking3000

HID's run cooler than halogen bulbs

i thought so! i think it's 35watts HID vs 55watts halogen

[rukawa1one]

good write up man, best i've seen in a while

[drtyhatch]

question...
if i were to do this, I have the old style projectors that don't have the halo(angel eye) and have glass lens, why could i not use the projector that is in the light already, is this what you guys were talking about the light would not project correctly? thanks for the help

[pgpunkguy]

Originally Posted by drtyhatch

question...
if i were to do this, I have the old style projectors that don't have the halo(angel eye) and have glass lens, why could i not use the projector that is in the light already, is this what you guys were talking about the light would not project correctly? thanks for the help

i used to have these projectors on my old EG hatch...
these projectors use H3 bulbs...
only "REBASED HID kits offer H3 as bulb type.

also the quality of the projectors, reflector bowls, and shield are poor in contrast to true HID projectors...

after i've finished all, i regret keeping the halo/angel eyes in the projector housing... i think they're gonna get in the way and block some of the light output on the ground closest to the car.

[pgpunkguy]

bump for added pics...