This post is showing the headlights...here is what I used:
JW Speaker LED Projector Headlights - Evolution 8700 series
exLED Dual Color Halos
exLED Switchback Modules
Fiberglass....yup.....Fiberglass
Introducing Project Darkside.....this is another Pontiac Solstice customization, but with a goal of making it look as if GM wanted to re-introduce a concept car....so everything is futuristic and LED-goodness.
This post is showing the headlights...here is what I used: JW Speaker LED Projector Headlights - Evolution 8700 series exLED Dual Color Halos exLED Switchback Modules Fiberglass....yup.....Fiberglass
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Buddy of mine brought in his Honda Accord Coupe to get some gnarly headlights done.....goal here (besides being different) was to do something I've never done before, but put some new products and new techniques to use.
Here is what we did: Clear Lens swap on OEM Projectors with 'Trax' etched in lens Blue Demon Eyes in projectors Morimoto 35ive 6000k HID kit for low beam High Beam LED Matrix conversion on custom pod Sequential turn-on for LEDs Switchback led strip in 360 degree case White for Running Lights Amber for Turn Signals Blacked out inner shroud Whited out exterior shroud and turn signal area Custom Hand-placed Paisley vinyl graphics with Clear Coat sealant These lights are pretty cool....maybe not for everyone, but they sum up what 'custom' headlights should look like....a bit of everything. This cars plan is to be at SEMA 2k14....so we have a LOT more planned: airbags, full system, and who knows what else.....stay tuned A customer brought in his 2003 Hyundai Tiburon for a lighting system upgrade.
They purchased new headlights (as the old ones were hazy and scratched beyond repair)....so they wanted to be able to see even better than OEM headlights were able to provide.......step in Morimoto 35ive kit. Install was simple and the effects of the kit were immediately noticeable. I got a call from an old high school buddy back in August and we spoke about doing some custom lights for a few of their builds for SEMA this year in Vegas....I was more than IN for this.......was told that I would hear from him soon.
2 months later he calls me back....3 weeks before SEMA.....come on JOE!!!! :) Anyways....with a crazy schedule as it is already, I accepted...because not many solo business owners are asked to showcase their work in SEMA.....unfortunately with the crazy deadline I could only accept two headlight projects and they were simple......open, paint, add halos, close, ship. Easy right??? WRONG......... I introduce the headlight modifying community to the Cadillac ATS.......forged in the depth of hell (with their badass design and look) and sealed with material from Thor's Hammer itself.....seriously....the CTS headlights popped right open as most Perma-sealed lights should.....the ATS...ahahah....different story. These badboys took 2-hours EACH to simply open....and afterwards, it looked like a rabid beaver with dull teeth opened them up....I had to remove 90% of the OEM channel that held Thor's adhesives in place. That meant one thing......these ought to be a GEM to seal back up! After a massive painting fiasco (my painter's booth broke (possibly Thor himself pissed that someone opened these damn lights)) I started sealing these back up and re-building the sides with rock-hard adhesive to make sure they are not moving. The only downside in ALL of this is that I was not able to paint the custom made channel an OEM black color to hide it's hideousness....but only 10% of the edges show....and the client can touch-up that paint in a matter of minutes. Reason I didn't have time to paint them is because the second I got the parts from paint, they were CAREFULLY put back together and sealed up...and as soon as the edges were hard enough, they were all wrapped back up and taken to FEDEX.....CRAZY CRAZY SEMA.....oh well....hopefully it will be worth it. Note to all Future ATS clients.....YES, I will modify your badass headlights.....NO, it's not going to be cheap. Sorry, I can't temp the gods themselves.....you have to pay to put my way in Thor's dangerous path. To Thor himself.....I apologize for conquering your headlights.....mere mortal-noobs out there will attempt and be defeated....but comeon...this is Trax Customs.....If We Can't Do It, You Don't Need It :) A buddy brought in his friend for some audio and visual upgrades to his 2013 Hyundai Sonata.
We went with the Pioneer Avic-Z150BH for DVD, CD, MP3, Bluetooth, Backup Camera, Navigation, Steering Wheel controls and HD Radio. Retained the OEM Steering wheel controls Installed a backup camera Then I added some Morimoto HIDs to his OEM Projector Headlights Hope this one will come back for some custom headlights down the road :) Friend of a friend brought in his Ford F-150 Harley Edition for a serious lighting overhaul.
New Spyder Projector Headlights with CCFL Halos and LED accent lights LED Turn Signal Bulbs Morimoto HID Kit RBP Black Grill Blue Back-lit Grill Accent Lights Blue Back-lit OEM Grill Accent Lights Smoked 3rd Brake Light Housing with LEDs 9 (that's right.....9) LED Halo Switches to control all the lighting as well as subwoofer system accent lights Interior LED Package Upgrade, Blue Interior Floor Areas Lit, BLUE (Parts Not Yet Installed) Custom LED Fog Light Cluster in OEM Spot A Buddy brought in his uber rare Right Hand Drive Nissan Silvia for some new headlights.
The stock housings had already been separated and had a new clear lens installed...which was a big help....but here is what I did to it: 3" Morimoto FX-R Bi-Xenon Projectors version 3.0 Custom Fit Apollo V1 Shrouds (Chrome) Red Resting Demon Eyes Red Demon Eye Accent Lights "Trax" logo etched into the lenses High Beam area converted to Amber LED for DRLs Re-Painted certain areas black to match theme Morimoto Elite D2S series HID Bulbs and Ballasts installed with Heavy Duty wiring harness I've never had to cut so much of an OEM reflector housing as I did in this set of lights...I was about one more inch from having to custom make these from scratch...but I made it fit...and it looked great This was a major upgrade to the lighting and the owner was stoked with them. I know he'll love driving at night now....and I think these will be a good opportunity to break into yet another car-specific headlight arena. Customer sent me some pics and a nice detailed feedback email today....it's always good to get quality feedback instead of 'thanks' or nothing at all.
These lights turned out great on the car and the customer is stoked! Had my buddy bring his Dodge Caliber back in for even more mods....this time to the existing retrofit I did a while back.
I originally installed Bi-Xenon Projectors covered by a Gatling Gun shroud (version 2) with a CCFL halo. At the time, that was the best available. With new technology changing all the time, the XB LED halos have been available and he wanted them...along with some extras. Instead of sticking with the Gatling Gun shrouds, he opted for the Apollo shrouds (version 1) with White XB LED Halo's behind them. I had to custom make a back shroud to space the halo just right, as the 100mm I had didn't quite fit the 110mm opening....still very bright! He also wanted Red Demon Eye lighting, which blends perfectly with this interior led upgrade I did a while back as well. With the lights off, it's a slight change from the Gatling to the Apollo, but as soon as you start flicking those switches you notice a MUCH better upgrade. Customer dubbed project, "Beyond JDM" featured some pretty gnarly products...most of which I haven't used before now....so this was very exciting even for me.
Customer provided some JDM RSX headlight housings, I got the rest: Honda S2000 Low-Beam Projectors 'Black Series' Clear Lens Upgrade OSRAM Xenarc CBI D2S 4300k HID bulbs Gatling Gun Projector Shroud Retro was pretty straight forward....had to borrow a local car from a car enthusiast to ensure proper alignment of headlights; as customer is out-of-state. The Black Series Lens Upgrade was a must and provided an even better output on an industry standard for low-beam projectors. The OEM S2k projectors needed to be modified to fit the housing...and even after modifying the reflector as much as I have ever needed to, everything still barely fit. All-in-all this thing turned out pretty sweet....I think it'll fit the project perfectly! So this set of headlights is a LOOOOOOOONG time coming.
I've literally had these lights for over 2 years. Back in the day, a customer purchased these, used, from a guy in Florida. Well, the pics he showed my client weren't even CLOSE to what he got in the mail. Basically, these were smoked on the outside (which was horribly peeling) because the internal shroud was poorly made and had melted. That wasn't the only thing that was poorly done......everything else was. Now, I normally don't like to talk trash on my competitors; but I got started after watching this guy's videos on YouTube....and after learning my own way, I see how he was doing everything wrong. After opening them up, the cheap plastic that was used for 'custom' shrouds cannot withstand the heat an HID bulb puts off....it was basic ABS plastic. The said shroud was held on, but what I can only assume was a full tube of silicone PER EACH headlight bucket....so THAT was awesome to scrape off. Once exposed, I can see where the projector has been mangled from removal off the OEM car and modified (chewed by a beaver) to fit this reflector bucket. One projector even had a 'Fine Tuning Adjustment Screw' that was strategically placed/rammed into the side of the projector, from the rear, to 'move' it over a few inches......wtf? After all the adhesives were removed, I did some slight body work on them and painted the charred up remains of the reflector bowl Black.....this is all Promo work, as I offered to help this client out free of charge....so the bowl being completely chewed up didn't have a full days worth of body work available to clean it up....but the black hides alot. After everything was good to go, I was going to add some halo lighting behind the new Apollo Version 1 shroud, but the projector was an OEM style, and if I had placed anything else between the projectors and the shroud, it would have pushed it out JUST enough to hit the lens when it goes back on.....due to the fact that the original retrofitter was apparently afraid to cut the headlight up and sit the projector back further..... All in all, after everything is back together, these will be nice headlights once again.....after a good cut/buff, they'll look damn good. As for the guy that retro'd these originally......I'm glad you're no longer the 'top retrofitter' online....as I fear for the customers you did work with. Sometimes things happen that make me second guess doing alot of out of state, and out of country, installations....especially since I don't make my own products. I'm putting my business name on the line with other peoples' products. This case, was a very rare case, as you simply DO NOT see these products go bad. If you do a search for Burnt FX-R Projector, you'll have a hard time finding anything....after talking with my suppliers, it seems these were apart of a bad batch. They made it just a little over a year until the bowls started to burn and flake.
So, I am warrantying these with NEW FX-R (version 3.0s) and upgrading the CCFL halo lighting to the new XB Plasma LED lighting......a much needed upgrade. Everything went well, and as you can see in the last few pics, the customer will need a good cut/buff on the lenses once he gets them back! With all of the new products available, I felt as though I had to update my 3 year old headlights so I can show off options to customers......so, instead of Re-Retrofitting my Old headlights, I found a buyer (in Hawaii) who was looking for a set of lights. He didn't want them ALL black, so I told him I'd swap whatever he sent me (new headlights) so they would be AS chrome as possible.....I also re-retrofitted some NEW XB Led Halo's behind some new Gatling Gun chrome shrouds.
These were my first Chrome on Black on Chrome headlights and I'm kinda diggin' them....for OEM purposes....they look OEM-ish...but also aftermarket if you're a Solstice owner. A cool feature I found when doing this retrofit...with the New Clear plastic that's being used for shrouds (instead of white) and the light coats of Chrome they use on them....the XB LED halos are SO bright that they actually shine through EVERYTHING....you get the desired 'Iron Man' look with this....but you get an added cool feature of seeing the entire circle behind the shroud......pretty neat. Customer recently got the car back from the performance shop that did the install (in North Carolina) and everything is working as it should. Customer is stoked about the lights and this one is another for the books! Was given the opportunity to work on some pretty wicked headlights over the past few months....I say that because multiple delays on just about everything, including my own personal knee surgery....but we finally got them finished up and back over to the East Coast.
The owner had some pretty wild ideas with this one, but based on what he does for a living, these match his lifestyle....so I was more than happy to do these for him. These headlights have just about everything we offer on custom headlights....not everything, but pretty damned close: Bi-Xenon Projectors with 35 watt 6000k HID Bulbs and Ballasts from Morimoto E46 Extended Shroud (Painted Black) 100mm Plasma Morimoto XBLed Halo (White) Red Demon Eye Projector Lens Accenting Lighting White/Amber Switchback LED strips 'sewn' into OEM Shroud Shroud painted a custom 'TigerStyle' with Black and Red/Gold Paint I'll have more On-Car pics once they get wired up. Did the project a few months back, and since the customer lives up in Montana, it took a while to justify cleaning the truck for some good pictures...but they have finally arrived in my inbox!!
If you can remember, here is what was retrofitted: 3" FX-R Bi-Xenon Projectors 35 watt Osram Xenarc HID Bulbs 35 watt Denso Slim Ballasts Here are some final shots of the customer 'potting' his ballasts (so they are waterproof) as well as final installed pics of the headlights....turned our great! So I've been working on these headlights for about 2 months now...and by working on....I mean waiting on. First it was waiting on brand new halo's to arrive....they hadn't made a specific size yet, so we were pushed back a month....then it was paint...since this paint scheme was so intricate, it took a while to plan and lay out the design...then finally find time to pain it. So now that it's all painted, I can finish this up here soon......but the paint job was just too crazy to NOT share....so here you go!
Had a client bring his wife's SUV in for an Angel Eye Halo additional to the stock headlights.....after some discussion we went WAYYYY Left Field! Here is what we did:
Bi-Xenon Projector Retrofitted OEM Headlights All Black Internals Apollo V2 Projector Shrouds Plasma White Halo's Behind Apollo Shroud Smoked Corners Smoked Taillights Smoked 3rd Brake Lights Black Billet Grills (Upper and Lower) Customer purchased the car about a month ago, and this the addition of the above, he's also added Rims/Tires and Full Tint.....this beast is complete now! Finally got to work on Joe's truck! He already had HIDs in his headlights and fog lights....but they were the scattered plug-n-play type.....he knew better :) What I did: Mini H1 Morimoto Bi-Xenon Projector Retrofit Morimoto XB35H1 6000k HID Bulbs Morimoto 35 watt HID Ballasts Morimoto Mopar Uber-Mega Moto-Control Relay Harness Apollo V2 Shrouds Internals Painted Black Pearl to match truck paint scheme ........... Ridiculously Bright 19,000 LUMEN Output Heretic LED Pod Bar This thing is crazy bright...can't wait to see it at night! Here is a quick video I did to show off the beauty of the XB35H1 bulbs, as well as the color in the cutoff! Client up in Montana sent me his headlights off his Platinum Edition Toyota Tundra.
I was immediately excited when I saw what he sent: 3" FX-R Bi-Xenon Projectors 35 watt Osram Xenarc HID Bulbs 35 watt Denso Slim Ballasts Wanted these to be Spot-On so I borrow a local truck to make them perfect! His truck has an automatic adjustment feature for when you're towing or have heavy loads...so you can adjust the lights down or up depending on what's needed to make the light output perfect. We went with a 3-layered paint scheme: OEM Dark Metallic Grey, with Black accents and a little chrome. Nothing too crazy with these....just among the best possible lights you can get for an HID Retrofit. I'll post some pics when I get some back of them on the truck! Had a customer from out-of-state bring in his 2011 International Pro Star Eagle Semi to get upgraded lighting.
I immediately was excited about this one; mainly because out of all of the retro's I've done, a semi driver is someone who actually needs better lighting. Menu: FX-R Bi-Xenon Projectors 55 watt D2S 6000k HID Bulbs 55 watt D2S HID Ballasts Apollo V2 Shroud (Painted White) Headlight Internals (Painted Black) XB LED halos (white)(behind shroud) Super Bright LED High beam headlight kit Amber LED Strips in a 'half moon' for turn signals Amber LED upgrade kit (turn signals and side markers) Custom Triple Heavy Duty Relay harness 'Beefed up existing Fog Light HIDs' 13000 Lumen LED Pod Light bar 2 switches inside for the light bar and halos This project was a 'different' one. Mainly because it was a semi. It won't fit in my shop, and the weather has been crazy (lows of 0 degrees). So I planned on doing the entire retrofit at a buddies shop...until I realized the Semi was 13'6" and the shop doors were 12'0". So I ended up doing this entire retrofit OUTSIDE....first day was 17 degrees second day was 30 degrees..... The light output on this guy is simply ridiculous. The projectors threw a nice consistent beam and the high beams were very impressive. The high beam LEDs were more of an 'accent light' at this point. They would be brighter had I not painted the high beam area black...but that was the paint scheme. I would suggest these as DRLs for sure! The LED Pod Light Bar was simply breath-taking. For a 20" bar, I don't think at the moment you can find more light output than what this little guy did. Here's a break down on lumens for this project: Low Beam - 4000 High Beam - 600+2000 Fog Lights - 1000 LED Pod Light Bar - 13000 Total Lumen - 20,600 !!!! I'll leave it at that! A past client brought his Ford Focus back in for some lighting upgrades.
We went with a Bi-Xenon Projector (Low and High Beams) since the existing headlight was a single bulb 9007 setup. We covered the projector with a modified Apollo shroud and kept everything chrome on the inside. On the back end, he received Morimoto 6000k D2S bulbs, powered by New Morimoto 35watt 'Blue' Ballasts, and a Morimoto-Control wiring harness so everything is firing perfectly. These will allow him to be MUCH safer at night (being able to see further and wider than stock) all while looking as OEM as possible. Had a local client that wanted MUCH brighter lights, while staying within the realm of legality.....as well as an all black look to the lights.
Projector Retrofitting will take care of both those issues! Owner picked up a set of DEPO lights, so the lenses were in perfect condition. I went with my Bi-Xenon HID Projectors, covered in a ridiculously trimmed down version of the Ocular Shroud; all in the low beam spot. Since the projectors are Bi-Xenon, we no longer needed the high beam spot for anything, so, as usual, I converted that area over to a Super Bright LED, for use as an auxiliary light as well as DRL if needed. I placed this light on a switch that was mounted inside the vehicle on a blank switch panel. This circuit turns off with the vehicle, so the owner doesn't have to worry about running his battery dead. The entire headlight received and nice coat of semi-gloss black paint, and the lower portion was smoked to allow light through. Project was fun and a owner loves his new lights. What's being installed:
JVC Navigation, Bluetooth, DVD Player with Sat Radio and Backup Camera Digital Designs CM1000 Mono Block Amplifier Digital Designs 10" 500 Series Woofers in a sealed down firing truck box Custom Hydro-Dipped Interior Accent Panels Projector Retrofitted Headlights All Gloss Black Gatling Gun Version 2 Shrouds, Dipped to match interior Panels Bi-Xenon Projectors for High/Low HID Lights Red Demon Eye Accent Lighting Super White LED Halos behind shroud for Iron Man V2 look All Accent lights on custom switches HID Fog Lights Started this project a week ago, but due to the simple fact that it wouldn't fit in the shop, I only had a few hours a night to work on this before I lost daylight. First thing was first, I needed to pop the headlights open so I could get them to the owner for paint, as well as all the parts to Hydro Dip to get them dipped. This project was made even more difficult because....well.....it's a Dodge. Mopar electrical systems straight up suck....anyone that mods them will say the same. All these electronics added, especially the lighting upgrades, had to be bullet-proof, or Dodge would let you know and have them not work properly. This truck was recently purchased about 3 weeks ago, and it looked nothing like it did when I got it....now that I'm done, it's even THAT much more noticeable. You'll be sure to break ya' neck when this thing drives by. Other Mods the owner has done in 3 short weeks: MBRP Muffler Tinted Windows Smoked Tails Painted all chrome bumpers either body match or black De-Badged Exterior Custom Made 22" Rims with 38" Toyo Tires |
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