Members projector retrofits

triz

Member
Apr 22, 2013
746
I cant tell if the projector bowl is painted or not. Not sure if I should paint mine or leave them as is.
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
I didn't paint mine if it helps.
 
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triz

Member
Apr 22, 2013
746
I'm pretty excited to start working on mine. Got the projectors and pick up my light from the box Monday am. Still waiting on paint.
 
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Mounce

Original poster
Member
Mar 29, 2014
13,667
Tuscaloosa, AL
triz said:
I'm pretty excited to start working on mine. Got the projectors and pick up my light from the box Monday am. Still waiting on paint.
What projectors did you pick out? And paint color?
 

triz

Member
Apr 22, 2013
746
Mounce said:
What projectors did you pick out? And paint color?
I went with the Mini H1s for my first retro. Mini gatling for the shrouds. My truck is Dark Grey Metallic, so it probably wont show much of a difference, but I m going to color match it. Im a bit nervous about screwing it up. But Ill take it slow.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
triz said:
Im a bit nervous about screwing it up. But Ill take it slow.
You worry too much :raspberry:

Everything will be fine, and you'll be driving around like :biggrin: when the sun goes down after you get them done. :yes:
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
It's not bad. Take your time, carefully disassemble and note how it goes together. In all honesty you'll spend more time aligning then anything if you're like me and want it to be as perfect as possible, but mine curve and I need to adjust the bulb seating, but it's only noticable at close range. You'll be fine.
 
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littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Got flashed for the first time today. Granted the rear was loaded with about 400 lbs of stuff, so it was sitting 2 inches lower in the rear and that raised the cutoff about a foot. So I flashed back and he immediately turned off his high then when he was almost past me flashed his rapidly. Dude I told you I know, really? For the little I'm going to drive at night with that much weight I'm not going to knock them down. It's such a pain.
 
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Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
littleblazer said:
Got flashed for the first time today. Granted the rear was loaded with about 400 lbs of stuff, so it was sitting 2 inches lower in the rear and that raised the cutoff about a foot. So I flashed back and he immediately turned off his high then when he was almost past me flashed his rapidly. Dude I told you I know, really? For the little I'm going to drive at night with that much weight I'm not going to knock them down. It's such a pain.
For all he knows, you could have meant
finger.gif
instead... Keep in mind, he wasn't just getting the stay glare from a PNP setup, he was getting the focused beam from below your cutoff. No bueno.

If you know you're going to be hauling that much weight at night, and the result is your cutoff raising enough, to be courteous to other drivers on the road, I don't think it would be too much to keep a socket handy. A couple turns of that star gear on the top of the headlight would take what, 30 seconds? Then when you unload, another 30 seconds for a couple turns to put it back. :twocents:
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Thats the other thing that annoyed me, I pulled up behind a civic and I'm still about 2 inches below his mirror. Mr mini van I would hope is higher than a car. I have them aimed further down for that very reason since I hate (and it's everyone I've ever seen) every lifted truck with a plug and play kit and the ford's are particularly blinding for some reason. Guess I'll give them a quarter turn down and see how that is. Weird thing was a week ago I took a 30 mile drive carrying the same load and didn't get flashed a single time. This was literally between my house and 7/11, about a quarter mile. Hopefully the shafts break free again because the amount of salt the put down Last winter was insane and I had to spray them with wd40 a month after they were on the truck.
 

Matt

Member
Dec 2, 2011
4,019
It was more likely the person being a farkwit. I just have a pnp set and I've been flashed about 4 times since 2008 when I got my first HID, then LED and now back to HID.
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
I got the screws to turn, so I'll knock them down anyway. I know how it feels so I keep them low.
 

Mounce

Original poster
Member
Mar 29, 2014
13,667
Tuscaloosa, AL
Hilly around your area, LB? I've only been flashed once and it was on a hill. I can see that just about every sizable hill here puts my cutoff in the face of other drivers but I have them aimed low already so...

OEM projectors do the same thing on hills unless they're auto-leveling.
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
There was about a 2 foot elevation change over that section of road, me at the top. Under acceleration with the added weight the cutoff was inside the average car. I was accelerating at an increased rate since I wanted my slurpee. [emoji13] He was probably just being a jerk and I only flashed once to acknowledge him. I gave them a quarter turn down and I'll check that tonight and adjust accordingly.
 

triz

Member
Apr 22, 2013
746

triz

Member
Apr 22, 2013
746
For the most part, does the shroud suppose to sit "flush" with the back reflector or float? In order for it to touch the reflector more sanding needs to be done it seems.
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
I took it flat with a dremel

Edit: yes, atleast I made mine fit to the bowl.
 
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smitty5150

Member
Nov 18, 2011
1,069
You do need to grind that down. I use a diamond cutoff wheel to get it done. How the shroud sits depends on the shroud you get. The deeper ones are also wider, so some trimming of either the shroud, light bezel, or a combination of both needs to be done.
 
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Mounce

Original poster
Member
Mar 29, 2014
13,667
Tuscaloosa, AL
I'm assuming you, triz, got the standard mini gatling gun shrouds with your minis. The shrouds can be anywhere in the bowl of the headlights as long as they're screwed down to the projector bowl.
 
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Daniel644

Member
Feb 27, 2015
573
littleblazer said:
Thats the other thing that annoyed me, I pulled up behind a civic and I'm still about 2 inches below his mirror. Mr mini van I would hope is higher than a car. I have them aimed further down for that very reason since I hate (and it's everyone I've ever seen) every lifted truck with a plug and play kit and the ford's are particularly blinding for some reason. Guess I'll give them a quarter turn down and see how that is. Weird thing was a week ago I took a 30 mile drive carrying the same load and didn't get flashed a single time. This was literally between my house and 7/11, about a quarter mile. Hopefully the shafts break free again because the amount of salt the put down Last winter was insane and I had to spray them with wd40 a month after they were on the truck.
The reason Fords are particularly bad with the PNP kits is because most fords typically have a single high/lo bulb setup (as opposed to are separate "buckets" for high and low beams) so when Ford guys do PNP kit's it's like they have there "HIGH BEAMS" on at all times, even the 99-04 Mustangs are real bad about it, I've been blinded by the reflection off my mirror during the DAY from a mustang that was behind me in my firebird due partly to the angle of the road.
 

Mounce

Original poster
Member
Mar 29, 2014
13,667
Tuscaloosa, AL
Another thing that's bad about fords and their love for 9007 bulbs is that unlike a 9003 or similar that has a blocker on one side of the bulb, the 9007s are just a plain undirected bulb.
 

triz

Member
Apr 22, 2013
746
Got my headlight bezels scuffed up. Should have them primed and ready for paint possibly tomorrow. Then I'll start modifying the reflector bowls and getting them ready for the H1s and Mini Gatling shrouds.
 
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triz

Member
Apr 22, 2013
746
IMG_20150521_184718.jpgIMG_20150521_184713.jpg

So I gave them a quick sand, primered and painted them. Hard to tell but it's Dark Grey Metallic. If anything maybe it will keep them from getting light gray. Next will be the reflector bowls.
 

triz

Member
Apr 22, 2013
746
A small update, painted the reflector housing after sanding down the inside to get the projector mounted. I'm working in the shrouds and clear corners next. Hopefully will have them ready in a few days.

IMG_20150523_170132_zps86cb21ab.JPG

IMG_20150523_172140_zps5a1bfa2c.JPG
 

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