3rd Generation Maxima (1989-1994)Learn more about the 3rd Generation Maxima here.
Welcome to Maxima.org!
Welcome to Maxima.org,
You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access
to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, at no cost, you will have access to start new topics, reply to conversations, privately message other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join Maxima.org today!
the only problem is that those housings are crap in terms of beam pattern...
parabolic reflector and no lens fluting, of course it's gonna suck. there's a reason why every headlight made before the mid 90s had a parabolic reflector and a fluted lens, and most headlights made after the mid 90s had a freeform multifaceted reflector and a clear lens. Parabolic reflectors don't give you a beam pattern at all, they need lens optics. If you want the clear lens "look" (IDK what the big deal about it is), then you need reflector optics, and you need a freeform reflector for that.
parabolic reflector and no lens fluting, of course it's gonna suck. there's a reason why every headlight made before the mid 90s had a parabolic reflector and a fluted lens, and most headlights made after the mid 90s had a freeform multifaceted reflector and a clear lens. Parabolic reflectors don't give you a beam pattern at all, they need lens optics. If you want the clear lens "look" (IDK what the big deal about it is), then you need reflector optics, and you need a freeform reflector for that.
technically couldn't you scuff or paint parts of the parabolic dish in such a way as to keep the light from reflecting upward? your high-beam wouldn't be all too great (not that it is to start with) but at least it would help a little bit. if i still had a stock housing to ufck with i might just try it to see what affected what.
__________________ PieceOut.FallToPeacesNew to the forum? CLICK HERE!!!! 1985 Nissan 300zx 2-seater: VG30E | 5spd Swap | Bilstein | 5-lug conversion | Polyurethane everything | Resurrection-in-progress! 2004 Honda Civic EX Coupe: 1.7L VTEC | 5spd | CAI soon | LED tails and Projectors soon | ES Poly Motormounts soon | 'bad weather' car/backup for teh Z 1990 Nissan Maxima GXE: VG30E | VLSD-5 swap | Exedy | NWP | a33b(F)/z31(R) BBK | ES poly | SE susp swap | 2k2SE 17s | retired Aug 28th '09 2005 Nissan Maxima SE: VQ35DE | 6spd | Carolina Panthers front lisence plate | Brother's car, not mine | <-- Therefore still 100% stock
Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonOksa
Horsepower, torque and speed are all known by The State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and reproductive disorders.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigleman
how much would it cost to resleeve?
how does an aluminum motor form rust on the cylinder walls???
DO NOT PM ME ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH YOUR CAR UNLESS I TELL YOU TO. THAT'S WHAT THE FORUM IS FOR
technically couldn't you scuff or paint parts of the parabolic dish in such a way as to keep the light from reflecting upward? your high-beam wouldn't be all too great (not that it is to start with) but at least it would help a little bit. if i still had a stock housing to ufck with i might just try it to see what affected what.
yea, you could add ribbing, or elevated notches like stairs (but sideways) to direct the light, it would be difficult to do it accurately though.
__________________
CAI, EGR removed, FSTB, DZ springs, SS brake lines, Cross Drilled Rotors, ES Poly bushings, 9007 upgrade, Front lip and repaint, fogs, 2x alpine type s 10's, pioneer HU Alpine Amp,
The problem with removing parts of the reflector is that it kills your efficiency. With very careful painting of the reflector, it would be possible to have something resembling a cutoff. Lens optics work by taking the light that is in the wrong place, and moving it into the right place. By just blocking parts of the reflector, you're taking the light in the wrong place and just eliminating it completely, which will kill the output.
If you notice, it's not a uniform, constant ribbing of the lens. Certain areas have more ribs, or less ribs. Optics is a very precise science. If the ribs aren't spaced correctly, aren't made of the right material, and aren't angled properly, it won't work. They're designed very carefully for the correct effects. If they're designed poorly, they'll hurt the output more than they help it. Just hacking at it will kill the output, because unless you can get the surface perfectly smooth, they will scatter light like crazy
I got clear housing for the max off ebay, they are pretty much meant for HID's, I don't blind anyone! I don't have a link but they had two versions one was a standard silver finish inside, the other had a dark chrome finish. Only draw back is that they shine 98% straight forward, so for instance I can't see someone on a sidewalk. But the indirect light hits street signs and they light up like never before. A coppper eye'd me one time and was staring right at my lights but never went after me, I only get flashed if I use them during the day (dusk basically). They were like ~95$ shipped or something.
I got clear housing for the max off ebay, they are pretty much meant for HID's, I don't blind anyone! I don't have a link but they had two versions one was a standard silver finish inside, the other had a dark chrome finish. Only draw back is that they shine 98% straight forward, so for instance I can't see someone on a sidewalk. But the indirect light hits street signs and they light up like never before. A coppper eye'd me one time and was staring right at my lights but never went after me, I only get flashed if I use them during the day (dusk basically). They were like ~95$ shipped or something.
which car in your sig is yours? the gold one has e36's doesn't it? and just because people don't flash you doesn't mean you aren't blinding them. as many cars as are out there with blinding headlights, alot of people just don't bother to flash anymore... I don't. Doesn't mean I don't get blinded. I'm usually too busy hauling on the brakes to buy me time for my eyes to re-adjust once that car has passed me, inevitably, around a curve.
__________________ PieceOut.FallToPeacesNew to the forum? CLICK HERE!!!! 1985 Nissan 300zx 2-seater: VG30E | 5spd Swap | Bilstein | 5-lug conversion | Polyurethane everything | Resurrection-in-progress! 2004 Honda Civic EX Coupe: 1.7L VTEC | 5spd | CAI soon | LED tails and Projectors soon | ES Poly Motormounts soon | 'bad weather' car/backup for teh Z 1990 Nissan Maxima GXE: VG30E | VLSD-5 swap | Exedy | NWP | a33b(F)/z31(R) BBK | ES poly | SE susp swap | 2k2SE 17s | retired Aug 28th '09 2005 Nissan Maxima SE: VQ35DE | 6spd | Carolina Panthers front lisence plate | Brother's car, not mine | <-- Therefore still 100% stock
Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonOksa
Horsepower, torque and speed are all known by The State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and reproductive disorders.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigleman
how much would it cost to resleeve?
how does an aluminum motor form rust on the cylinder walls???
DO NOT PM ME ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH YOUR CAR UNLESS I TELL YOU TO. THAT'S WHAT THE FORUM IS FOR
Thats Juan's max, he had to scrap it. After hitting the deer he hooked me up with his hood, painted it too for me came out awesome.
Hey if my lights don't tee off copppers then I'm good to go But really they are basically projectors in the way they focus the light, straight forward.
A parabolic reflector is designed to collminate the beam. That means you'll have great center intensity and throw, since it's focusing it straight ahead. However, width will be terrible. Because of this, they'll only really seem bright from directly in front of the car, which is probably why you haven't been having issues, if the cops are looking at you from off-axis The fluting is there to add width.
A projector does the opposite. It uses the lens to expand the beam, giving you a lot more width.
Thats Juan's max, he had to scrap it. After hitting the deer he hooked me up with his hood, painted it too for me came out awesome.
Hey if my lights don't tee off copppers then I'm good to go But really they are basically projectors in the way they focus the light, straight forward.
...but projectors dont focus the light straight forward???? you know that right?
they give you a nice wide spread of as even as possible light distribution. with a top cutoff that stops the light from blinding people. http://www.topgearautosport.com/img/350/1021012ZVZ.jpg these are the headlights your are talking about.
__________________
CAI, EGR removed, FSTB, DZ springs, SS brake lines, Cross Drilled Rotors, ES Poly bushings, 9007 upgrade, Front lip and repaint, fogs, 2x alpine type s 10's, pioneer HU Alpine Amp,
...but projectors dont focus the light straight forward???? you know that right?
they give you a nice wide spread of as even as possible light distribution. with a top cutoff that stops the light from blinding people. http://www.topgearautosport.com/img/350/1021012ZVZ.jpg these are the headlights your are talking about.
No I didn't know that I don't have projectors. I'll try and post a pic of my beam if anyone is interested. One of the adjusters is busted, so the left beam is off a little.
I know they're far from ideal, but I'm content with them. Against the door you can see the beam distribution or lack there of, but once their on the floor they spread pretty well.
This is with 1.21 gigawatts of power, gotta be careful with this one, can bend time/space.
I know they're far from ideal, but I'm content with them. Against the door you can see the beam distribution or lack there of, but once their on the floor they spread pretty well.
This is with 1.21 gigawatts of power, gotta be careful with this one, can bend time/space.
yea, these photos show exactly why i put the stock headlights back on, gotta wait till i can do a retro
__________________
CAI, EGR removed, FSTB, DZ springs, SS brake lines, Cross Drilled Rotors, ES Poly bushings, 9007 upgrade, Front lip and repaint, fogs, 2x alpine type s 10's, pioneer HU Alpine Amp,
I know they're far from ideal, but I'm content with them. Against the door you can see the beam distribution or lack there of, but once their on the floor they spread pretty well.
just don't drive at night anymore..... those headlights are going to kill someone someday.
you know what, i wonder if the euro's are even DOT legal. it doesn't really make sense that they could be? i dunno. ****'s not cool
__________________
CAI, EGR removed, FSTB, DZ springs, SS brake lines, Cross Drilled Rotors, ES Poly bushings, 9007 upgrade, Front lip and repaint, fogs, 2x alpine type s 10's, pioneer HU Alpine Amp,
__________________
97 SE Auto Built Auto
97 SE Holset HX52|N2O|6 SP|Built 3.56|More to come
91 GXE Auto bone stock beater
91 GXE 5sp Another beater
Led retro's Pm me
I know I'm a little late here but here's some pics of projectors 4300k hid (my car) vs non projector 6000k hid (infowire's max) he's got the clear headlights too, just look at the difference my car being on the right. My headlights are stock clear 97-99 headlights which are plastic and are getting a bit foggy looking but once I clean them up my headlights should look a little brighter and sharper cut off.
__________________ SHIFT_I cant it's Automatic!!
1993 Maxima GXE Super White, Ebay FSTB, 97-99 SE Rims, KYB GR2s, BlehmCo Lower Tiebar, BlehmCo parallel link kit, RSTB, BlehmCo swaybar links,Rear Addco swaybar, z31 rear disc upgrade, Assurance TripleTreds.
1995 Maxima GXE-5 Dark Blue Pearl , 00-01 SE RIMs, I30 leather w/rear headrests, No rubber- all ES Poly in front end suspension, Pioneer InDash Navi, Kzoosho LED tails and FX35 HID retrofit
problem with those pics is that they don't make the non-projector look that bad, but that's because the 4th gen had better headlights to start with. If you had a pic of HIDs in an ebay housing for a 3rd gen... then people would see how horrible it looked. anyways here's a few google images to illustrate the differnece between a good retro, and being cheap/lazy/wanting to kill people/apathy
good (legit projector refit)
bad (hids in clear ebay housings, or stock housings):
__________________ PieceOut.FallToPeacesNew to the forum? CLICK HERE!!!! 1985 Nissan 300zx 2-seater: VG30E | 5spd Swap | Bilstein | 5-lug conversion | Polyurethane everything | Resurrection-in-progress! 2004 Honda Civic EX Coupe: 1.7L VTEC | 5spd | CAI soon | LED tails and Projectors soon | ES Poly Motormounts soon | 'bad weather' car/backup for teh Z 1990 Nissan Maxima GXE: VG30E | VLSD-5 swap | Exedy | NWP | a33b(F)/z31(R) BBK | ES poly | SE susp swap | 2k2SE 17s | retired Aug 28th '09 2005 Nissan Maxima SE: VQ35DE | 6spd | Carolina Panthers front lisence plate | Brother's car, not mine | <-- Therefore still 100% stock
Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonOksa
Horsepower, torque and speed are all known by The State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and reproductive disorders.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigleman
how much would it cost to resleeve?
how does an aluminum motor form rust on the cylinder walls???
DO NOT PM ME ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH YOUR CAR UNLESS I TELL YOU TO. THAT'S WHAT THE FORUM IS FOR
problem with those pics is that they don't make the non-projector look that bad, but that's because the 4th gen had better headlights to start with. If you had a pic of HIDs in an ebay housing for a 3rd gen... then people would see how horrible it looked. anyways here's a few google images to illustrate the differnece between a good retro, and being cheap/lazy/wanting to kill people/apathy
Lol yea right... he's got the ebay one piece headlights for the 4th gen...here's a better shot from far back. Just look at the "transformers-like" patterns of light way above the car on that wall
__________________ SHIFT_I cant it's Automatic!!
1993 Maxima GXE Super White, Ebay FSTB, 97-99 SE Rims, KYB GR2s, BlehmCo Lower Tiebar, BlehmCo parallel link kit, RSTB, BlehmCo swaybar links,Rear Addco swaybar, z31 rear disc upgrade, Assurance TripleTreds.
1995 Maxima GXE-5 Dark Blue Pearl , 00-01 SE RIMs, I30 leather w/rear headrests, No rubber- all ES Poly in front end suspension, Pioneer InDash Navi, Kzoosho LED tails and FX35 HID retrofit
Lol yea right... he's got the ebay one piece headlights for the 4th gen...here's a better shot from far back. Just look at the "transformers-like" patterns of light way above the car on that wall
the reason they look semi-ok is because of how close they are parked to the wall.
The projectors are much wider, but the car is too close to the wall for it to show. The projector beam gets much bigger over distance than the reflector beam does, so it would look way different at 50 feet than it does in that picture.
Also, the fact that it isn't a white wall, and it is in a pretty well lit area, means that the glare and hotspots don't show up as clearly as they would against a uniformly colored wall with less ambient light.
caped, the 4th gen 9004 housings are terrible. there's no doubt about it. probably they are not all that different from the 3rd gen 9004 reflectors, at least in the pics I've seen. the 3rd gen is a little more rectangular, but that seems to be the only difference.
the reason they look semi-ok is because of how close they are parked to the wall.
The projectors are much wider, but the car is too close to the wall for it to show. The projector beam gets much bigger over distance than the reflector beam does, so it would look way different at 50 feet than it does in that picture.
Also, the fact that it isn't a white wall, and it is in a pretty well lit area, means that the glare and hotspots don't show up as clearly as they would against a uniformly colored wall with less ambient light.
caped, the 4th gen 9004 housings are terrible. there's no doubt about it. probably they are not all that different from the 3rd gen 9004 reflectors, at least in the pics I've seen. the 3rd gen is a little more rectangular, but that seems to be the only difference.
o. i was thinking of the ones like Elvis (john's friend in chicago. NO idea what his .Org name is) had were somewhat better, albeit not stock equipment.. but i never got to see them against a wall and even so i still wouldn't use HIDs in them, just the regular whatever-they-are-supposed-to-be bulbs. But having never seen their beam pattern i was just assuming they were somehow better
__________________ PieceOut.FallToPeacesNew to the forum? CLICK HERE!!!! 1985 Nissan 300zx 2-seater: VG30E | 5spd Swap | Bilstein | 5-lug conversion | Polyurethane everything | Resurrection-in-progress! 2004 Honda Civic EX Coupe: 1.7L VTEC | 5spd | CAI soon | LED tails and Projectors soon | ES Poly Motormounts soon | 'bad weather' car/backup for teh Z 1990 Nissan Maxima GXE: VG30E | VLSD-5 swap | Exedy | NWP | a33b(F)/z31(R) BBK | ES poly | SE susp swap | 2k2SE 17s | retired Aug 28th '09 2005 Nissan Maxima SE: VQ35DE | 6spd | Carolina Panthers front lisence plate | Brother's car, not mine | <-- Therefore still 100% stock
Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonOksa
Horsepower, torque and speed are all known by The State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and reproductive disorders.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigleman
how much would it cost to resleeve?
how does an aluminum motor form rust on the cylinder walls???
DO NOT PM ME ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH YOUR CAR UNLESS I TELL YOU TO. THAT'S WHAT THE FORUM IS FOR
warning: people may start bashing you for having HID's in those housings now.
I'm not even going to read this entire thread, but to the OP: you should not have HID's in non-projector housings. you're causing other people irritation at the VERY least, and temporary blindness at worst. This is not only a violation of state and local laws, but a violation of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards as well as very dangerous for everyone.
my thoughts: fix it.
edit: my retrofit project only cost $195 + $70 shipping + install/modification (via goon). (no HID's yet, however they are HID ready.)
But really they are basically projectors in the way they focus the light, straight forward.
I don't have projectors. I'll try and post a pic of my beam if anyone is interested. One of the adjusters is busted, so the left beam is off a little.
ok fine they're just as bad ad the 3rd gen ones
Linear Mode
