maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

No really it hasn't been that bad. I've just had some hiccups along the way. You'd think after modding cars for 15 years that I would understand that's just the way of things...

So I've been waiting forever to redo my headlights. I had some scratches on the inside from my first two times taking them apart and both silver strips broke on me last time and my fix was coming apart slightly after 3-4 years. Also one of my CCFL angel eyes stopped working.

This time I figured I would go all out while I have them apart. The plan was to NBP all housings, install ZKW-r lenses, switch to Morimoto 5k main bulbs, and replace my CCFL halos with the newer Morimoto xBLED angel eyes.



While I had my bumper off I also figured I would body match my CAI and clean the filter, body match my strut bar, replace my faulty new slave cylinder (yea...it leaked on me after doing the delete mod... figures), replace both the front and side motor mounts, do the TB bypass mod, overcome a stripped oil pan bolt and change my oil, and install 5k HIDs in my accord fogs.

Friday night right after work I started digging in.



I had everything off pretty quick and my list done sans the headlights by Saturday at dinner. Then I got hammered at a party and totally lost ~8-12 hours of work time!

Sunday with a hangover I started pulling the lights apart. This should be easy, right? Bake, pry, and pull? HAH! In my haste last time I skipped on one important detail. USE A PROPER SEALANT! I had used black RTV! So while it was sealed very well and never leaked on me, it was very difficult to pull apart.





I spent a LOT of time nipping all the old RTV off from both sides of the lights. I took a lot of the old sealer/glue out too. The channels in the end were pretty much empty. To the point I could drag a flat head screwdriver all around.

I also sanded and polished both the inside and outside of the outer clear lens. As mentioned before, I had scratches from a scotch pad on the insides that needed to be taken care of. I just hit the inside with 2000 grit for a while then buffed it out with a super small pad and PlastX. (Before I put these together, is there anything finer then PlastX that you all would recommend?)

At this point I decided I might as well do the demon eye thing. It's pretty popular over on HIDPlanet right now and I really liked how nate_0022s turned out. So I took the lights completely apart.



Then I took the projectors completely apart. This part was actually kind of fun. Everything is metal with screws! Easy!

I ended up going with an orange color. It's actually very bright. Much more then the photos show. I went with this in hopes that it will somewhat match the amber diffusers. I lightly sanded the metal parts expect the lever, metal prepped, then did straight Chrysler Hemi Orange Duplicolor engine enamel (best orange I could find). Let it sit for a couple hours then baked it for a good 30 minutes. Hopefully it can handle the heat in there.





I taped most everywhere that the pieces fit together. So that it will fit exactly how it should with ease. I also taped the top line of the mechanical cut-off shield (lever thing with the motor). I didn't want to screw up that perfect cut-off line.

So everything behind the lens is painted except the main "bowl" in which the D2S bulb resides. When light hits it just right...



ZKWr's are definitely clear!



While I was in this deep I figured I might as well NBP the inner fog "nipple". I've always liked that look.



Then I ran into some problems, the angel eyes. I ended up going with the newish v3 Morimoto xb LEDs. They have some crazy amount of tiny LEDs (240?) in them and when lit show one solid ring. None of that "I can see each LED" stuff. I don't like the yellow phosphorus coating but that's usual with these. They have a solid aluminum backing that helps them not break and dissipate heat. Even with that they are very thin.

This pic below is after I epoxied and then had to take them off. So that's the junk you see stuck on the back.

What's the saying? Measure twice cut once? Yea...



So these halos are 80mm. What they don't tell you is that the leads stick out a shit ton! WTF! In the pic below, that is the halo on top of the bezel ring piece. That notch I'm holding |_ is what slides into the bigger frame piece. So your halos need to be below that line... Fucking leads!!!!!



Doh!



So this is basically where I'm at right now. I had to overhaul my lawn mower and that set me back a day or two. So now, almost a week later, my car is still up on jacks. Lol

Last night the only thing I could think of was to cut a slit into the smaller frame thing the bezel ring goes on. This would allow the halo to "sink" in a bit, I can stuff the leads down, and hopefully this will give me enough clearance. I honestly don't see any other option.

So I did just that. I also dremeled and sanded down the top edge of the bezel piece to be flat. This "widens" the circle just enough that left-to-right the halo's fit perfect on top. It also will help with more of a surface to epoxy the halos on.

If the halos were 77/78mm and not 80 they would be just right.





I didn't get to finish that side yet but I believe this will look just about PERFECT when finished. And I believe this is the ONLY way to install these Morimotos, unless you went to a 70mm, in our lights.

Tonight I plan to finish cutting and paint. Then put everything together tomorrow evening and reassemble the car Saturday!

I'll make sure to update.

Slpr04UA6

Awesome! Appreciate the time you took to take pictures, as you went. Very interested to see the final outcome!

twigglius

iTrader: (6)

I think I am most impressed that you got the RTV seal apart.

96SC4

I would be so nervous doing this.
You must have patience of a saint.
Good luck!

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Dude it was bake, pry, cut, bake, pry some more, cut, again and again all the way around.

Taking it out of the channels and off the lenses probably took a good 2-3 hours itself.

I may RTV again but only after it's been properly sealed with the butyl. Just as extra precaution on the outside.

twigglius

iTrader: (6)

RTV is the shit, if you never want to take it apart ever again. LOL.

mikroehl

wow what a project.. can't wait to see final

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

^^^ +1

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Well I stayed up till 4am last night working on this. And I have to say I am EXTREMELY happy with the results.

It finally got to the point that I had to shave the biggest frame piece to accommodate the angel eye. And this worked out great for two reasons. I'll explain below. But to start here is what I did.

First you need to dremel or sand down the silver projector ring. Thus you must paint these pieces. Those pics are in my first post. This then allows you to figure out where to cut your notch into the smaller frame piece. I put tape down to protect the surrounding area. Then put the ring in and sharpied out my cut area for both depth and width.

The first go around I cut more then I needed. Just by a little. It also took me a while to get it right. The second time I literally did it in 5 minutes. For the notch, use a reinforced cutting wheel for your Dremel. When looking down at the projector ring, there are little bumps ||||||||||| centered on the bottom. You pretty much need to cut the slot to be that width. Which is when the cutting wheel is about 1/3 deep into it. Push in down in and bring it towards you allowing it to be level with the face of the silver bezel piece. Then push it out to make the slot the depth of the angel eyes. The cutting wheel sides will sand it down. Just be careful not to snap it. Pics below.







Remember of course to cut a little, test fit, then go back if needed. I've always felt dremeling stuff like this is just a culmination of little mistakes. So cut and test! The tighter it fits and the smaller the slot the better! Ok the bottom part is done. Now to move onto the top piece.

We need to dremel out a "ledge" on the biggest frame piece. Again, with the silver ring on, you can mark a straight line flush across the face. Then measure out the depth of the angel eye. I found that taking this dremeling ALMOST to the edge was ideal. And to be honest you need to dremel down just about as far as possible without going through. If you do go through, I can't see what harm it will cause. You won't be able to see that while the hood is down. But don't! Take your time. This part was a little scary.

I used this attachment and found it to be perfect for this. The halo is round and so are our tools! So the more snug you can make the circle the better. Oh and FYI you can't see this damage when everything is put back together. Especially sealed and on the car. Just be careful not to dremel out from under that lip or you will be able to see the damage.







Now we need to test fit... Put the smaller frame into it's place on the bigger frame. And with it just slightly apart, stuff your angel eye in there, putting it in the slot.



Push everything together while making sure to not crush the angel eyes and hope it looks like...





In that picture everything is put back together and the halo is nice and snug. And the best part? I don't even need to use epoxy! It's snug just how it is. I did, after this pic, go and dremel down the top piece a bit more so that I could raise the halo up just a tiny bit.

And there ya have it!

FYI I ended up doing the JnC v2 on the turn signal reflectors. With the idea that darkening up behind the amber diffusers will make the amber closer to the demon eye color I choose! I also decided, when I painted the silver rings, to paint the inside of the ring black. That way you can't see the bezel from the inside under the angel eye. Small change that makes a big impact visually, IMO!

I painted super late so tonight everything gets put back together! More pics soon.

05_NBP_TL

iTrader: (1)

awesome job

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Thanks!

I can't wait to put it all together and get it on the car. The v2 decision was a last minute one that I made at a very late hour. I hope it was the right one.

I have no idea how JnC does that part of the paint process unless he does it by hand. Taping that up was a bitch! I wanted all vertical areas of the housing behind the diffusers to be normal chrome. And all the horizontal and front parts to be black.

350

iTrader: (4)

Black RTV FTW! I did a complete retrofit and that was basically what was holding my projectors in and a small screw that really didn't support them but it only fit in that way, no issues running 50 watt ballasts it held up to the heat. I RTV'd my TL headlights, which maybe was a mistake now cause I want to mod them further and you just scared me off from opening them again. I would have done more but just put in the ZKWs, painted the trim black and pulled out the reflectors cause I had to get it back in the car in the same day.

Looking good!

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Really wishing I had ordered and tapped a spot for a LED in the projector housing. Lol

TegoTL

ballsy but I can't wait for the final results, now time to get some CBI bulbs!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Well done!

kawalps1

Can't wait to see this all done great job

RU_JELLY

iTrader: (1)

lmao whats the matter chad? when i talked to you the other day everything was just peachy?

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Sub'd!

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

are we there yet?

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

Sup chad

anthracitecl

iTrader: (7)

Turbocoop

iTrader: (3)

I want to take mine apart again to do some work to em but I also used black RTV to seal them up. At least now I know its possible, Im just not looking forward to it... I wish I could see the pics, theyre blocked for me for some reason.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Last 2 times I did butyl all the way around and then once it was pressed back together, I did a bead of clear rtv along the top seam only. Worked like a champ and was easy enough to reopen this last time.

UA6

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Chadicus!!!!

I'm in for results

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Sorry for the delay. I was able to take my time for the past 8-9 days because my wife allowed me to not stress about having a car down. Which really made a difference in the quality of my work to be honest. I am very pleased with the outcome of this project. Even the wiring which I usually slack on!

Ok Friday night I finished painting and started cleaning everything. I also started the wiring. I ended up pulling my accord fog light harnesses and re-looming all of the angel eye wiring into it. Then running it exactly how Honda shows in the accord fog procedures. Everything was cut to fit, everything was soldered, everything was sealed + shrink wrapped. You can honestly look in my bay now and believe all my custom wiring was factory.

The halos were mounted in their slot, and didn't really move, but to be certain I tack epoxied the top and then bottom. Just little dabs. Then, I RTVed the two lead soldering points underneath, then shrink wrapped on top of the RTV forming a perfect water proof seal there. This also did three other things. 1) This keeps the halos where they are mounted and 2) this stopped me from being able to pull or bend the contact points 3) this prohibited me from pulling the wires through too much when doing the housing part.



For the wires coming off the angel eyes I ended up just going straight down, since that's how I had to mount them, through the bottom of the actual headlight. I plugged, then resealed, the old holes from my CCFL angel eyes. These wires were small, probably 16/18 gauge, so a big hole wasn't needed. I de-pinned the connector, feed them through the headlight housing, then repinned on the other side. Just like the part above, I RTVed the hole, pushed and pulled the wires to get the RTV inside a bit, then shrink wrapped on top of the RTV and made a post. I let that dry, then did it again. The wires are sealed and strong. I can't pull or over bend them during installation. Which is exactly what I was aiming for. I left this all clean, half put together, but open to allow the RTV to dry for a day before I sealed them.

Here is the harness that connects to the wiring coming straight off the halos on the outside of the light. Mmm shrink wrap. I actually did the RTV thing around the little tube section since their wires were "sealed" there I figured I might as well make it 100% water tight. These halos are just a 12v source and a ground. And polarity independent? Meaning you don't have to keep track of which wire is which.



As for the paint I think it turned out well. Here is what I did to my turn signal area (behind the amber diffusers). I assume this is what the JnC v2 black out is... Someone let me know if that's correct. I painted the top of the housing and the bottom as well as that curved spot. I did this in flat high temp black. OMG what a difference it makes! It makes the "projector" area appear to go all the way back in the diffusers. I like it.



Here are some pics kinda put together...



Looks really red in these pics... Lol



Anyways, I pulled all bulbs that I could to bake. I also baked them sitting on a dry towel and on the front facing lens. I did this so if there is hot moisture it can rise out of the light. I ended up doing 220* for a solid 20 minutes, pushed them together, did 220 for another 10, press, another 10, press. I did this for both sides. I used clamps everywhere! Once that finished and cooled I snipped off all the butyl that had squeezed out. Then did one thin layer of black RTV over the seam. This is just one extra layer of protection and shouldn't be hard to deal with if I do this again.

I let the RTV cure for a few hours then I did one last polish on the outside lens before they got their spar urethane protective coating! I did 3 parts spar to 2 parts mineral spirits. I did one thin layer only. I used a foam paint brush. I then let them sit over night on Saturday. Here are some pics right after they got treated. The painted shields look amazing in some of these...









Sunday I put the lights barely on the car to test that all lights worked. Everything did on the first attempt! I then had a bitch of a time bleeding the clutch and burping the coolant system. But all was said and done around 8! I went for a cruise and what a difference new mounts make! Lol

I stopped at a parking lot and tried to snap some pictures. My car was dirty as hell! And an i5 can not capture the angel eyes they are way to bright. To get them to not be a blurry it totally darkens down the photo. I'll get DSLR photos in here soon enough... once I detail my car. Lol

BTW, the clip frame that the bumper connects to on both sides appeared to be failing a bit. I tried with all my might to get the bumper just right. I also need to push the lights up a bit. Oh well.







Again I'm very pleased with the outcome and my choices! I wish the amber diffuser color could be matched exactly in the projector shields but this is pretty close. Especially at certain angles.

My lights desperately need adjusted now. What's the procedure again? 25 ft level ground on a wall?

Anyways, there ya have it!

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

looks great Chad....in for more pix though

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Looks good, man. Glad you got it all sorted out.

Predatorbird

Those came out great!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Chad is the "super oem" guy...definitely well executed.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I'm glad you notice that J. I like that modified OEM look. The only thing I don't like about this is the yellowish green color of the halos. But I'll be honest, they are so badass, I'll likely have them on most of the time. Lol

I decided to do the JnC v2 part because I realized when I do the 'rockstar super red' on my tails all I will really be doing it darkening up the red a bit. So I though doing the same in the front would work.

But yes I like to keep the stock feel.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Indeed!
I "think" the v2 look he does also involves doing that last part of chrome in black (furthest from center of car)...that's what really darkens the amber up a lot from underneath. I had done that with my first reflector area...but noticed it kinda hurt signal output unless looking at it head on from hip level.

That said, yours look clean, yours look great and I'd just be happy with how it looks. It was well executed. I agree on the green/white ring...but hey, a trade off. The way they all look off, halo and led strips, is what's kept me from ever adding them.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Ahh he does the end part too. Well, like you said, I felt that would defeat the purpose of having that reflector section there so I left it alone

I looked up painting the rings. And while it's doable, it kills at least a third of the output. And I didn't want to do that.

Next up...tails.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Crappy day outside so I left her in the garage and tried to snap some pics. Again, low light with a phone sucks!



The angel eyes... Lol. I can't even get the phone to take a pic of it. Christ, look at the light they throw down on the road! I'd almost say these are too bright. They look great in person though.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Holy mother fk...those really are bright!
I guess you'll know if you get high beamed at night!

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

So as usual nothing works out perfect. When I got home tonight I tested all my lights. I found that the drivers side projector is stuck in hi beam mode... I can hear the solenoid working on the passenger but nothing on the driver side. I couldn't have been more careful with those piece. Also, I would think if anything, that it would be stuck in low beam not high. As the solenoid has to be activated to be that way...

Ideas?

I checked the fuse, which appears to control both, and it is fine.

RU_JELLY

iTrader: (1)

this headlight modding is just not working for you sir lol.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I think it's worked out fine. I just have one small problem.

Lights got soaked today btw. No moisture.

ebelp

Holy crap those are bright...poor iphone camera doesn't know what to do.

btw, next mod...Swift hideaway plate bracket!

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I know I hate my front plate these days lol