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Headlight projector retrofit - HIDs to the max!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by F8L, Apr 29, 2011.

  1. Ryanpl

    Ryanpl Active Member

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    Very nicely done Justin. I'm opting for the turn signal DRL, kit is 40.00.
     
  2. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Can't wait to see the night shots.
     
  3. macmaster05

    macmaster05 Senor Member

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    Come on, get dark! I like it a lot so far.

    I think for the 2006-09 cars, the LED strip would go better in the middle of the headlight where the faux LED strip currently is. It's easier to make symmetrical and aesthetically, it'd make the headlights look less long/tall.
     
  4. flareak

    flareak Fleet Captain

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    dang.. I cannot wait for the installation write up. This is the best thread in the existence of Prius chat. Btw, did you use a halogen or HID headlight housing?
     
  5. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    He has HID housing.

    I have halogen housing. My projectors, 4300k bulb and LED strips has shipped. I was going to go with 5000k to match with the LEDs but I want more light and prefer the OEM look.
     
  6. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I'll do the full write up this evening and stick it on the first page. It was really quite easy if you forget about the LED mishap and the glue. :)

    I couldn't find a dark spot to show the road shots but honestly it wasn't that impressive on lit city streets. The foreground was not very bright but in reality you don't want that. It ruins your distance vision.

    Here are a couple wall shots while I was trying to adjust the headlights. It appears I need to rotate the passenger side projector a little bit but that is easy to do. This will make the purple cutoff line more dramatic too. :)

    The first picture is of the projectors alone. The 2nd picture is with my Blazer foglights (5000k Morimoto). The 3rd picture is just a random shot looking into a field. The 4th shot is a different wall. The 5th shot is with the high beams on.
     

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  7. flareak

    flareak Fleet Captain

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    Perfect. Looks like we got the same housing and all. Officially the best thread in existence.
     
  8. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I had previously upgraded to a 55w ballast so when swapping to these projectors I had to go back to my original OEM ballast which required me to rewire some things, You won't have this problem so your install will be much more simple!

    I took a lot of pictures early in the install to demonstrate how to remove everything. I didn't take any for the wiring as I was getting worn out and my rewire was not applicable to the average Prius doing this mod. It's all pretty self explanatory anyway.
     
  9. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    The height adjustment can be done with the stock headlight turning knot right?

    I should get my stuffs to toy around with on Wednesday. Pretty excited about it!
     
  10. wick1ert

    wick1ert Senior Member

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    Very nice work!

    Ironically, this is the exact type of thing I want to do with my motorcycle and convert it to HID. Unfortunately, I've not found any projector headlamp to replace the stock refelctor with. Although, HD just released a full replacement that is LED for low & high beams with a projector lens. It's priced at $500+installation (should be an easy DIY, possibly). They mentioned in the video, about the accessory lights (spot lights) that you see on a lot of their larger touring models. If that is part of this system, then the price is very good and I would jump on it probably in a year or so.

    Sorry, that was off topic a bit, but good work, again.
     
  11. macmaster05

    macmaster05 Senor Member

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    Justin, would you be able to post some pictures of the headlight itself (on)? :D
     
  12. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Yup! They are a bit awkward to get to with a socket wrench but if you have a small open end wrench you'll have no problem. I just used a socket with a small extension and turned them by hand. I didn't have a tape measure with me so I don't think my adjustment is correct yet. May be too high. I have not been flashed yet and walking towards my car from a distance the lights are not blinding me.

    You'll pull off this install with ease bru! No cutting involved for the OEM HID headlights. I'm not sure about the halogen headlights but even if you have to cut, the project will be well worth it.

    If you want a more white light then go with the Morimoto 5000k bulbs. They look awesome in my foglights!
     
  13. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Post a picture of your stock reflector housing and some dimensions. I bet TRS has a projector you can retrofit. Tons of bike guys do this mod all the time. They even came out with a new mini that is smaller than mine. You could do a system like mine for much cheaper! Check out the new tiny lights in the link below.

    Morimoto Matchbox projectors (pics and measurements inside)

    Bi-xenon Morimoto Mini Stage III Kit (H1) - Complete Retrofit Kits from The Retrofit Source Inc

    Example
    [​IMG]

    I tried but my camera is horrible for night shots. :(

    [​IMG]
     
  14. ahmeow

    ahmeow Prius Lover

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    If you only want to match the whiteness of the stock HID headlamp with the foglight(yellowish). I just change the foglight 6005 bulb to a 64 LEDs aftermarket (with 6005 socket) and problem solved. In my opinion,the stock HID 4300K is good enough.
    Search ebay for the 64LEDs 6005 bulb. Just under 20 bucks including shipping.
     
  15. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Thanks for the tip. The GENII foglights us a 9006 bulb. I tried to use LEDs in the fogs and they burned out quickly and they don't produce any real useful light so I went to HID. Then I realized I was blinding people so I bought the Blazer foglights and stuck my HIDs in them. They definitely help light up the foreground and sides of the road. It was worth the roughly $100 IMO. :)
     
  16. macmaster05

    macmaster05 Senor Member

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    Wow. Thanks man. Looks great. Matches just like you said. I was also hoping for an up-close shot of the headlights on, especially with the LED strips. But I understand that might require certain cameras or photography skills that many of us lack.

    No mang. LEDs do not provide sufficient lighting like HIDs or halogens. They're a nice decoration though.

    BTW, are HID foglights (w/o projectors) legal to use? Your story how you were blinding others with them just gave me that thought...
     
  17. wick1ert

    wick1ert Senior Member

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    I will try to get some pics tonight, but I believe it's a simple, 7" circle reflector lens. It's whatever is standard on them.

    Thanks for those 2 links, too. I'm really wanting to put my HIDs into the bike, but not too keen on the idea with a reflector because it'll be scattered a bit.
     
  18. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I'll try for an up close shot tonight, bru. :) They do not match when up close though. The Osram 66240 starts off as a 4100k bulb and only after 100+hrs do they shift to more white color and even then I doubt they will match the 5000k bulbs in the fogs.

    Aftermarket HIDs are basically illegal in general so the answer is no. They are not legal and IMO are dangerous which is why I swapped them out. They look pretty sweet though. lol
     
  19. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    You'll have it easy with those 7" headlights. I've seen a lot of retrofits on bikes and old cars/trucks with those headlights. You won't get any scattering if you stick a projector in there. You can also paint the inside of the housing to match the bike. There are places that sell new clear glass/plastic covers for the 7" round headlights so you don't have to deal with the foggy looking opaque glass.
     
  20. wick1ert

    wick1ert Senior Member

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    Sweet! I may have to pick your knowledge as I get digging into this a little bit more. I was more concerned with scatter putting the HID into the reflector than doing so with a projector. It's a dual-bulb kit that I got (HID low/Halogen high). If I end up having to do something else, the kits are so cheap that it's not a big issue.

    Obviously, this is something you, and possibly a few others, know quite a bit more about than I do. I'm usually the idea guy, not the implementation guy :)