Troy came in with his 97 BMW 540i and some aftermarket DJ Auto headlights.
These have a better projector and CCFL Halo lighting than the stock headlights...even in this case where the car didn't come with HIDs....but he already had a set of cheap aftermarket headlights installed.
All I was simply doing was re-wiring everything and putting the new lights in.
Re-wiring things (solder, tape, zip ties) was easy and difinitely helped the clutted behind the lights.
The tricky part was that the new headlights have CCFL lights, which can sense and turn on with very low voltage; the old lights had halogen halo lights (which is why they were so dim). But Halogen will not turn on with such low voltage, so you couldn't tell that the computer in the BMW is constantly checking to see if the lights are still working. Once the CCFLs were installed, they flickered....randomly....like strobe lights. I rewired them differently 4-5 times until we settled on having them wired into the fog lights for now.
I say for now, as the passenger side headlight came with a bad CCFL halo...so we will be warranty swapping that for a new one. Then the company might have an answer for the CCFL issues. Oh well...I can already tell the output is much better with these lights.....kind of wierd going from an American Cutoff to a European cutoff.....muuuuuch different.
Ed swung by the shop early this spring, as he was in town visiting family. We discussed some options for his Solstice and come up with a pretty good plan. Once he got back to Texas, he sent me the lights and I've just begun to work on them.
So far, all I've done is prep everything for paint. These badboys will be getting a complete washout of Wicked paint. Wicked is GM's Ruby Red Metallic color. Ed liked the way the Corvette's headlights look, so we are going to see how they turn out on a solstice. If he changes his mind, it'll be easier to paint certain parts black, than viceversa.
Biggest thing was taking apart the new Version 3 FX-R hybrid projectors....these are a bit different than the Version 1 or 2's that I'm use to....but they are ready and good to go. Also, on these newer projectors, they are wider in the lens holder area, so significant mods were made to the Gatlin shroud in order for it to fit.......lots of dust flyin' around after this one.
Paint on Monday, Retro on Tuesday, mod the lights and should have these ready to go soon.
New Solstice Headlights.
This time they are going on a Brazen colored Solstice.
Brazen is Pontiac's (GM) Burnt Orange Color...it's called Inferno Orange.
Pretty cool color...has a mix of Red and Orange.
These ones will be special:
FX-R Projectors with clear lenses
G37 Shrouds Painted Brazen Orange
Dual Halo's behind G37 Shroud
Orange/Amber Demon Eye LED Accent Lighting
Everything else painted Gloss Black.
Will be ready for paint tomorrow and the next day
Got these guys all polished up and somewhat ready to go....I think I might clear coat the lights to give them that perfect look.
Problem with these lights is that the lenses had a fiberglass cover over them that scratched up the crystal clear look they had....owner plans on putting them back on, but wouldn't mind rockin' them naked either....I don't blame him, they look sick all black. Most people that polish headlight lense only deal with yellowing...not deep scratches....so we gave it our best shot.....and back to what those 'other' guys do, they NEVER touch the insides of the lenses....as they can't get them open....well....we do!!!!! Polished the insides of these bad boys as well. They turned out pretty good, but they were so beat up and rubbed the wrong way that I think a clear coat is all we can do now....we'll see.
Other than that, these beasts are ready to ship out. I can't wait to see them back on their mother ship!!
Had to take some extra care with these MC-R shrouds that cover the FX-R projectors I'm retrofitting into these Solsti lights. These are a newer-ish shroud that I have yet to install, so I'm pretty stoked for the outcome. The Halo will sit behind the oval cutouts and will give a nice even glow due to the frosted plexi lens in between.
Waiting for them to set and I'll have these back together in no time.
Customer was happy with headlights...so I got them sealed up, waterproofed and wrapped back up in their boxes. Will ship on Monday.
Fun project....ready for another one
Got another Solstice in that wants an Advanced Retrofit.
This one will be recieving:
FX-R Hybrid Projectors, modified to get the best possible light output
CCFL Halo's behind Shroud
MC-R Shroud custom painted Red
Internal Parts Painted Black
Headlight Lens Buffed and Cut
Got some time with them tonight...opened them, sized them up, cut some plastic, set the projector in for a test fit.
Tomorrow I'll get them on the car, aligned and set permanently and we'll be good to start painting....
Got these things ready to ship out.
Converted the stock DRL area over to a 'fake projector' look, blacked everything out, added dual Demon Eye accent lighting as well as Dual Halo Accent lighting.
Lots of work.
Got everything ready for assembly tonight
Taped off the halo's to give them that aggressive look and painted them.
Also got the fake projector setup all assembled and ready to go for tomorrow's final throw down.
Got to start these finally....have had them for awhile, just been doing too many projects that cuase alot of dust in the shop....luckily customer doesn't not need them right away.
Got them seperated, figured out the plan and went to action.
What's the plan:
Dual Projector Conversion
DRL Area LED Conversion
Dual Demon Eye Accent Lighting
Dual CCFL Halo Accent Lighting
Murdering the chrome and everything else
Hardest part so far has been setting up the DRL area for a projector shroud and lens; as well as fitting the stock projector area with a 90mm ccfl halo ring......dremel wizardry got me through this one.
Once everything dries in this cold weather we're having, I can start assembling everything and get these sealed up and on their way back to the mid east-ish.
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