My Xenon HID conversion

I would love a set of these for my 780

Simple, make the identical same perimeter pieces, but use the router on the other side. Should come out identical but mirrored.

Also today, I used the B&D mouse & my belt sander & knocked off the edges. It's all nice & rounded & smooth.

BUT I also picked up a pair of crappy 780 lenses & I might try my hand at defluting them.

Dex740Turbo said:

awesome, well can't wait to see your production version.
How are you going to mirror the other side?

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looks nice

Ursan said:

Simple, make the identical same perimeter pieces, but use the router on the other side. Should come out identical but mirrored.

Also today, I used the B&D mouse & my belt sander & knocked off the edges. It's all nice & rounded & smooth.

BUT I also picked up a pair of crappy 780 lenses & I might try my hand at defluting them.

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Moar PICs!

Defluting glass & basic progress.

I've decided that defluting of smoothing the glass is a that will yield little gain for too much effort.

I've spent a lot of time at other sites reading & inquiring about defluting glass. I've spoken with my uncle, a glass artist. I've read the posts.

The final verdict is "it aint worth it"

Without special tools & methods, it's nearly impossible to get the glass 100% smooth & ripple free. There is a significant danger of making the glass brittle & prone to breakage. Also, this is assuming that I don't break the glass in the process. The quality of the smoothing will be such that the beam pattern won't be as sharp as it should be.

I've even been in contact with people who professionally do it. The answer still is "not worth it" There's a company out in either Arizona or Cali that has a special procedure where the front of the glass lens is cut off with a diamond water wheel (an expensive tool) and the front cutting is then used as a template to mold a replacement piece out of plain .112" Lexan which is then bonded back to the remains of the glass lens. He wouldn't tell me the exact procedure nor the materials used in the bonding (having to do with Lexan & glass expand & contract at different rates) but he'd be willing to do mine for a fee in the several hundred dollar range, each. He did divulge a little piece of information about Lexan that I didn't know nor did I read it anywhere else. Lexan & plexiglass have a certain about of water moisture within them that will cause bubbles withing the plastic if it's heated to the molding point. He also told me that putting the material in an oven (electric only) at a certain temperature below that point but above 200? for 10-20 hours will evacuate that moisture.

No, he wouldn't tell me what the temperature was nor exactly how long. But he did say not to so it in an oven that you ever plan on using for food again.

He said that these bubbles are different from those caused by overheating the plastic with a gas torch. They just sort of coalesce over time causing a foggy look to the plastic.

His information was helpful to me and once I have the parts sandblasted & painted black & cemented all together I'll have a nice pair of projector lamps. I have one prototype done & am ready to make the actual pair once I have some free time on the weekends as I'm not home until after dark these days so I'l have to set up a work area for myself in the basement.

As of now I've tested the projectors and the bulbs. The high & low beam shields work. The permanent mounting of the projectors will be done soon.

Eventually I *MIGHT* mount the spare H1 projectors in the housing too, but in all seriousness, the DS2 bulbs in these units throw more light than anything stock ever could. The bulbs I have are rated at 3,100 to 3,300 lumens.

Hell, I might even mount one of those spare H1 projectors in the middle of the grille where the Volvo marque is now.

I'll post new pictures here soon as I have new ones to show.

time to get a vacuum table and make them one solid piece...

Yeah, that's probably not going to happen. The MR10 can't be re-shaped after the coating is applied so doing a vacuum molding things is out. Besides, I'm not willing to make this anything more than a hobby.

rom said:

time to get a vacuum table and make them one solid piece...

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I don't know if your still doing this but I thought you might be interested in this. http://www.alumilite.com/index.php?page=show_info&type=HOWS&id=46

That's rather clever. I'll have to read into that. I wonder how strong that material is.

YURPLES said:

I don't know if your still doing this but I thought you might be interested in this. http://www.alumilite.com/index.php?page=show_info&type=HOWS&id=46

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Just when you thought I'd given up, MOAR PICS! (sorry 56k)

So, since my last posting about this, I:

1: Moved

2: Got Married

3: had other projects to get aside.

So, now without further ado...





These are the stock reflectors, mostly unmodified. They are mirrored aluminum & rather pitted.






Here they are modified to be mated with the new rear lamp cover:








That we see here. It's a simple ABS 4" union with a rubber end cap on it.

I'll either pierce the rubber or pass the wiring through the side with a silicone plug or a grommet of some sort.






Here we see that the union is just a bit too large to fit into the reflector base, so I introduced it to my belt sander.








Here we see the projector assembly being sized up.





A little trimming here & there...







Dremel out a few notches for clearance.







And we sit almost perfectly flush.

I'll be mounting the projector into this ABS & will attach them together with machine screws so there's no wobbling about. I'll also mount the pipe section into the reflector top & bottom for the same reason. I'll then seal the back end of the reflector to the pipe with JB-Qwik for a nice seal.

As I mentioned, I'll likely pass the wires out the side of the ABS with a grommet. The back rubber plug will only be for bulb replacement.

I just painted the center section & bezel flat black last night so I'll post pics of those when they are complete. I'll also mount the front lens to the center section.

I was thinking of using black GE Silicone I to glue the Lexan lens to the center section, but somehow I seem to recall that the acid in silicone sealant can affect the Lexan, can anyone confirm this? What's a good semi-permanent substance to use the glue the items together?

I am also considering taping off a circular section of the Lexan bezel & painting it black. Then mounting lamps inside the reflector base to make sort of a "angel eye" or "halo" effect. Anyone have opinions on this? Or should I just try it & see?

The Saga continues....


Don't forget to comment!

partial assembly & halo "angel eyes" attempt.

Not sure if I like it or not:







With the inner lamps off:


2 more for good measure.




I'm still trying to figure out if a silicone based adhesive/sealant is the best choice for assembly. I don't want it to be 100% permanent, but I also don't want water leaks either.

I also am unsure of the halo effect. It's using plain 1156 lamps in there. I don't know if I should go for a color filter or not.

Any ideas/thoughts anyone?

wow!

nice progress!
definately update with pictures when you get it assebled.
as for the 3m glue messing with acryllic, i dunno. never heard of it, but have never tried it myself.
why not glue some test pieces together to see?

holy crap, posted as you updated!


anyways, that looks pretty slick.
i'd almost make the "halo" area a tad wider.

wanna make some headlights for my 940? LOL


oh, and get some PLEXUS to polish the lexan when you're all done. will make it nice and shiny.

that halo thing is off the ****ing chain

WOW. amazing progress you have there! Funny, I just came back to this forum today as well(after taking a winter hiatus)...


Any pics of the beam pattern, and how does the ABS 4" mount to the Cut reflector? Was it just glue? How does the projectors secure to the ABS, and pics on how you actually screwed them together?

Neat pics and all but the annoying thing about most diy hid is the pattern... what does yours look like?

Ursan said:

I am he.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze352h3/taillight/seven.html

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Sorry to distract from the (really great) content of this thread, but where the heck did you actually BUY those Dialights? I cannot seem to get a link to any place from their website that actually allows you to see a price and/or purchase them. I've been thinking on how to do an LED conversion for my car, and they'd be a great starting place.

Ebay. just search for 4" round LED. IF they still make them. They were switching to 22 led lamps when I got mine.

You can also get them at RV centers.

Also remember, there are two different kinds. The grommet mount & the flange mount. I used the flange mount to get the recessed look while the grommet mount needs to be flush.

slipstream3d said:

Sorry to distract from the (really great) content of this thread, but where the heck did you actually BUY those Dialights? I cannot seem to get a link to any place from their website that actually allows you to see a price and/or purchase them. I've been thinking on how to do an LED conversion for my car, and they'd be a great starting place.

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I'll have to fire it up then. It's a Infinity FX35 unit, so it's nor razor sharp, but sharper than most.

I'm thinking of doing the shield mod where I remove one of the two shields which should make for a crisper cutoff.

This is what I propose to do:
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=355&highlight=mod

sdturbo said:

Neat pics and all but the annoying thing about most diy hid is the pattern... what does yours look like?

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Where does one buy Plexus? I'd rather not buy it online.

HonestJhon said:

holy crap, posted as you updated!


anyways, that looks pretty slick.
i'd almost make the "halo" area a tad wider.

wanna make some headlights for my 940? LOL


oh, and get some PLEXUS to polish the lexan when you're all done. will make it nice and shiny.

Click to expand...