Halogen Projector Retrofit

[TheNextEpisode]

So the other day at the junkyard, I figured I'd invest 40 dollars in a new project.

Sitting there pretty much untouched, was an Infinity J30. I snatched the headlights off of it.


The J30 used projectors for both the high and low beam headlights. The catch is that the projectors were designed for halogens. After some research, I've found that HID retrofits have been done with the J30 projectors, but have met varying levels of approval. The people that have done the retrofits think that the cut off lines are acceptable. The people that haven't done the retrofits think that the cut off lines are worthy of high beam flashes by on-coming traffic. I'm sorta skeptical of both sides, since the people saying the projectors are fine are people that are defending their work, while the people saying the projectors aren't fine are the people who have shelled out for real HID projectors.

The only hard evidence I've found pointing in either direction has been from an S15 forum.



The logic is that the difference in lengths between HID bulbs and halogen bulbs would cause the cut offs and the focusing effects of the J30 projectors to not really be effective. The claim is that by spacing the HID bulbs back a little bit, better focus/cut off can be achieved.



My question is, have any of you guys dealt with halogen projectors with HID bulbs? I'd like to run HIDs, but I hate blinding headlights. I'll do the retrofit regardless of what type of bulbs I run.

[busak87]

yes, I have done an HID retro into halogen projectors...I retro'd MDX halogen projectors into 90/91 headlights, on ontarioEXR's cb...I made the projector bulb base able to accept 9006 bulbs...so I put in 9006 HID bulbs, 8000K.





the cut off was really good, I even got ontarioEXR to drive towards me and it didnt seem any different then all the other cars with projectors...no unusual glare or blinding light




this picture is showing the cutoff...I am holding the headlight in my hand, that is why the light is pointed at a weird angle, but as you can see it doesnt look any different than other projectors

[TheNextEpisode]

Ah perfect. That picture of the cut off was exactly what I was hoping to see.

Thanks.

[busak87]

no problem

do you have pics of the projectors...Ive never seen them before

are you going to retro both high and low beams into your headlights?

[TheNextEpisode]

My J30 headlights are at home and I'm at school right now, but here are some pictures I found. Credit to Presidential from TampaRacing forums.









Yessir, I'm going to retro both the high and low beam projectors. I'm probably going to try and dream/fab up a new set of angel eyebrows for the projector set up.

[JSMexUsa]

There are many halogen projectors that perfectly work with hid bulbs, like Acura MDX H9 or H11 I forgot, Audi Valeo H7, Mercedes Hella H7, etc...

So you may get good results and at least they have a cutoff shield so you won't blind people; may be better to buy a cheap hid kit at around $80 with rebased bulbs that will be the same size as the halogen bulb because will be hard to modify an oem d2s bulb.

I have been looking for those high beam projectors; if you get the chance can you take a picture of them at a white wall and 25 feet away to see if they are better than our regular high beams and worth the work of retrofitting them and if you can measure them as well will be great to know if they fit before buying some.

Good luck and post the results.

[timmy0tool]

gl with this elliot. should be a worthwhile mod!

[Gemini]

I love retros

[TheNextEpisode]

There are many halogen projectors that perfectly work with hid bulbs, like Acura MDX H9 or H11 I forgot, Audi Valeo H7, Mercedes Hella H7, etc...

So you may get good results and at least they have a cutoff shield so you won't blind people; may be better to buy a cheap hid kit at around $80 with rebased bulbs that will be the same size as the halogen bulb because will be hard to modify an oem d2s bulb.

mmm good info.

I have been looking for those high beam projectors; if you get the chance can you take a picture of them at a white wall and 25 feet away to see if they are better than our regular high beams and worth the work of retrofitting them and if you can measure them as well will be great to know if they fit before buying some.

If I get the opportunity, I'll definitely snap some pictures for yah. At the moment, though, I don't suspect I'll be purchasing HIDs. I'll most likely run the silverstars I'm using now, either until they burn out, or until I can afford the HIDs. Also, which part did you want me to measure?

Good luck and post the results.

Will do!

gl with this elliot. should be a worthwhile mod!

Thank you, sir!
Now I just gotta decide if I should shell out for some one piecers.

I love retros

I love cheap retros.

[Losiracer2]

idk, if it were me in your shoes, I would just be patient on EBay and get some TSX ones that are known to provide excellent results w/ HIDs and retrofitting. Then you won't have to worry about being legal or not and blinding people accidentally, even though you're taking the proper precautions. I found mine on Ebay for only 80 bucks + shipping....that was the entire headlight housing (L+R) for an 04-06 TSX in mint condition, they didn't even look like they were mounted on a car. I later sold the housing locally for 65 on craigslist to some guy w/ faded TSX headlights on his TSX. So they only ended up costing me like 15 bucks + shipping lol...that was def. worthwhile.

The deals are on there...you just gotta find em.

I know what you mean w/ those J30s though....I've seen about 6 of them w/ intact headlights at my JY I go to....so plentiful, you're like why not?

[Boost_Lee]

i run 4300's in my dads 08 XB, and if you take out the clear from teh chrome housings, the cutoff is pretty good for a hal. projector

[TheNextEpisode]

idk, if it were me in your shoes, I would just be patient on EBay and get some TSX ones that are known to provide excellent results w/ HIDs and retrofitting. Then you won't have to worry about being legal or not and blinding people accidentally, even though you're taking the proper precautions. I found mine on Ebay for only 80 bucks + shipping....that was the entire headlight housing (L+R) for an 04-06 TSX in mint condition, they didn't even look like they were mounted on a car. I later sold the housing locally for 65 on craigslist to some guy w/ faded TSX headlights on his TSX. So they only ended up costing me like 15 bucks + shipping lol...that was def. worthwhile.

The deals are on there...you just gotta find em.

I know what you mean w/ those J30s though....I've seen about 6 of them w/ intact headlights at my JY I go to....so plentiful, you're like why not?

That's an impressive deal, and I can definitely see the benefits to going that route. I absolutely can't stand drivers with improperly aimed HIDs. I think it's one of my worst pet peeves.

I'll do anything I can NOT to become like that.


With that in mind, I'll try to look at this project without the retrofit-to-end-all-retrofits mindset. For obvious reasons, these are not the best projectors around, but fortunately, I didn't pay for the best ones around either. I'll practice the handiwork required for a clean retro with these and, a little ways down the road, do a legitimate HID retro in some one piecers.

So I guess the plan is gonna be project budget retro, with halogens to limit the blindingness.

i run 4300's in my dads 08 XB, and if you take out the clear from teh chrome housings, the cutoff is pretty good for a hal. projector

But then I hear this and want to go with HIDs.

[Boost_Lee]

anything is better than reflector housing!

Either way it will look good

[mj213]

Wow.. it must be late, as the only thing I got out of your pic was this:

[JSMexUsa]

If you can post the dimensions of the high beam projector that way I can figure out if they will fit in my headlights.

Distance from the tip of the lense to the back bulb holder.
Lens, height and width on the midle of the projector where the tallest and widest part is.

Looks like you will have to separate the low beam from the high beam projectors to retrofit them.