HID H4 Headlights H4 Projector Retrofit - a patient build thread

Heus33 · Jul 12, 2010

I've been messing around with headlight "upgrades" for some time now. I'm going to use this thread to document the different headlight options that I've tried and the pros and cons of each. This will be a build thread and will take a couple of weeks to finish. I've purchased the projectors and some materials and will be updating this thread as they are received, modified and installed (success or failure). For a preview of what I've done to date check out the last few pages of my build thread below. If the retrofit is a success I will be selling my current HID setup if anyone is interested.

Heus33 · Jul 12, 2010

Review of Prior Headlights

Here's a list of some of the options I have tried...

1) 35W H6024 Stock sealed beam halogen headlights - Yellowish light, fair at best (I'm assuming everyone is familar with these).

2) 55W H4 "Blue tinted Xenon" bulbs with Diamond Cut housings (pic 1) - better light output but too much wattage across the stock wires is a potential fire hazard. In order to correct this you can purchase or build a new wiring harness that utilizes a relay to divert the wattage away from the headlight switch (http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/Illuminator_Headlight_Harness_78yr/performance_lighting_78yr) but for this cost you can go HID (see number 3)...

3) H4 HID bulbs in "projector style" housings. Bi-Xenon bulbs, 6000K, ballasts and wiring harnesses can be had for about $60 on eBay. Projector Housings run about $35 (pics 2 and 3) - note, the headlights in pic 1 could also be used but are not recommended. Best light output yet but with all that extra light and lacking a true projector you scatter light (see pics 3 and 4). I purchased bulbs with "casper shields" which do a good job of preventing glare (you can see that half of the light is darker) but I still wasn't satisfied.

Heus33 · Jul 12, 2010

The plan

So here's the plan, retrofit some "real" HID projectors into the housings above (the silver housings will be my guinea pig). When doing this there are a few things to consider in terms of projectors.

1) They have to be HID projectors - halogen projectors will not provide a clear cut off.

2) Their are a lot of options when looking for projectors but we dont have much room to play with so keep that in mind when looking.

3) OEM vs aftermarket. OEM projectors are great but are usually big and bulky and will require a lot of modification to fit.

Attached is a pic of the desired cutoff.

Heus33 · Jul 12, 2010

The candidates...

As stated above, size is a MAJOR issue here, if the projector can't fit inside the housing it will have to hang out the back which means we might have to hack or move some things around to make it fit.

After a lot (and I mean A LOT) of reading I settled on trying these two projectors...

Candidate #1: G3 Bi-Xenon Projectors from eBay. Received great reviews all around as a really nice projector for the money. These come with the angel eyes built in (I chose white). Total for these with bulbs and ballasts: ~$135

Candidate #2: Morimoto Mini Bi-Xenon Projectors from The Retrofit Source. These projectors are just AWESOME. They rival some of the best on the market at any price and are very small but require H1 bulbs (not H4) and might take a little more work to get up and running. Total for these with bulbs and ballasts: ~$200

I purchased both - if both work I may sell the extra set if someone is interested.

Heus33 · Jul 12, 2010

Projector Review: G3 vs Morimoto mini

Morimoto Mini Bi-Xenon:
Received the Morimoto Projectors from The Retrofit Source on 7/15 (shipped from Ohio). These are the "high dollar" joints and are supposedly one of the best projectors available. They require H1 bulbs and come without bulbs or ballasts or any wiring harnesses, just the projectors and shrouds.

They measure just under 6" in total length which puts them about 2" longer than the headlights that I'm using. They come with shrouds and a bixenon wire to activate the high beam. Its a really nice setup there is a shield that is lowered by an actuator to activate the "high beam" which is just the full projector beam - pretty neat stuff. PICS 1 2 & 3

This projector was longer than the G3 projector (and better quality IMHO) so I put this one in my Xterra (link to that build is on page 2). The projectors are great and the cutoff is amazing. They were the better of the two so I put them in the truck where they will get more use.

G3 (stands for generation three) Bi-Xenon Projectors:
These shipped from China and were received on 7/22. At first inspection they look very nice. The shrouds aren't as nice as the Morimoto ones but thats not a big deal. This is the less expensive option and the one that I will attempt to install in the Bronco. See posts #25 and #28 for more info and pics. PICS 4 & 5

Broncobowsher · Jul 12, 2010

OK, what parts do you have line up for this test?
Be sure you do some good beam/cut off pattern shots as well. By good you need a lot of distance to the target, none of these crappy internet photos with the headlights pointed at a wall 10 feet away.
Find a good friend in a short little sporty car and have them rate the glare as you drive past each other on a dark rural road.
If you are going to do it, do it right. Any hack can stuff bulbs into housings and have a light that shines great (and blinds half the world as he passes by as well). The truely great lights are the ones that put good even light on the road but not into peoples faces. Those are hard to find and even harder to get when mising parts.

Lets see what you got.

Heus33 · Jul 12, 2010

Broncobowsher said:
OK, what parts do you have line up for this test?
Be sure you do some good beam/cut off pattern shots as well. By good you need a lot of distance to the target, none of these crappy internet photos with the headlights pointed at a wall 10 feet away.
Find a good friend in a short little sporty car and have them rate the glare as you drive past each other on a dark rural road.
If you are going to do it, do it right. Any hack can stuff bulbs into housings and have a light that shines great (and blinds half the world as he passes by as well). The truely great lights are the ones that put good even light on the road but not into peoples faces. Those are hard to find and even harder to get when mising parts.

Lets see what you got.

We're on the same page. My latest attempt will be REAL projectors retrofitted into 7" housings. The goal will be a crisp cutoff that will rival some (but probably not all) OEM setups with the following goals:

1) It has to be legal - sharp cutoff, no blinding of oncoming traffic
2) It has to be a significant upgrade to halogen or cheaper alternatives
3) It has to be reasonably priced (i.e. under $200) and hopefully reliable with easy to replace parts
4) It has to be "doable" - no hacking or extreme modifying of the grill or core support

Broncobowsher · Jul 12, 2010

That sounds doable.

One of my hacks was an OEM HID module (friend at a body shop replacing a broken HID housing with a good bulb is a good friend indeed) go the bulb, ballast, ignitor. Caspers Electronics (Buick turbo V6 stuff) sold a nice HID to H4 adaptor that was CNC aluminum. My mod to it was high heat black paint to the shield so it was a true shield and not a shiney aluminum reflector. All that went into my motorcycle and made a great upgrade. But I lost high beam doing so. This was about 8 years ago and cost me under $50. Here is the link to what I used. I guess they are still available. But then again it will also depend on the quality of the reflector and lens you try. And not having high beams...

Another hack I did was some offroad lights that were H2 lit Cebei rectangle units. Just playing around I figured I could ditch the H2 and dremal out the reflector a little and the HID would drop in with a little custom bulb holder. The kernel of light was a little off but for offroad lights it worked GREAT. Lots of light straight ahead in kinda a bowtie pattern and LOTS of GLARE. You didn't want to see it coming toward you. I couldn't light them unless I was in the lead. But when they were on you could see the road in front, and enough of the brush on the sides for markers and side trails. 100% NOT FOR THE STREET. That was my other HID conversion experiment.

Heus33 · Jul 13, 2010

Broncobowsher said:
That sounds doable.

One of my hacks was an OEM HID module (friend at a body shop replacing a broken HID housing with a good bulb is a good friend indeed) go the bulb, ballast, ignitor. Caspers Electronics (Buick turbo V6 stuff) sold a nice HID to H4 adaptor that was CNC aluminum. My mod to it was high heat black paint to the shield so it was a true shield and not a shiney aluminum reflector. All that went into my motorcycle and made a great upgrade. But I lost high beam doing so. This was about 8 years ago and cost me under $50. Here is the link to what I used. I guess they are still available. But then again it will also depend on the quality of the reflector and lens you try. And not having high beams...

Another hack I did was some offroad lights that were H2 lit Cebei rectangle units. Just playing around I figured I could ditch the H2 and dremal out the reflector a little and the HID would drop in with a little custom bulb holder. The kernel of light was a little off but for offroad lights it worked GREAT. Lots of light straight ahead in kinda a bowtie pattern and LOTS of GLARE. You didn't want to see it coming toward you. I couldn't light them unless I was in the lead. But when they were on you could see the road in front, and enough of the brush on the sides for markers and side trails. 100% NOT FOR THE STREET. That was my other HID conversion experiment.

Those shields are known as Casper Shields and recently they've started shipping with HID kits to help prevent the glare when people put HID bulbs in standard housings. My current kit has them and they do a pretty good job IMO - I'll post up a pic as part of my reviews once I get around to getting all of my data and thoughts together. FYI, you can find cheaper alternatives on eBay now but this is something that everyone using standard housings with HID bulbs should seriously consider.

Heus33 · Jul 14, 2010

Just a quick update.

Projectors have been ordered (see post 4). The Morimotos are coming from OH and should be here tomorrow. The G3s are coming from China and will take some time to arrive.

Bulbs and ballasts for the Morimotos are in the garage and ready to go.

The housings have been cleaned up and dissassembled. I'll either bake them or use the heat gun to separate the glass lens from the housing - I'm leaning towards heat gun so I can concentrate the heat and go slowly. I'm thinking either black or gunmetal gray for the bowl color with the chrome shroud.

Will document with pics as the project kicks off.

My biggest concern now is space. I will likely have to modify the back of the housing to fit the projector inside. As a last resort I will mod the headlight buckets if necessary.

bronko69er · Jul 14, 2010

Subscribed!

jpalmer · Jul 14, 2010

Subscribed as well!

Heus33 · Jul 16, 2010

Step 1 - Headlights

Here are the headlights that I'll be using. They are the 7" Round Diamond Cut H4's that I purchased from eBay. I am using these specifically because they have a nearly clear glass lens which should limit distortion and allow the projector to retain a crisp cutoff.

The depth of the headlight is just under 4" and the projector is just under 6" so I'm going to have at least 2.5" of additional depth which shouldnt be a problem and upon my initial inspection shouldnt require any cutting into the grill buckets either but I'll reserve my final judgement for when I get these suckers mounted.

My plan of attack will be to bake these in the oven and remove the glass lens. I'll have to cut the back of the headlight housing above the "mount" section and will likely have to shape it to fit the contour of the rear of the projector. I'll also need to figure out a way to mount these to the housing - I'd like to come up with something that doesn't permanently bond the projector to the housing but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I really wanted to wait until I received the G3 projectors to see which would be a better candidate but I'm eager to get started.

sprdv1 · Jul 16, 2010

And me too...!

msweb · Jul 16, 2010

This is gonna be a good thread, I'm already hooked!

DirtDonk · Jul 16, 2010

Might as well join in the fun too!

Paul

jpopsbronco · Jul 16, 2010

I'm on a similar quest, just without the budget

subscribed

Heus33 · Jul 17, 2010

Headlight lens removal

Mistake #1 - do NOT use a heat gun to try and heat the glue and remove the lens. After about 5 minutes of heating up the glass I started to back off the lens. Everything was going great until CRACK! Either too much pressure or not enough heat. I'd recommend using an oven to ensure that it gets heated evenly. No worries though - I've still got another set of headlights and will use this one as my mock up set.

Here are some pics.
1) Pic of the crack
2) Pic of the headlight bowl
3) Pic of the Morimoto projector inside so you can see how tall it is - this would require some cutting and recessing of the housing.
4) Good news - the shroud will fit with just a bit of trimming if anyone is interested in using the Morimotos

I've decided to wait until I get the G3s in before continuing - I think I'll use the G3s for the Bronco and might use the Morimotos for my Xterra.

badmuttstang · Jul 17, 2010

Just curious how much did you pay for the either set of projectors. Looks good so far did you get the clear lens for either set of projectors or just running the lens they come with stock.

Heus33 · Jul 18, 2010

badmuttstang said:
Just curious how much did you pay for the either set of projectors. Looks good so far did you get the clear lens for either set of projectors or just running the lens they come with stock.

The Morimoto projectors alone were $145 plus shipping and came with their FX-R clear lens. This is a hybrid version of the Infinity FX lens and is widely regarded as one of the best projectors on the market. But as you can see above it will take some work to make them fit.

The G3 projectors come with the bulbs and wiring (but no ballasts) - I got these for $100 including shipping. They also use a clear lens but its not known what it is engineered after. The shield that the G3 uses gives a larger "slope" at the right hand side of the cutoff (to light up street signs). Some people complain that this slope is too high and can cause some glare to vehicles on your right. You can modify the shield to lower the slope which is only a thin piece of aluminum about 3" long and 1/4" tall. The length of these is about an inch less so it will still require some work to make these fit but economically this is the better choice.

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