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Custom Headlight Guide

58K views 170 replies 58 participants last post by  m5james 
#1 · (Edited)
Here is a list of all the custom mr2 Headlight conversion.

hopefully this will become a sticky


Celica Conversion:



FTO:

 
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#103 ·
Holy- I agree, i made 4 differnt headlights, and they are too expensive and never perfict, so selling here just wont happen.

Lime-light- thats a perfect example of why lol.


I get questions a bit about my headlight set ups, and every time i tell them how much they will end up costing, no one does it lol.
 
#105 · (Edited)
PS holy- i love your new dominator, and shift knob great work!


I just added some price charts on the headlights, cost etc on the first page, those are just the ones i know, but if anyone has any other prices i can add them to the list :)
 
#106 ·
holymr2 said:
I agree that the rev6 is not everyones taste, I was talking majority. I like and might rock them but I dont have to have them. If that makes sense. Now the rev6 taillights and had to have no question.

I also agree no conversion will sell like hotcakes as the market is fairly saturated with other conversions and ebay knockoffs. And at $600 I believe your pricing yourself out of the market.

The reason why I piped up is because I thought of making these as one of my new products but ran into way to many problems and was trying to help with some advice.

Even if you silicone the lenses in, then you cant remove them and if left on long enough in the sun when you try to remove it will pull up the paint. Again I know this by testing it first hand. Silicone has great adhesion and thats why we all use it so much. Again if you have a pin hole leak in the silicone now your really screwed.

For what its worth on a custon job I would say $600 is reasonable but not for something thats mass produced.

In my opinion I think square and sharp or hard lines dont belong on a stock vehicle. WE own mr2s people there isnt one sharp line on the stock body. Now if you have a sharp lined widebody that is a different story as your changing most of the body lines.

David
I dont work at a body shop btw, it is a performance shop. The guy that is making those does interiors and audio systems for us. He is a subcontractor and doesnt directly work for us. He has worked on alot of high end cars and im not exaggerating. The shop he came from deals exclusively with exotics. The guy does really good work and once finished there is no doubt they will fit like stock. The lenses probably wont be sealed with silicone due to that fact when heated it shrinks. Im going to get nerdy on you for a second silicone really doesnt have that good of adhesion properties. The bonds created by silicone are hydrogen bonds. They are not permenant. They are easily broken and heat speeds it up. Living in FL it will happen in a matter of a week or so.

I havent talked to him but it will be something clever im sure. He mentioned around 4-500 with the lights included. They will be sold without the lights aswell incase someone doesnt want them.

The ebay versions dont fit and you get what you pay for we all know that.

When they are done Ill post up some better pictures with the lights turned on ect.
 
#107 · (Edited)
Cool I agree to about 90% of that. Most of it except the silicone rant. Mainly beacause no one stated a 100% silicone content should be used. There are plenty of silicone based products out there that hold up great to heat. But I agree that it wont work. But also for the reason that silicone wont mate to a slick surface and thats with out some shrinkage after time(a scuffed up surface would create much better adhesion). But again this would be negaited when using a silicone base product. AAhhh shrinkage.

Im sure he is the best we've ever seen. I never talked about fittment. Even though you say hes not a body man. I only brought up silicone as a quick reason why weatherstripping is not a easy task to accomplish.

I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings killer. I even said it in the post. So theres no reason to get so defensive. All I was doing was expressing my experiences but I guess you cant tell anyone anything. They have to do it themselves.

What performace shop do you work at?
 
#108 ·
holymr2 said:
Cool I agree to about 90% of that. Most of it except the silicone rant. Mainly beacause no one stated a 100% silicone content should be used. There are plenty of silicone based products out there that hold up great to heat. But I agree that it wont work. But also for the reason that silicone wont mate to a slick surface and thats with out some shrinkage after time(a scuffed up surface would create much better adhesion). But again this would be negaited when using a silicone base product. AAhhh shrinkage.

Im sure he is the best we've ever seen. I never talked about fittment. Even though you say hes not a body man. I only brought up silicone as a quick reason why weatherstripping is not a easy task to accomplish.

I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings killer. I even said it in the post. So theres no reason to get so defensive. All I was doing was expressing my experiences but I guess you cant tell anyone anything. They have to do it themselves.

What performace shop do you work at?
The rant on silicone was to explain to you how it works. I go to school for polymer chem/forensics science. Reguardless of scuffing it or not hydrogen bonding still takes place. All that stuff you see come in tubes sold at the store will shrink and shouldnt be used in an application like this. Im not getting defensive, Im just letting you know alittle of his background and he isnt about making some ill fitting headlights, slapping on some plexi pieces and sealing them with fishtank silicone. The guy does quality work and has been doing this for 25 plus years. Im sure he can come up with something to create a water proof headlight. You kinda insinuated it was some impossible task.

He mentioned making a mold. I told him I would post and let him know if it would be worth it.
 
#109 ·
flatline16 said:
The rant on silicone was to explain to you how it works. I go to school for polymer chem/forensics science. Reguardless of scuffing it or not hydrogen bonding still takes place. All that stuff you see come in tubes sold at the store will shrink and shouldnt be used in an application like this. Im not getting defensive, Im just letting you know alittle of his background and he isnt about making some ill fitting headlights, slapping on some plexi pieces and sealing them with fishtank silicone. The guy does quality work and has been doing this for 25 plus years. Im sure he can come up with something to create a water proof headlight. You kinda insinuated it was some impossible task.

He mentioned making a mold. I told him I would post and let him know if it would be worth it.
This will be the last time I will post because it seems were getting way off topic from the purpose of this thread. Weatherstriping is not an impossible feat but not easily obtained which I stated more than once. Please keep up. I never said your homie, best friend, or lover was going to do a bad job I just offered some advice. SORRY I didnt know we were all know it alls (Who are just trying this for the first time). Im also not trying to start a fight but it seems this is all your looking for. This forum was started so everyone can state there opinions and we can help each other as a community. I was trying to do this.

Its great your going to college but that has nothing to do with the point of weatherstripping (only that your studying polmyers, which you stated). Im sorry to tell you this but not everything in a tube shrinks. Its very nieve to say so. Look up some sausages of 952. If your studying such things Im sure youll get to a point in your txt book where they teach you new things. I know its hard to believe but its true.

By the way you never answered my question of which performance shop you work at. In Orlando there isnt but 2 repuitable shops and even less community colleges.

When your ready to cool down and you want to spit ball ideas I would be more than happy to help (again this is me being civil and trying to help). But lets keep the negativity out of this great thread and keep it to pms. Marley is trying to make a sticky.
 
#112 ·
drftxdori said:
i should just make some extra rods and sell them since people want to do this kit =p

does anyone know how to remove the glass from the housing without breaking/cracking it?

i wanna retrofit in some suzuki projectrs off a bike.
I stick the whole headlight housing in a preheated oven (200* should be good) for about 10 min, pull it out with oven mitts, and pry the lens off. The heat softens the glue and should pry it off, reheat the housing to reactivate the glue :)

On another note i'm glad this thread exists, because i've been playing with the idea of flushmount projectors and i kinda "piled" this together tonite to see what it might look like, the tape line is supposed to represent the hood line. I tried moving it around a bit to see what i liked, not sure yet though :s Suggestions?



 
#113 ·
widebodystarlet said:
I stick the whole headlight housing in a preheated oven (200* should be good) for about 10 min, pull it out with oven mitts, and pry the lens off. The heat softens the glue and should pry it off, reheat the housing to reactivate the glue :)

On another note i'm glad this thread exists, because i've been playing with the idea of flushmount projectors and i kinda "piled" this together tonite to see what it might look like, the tape line is supposed to represent the hood line. I tried moving it around a bit to see what i liked, not sure yet though :s Suggestions?



thanks for the info
im kinda scrared of tryin it only cause theyre 100 dollar housing.
wish i had another set

those are 300zx light huh

dang good luck!
 
#115 ·
I have split a number of different light houses in the oven it's not all that hard the key is heating them slow and enough to get the sealant pliable. It's a cheaper way to source OEM projectors and modify your lights. I did my tacoma lights this way and it was a really cheap way to make them look better than stock. I started my Mr2 projector project this way as well by sourcing beams from a 3000GT. I usually set the oven to 250 let it preheat for 10-15 min then place cardboard under the light and let it get nice and warm. Keep an eye on them and don't be afraid to really let them get warm. Put on some leather gloves or you'll burn your fingers and just wrestle the light apart, if you are really fighting it make sure there isn't a screw or something holding it together or get it hotter. If it's warm enough they usually come apart pretty easy.





Now I just need to get in the shop some weekend and start working how to fit both beams into the stock location while keeping the ability to adjust both the aim both height and left-right.
 
#116 ·
Wow those projectors are awesome, they would be perfect for doing a custom setup on the mr2. I think I'm going to be removing the projector from the 300zx housing as well and doing a combination of them with something else for a look similar to the garage active headlights.

For a technical question regarding bulbs and lenses; If i was to use a foglight housing and the projector out of the 300zx lights, which would be high beam and which would be low beam? Could the projector do both high and low? In a quad setup is high beam the inner bulbs or the outer bulbs?
 
#119 ·
holymr2 said:
This will be the last time I will post because it seems were getting way off topic from the purpose of this thread. Weatherstriping is not an impossible feat but not easily obtained which I stated more than once. Please keep up. I never said your homie, best friend, or lover was going to do a bad job I just offered some advice. SORRY I didnt know we were all know it alls (Who are just trying this for the first time). Im also not trying to start a fight but it seems this is all your looking for. This forum was started so everyone can state there opinions and we can help each other as a community. I was trying to do this.

Its great your going to college but that has nothing to do with the point of weatherstripping (only that your studying polmyers, which you stated). Im sorry to tell you this but not everything in a tube shrinks. Its very nieve to say so. Look up some sausages of 952. If your studying such things Im sure youll get to a point in your txt book where they teach you new things. I know its hard to believe but its true.

By the way you never answered my question of which performance shop you work at. In Orlando there isnt but 2 repuitable shops and even less community colleges.

When your ready to cool down and you want to spit ball ideas I would be more than happy to help (again this is me being civil and trying to help). But lets keep the negativity out of this great thread and keep it to pms. Marley is trying to make a sticky.
What I was getting at was you obviously did little to no research when picking that "weather stripping." Knowing properties of the chemical helps a whole lot believe it or not :rolleyes: . I didnt make a split decision and rush to walmart or where ever you bought it at. I already know what will and wont work just by knowing whats in it. I have been doing fiberglass/carbon work for 8 years, your not talking to a beginner. Sorry if I come off as a know it all, but I do know alot on the subject... I didnt ask or want your help on this project, like I said before Im not a beginner nor is the guy working on the lights.

Regarding your remark I dont go to community college... Im a UF transfer at UCF.
 
#124 ·
I recently installed a set of Rev 6 quad lamps. For an after market kit they installed with little drama. MUCH more light than my old H4 lamps. I also modified the wiring to keep the low beams on when the high beams are selected. If you want your high beam indicator to work properly this is how I wired it...

Headlight Modification

Keeping the low beams powered up is important if your using HID low beams, because they take a few seconds to reach full brightness when switched on. The Hella lamps are excellent quality, and the low beam projectors keep glare out of the eyes of oncoming traffic. The high beams light up the road ahead like stadium lights.
 
#125 ·
LOS ALMIGHTY said:
It was a pain to do, so I would never do it again. I wanted to have the best of both worlds and I wanted to see if it could be done.
You were soooo close man what happen??? Well my two sense would be that if your going custom...there are a few general themes ie. different head lights curviture you re-make the car basically. The best of both worlds would be to change the bumper, mounting of the headlight assembly and rods. Then even when the headlights are down they can still be seen on or off, sorta a reverse sleepy look, Oh and of course switches, relays whatever free bee for someone. Whos gonna do it???
 
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