Yorgee Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Haven't really been on hybrid much due to the fact that I haven't really been working on my car all that much. But when winter break came, thought I'd make a couple things for the Z. And for now, it's new head lights. The stock ones just don't cut it, especially on dark mountain roads... I just had a look at the some other posts on Hybrid and people are taking a similar approach which I'm not surprised, because it's a very simple solution if you have the right equipment. Here's my take on HID headlights. I basically got a set of rx8 headlights, cut out all the useless material, and took out the projector and the HID ballast unit. Pretty much all I needed. Then basically cut out the back portion of some cheap "projector headlights" I had purchased on ebay. I was able to actually attach the project to the back of the headlight using something similar to jbweld called Permapoxy. It comes in a tube, and is basically like puddy. Hardens in about 4 minutes and gets pretty hard. The biggest issue with this swap was completely sealing the head light and protecting it from water and whatever else your tires might kick up and definitely not making something too big that would have any chance of coming in contact with the front tires. I was planning on making a shape out of foam and fiber glassing over it to fully enclose the unit, but later found something a little easier. Yup, a 3 liter shasta bottle. It fits perfectly around the entire projector assembly and made for a good mold. After trimming all the edges and fitting the back end cap of the rx8 headlight that covered the bulb: All that is left to do to actually physically mount the headlight was to cut up the old headlight housings so that the fiberglass cover would slide through. Got a chance today to actually mount the headlight on the car, and it's about a good 8 inches away from the tires and looks completely stock from the outside which is always a plus. (had to use a donor headlight for the test fit) Not much is left, cut some holes in the fiberglass housing to run the wires, get some relays to wire everything up, mount the ballast unit right under the headlight and then just seal it all up. As for the High beams, since the ballast unit for the Rx8 is only for low beams, I'm probably just going to get some fog lights and put high beam bulbs. Looking to be done this weekend hopefully before school starts up again. Let me know what you guys think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drift_inertia Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Very awesome and very nice looking work! How much did the project cost you and also where did you get the RX-8 headlights? salvage yard, ebay??? Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Wow.. Sir, I am not a fan of HID headlights in the least, and even less a fan of retrofitting them into an older vehicle (personal tastes, I hate the light) but that was a NICE job! Quick, easy, cheap, and effective! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgee Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Hey Matt, my dad actually works for mazda and he just brought them home a few days ago, so I decided to try converting my headlights with them. As for materials, the most expensive stuff was the resin and PVA for the fiberglass. But me and my friend bought in bulk for some other projects we are working on. I think I spent around 80$ on materials, but only used 5$ worth. Thanks Daeron, I'm really only doing the conversion so I can actually see on the road, as long as I don't have to modify much, and still looks stokish, the look of the bulb doesnt really bother me much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 whats up G! Looks great man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgee Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Not much Matt, just trying to finish up as many things as I can before schoole resumes. How's your car coming along, I heard Justin was sectioning your struts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Not much Matt, just trying to finish up as many things as I can before schoole resumes. How's your car coming along, I heard Justin was sectioning your struts. Same story. Trying to finish both cars before school. And yea Justin is delaying my car. haha. Anywho the lights looks great. Dont forget to post night pictures when you get it all wired up. Would be nice to see how much of an improvement it will be. Might have to add it to my list of ♥♥♥♥ to do on aziza. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgee Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Yeah, it will definitely be an improvement. I was testing them with a spare battery in my garage. It's crazy how bright those things are. As long as you can find the materials to make a set, I can make some outer casings for you to cover it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 280ZForce Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Looks good Jorge, welcome to the brighter side of the world at night now. We're going to have to do this to my 510. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I was always impressed with how much light my mates RX8 had. This should be a real big improvement. Well done and thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 This looks good, what size wheel and tires are you running in the front. I know you said you checked for clearance....thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgee Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Hey Clive, my 240 is running 225/50/r15 all around. and Justin, I was actually thinking when you mentioned making something similar for your soon to be new 510 and I'm not sure If you can approach it the same. Seeing as how the projector lens itself is almost in contact with the 7 inch headlight housing I used. The headlight for 510s is only about 5 inches in diameter, not sure how you would go about fitting the projector inside. Would probably just have to have most of projector assembly outside the headlight housing and just have the projector lens inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeatrpi Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Wow, great work. I'm impressed! Are high-beams a requirement or could you just get by without them (state inspection wise)? Subscribing so I can watch how this turns out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdizzy204 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 lets see some night pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgee Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Got some work done this morning. Test fitted the second headlight and mounted both ballast waterproof cases under where each headlight is placed. Had to cut some holes into the outer fiberglass casing to insert the bulb wire. Then sealed it with silicone sealer. I wish the wires itself were longer, but I'd hate to cut them to solder on longer wires. Has anyone ever messed with these ballast units and know it's safe to actually modify those wires? I mean, if there is no power to the unit, it should be ok but there still might be a charge and yah never know. All I know is that it's a pain waiting for stuff to dry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I like it !!! Can you show how you modded the metal rim section that the actual 7" housing sets in (the part that has the beefy little spring hooked to it for tension) that's used for adjustment. My guess is all you have left is the outer edge.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgee Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 Yah J. Soileau, I basically just cut out the portion that the spring actually attaches to so the casing could slide through. I don't think I have a picture of that though, of just that ring. But it's been a long day and I finally got the headlights mounted, all that is left is wiring and aligning the headlights. Only the right headlight is on in this picture, and it's still very bright. It's way to low though. I'm probably going to get my friends s2000 and park his car along side mine, try to align my lights with his or something. But definitely, an improvement. I'll have to work on it some more tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktm Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Good to see you did not sell the car. Thanks for the documentation and photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Double posted... see post below Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 You are getting light leakage/flare out the sides of the lens on the HID projectors. You need to seal up the area around where the 3" lens fits into the rear of the 7" H4 housings. You should not have any light what so ever above your cut off line (as was shown on the garage door while the light was turned on). I think it will be perfect once you seal it up... Here is a shot of one of mine before I installed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.