zachlone

^ clean, clear, and crisp! looks great, this mod may be in my near future

Chad05TL

regarding all the comments, who cares about focal length when objects you Shi.e your ligbts on, are near and far? also, consider a wall on the highway as you drive down the road. You are driving parrallel with the wall. The light shines on the wall for a good distance. From your car to as far as it has power to shine. What is the difference in a focus length of one that is slightly near or farther down the wall? It's rediculous to worry about it.
Again, per comments above, if all you can "adjust" is the thinkness of a cereal box or 2x a cereal box, then please tell why you think your focal length is changing and please tell how you measure this focus. If all you do is move your car forward and backward from the garage door, well I hardly think you have accomplished anything.

so first, I think focus point is irrelevant and even in your best efforts to make it sharper, you simple cannot adjust much if all you can adjust is 1/32 of an inch. So I say to all the readers, this thread , don't worry about it. Just do the install. Don't sweat the small stuff.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

^^^ I dont know why but im always having a hard time understanding what your saying lol. Im not sure if im just reading your post wrong or what, but the point of cereal box spacers is to "fine tune" the cutoff when installing clear lenses. If you install the clear lenses as is the cutoff will likely be fuzzy and differ in some way or another from the other side. When tuning the output I have found even just rotating the lens will change the output significantly. So not only does tuning the cutoff require spacing the lens, but it also requires rotating the lens as well.
You can say do the install and be done with it and dont sweat the small stuff, but I promise if your even half as anal as I am you wont be happy with the results.
Again, my apologies if were not even talking about the same thing ;-)

Chad05TL

well, take your time.and read it slowly to understand. I won't repeat it, the text is written. However I will add that my replicas are slotted. So no rotating possible or required. If your lens is worth a hoot, it will be symmetrical. That means each side is the same. And rotating it won't do squat didley.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

^But spacing can, no?

How are you guys tweaking the lenses? I'm about to take my lights apart again to make some changes, and I will be doing the zkw-r.

Are you guys putting your lights back on the car, without the "outter" lense, and tweaking the projector lense that way?

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Here is how I fine tune clear lenses on stock TL projectors:
First off like you said yes you basically bring the headlight out into the garage and connect the ballast to the car (unless you have some sort of power supply that can power them elsewhere). Obviously the headlight lens will be left off for this process so you can access the projectors. The only things your gonna mess with is lens spacing and rotation. Start with one headlight first and see how the cutoff looks by just putting the lens on the holder with no spacers. Just for grins rotate the lens and see what happens with the cutoff. Sometimes it sharpens up or blurs depending on the rotation. Once the cutoff is at its most clear and crisp mark the lens so you know which position to leave it when you do your final assembly. After that is when I start messing with spacers. I have always just cut my own using a cereal box, however now retrofit source sells tuning kits with spacers. I dont know what all is included, but its pretty easy to make your own, and sometimes you need more than 1 anyway so I just prefer to make my own. Trace out the diameter of the projector lens onto a cereal box then cut it out. You will then have to make another inner cut to make it a relatively thin ring maybe about a 1/4" wide if that. Basically just wide enough to seat flush on the metal lens holder bracket. Start by making 4 of them that way you have plenty incase both of your projectors take two of them. Then head back into the garage and see how the cutoff looks with one spacers, then two etc etc. Once you figured out what is absolute best then you can install the lens permanantly with the metal retainer clip. This part you have to be very careful as those clips are known for breaking. Usually its just one side that snaps and it still usually holds the lens just fine, but obviously you want to do your best to avoid breaking all together. This will only be an issue if you have to use spacers, however some people mentioned there is a way to modify the metal clips so it has a little more play in it.

Now the goal is to mirror the cutoff on the other side. You wouldnt want to cutoffs looking different so now you have to tune the other projector so that it looks as identical as possible to the first projector you just tuned. Sometimes its a good idea to hold off buttoning up the first one just incase you need to mess with that one a little more to match the second projector.

Dont forget to use a wall thats a pretty far distance as you cant really tune a cutoff line thats only 5 ft in front of the car. Lastly, be advised that your cutoffs will be extremely colorful and sharp without your headlights lenses installed. So dont be alarmed when you put your headlights back together and your cutoff is no longer as nice. It will still be amazing, but since your putting a plastic lens in front of the projector it is going to degrade the output just a tad.
Sorry this was a lot of info and hopefully it didnt just confuse you, but if you have any other questions fee free to ask.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

I dont see what the slots on the ZKW-R's have to do with you not being able to rotate the lenses. First off the notch does not sit into anything on the TL projector since there is no notch on the lens holder. So yes they can be rotated! And secondly, rotating the lens DOES have an effect on the output even though the lens is perfectly symmetrical. These lenses are never going to be absolutely perfect so when tuning your clear lenses you absolutely do want to rotate them. If you rotate the lens while looking at your cutoff line you will clearly see the cutoff color and sharpness change slightly. Im not trying to offend you or anything, but im just speaking from experience. As you can see in my signature I have had a few TL's and I have done seperate clear lens installs on 3 of them!! Some of the ZKW-R's had notches and some didnt, but that doesnt make a difference anyway.

James

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

^Thanks for the tips man.

nate_0022

iTrader: (2)

Well put JTS. I should just make a video of how to fine tune the ZKW-r lenses

05_NBP_TL

iTrader: (1)

^

nate_0022

iTrader: (2)

I'll see what I can do tonight for you guys. I'm going to have to do a lot of shoveling and start over with my clear lenses just for a video lol.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

Well said james....chad is a dumbass lol, I understand what he is saying but he is completely wrong....the spacers do more than affect where the focus is, plus the rotation really does matter. I have played with lasers enough to know that lens spacing can make a huge difference between wow'ing your audience and making them say "egh". once again chad, you have no idea what you are saying, I never talked to you before but you are always making stupid comments against IHC and other knowledgeable members.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

pic of the notch I was talking about:

Chad05TL

so what are the slots for again? The TL doesn't utilize slots on the lens. And any spacers you put between the lens itself and the frame of the headlight, it causes stress on aluminum clip that holds the lens in place because the headlight was not designed to be adjusted. And there is no adjustment. No screws or levers. So, if you put a spacer in there it will make the lens a very tight fit. Meaning, the clip will be hard to fasten. That's why people are Breaking them. As far as what JTS says, I did not say you cannot rotate them. And yes I agree they are symmetrical. But if the glass is symmetrical, and if the glass is solid and uniform, and it is, then rotating it won't do didley squat. And yes I would love to see a video. haha I gotta see this!! haha

And here is another thought. Why are those slots on the ZKW-R? The TL housing has no nipples to fit in the slot. It doesn't use it. It's like they are using a "universal" lens to fit many applications. So it's not even specifically for a TL. That's cheap. The thing that bothered me the most is that the BIG Slot.. not the tiny one, but the big one was exposed on the outside. So this would refract the light. After think about it now, you probably would not want to put that big slot on the left or the right because it will cause the light to disperse. Instead, I would put it on the bottom edge so it will aim toward the ground and not be "noticeable". Anyway, I didn't think it was worth it. Just stupid.


ps. it's realy hard for me to argue with a paperboy. haha It's like rationale won't work. Chasing your tail. Do paperboys really understand? oh please. I think it's time to go to Church. haha

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

LOL @ Chad's comeback!