Headlight Modification Idea

[swimshark]

Since I'm going to have the other J30 sitting next to my house for a few weeks until I can do the motor/trans swap, Im going to have a little bit of fun with some parts for it. One quick thing is that I'm gonna paint the brake calipers blue. The next mod I'm thinking about doing is taking apart the headlights and mod them. What this will include is taking the chrome piece in the headlight and painting it a flat black. Then I am going to measure the projector lenses and search around for some Angel Eyes that will properly fit. I am also going to be using HIDs and probably go with 6k. I'll post pics once I get going on this.

[yodawill2000]

oznium.com used to have a line of circle angel eye type bulbs but it seems they no longer carry them.
I should have bought a set when they did.
That's a Mod Ive always wanted to do.

[driverdriver]

There use to be a "how to angel eyes" modification post on this forum. Unfortunatly its been lost with all our different moves to different forum software.

[driverdriver]

Found it!

http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/j30-angel-eyes.html

[jdurrty]

let me save you some trouble

before:



during:



after:

[yodawill2000]

Do they illuminate ??

The ones I had bookmarked were actual florescent bulbs.

[swimshark]

yep thats what im going towards. i just remembered about those diy angel eyes and found the silicon rod i had in my closet for it. ill make my own setup and add a box for the resistors on a small breadboard. already have a set of 55W 6k HIDs headed this way soon. ill try them out in my current car first and see how bright they are.

[JDM_J30_tx]

I was going to do this as well. lol

I am going to go and get another set of headlights and buy some amber paint put it over the parking light.....

I will post pics and do a DIY of step by step how to with a write u as well...

[yodawill2000]

JDurrty
Any pics of them on at night ?

let me save you some trouble

before:



during:



after:

[jdurrty]

Ask and you shall receive! Plus, new phone; better pictures.



Blinker on:



Its interesting because the hid bulbs are actually more white, why they come out as blue in the pictures is beyond me.

[yodawill2000]

Any shots of the Angle eyes lit up ??

[jdurrty]

Oh sorry to mislead you, but I don't have angel eyes. Like Lambo doors, every Honda civic owner has played out anything that had a possibility of being cool, so I am limited as to what I can do to my car without looking like a ricer douchebag.

[yodawill2000]

Gotcha
I thought those pics were a mod you did to your J.
I think angel eyes would look sweet.
I just need to find a cheap pair of head lights to play with.

[swimshark]

i found these angel eyes that come in different sizes. ill have the other J30 at my house probably by next weekend if the guy is able to get the title cleared soon.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... cts_id=103

ill take apart the headlights and measure the OD of the projector and let you guys know what it is.

what temperature lights and wattage are you using on your J jdurrty? i have a set of 55W 6k HIDs coming in sat and ill install it Sunday when i get back from FL. with the 55W it will wash out some of the color so it will look more like a 4.5k HID (pure white). i also went ahead and got the relay harness with the 55W kit so there isnt as much of an instantaneous current draw on the system as the HIDs warm up.

yoda you can maybe find a cheap set at a local junk yard. in GA we have a chain of junkyards called Pull-A-Part. its like my J30 heaven for spare parts lol. i can get a pair of headlights for around $50. if anyone is interested i could get some and ship them. last time i checked there were 15 J30s in the Atlanta area ready for picking. not all had headlights but some still do if they are freshly there.

[EriCCirE]

Hey swim,
do any of the j30s at your local junkyards have black interior? I am on the hunt for a set of front drivers and passengers front door panels. Thanks Buddy.

[jdurrty]

The lights in the picture above are 8000k I believe, but they look a whole lot more blue in the picture than in real life. As for the 55w hids, they were my favorite thing I did to my car, so much more light than regular hids and they lasted me almost 2 years while other 35w ebay hids only lasted me months. Here are some pics when I first got them.

55w on the left and 35w on the right:



outside the car:



inside the car with 20% tint on the windshield:

[swimshark]

yep its still kickin until i get the new white one but here is with the 55W 6K kit installed. took one shot with comparison with the silver star ultra $40 bulbs.




sad thing for me is i changed out my ac belt without jacking my car up at all and im not exactly the smallest guy youll see. i miss the loweredness.

[yodawill2000]

What brand of HID's are those Shark ?

[swimshark]

i got these from DDMTuning.com

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/Apexc ... or-HID-Kit

for the 55W i went ahead and got the relay harness so when i turn them on it cuts the relay on so the ballasts get power directly from the battery instead of through the harness for the lights themselves.

im also going to see about retrofitting 300zx z32 fog lights into the bumper like the JDM Leopard J Ferie has. my friend with his TT300zx let me test fit with one of his and it fits good. ill get some sheet metal and fab up a bracket to mount them to the bumper. probably put some 35W 3k H3 HIDs in those for ultimate viewing at night.

[jdurrty]

Before you go all Monster Garage on the 300z lights consider the early 90's Altima fog lights. With the two cars being so similar these might work with less fabrication than the 300z lights

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q= ... CDsQzAMwAg

[swimshark]

hmmm....ill give that a try

def going to the pull a part sat. there is a rumored white J30 there that i might be able to get a better condition hood from and just looked up and there is no joke 23 altimas from 93-99 on the lot their and i can get fog lamps for $7.78 a piece lol

thanks jdurrty

[driverdriver]

yep its still kickin until i get the new white one but here is with the 55W 6K kit installed. took one shot with comparison with the silver star ultra $40 bulbs.




sad thing for me is i changed out my ac belt without jacking my car up at all and im not exactly the smallest guy youll see. i miss the loweredness.

Wow, the difference is unreal.

[swimshark]

some images actually at night

[JDM_J30_tx]

im also going to see about retrofitting 300zx z32 fog lights into the bumper like the JDM Leopard J Ferie has. my friend with his TT300zx let me test fit with one of his and it fits good. ill get some sheet metal and fab up a bracket to mount them to the bumper. probably put some 35W 3k H3 HIDs in those for ultimate viewing at night.

Looks like there are going to new fog light ideas up real soon between the two of us. lol! After the fog I am gonna work on the headlights. Then it's gonna be the suspension.

[swimshark]

here is a quickly drawn out idea on how im gonna do the wiring using the corner markers harness. think im gonna do what you did jdurrty and relocate the blinkers to where the corner markers are. im just gonna leave the ducts where the old blinkers used to be and mount fog lights on the bumper next to them.

[yodawill2000]

Running a duct from the old blinker to the brake caliper/rotor would be my next project.


Time and cash flow is a dream of mine. lol
I either have one or the other !!!

[swimshark]

so measured the projectors. the high beam diameter is 3.125" and the low beam is 3.000." i am going to order 4 80mm angel eyes. 80mm is about 3.15." ill post more pics once i get them in and have it installed and show how i routed the wiring.




here is the chrome piece inside the headlight painted black

[JDM_J30_tx]

Is that a flat or gloss black? Also did you lay down some high temp primer on the plastic before you painted them?

[swimshark]

it dries as a flat black but it does somewhat have a low gloss to it. i prepped the surface by sanding it some and then used a 500 degree engine enamel. ordered the angel eyes so should have those in by next week. going to route the wires through the breather ports.

pulling a part the corner markers is a PITA. lowest the oven in my apt goes is 200. first one for passenger side cracked so went and got another one off my car. i left this one in for 5 min and it melted it so now i got to make a trip to junk yard to get another one lol (you live and you learn). took me about 30 min to carefully pry the driver side apart. you really dont need the tabs that snap the plastic in cause the whole clear lense is glued to the backing. i broke the tabs off as much as i could so it made it easier to pry the 2 apart. i would leave it in for 2 min and then start prying with a butter knife and finally worked it apart without breaking it. will put pics up of it later on.

[jdurrty]

Lookin good! Hahaha sorry you had to go through so much trouble! Maybe I should have shed some insight before you did this, I used a heat gun on the medium setting (900 degrees I think) for maybe 7-8 minutes and the lens practically fell out. And although high temp paint is probably the better idea, I just used regular flat enamel and it has lasted me over a year with no trouble. Probably because the hids don't get as hot as the halogen bulbs, but what do I know!