Need advice on TA fixed headlight conversion
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
I kind of like the look, but i really like the sleek look of the pop lights when they are down. I've read that the aftermarket lights dont shine very well. plus they're rediculously expensive...
My idea is to make them with a better setup, HIDs, and dark black out lights that will still allow plenty light through them. I think that would look awesome since my Trans Am is black. it would look almost the same unless you look up close.
if anyone knows if this is possible, please PM me
My idea is to make them with a better setup, HIDs, and dark black out lights that will still allow plenty light through them. I think that would look awesome since my Trans Am is black. it would look almost the same unless you look up close.
if anyone knows if this is possible, please PM me
I've already talked about everything you just mentioned.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
Well, I decided to do Something about the headlights. I gutted all the parts and don't plan on re-installing them.
I'm going to be doing some pretty radical stuff to the front end as well. Front breather conversion, radiator relocation and I'm getting rid of that damned crossmember that's reducing the projector mounting depth.
I'm going to be doing some pretty radical stuff to the front end as well. Front breather conversion, radiator relocation and I'm getting rid of that damned crossmember that's reducing the projector mounting depth.
So it begins.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
OK, now that the crossmember is out of the way I have plenty of room to mess around so I picked up a set of Bosch Bi-xenon E46 projectors. These are definetely bigger than the low beam E46's I have. I took a bunch of comparison pics if anyone is interested in the differences.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
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From: Hou. TX.
Here's a closer look at the hinged shield and latching solenoid mechanism. Also note the 100% duty cycle solenoid. These are very similar to the ones I bought for my conversion project. I got this pair of Bi-xenon units for $100 shipped on Ebay, so screw converting the old ones.
Low Beam
High Beam
Last edited by JasonWW; Oct 9, 2008 at 08:12 AM.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
The shield only tilts about 45*, but it lets a huge amount of extra light through. Very nice. 
It has 3 wires to it, but I'm not sure why. I'll have to find a schematic on it somewhere.
The holes in the back that the bulb slides through are sized differently. I think it's just a cosmetic difference. I'm almost certain they take the same D2S HID bulb. The twist on bulb retainers work on both lights as well.
It has 3 wires to it, but I'm not sure why. I'll have to find a schematic on it somewhere.
The holes in the back that the bulb slides through are sized differently. I think it's just a cosmetic difference. I'm almost certain they take the same D2S HID bulb. The twist on bulb retainers work on both lights as well.
Last edited by JasonWW; Oct 9, 2008 at 08:13 AM.
I'm using the E46 bi-xenons in my other retrofit (not Trans Am). HIDplanet.com has a pretty good thread on how to wire the E46 bi-xenons. The three wires are hot, weak ground and strong ground. The two grounds help prevent the solenoid from overheating. Both the single beam E46 and bi-xenon E46 use D2S and accept the same bulb holders.
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Verdad Gallardo Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
Thanks, I haven't had time to look for that info yet.
I used to read their forums all the time, but then they switched so only members can read them so I lost interest. I guess I need to sign up so I can catch myself up on the latest parts and mods.
I remember the good Hella ballasts costing $200 pr, now they are $279. Did they go up or are the gen3 units really new? Maybe it was a gen2 unit I'm thinking of.
I used to read their forums all the time, but then they switched so only members can read them so I lost interest. I guess I need to sign up so I can catch myself up on the latest parts and mods.
I remember the good Hella ballasts costing $200 pr, now they are $279. Did they go up or are the gen3 units really new? Maybe it was a gen2 unit I'm thinking of.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
So what I'm going to do to this one is flip the radiator the other direction and finish the fixed headlights.
Last edited by JasonWW; Oct 18, 2008 at 09:09 AM.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
I took some pics the other day of what I think is the best location to see how they would look.
(Ignore the other light cover, it is just resting there and not bolted up)
I may move it slightly to the left or right, but I think the middle looks about right. I want to keep it high as well so the light will hit the road in front of the car. Any thoughts?
(Ignore the other light cover, it is just resting there and not bolted up)
I may move it slightly to the left or right, but I think the middle looks about right. I want to keep it high as well so the light will hit the road in front of the car. Any thoughts?
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
BTW, I have some more info on these E46 lights. From what I understand is that the solenoid has 2 coils in it. One gives full strength to open it for 1/5 second and then it switches to the other coil which is weaker to hold it in place. The factory E46 ballasts have this circuit built in, but when you use another ballast, you need to make a circuit that works similar.
I found a cool cat who is making these little solid state relay boards for these lights.
Wire hook ups are very easy. Most other units will hold the strong solenoid open for several seconds making it impossible to flash your highs on and off quickly. I need that functionality.
They are only about 20 bucks for a pair. He even has the 3 wire plug for the light if you don't already have them.
This link might last a while. If not, PM me for his website:
integramod dot tripod dot com/products/bixenon/bixenon.html
Some background from his site.
I found a cool cat who is making these little solid state relay boards for these lights.
Wire hook ups are very easy. Most other units will hold the strong solenoid open for several seconds making it impossible to flash your highs on and off quickly. I need that functionality.
They are only about 20 bucks for a pair. He even has the 3 wire plug for the light if you don't already have them.
This link might last a while. If not, PM me for his website:
integramod dot tripod dot com/products/bixenon/bixenon.html
Some background from his site.
Bosch bixenon projectors are commonly found in many European cars, especially the BMW E46, and have become very popular for retrofitting into different cars' headlights because of their low price, good reputation for performance in a small package, and ease of use in retrofitting. These projectors are fairly easy to find on Ebay for $75-150 per set.
These projectors use solenoids to change the position of a metal shield, so that in one position it acts as a cutoff to prevent light from blinding oncoming drivers, and in the other position this restriction is removed for full brightness. The problem is that there are actually two solenoids in this package, a strong one for pulling and a weak one for holding, and consequently there is a 3-wire connector on the projector. For proper operation, the pull coil is supposed to be activated for about 1/5 of a second, and then turned off while the hold coil is still powered as long as high beams are desired. The hold coil alone is not strong enough to move the shield, only to hold it in the high-beam position. While it is possible to just use the pull coil all the time, powering the pull coil for long periods of time is not a good idea because it consumes a lot of power, and consequently generates a lot of heat. The solenoid is not designed to get that hot, so this would certainly reduce its lifespan a great deal, and it would probably burn out quickly.
Normally, in the E46 car, the solenoids are triggered by a special circuit that is located in the ballasts which came with that car. If you're using these E46 bixenon ballasts, then you don't need my circuits at all (go here to see how to use this functionality), but most people buy these components separately on Ebay and end up using different ballasts which don't have this extra circuit built-in. So I designed these circuits to handle this.
I have seen another circuit on the internet for controlling these solenoids, however this circuit uses a relay and a capacitor and resistor to achieve the proper delay. While this probably works (I haven't tried it), I believe my circuit to be better because it uses a MOSFET and therefore has no moving parts unlike a relay-based circuit, making mine extremely reliable. It is also much smaller, and could be easily hidden inside a headlight housing or other enclosure.
These projectors use solenoids to change the position of a metal shield, so that in one position it acts as a cutoff to prevent light from blinding oncoming drivers, and in the other position this restriction is removed for full brightness. The problem is that there are actually two solenoids in this package, a strong one for pulling and a weak one for holding, and consequently there is a 3-wire connector on the projector. For proper operation, the pull coil is supposed to be activated for about 1/5 of a second, and then turned off while the hold coil is still powered as long as high beams are desired. The hold coil alone is not strong enough to move the shield, only to hold it in the high-beam position. While it is possible to just use the pull coil all the time, powering the pull coil for long periods of time is not a good idea because it consumes a lot of power, and consequently generates a lot of heat. The solenoid is not designed to get that hot, so this would certainly reduce its lifespan a great deal, and it would probably burn out quickly.
Normally, in the E46 car, the solenoids are triggered by a special circuit that is located in the ballasts which came with that car. If you're using these E46 bixenon ballasts, then you don't need my circuits at all (go here to see how to use this functionality), but most people buy these components separately on Ebay and end up using different ballasts which don't have this extra circuit built-in. So I designed these circuits to handle this.
I have seen another circuit on the internet for controlling these solenoids, however this circuit uses a relay and a capacitor and resistor to achieve the proper delay. While this probably works (I haven't tried it), I believe my circuit to be better because it uses a MOSFET and therefore has no moving parts unlike a relay-based circuit, making mine extremely reliable. It is also much smaller, and could be easily hidden inside a headlight housing or other enclosure.
Last edited by JasonWW; Oct 18, 2008 at 09:35 AM.
Jason, is there a reason why you're choosing to use 1 bi-xenon projector for both highs and lows rather than 2 separate projectors? There's a lot of space to fill there, I'm not sure how you plan to fill it all with one light on each side.
Either way, I'm anxious to see how it turns out.
Either way, I'm anxious to see how it turns out.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
Jason, is there a reason why you're choosing to use 1 bi-xenon projector for both highs and lows rather than 2 separate projectors? There's a lot of space to fill there, I'm not sure how you plan to fill it all with one light on each side.
Either way, I'm anxious to see how it turns out.
Either way, I'm anxious to see how it turns out.
What makes you think I need to fill that empty space?
My general design hasn't changed in the last 2 years. Go back to post #94 and check it out.
Last edited by JasonWW; Oct 18, 2008 at 09:14 PM.
I was planning on making my other projectors high and low beam, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. With a seperate high beam projector you would have to run a halogen bulb in it, but I like the idea of the HID high beam.
What makes you think I need to fill that empty space?
My general design hasn't changed in the last 2 years. Go back to post #94 and check it out.
What makes you think I need to fill that empty space?
My general design hasn't changed in the last 2 years. Go back to post #94 and check it out.
--_ [bumper] _--
-- being the low beams and _ being the high beams. Keep the projector up high like you have it mocked up there and a high beam slightly lower and closer to the edge of the bumper. Would be pretty evil looking IMO.
also, y would you cut the core support, I hope you plan on putting it back or make something to go in its place, that helps keep the chasis straight. I bought a car that had a cut core support and a gutted front, put the whole front end back to stock and a new core support, and nothing lined up cause the front end shifted around so much
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6,814
Likes: 3
From: Hou. TX.
It's in the way. Simple as that.
From post #152.
On this car I'll be making a new crossmember for the radiator that doesn't interfere with the lights.
From post #152.
Actually, the amount of work I want to do was so extensive that I decided to buy another f-body as a donor car. I'm planning a full tube chassis, sectioned body, a chop top, air suspension and an IRS.
So what I'm going to do to this one is flip the radiator the other direction and finish the fixed headlights.
So what I'm going to do to this one is flip the radiator the other direction and finish the fixed headlights.