Projector HL Upgrade, opinions please

[Sirpent]

Hi crew

 

Been thinking HL's and reading about some of the upgrades on the site, some which I love, others which I don't so much, then started to surf and came across these which look very modifyable.......

 

"Think main body less the driving lamp tucked into a modded HL bucket so as to suit the curve of the unit"

 

Anyhow, I'm after opinions, and remember these wouldn't be for a purist Zed so please think outside the circle.

 

Cheers

 

John

[GV260]

Go for it John as these would compliment all the other excellent mod's you are doing.

[Sirpent]

Go for it John as these would compliment all the other excellent mod's you are doing.

 

Thanks Buddy,

 

The more I look at them the more I like them, and incorporating a mount into the buckets, nor doing a cesarean on the driving lamp wouldn't be that complex.

 

Cheers

 

John

[benny]

could work well john, the other headlight i have thought may work is from the new cooper!! I dont have any measurements just looking by eye!!

[Sirpent]

Yeah Benny,

 

Looked at them but like the style of these better, plus there are a lot of veriations on the basic shape as far as upgraded internals with halo's so makes for interesting options.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Six_Shooter]

Just on the idea of donor lights, there are a lot of round or roundish head lights on new cars. The ones I have measured all measure larger in diameter than the original headlight. This would make it difficult to retrofit and not block some of the forward lens. The closest I have found so far has been about 1/2" larger in diameter and seems to be actually round.

The Mini Cooper and new beetle head lights are huge compared to the S30.

[Sirpent]

Thanks 6

 

Although I haven't measured these yet I would be pretty certain that they will follow the 7" standard, so fingers crossed they should be workable, also found a set in "BLECK" these are somehow a bit more sexy.

[MaygZ]

Is any of your 'bastard' going to be datsun when you finish??

[Bigfella]

I have a Cooper s Mini I wil do some measurements on the weekend. But I think they are a bit big.

 

[Sirpent]

Is any of your 'bastard' going to be Datsun when you finish??

 

Ja! ungefähr 80 %

 

I have a Cooper s Mini I Will do some measurements on the weekend. But I think they are a bit big.

 

 

These are from a E Class W210 Benz so are smaller than the Copper's

[Zedman240®]

John, I've been thinking about installing a DE unit into a headlight bucket but imagine a lens cover over it with the DE unit behind a lens. So it would be like a solid headlight bucket with the lens cover as part of it with a DE unit near the front but following the lines of the clear lens covers... Might have to PS something to make it a bit clearer than mud..

[Sirpent]

Dimitri,

 

I'd love to do the same thing, but once again it comes down to forming a lens, and in this lays the problem as lenses must comply with Australian ADR requirements, once you go from a sealed beam to a more modern set up the cover as you put it is no longer that, it becomes a lense and therefore must comply with regulations.

 

It's doable, but for the cost of a one off or even limited number it would probably be to cost restrictive.

 

Cheers

 

John

[sco_aus]

They look great John, I reckon go for it if they meet your requirements.

[specialp3]

Hey John,

 

Not sure what you think of these but I was looking at a 2006 r series MB and thought you could intergrate the lights into the buckets some how.

 

Cheers,

Aaron

[specialp3]

Forgot to mention the blinker can be separated from the HL.

[Sirpent]

Hi Aaron,

 

Appreciate the post, however a few problems come to mind immediately.

 

The first being that the lamp from the R series actually has an irregular shape more kidney like which would greatly dictate just how far it could be manipulated to suit a rather round shape.

 

The second issue even if the first was overcome is that the upper lens comes to a pinnacle point which you can just make out in the pic but is very prominent head on which wouldn't work with the rounded upper edge of the bucket.

 

Appreciate the suggestion, but too complex in shape to use unfortunately.

 

Cheers

 

John

[nizm0zed]

Are you planning on using a halogen globe in that projector housing or a HID globe?

 

Reason i ask is because if you want to use a HID globe and be legal, you need to keep the auto levelling function of the headlight working.

That in itself could be a pain in the ass to wire up and work properly.

With those projector lenses they are often put into cars to give a 'new' appearance to the front end. In most countries they put the HID globe in them as well and they work really well.

The projector lense is fundamentally designed to perform better with a HID type light, rather than an halogen type light.

In Oz, because of the ADR requirements including the auto levelling system, the cost increases to the point that the manufacturer (unless its an expensive luxury/euro car) fits a Halogen globe instead.

The light still complies to ADR's so its ok to be in the car, and the focal point is changed to suit the halogen globe, but the basic design is not suited to a halogen globe, and as such, compared to a regular reflector lense the beam pattern and focus is reduced.

the other issue you may have if your looking at using the HID globes, is that you need a hi/low H4 globe.

Most of the H4 HID's on the market use a solenoid setup that pulls the whole globe assembly to change the focal point and the distance and spread of the light.

The problem with this is that its virtually impossible to ensure that the focal point is in exactly 1 of 2 positions, there is allways some variation from that point.

That again affects the distance and spread of the light.

There are some units on the market that use a shutter system instead of moving the globe.

These are much more accurate and are the preffered choice, however, due to the fact that the focal point doesnt change, you dont generally get an extra distance on high beams, just more light spread.

This is why all OEM setups use seperate bulbs for high and low beam in a HID setup, usually HID low beams and halogen high beams (due to costs)

Top of the line OEM stuff would use HID low and HID high in seperate tuned projectors.

 

This was all taught to me by a bloke that has worked as an engineer for Philips Automotive lighting for the last 10 years.

[Sirpent]

Niz,

 

First thanks for putting such a lot of effort into the post, I really appreciate that as I'm sure everyone else will, once again the sharing of knowledge on this site is a great thing.

 

OK, to avail you of some of your concerns.

 

First, these lights meet Australian ADR requirements and are actually designed for RHD vehicles.

 

Second, if you look at the pic, the main body which I will be using contains only the low beam component, it's the ancillary reflector lamp that actually holds the high beam globe, this is the part I will be dissecting in order to attempt and build it into the HL bucket of the "Z", therefore I will have to mount an alternative High Beam system whether it be the dissected lamps or other into the front nose, at this stage I'm still undecided, watch this space.

 

Therefore the very detailed points you raised don't actually effect their mounting or operation in this instance even if I do dissect the reflector high beam lamps from the main body as theadjusters wont be effected by doing so.

 

As far as globes, they come with standard halogen bulbs, however upgrade bulb options are available at an additional cost when ordering, these include Super white halogen(4800K) or HID/Xenon (3000K-16000K), I will obviously be going with the latter if i do go ahead with this.

 

Once again all great points I really appreciate but which I have already considered to some extent before hand, hope the explanation I posted makes sense and if I'm wrong in any details please don't hesitate to post a rebuttal.

 

Cheers

 

John

[nizm0zed]

Does the light itself as a HID factory option exist? Because thats the unit that'll meet ADR's with a HID bulb in it.

The light body itself can meet ADR's, and the lighting system inside may perhaps not meet ADR's, then you have a component that doesnt pass.

Its a bit of a silly way to look at it, but that's how the bean pushing burecrats see it.

(edit, nevermind that bit, just looked at the main light again, its HID from factory)

Its also as mentioned before, affected by whether it has an auto levelling system incorporated, as that is one of the ADR requirements for the fitment of the HID bulb.

I didnt even consider that you'd have seperated the high beam off the main light, i guess i just assumed it was a hi/low main beam with a supplementary high beam.

Either way, that info will be of valuable use to anyone who upgrades thier lights to a HID or Projector style insert.

 

I'll be very keen to see how you do the high beam lights.

I have mounted 170mm HID lightforce spotties in where the front grille was, i have considered seeing if i can make them the high beams, and upgrade the standard inserts to a single HID low beam.

[Sirpent]

I'll be very keen to see how you do the high beam lights.

 

Alan

 

I will have to build a high beam set into the front of the bar but I'm not sure what it will look like with a separate oval set like the ones I intend to dissect, so will just have to wait till i get my hands on a set and play around with positioning I guess.