gearbox

iTrader: (95)

Just making this thread to keep a log of my progress as i work on chrome tyc projectors (adding hids, leds, etc) for 2002 civic in my spare time. this will be a very long and slow project, but i hope it will help others who are looking for better lighting options.

so far all i have is a small 12v lawn battery ($40) and trickle charger ($30) for my test setup. this may seem expensive, but i will be doing alot of testing with hid and halogen light sources and need a reliable battery i can keep charging and using to take comparison pics. i will update this thread when i get new parts or have questions/need ideas.

2005EM2

iTrader: (7)

Nice! Good luck, Steve!

Subscribed.

MidnightCivic

iTrader: (11)

In for finished product...gl dude

electric130

iTrader: (44)

lordhelmet

iTrader: (3)

ROFL. For those looking to retrofit TYCs I suggest looking at the link in Electric's sig. His is one of my favorite retrofits.


Subscribed for another quality retrofit from Gearbox.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

thanks man! i am completely confident that Gear has the capability to match if not exceed my retro! one of these days, he's going to realize that he needs to just stick with an HID retro and quit going back to those pathetic halogens!

lordhelmet

iTrader: (3)

I'm worried about the LEDs. I'm sure he'll do something creative to make them look nice.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

electric130's retro is awesome and i hope i can get something done like that. but oh well, if the tycs dont work out i will prolly just end up putting these bixenons in oem headlights instead my last retro was great but no hi beams, and the 50w hids were a bit too bright.

well i should be getting the tycs in monday and then i can start on the led stuff which is the easiest.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

thanks man. that's a huge complement coming from you.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

did you ever add H1 hid kit for the hi beams? or are they still halogens.

if anyone wants a quick newb guide to retrofit tycs, here is a really old one from back in the days. has some good info about how the headlights open up and stuff.

http://retrofit1.dirtysamurai.com/

im still deciding if i wanna keep the tycs chrome or paint them a different color or just black out. leaning towards chrome for now...

electric130

iTrader: (44)

keep them chrome. i wish mine were. mine were black when i got them, so i painted them silver to match the car. unless the car is black, i think BOH look stupid.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

makes sense. and i like how the oem lights look now which are mostly chrome. i used to have black tycs and they were too dull on the car.

lordhelmet

iTrader: (3)

X13284765128375123 I hate blacked out headlights on non-black cars. Looks tacky.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

wow! that's some support!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

okay... cadillac H1 projectors are really bright and nice, but they are huge! no way they will ever fit. its as big as a TL projector lol. back in the garage they go. im working on the led holders this weekend and when the projectors come monday, i should be able to start testing setups and posting progress pics. my valeo h7's are coming from china so they have quite a ways to go. but i can start working on hid projector in hi beam spot.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

theyre here! very nice looking. the problem is, well, everything. all the sizes arent what i expected and already thers no way i can fit the hid projectors or the cadillac ones without serious cutting of the housings which im not doing. i think ill just work on the leds for now.

after alot of pulling and some blisters, i get one side open. and then spend an hour cleaning all the lil blue fragments of glass from the last explosion lol. so far here are the two final turn signal designs, however im having problems with the lens. the middle ring looks fine, but the other pattern is distorting the leds and making some look like theyre burnt out.

the middle ring of 9 leds looks fine



still working on the park light which is also not working out as i expected

pic of the light taken apart

Devani

iTrader: (2)

looks gorgeous...i have no doubt that the finished project will be awesome....

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the only thing im worried about is heat from the projector burning out the leds

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

just for fun, the craptastic triple hot spot tyc projector with h1 bulb lol

electric130

iTrader: (44)

sweet man! where did you get the superflux? ebay?

electric130

iTrader: (44)

ahhhh, that chrome looks so much better than my silver paint or a BOH. maybe i need to buy some chrome shrouds.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i love the chrome shrouds! looks a ton better than the boh. my main problem with these is the lenses are trashed. there is massive peeling going on internally that looks like cracks and fog but no amount of cleaners are taking it out. i know this is a common problem tho with tycs. it happened to my old boh set after only a few months. so i guess i will just have to use these. oh and they are looking yellowed around the edge lol. i shouldve kept my old sonar projector lens covers they wouldve been useful right now.

MidnightCivic

iTrader: (11)

Looks good, cant wait till my next retro

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

sounds good. i have them both done and sealed up, just finished putting pnp sockets on the led wiring. they should be on in about a week once i get the ballasts and wire harness pieces and actually make the harness. hopefully i can throw them on without making any adjustments other than vertical aiming. this is my wire diagram using new relay harness for hids and old oem harness for the hi beams.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

diagram looks good. i went a little overboard with my harness and put each ballast on their own fuse and separate relays. since i initially measured over 12A of inrush on each of some PNP ballasts (~25A for both ballasts combined....and people wonder why you need harnesses for HID?), i felt better putting each ballast on its own relay and fuse.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

its a good idea, in case one relay fails, you wont lose both sides of headlight. but hi beams are there for emergency i guess.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

if i showed you pics, i'd lose about 1000 rep points! I actually just ran a zip tie through one of the holes and found the closest stationary object that I could attach them to. as you said, you're limited by the cord. i don't think there'd be room under the assemblies. they flop around some if you grab them, but 2 years later, there's no sign of vibrations, wear, or decreased performance. if you REALLY want to see, i guess i can post a pic.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

hey! not bad at all! i didnt even think of those holes lol. and i have some zipties around here somewhere. those ballasts are completely potted inside so i doubt they would break even if you threw em on the ground.

MidnightCivic

iTrader: (11)

lol I'm mad at my first retro i don't know if i will do my next retro with the fx-35 set up...i hear yah gear

MidnightCivic

iTrader: (11)

just bought these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT

So much for no more retro =\