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As I had promised I'm working on creating my own set of headlights to mount projectors in. I'm growing tired of waiting for Morettes as are a lot of people I'm sure. Thanks to one of our own (Berkel) I have a set of donated headlights to work from. I most likely will need another driver side headlight because the one he sent me had the lense cut completly off so that tabs on the lense cover were not present. The idea is to make a fiberglass replacement for the actual lense and do some modifications to the factory housing. Anyway here is my first crack at what I am thinking of doing. Looking for opinions. I think I may end up turning one of the parking lights more cockeye'd to the right (left for passenger side) so when making a turn the blinker is seen by on coming traffic in that direction. This is something I just put together in about 45min so it's not a perfect match of our headlights, but you get the idea. Enough talk here are the pics:
-Mike
98 Contour SVT
Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97
WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower
85 Camaro
1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
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I was wondering where this project went. So you're going to be using fibreglass? That sounds interesting, I'll get right to it, is it feasible and affordable to have this done? Is this a DIY thing? Btw, keep up the good work,
1998 Mercury Mystique LS
- Looking for SVT EXHAUST, SVT Rear bumper (silver frost) and ANY rocker mouldings (side skirts)
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I recommend using 90mm Hella assemblies. Easy to work with and VERY good quality units.
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Very interesting! All I can say is good luck because the way our headlights are set up, its really hard to get creative in there and make stuff fit.
If you are doing all that work on a customized headlight like that, then dont go with Hella 90mm. You should go with more of a Valeo or Stanley (TSX) projector yet using the hella 90mm in ur highs. Or you can go bi-xenon using just one projector, there are endless possibilities..
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I thought about a similar project when i was doing my headlights...it was more of an extension of the fiberglass eyelids that were produced for our cars. Just overlay a thin layer of fiberglass over the stock lense...let it cure, then reinforce from the back. Then use the Hella 90mm which are a fully sealed and weather proof unit and you wouldn't even need the back of the housing. Create some brackets that mate the Hella high and low to the 3 mounting points on the car, as well as to a sealed turn signal unit (aftermarket LED would be perfect)...then figure out a way to secure the fiberglass front to the car... and that pretty much sums it up. The catch is that you would need to introduce a curved recessed area underneath where the projector sticks out from the fiberglass surface so that it flows around the projector lense...but that can be done after.
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Goodluck  Sorry about the other headlight 
I can't wait to see progress on these bad boys 
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You will HAVE to use hella 90mm's. They are the only truley sealed projector available. otherwise, you wont be able to use fiberglass. Good luck  It's always nice to see someone trying something different, which is why I went with a Bosch projector instead of the 'tried and true' hella 90's. Just make sure you can keep things the same on both sides
Alex
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Originally posted by Goonz SVT:
If you are doing all that work on a customized headlight like that, then dont go with Hella 90mm. You should go with more of a Valeo or Stanley (TSX) projector yet using the hella 90mm in ur highs. Or you can go bi-xenon using just one projector, there are endless possibilities..
I would but as Pudmunkie put it...
Originally posted by Pudmunkie:
You will HAVE to use hella 90mm's. They are the only truley sealed projector available. otherwise, you wont be able to use fiberglass.
Originally posted by Pudmunkie:
Just make sure you can keep things the same on both sides
Yes this will be the difficult part. Especially with the parking light holes being they are at an angle.
-Mike
98 Contour SVT
Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97
WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower
85 Camaro
1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
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Originally posted by m4gician:
I was wondering where this project went. So you're going to be using fibreglass? That sounds interesting, I'll get right to it, is it feasible and affordable to have this done? Is this a DIY thing? Btw, keep up the good work,
Yes the plan is to use fiberglass. As far as being feasible and affordable that is the plan. If I can successfully create a mold then repeatability will be possible. Is this a DIY thing... no. The plan is once I make the process work for me I should be able to produce something and be able to provide it as a bolt on for people if there is interest. I would only do that if I was satisfied with the quality of it. I'm not running a business here so I'd have to worry about people reacting the same way they did to Milan when he did this for people. Grant it if I remember right he was charging somewhere in the range of $1k for what he did. I would hope to be able to offer these for $100 or less assuming you provide your own 90mm Hella units. That would just really cover materials and my time really/ I would most likely offer the parking lights as well(seeing how I'm going to have to make them) unless you want to try and build/buy your own.
However I don't want to even consider the sale of these or contemplate how much they are worth. This post was just started to see what people thought of my ideas and to provide feedback/opinions on the matter.
I will continue to post my progress with this and provide pictures as things move on. Thanks for the comments/opinions and motivation.
-Mike
98 Contour SVT
Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97
WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower
85 Camaro
1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
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People gawked at the 1k+ price tag of projectors milan was offering, but had no idea what was involved. If half of the people that said they were too much would have tried it themselves they would realize what all is involved. When I build headlights for people, it ends up being 1k+ also, but more then half of that is built into supplies and parts. I cant imagine this whole thing would be 'easy' for you to set up, so I dont see 100$ being feasible. You may think it is, but after the 3rd set or so you're going to hate yourself 
Alex
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Well one thing to remember is that about $300-400 of that is the cost of the projectors. I've been researching quite a bit about mold making and I think I can pull this off. There is a lot of time involved in using the factory headlights and converting them into projector holding headlights. That is why I am trying to make a "replacement" for the headlight housing in itself. If I can successfully make a prototype of a projector holding lense and housing which is a stand alone piece and can bolt on in the place of the headlight, then make a mold of it and recreate it then everyone that wants to can enjoy projectors without having to cut or bake and cannibalize there factory headlights. All they would have to do is simply unbolt their existing headlights and bolt these in, done deal.
I will just have to put in A LOT of time up front in creating the prototype and making the mold. Once that is completed... smooth sailing from what I see. I don't recall ever saying that this whole process would be easy because I think that is far from the truth and I also don't think it will be cheap. Although I'm not thinking about cost at this point either. I just want to see if I can do it. If I can then I'll starting thinking about what they are worth and what I can offer them for, but my goal is to be substantially less then what people have been doing them for in the past.
-Mike
98 Contour SVT
Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97
WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower
85 Camaro
1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
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Make sure you mount the Hella's as close as possible to the front of the housing or the pattern will reflect off of the little tubes you have made. Maybe even go so far as making the tubes a bit more conical with rounded edges on the outside. That was always a problem when I had a setup like this on my `96.
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I thought of doing this.....
My final idea was to make something based off of the OEM bezel that would either be designed to totally ditch the OEM lense, or to be able to mount underneath it for an OEM look. Either case, it would mount to the OEM housing which would make it easier to build and easier to make fit correctly.
Just an idea....
2005 Ford F150 SuperCab FX4
1964 Chevrolet Impala SS
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Originally posted by Swazo:
My final idea was to make something based off of the OEM bezel that would either be designed to totally ditch the OEM lense, or to be able to mount underneath it for an OEM look.
This was my original idea. However the more I thought about it this would pose a problem. The piece would have to fit exactly as the OEM lense did. Plus it's no longer a lightweight plastic lense as you have projectors mounted to it, which would make it more likely to want to fall away from the OEM housing after you affixed it to the housing again. Doing it that way would also require you to re-seal the replacement lense to the OEM housing. This means that 1. the projectors would have to fit in the OEM housing completely or 2. you would have to cut the backs of the OEM housing to support length of the projector housings, which requires some modification to the OEM housings. Which is what wanted to get away from. Unless of course you mouned the projectors to the OEM housing, which I don't want to do.
Bottomline is that making a stand alone replacement for the headlights would be easier then trying to modify the OEM headlights, in my opinion that is.
-Mike
98 Contour SVT
Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97
WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower
85 Camaro
1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
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Using the Hella projectors, you'd be able to ditch the lense, which would look much better IMO. If you made it with the same mounting points as the OEM bezel, yes... the housing would have to be modified to mount the projectors. That idea is what I would have liked to do with my headlights, but instead.... I came up with a 2 part combo to get the same idea across. Only this way was too delicate to leave exposed without the OEM housing.  Using the OEM bezel, you could get an almost OEM looking setup with a better turn signal and ready to have the 90mm Hella's installed into the OEM housing. You could offer the service of installing them, or you could even just sell the bezel. Once a mold was made, you could offer them in FG, CF or ever kevlar 
2005 Ford F150 SuperCab FX4
1964 Chevrolet Impala SS
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I think the one piece mold is better. Some of us are plug & play CEG'ers and as much as we would love to experiment with the lights we realize that time, money and skill is limited so we don't f around... Do away with the big hazy plastic lens!!! We must be free someday!
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Originally posted by Swazo:
Using the Hella projectors, you'd be able to ditch the lense, which would look much better IMO.
If you made it with the same mounting points as the OEM bezel, yes... the housing would have to be modified to mount the projectors.
That idea is what I would have liked to do with my headlights, but instead.... I came up with a 2 part combo to get the same idea across. Only this way was too delicate to leave exposed without the OEM housing.
Using the OEM bezel, you could get an almost OEM looking setup with a better turn signal and ready to have the 90mm Hella's installed into the OEM housing. You could offer the service of installing them, or you could even just sell the bezel.
Once a mold was made, you could offer them in FG, CF or ever kevlar
I like what you have shown there. However I think making a mold of the bezel would prove to be more difficult and the quality wouldn't be that easy to come by and repeatability would be an issue.
The end idea was to just sell the lense empty without projectors. Also I found a company that sells fiberglass woven and dyed to simulate a 3K carbonfiber. I believe if I start to make these I will have that as an option to people, but because they have to do more to the material it obviously costs more, but it's still half the cost of real carbonfiber.
-Mike
98 Contour SVT
Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97
WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower
85 Camaro
1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
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yea, runnin 90mm enables u to use no lens which is perfec cause you wont have to worry about sealing issues..
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I really don't like the small projector with a big plastic housing... I do like Swazo's setup, but not the turn signals... What I think would look best if you're designing your own headlights is something like the Morettes, but using projectors. What I mean by that is, there is a projector, but also a larger round lens to take up more space (a'la BMW style):  Like use the BMW sytle low beam as your low beam, and find some other [slightly smaller] optic to use as your high beam... I can tell you that Morette has Valeo and Hella optics in the Morettes they test fit on my car... Morette High beam optic: .jpg) Click for 1600x1200 full sizeMorette low beam optic: .jpg) Click for 1600x1200 full size
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im still trying to see what bulb type the low beams are, they look H7 while the Highs are H3 for sure..or appear so 
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That last pic was early on into my fitment stage, here are some after I used black hardware and tinted the turn signals to go along better with everything.....  
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Originally posted by Goonz SVT:
im still trying to see what bulb type the low beams are, they look H7 while the Highs are H3 for sure..or appear so
Looking up "GE 50440U" tells me the low beams are H4 bulbs.
BTW: this is what is printed on them: "GE H4 12V 60/55W 50440U (E1) 207 HUNGARY C"
Found that on the last post on this thread.
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Originally posted by Big Daddy Kane:
Originally posted by Goonz SVT:
im still trying to see what bulb type the low beams are, they look H7 while the Highs are H3 for sure..or appear so
Looking up "GE 50440U" tells me the low beams are H4 bulbs.
BTW: this is what is printed on them: "GE H4 12V 60/55W 50440U (E1) 207 HUNGARY C"
Found that on the last post on this thread.
H4!! daayeeeeeeem!
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Originally posted by Goonz SVT:
Originally posted by Big Daddy Kane:
Originally posted by Goonz SVT:
im still trying to see what bulb type the low beams are, they look H7 while the Highs are H3 for sure..or appear so
Looking up "GE 50440U" tells me the low beams are H4 bulbs.
BTW: this is what is printed on them: "GE H4 12V 60/55W 50440U (E1) 207 HUNGARY C"
Found that on the last post on this thread.
H4!! daayeeeeeeem!
Is that good or bad?
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Originally posted by Big Daddy Kane:
Originally posted by Goonz SVT:
Originally posted by Big Daddy Kane:
Originally posted by Goonz SVT:
im still trying to see what bulb type the low beams are, they look H7 while the Highs are H3 for sure..or appear so
Looking up "GE 50440U" tells me the low beams are H4 bulbs.
BTW: this is what is printed on them: "GE H4 12V 60/55W 50440U (E1) 207 HUNGARY C"
Found that on the last post on this thread.
H4!! daayeeeeeeem!
Is that good or bad?
well H4/9003 is almost new technology that offers brighter output then say 9006/9005..
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Hey Swazo...
I may have asked you this before, but how much of a gap was there when you had the housings on with no lenses? Did they look horribly mis-fitted, or could you get away with going sans-lens?
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I think it should have a lens. Lenses are cool (minus the hazing).
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What's going on with this projector prototype. I think it's moving way faster than the morettes. Once it's a go then I want to possibly invest in a pair...
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Trying to determine the most feasibly way to create a worth while mold. Materials are kinds of spendy so I want to make sure I do it right the first time.
-Mike
98 Contour SVT
Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97
WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower
85 Camaro
1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
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Originally posted by Rayn:
I think it's moving way faster than the morettes.
This made me LOL. Besides a drawing I dont think its gone anywhere! At least Morettes exist.
In any case, Im not holding my breath for either to come to light.
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Neither are on my car yet....  I got my money on my fellow CEG'er though.. Only family can understand the pain...
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