Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

I thought I'd share with you guys. For the past 3 years, I've used Dremel to do pretty much anything without any fixturing or other setup to make the process easier. Recently I was at Harbor Freight and found this little rotary table for $50. It's pretty small, 3 inch diameter only, but it defenetly a good tool to have when use with any other cutting tool. For those of you that don't want to spend a ton of money on bigger machine, you can use this rotary tool and a small drill press/Dremel to trim the shrouds, reflector, doing custom extension, trimming projectors, etc. A small drill press or Dremel work station kit would run you about $100. When you use this rotary table and dremmel, your quality of work goes exponentially, much better than doing it by your hand. It goes pretty fast too and pretty repeatable. You're not going to get +/-.005" of tolerance, but this is not building rocket either.

Here is the setup to trim the outside diameter of E46 Shrouds.
Tools:
Dremel
Dremel drill press workstation.
Harbor Freight 3" rotary table
Saber tooth cutting bit
Harbor Freight saw tooth cutter.





When you are cutting plastic, you want to go slow speed and use coarse cutting teeth ( that was the reason using the saber tooth/saw tooth cutter). Since this is not your Bridgeport milling machine setup, you want to plunge it slower and take small (.020") material at the time. This would save your dremel motor and prevent it from burning the plastic. I have not tried cutting aluminum (projector housing) yet, but I would imagine I can use the same setup but need to go faster and a lot less material to remove. You can even get some high speed milling bit for the Dremel.

Here is the video. Saber Tooth Cutter
http://youtu.be/2PK7SVh6AOE
Saw Tooth Cutter.
http://youtu.be/DWkhxeQP3Ao

Here is the result. I did 5 of these in 1 hour.

The6spdMax

iTrader: (23)

Wow, I can't believe you did it! Great work... very impressive.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

That's a cool little machine, thanks for sharing dude!

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Back in January this was the goal the project. 4 months later, this is what I have.
1. Headlights: Dual Reflector style Ebay lights. Compeletly gutted and new brackets. Satin black with metalic silver shrouds.
2. Projectors: Low Beam-G37 Bi-X Sedan + STI-R lens. High Beam - RX330 non-AFS converted to Bi-X using Morimoto Selenoid assy + TSX-R Lens. Replaced OEM shield with custom less aggresive foreground limiter.
3. Shrouds: 4x E46 Shrouds Extension painted metalic silver with acrylic mirror sandwiched in between.
4. No Carbon Fiber wrap bezel.....I don't think it's going to be reliable.
5. Turn Signal: Full 4" Trucker Trailer LED turn signal retrofit with electronic flasher upgrade. Aftermarket LED parking light + BMWE90 frosted lens with PWM.
6. No CCFL. I don't think it is reliable.
7. Harness: Dual Relays with seperate in-dash switch for RX330 projectors.
8. Bulbs: Phillps 85122+ G37s. Morimoto 5K for RX330.
9. Ballasts: Morimoto 5Five for G37s, Matsu****a gen 3 for RX330s

I pretty much got what I wanted now. It's been tough, a lot of late night and weekends, and money spent on this project. I'm happy with the result. The Acrylic mirror is very subtle but it breaks out the silver very well and gives the shine without too much shine. I learned alot from this project.













low beam

djkevinnn

iTrader: (5)

Holy crap, they came out amazing MSU. Great work as always. Can't wait to see the next project

Nexus67

iTrader: (23)

Man that looks pretty nice, good job

luvlexus101

iTrader: (6)

This came out absolutely amazing.

RR5

iTrader: (6)

That really does look amazing and such attention to detail.

Blue Mesa

They do look nice, on par with OEM 5.5Gen styling IMO.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

I think the most impressive part of this is the detail, it's flaweless. Even the back side, that looks better than many Ebay made headlights right off the line!!! Just incredible work man.

Personally, I don't like the result, for the simple fact that the headlight shrouds are so dominant. I hate shrouds, they take attention from a subtle and clean looking projector lens. But the result is hard to turn from, I mean, it's just SO FREAKING CLEAN dude!!! You really knocked this one out of the park. My only gripe is with the styling, the quality of work is what is really flooring on this one.

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Thanks guys. I would admit the styling was the hardest one to finish I've gone thru different type of shrouds on this. The diameter, the height and the profile between the headlight shroud and the lens and hard to match. One of the problem was that the g37 was so big in there that I could not installed them further back(well I could have, but the back side need to be opened up). This made the projector sticked out pass the headlight shroud, so an extension was needed.

If the headlights have no built in shroud and the reflector is open like OEM ones, I think it would be easier to get the flow right.

I'm piecing together a pair of OEM 5.5 headlights retro for someone here this summer. No crazy stuff though. Good single projector, clean, and looks OEM are my goal.

Stay tune.....

Blue Mesa

Its definitely hard to beat OEM 5.5s with the clear lens mod. If you can pull off a good looking 5.5 retro I think itd be quite popular.

Cant wait to see what you come up with.

RR5

iTrader: (6)

Hang on, what do you mean "If you can pull off"! Of course MSU will pull off a great 5.5 retro.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

They look "overdone" to me. The quad set up look great, the matching E46 shrouds look perfect but the surrounding "shroud" pieces look big and bulky IMHO. The amber LEDs look out of place as well but that's probably just me because I hate amber.

I applaud your efforts though and that craftsmanship looks to be top notch. Keep up the good work.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

So I'm not clear on how you're using the lamps. Are you using both sets of projectors all the time or are the inner set on a switch that you can use when you feel like it?

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Absolutely correct! The Selenoid wires from both projectors are wired together and connect to the Low Beam H4 harness. The Inner Projectors (high beam) will have dedicated relay that will be triggered using ignition wire in-dash fuse and have on/off switch. So, I can swithc to inner/outer projector or run both whenever I like. Basically the inner projectors work like aux lights.

Honestly, I will never run both at the same time. Quad retrofit is not worth the investment IMO. A good single/Bixenon projector plus HIR halogen for high beam will work better IMO.

KARLIMAX

Subsrcibing! I'm interested in a set of retrofitted HID's for a 2000 Maxima.

picnik99

iTrader: (10)

those headlights are nice, good work MSU!

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

More pics

I decided to put G37s on the switch instead.


Relay for quads and fogs

I thought the turn signal and parking lights would be too much, but it wasn't.



Quad low beams

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

I have another set of Ebay dual reflector style that I purchased from member here few weeks back. It needs a lot of TLC but it would be pretty robust when the retro is complete. I'm thinking of putting FX35 or G37 or TSX, or TL in there on the low beam only (no quad). TL would fit just fine actually, so I might go that route since I've never done TL before. I have fixed the Angle Eyes already and will use it in this retro. I have choosen OEM G37 shroud extension for the low beam. Honestly it looks better than the E46-R on the quad.

Here is what it would look like when it's finish minus the high beam projector.







Quad wall shots....


Anyway, I'm thinking of selling the next retro (when its done) or the quad I just finished to fund the next project (oddly enough it isn't retrofit project). Let me know if any of guys are interested. PM for details.

KARLIMAX

Looks sweet man!!! Nice work!!!

I want to put some HID's in my girls '00 MAX! This is really good info!

luvlexus101

iTrader: (6)

Dude you owned the TRS May contest.

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

we'll see, it aint over yet. They got some nice clean retros in the contest.

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Projector is RX330 AFS with E30 Lens and custom curved shield.

Here is what the internal look like. This headlight, although it looks big, it ain't. The low beam reflector is pretty much gutted.

Initial cut.

More cutting. You can see I'm running into the adjustment screw already.


Still, projector was sticking out too far I thought..


Ran into the same dang problem, the horizontal adjustment screw was preventing the projector to be mounted further back....well, I ended up creating a custome bracket to go around it so that the projector can be mounted further back and still maintain the stock horizontal adjustment ( on the quad, I deleted it and replaced it with ball socket since there were not a whole lot of room). I really want to sink that projector deeper, but then I would have nothing left and would end up making the same custom bracket as the one in the quad. I'm going to try not to do full blown custom bracket this time




Trying shrouds. I think these 2 shrouds are awesome, but I only have one, need to look for another one if you guys have any.

Benz SL shroud




Bimmer shroud, not sure what kind

dna59

Congrats on the ROTM...saw it over that side.

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Not a whole lot of going on in Maxima retrofit lately. Been busy with newer Versa retrofit project. This little punk uses epoxy based sealant that is PITA to open. Not too exciting to show anything yet.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

They do the same with B15 sentra lights. Had had to buy aftermarket units because I couldn't get the OEM one's opened.

S

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

While waiting on for customer's HID components to arrive, I try different mounting bracket to make the adjustment easier than last time. With this, I'm hoping to cut down the rotational allignemnt to 10 minutes for both projectors. I'm also working on another iteration of this bracket design that would allow to adjust the rotation after the headlight is sealed, this way, the cut off is guaranteed to be straight regardless of the car fitment.

This time I use a pair of FX-R 1.0 with stock high beam or Mini H1, not sure.





My goal is to mount the projector as far back as possible, this FX-R is mounted further back than the G37 I had in the 1st quad retro. I think I can go about 3/8" more if I trim the projector.

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Not much Maxima retrofitting this summer. I found this at garage sale the other day. For those of you old enough (born between 1970-80), you would recognize these gem. It's the 1981 first edition of Voltron. it's basically 5 Lions that can be put together to form a robot. The biggest Lion of the 5 forms the body and the head. The 2 legs are from the smaller Lions and the arms are from the smallest Lions. This thing was in mint condition and made in japan. Apparently the owner was probably my age and his wife was selling all of his stuff in the garage. This thing was IT back in the day. I had one untill a kid at school stole it, so this brought back tons of good old day memory for sure.

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Double post

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Not much going on in the Maxima world lately, other than trying to figure out suspension issue. Should have another 02-03 Maxima single xenon retro in fall if things are looking good.

Did a few clean simple Civic retrofits over the past few weeks.

96-98 Civic




00 Civic.

UGAd13

Voltron was the BOMB!

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Took the current quads off the car and removed the RX330 Non-AFS (RX8) Hybrid projectors out ( sold it ).

This is the first time I re-opened the lights since last May. Never had any condesation going tru multilple car washes.
The only problem I have was a bad connection in the driver turn signal sockets, my turn and parking LED sometimes flicker.
You see the yellow stuff on there, that was the aging epoxy looks like, so hide it as much as you can.



Not sure what I'm going to do with the empty high beam slot, but mostlikely fill it with halogen projector for high beam only application. I'm going to sell these lights, PM me if you are interested.

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Got a new pair of AE Ebay lights today.
This headlights are going to have Mini H1 and Apollo shroud for clean look.

The vertical adjustment kinda loose. We'll have to shim or put spacer to make tigher. Never seen this injection molding parting line on the seam, which could indicate a weak point, it should be OK since they are at the bottom seams. We'll have to replace/add more sealant anyway. Other than that, the headlights are in new condition and clean!

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

I can't wait to see how they come out. And I see what you were saying about the AE with the darker outline which don't need painting. Thanks Andro.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

I retro'd a set of those with FX-R 3.0s and Apollo shrouds. The reflectors are cheap. A mount broke off the reflector while in shipment to my customer so it had to come back and get fixed. Maybe that's the looseness you're noticing.

http://retrofitsrus.webs.com/apps/ph...toid=165934392

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

I don't think it's a broken mount. I can wiggle the reflector up/down a little but it comes to a dead stop. I think its the plastic threaded clip that has some slacks. I'd put some spacers or added material between the plastic flange and the reflector mount bracket so that it doesn't wiggle.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

It shouldn't wiggle when in there. The plastic threaded clip fits pretty tight in the mount but I guess we'll see when you open them up.

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

Opened the headlight with the loose reflector this afternoon. Removed the cheap butyl as much as I could in there, not taking any chances with it.





As expected, the plastic clip has too much play/clearance inside the reflector bracket (indicated by screw driver tip) which cause the reflector to wiggle. The play was not too extreme but with the extra weight of the projector + shroud,, it could damage the mounting points if you hit big hole or riding on stiff suspension.


Waiting for the HID components.

Genes1s

iTrader: (5)

No more wobbly reflector.

Added JB weld on the bracket.
.
Removed material with file till the white plastic threaded clip was slif fit with no play.


Fired up the Mini H1 and it looked weird. At a glance the cut off looked pretty and all that



but pay attention to the end of the beam width. Lights were leaking out, both projectors had this. Not sure what the impact on the road would be, but I think those lights above the cut off would blind others eventhough they right at the end of the beam width. I have to see on the road to make a final judgement I guess.