2000_MAXIMA_KING

iTrader: (30)

I used high temp engine paint when doing mine since I was putting them in the oven and it came out great on my old max, used the dupli-color stuff from oreillys.

2000_MAXIMA_KING

iTrader: (30)

Btw I did no sanding but i recommend you do since while putting them back together the first time some of the paint on the corners chipped off so I had to redo them.

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

^^Good to note, thanks
I will take as many pics as I can for you, I am in no way making this a how to. But it's how I'm going to do it. Lol if that makes sense. This is my first attempt to take what I say with a grain of salt.

VisciousMo

iTrader: (4)

How hard was it to pry the headlights apart and at what part of it did you do it? I'm scared that I will break something if I try too hard.

Took this pic, Aackshun's AE'd headlights.



Aaron+Nate by VisciousMo, on Flickr

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Ummmm....Granted Carfax's prices have gone up ($45 for 5 reports) but Autocheck is $45 for unlimited reports for a month. I used Autocheck on the last vehicle I bought (and all the potential cars too). If you were smart, you would have gone this route and saved yourself from buying this car. I think you're just sore that you've been burned and bought a car with high mileage and has coolant and oil leaks, when that was actually what you wanted to avoid from the beginning.

Pinching pennies to pay child support, yet flaunting all the crap you've been buying. Gimme a break. Speakers, headlights for a retro, AFC, LED's....are all unnecessary and unrelated to reliability and maintenance.. I see you have your priorities straight.

And yes, I have Carfax's and Autocheck's on ALL 8 vehicles that I currently own. So please STFU n00bcakes.

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

Like I said GTFO if you have nothing positive to say. A few leds lights to replace the burnt out bulbs that cost nothing big deal. Headlights to replace the ones with broken clips? Yep that was a mistake
So I got a set of projectors for CHEAP. What I'm not allowed to do upgrades.
A coolant leak and oil leak are no big deal to fix. I just wish I would have known about the mileage, it's really not that big of an issue.
And as far as everything else goes I'm trying to make a reliable car to take my daughter to and from. My child support is paid in full every month without any troubles. Like I said I'm pinching pennies on a budget for fixing the car.
Yes sue me for buying a $55 safc and turning it for a $75 profit. Oh noes that was a bad idea. Guess what? I have 2 more lined up for $55-$75 that I will flip for a profit.
Somehow I really doubt you did a carfax or autocheck on every car you purchase and I could honestly care less. This thread has nothing to do with you so please butt out.
N00b, oh hardly. Why because I don't have many posts? I've been here since 05. Yes I forgot just because someone doesn't post much and they have been here for awhile means they are a n00b.

99greddymax

iTrader: (7)

.....

bkbajan

this is getting serious..

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

Yes it's kind of a big pain in the butt to get the headlight apart. I never did this before. I put the oven at 350 and put it in there for a good 3-4 min and tried to peel it apart, if no luck i put it back in for a minute. (this time with the oven off but still warm) and back and forth.

So I started with my crap dremel last night and didn't get very far.


Here is the integra light out of the housing


And some cutting and trimming.

defiance

iTrader: (1)

Yeah Wiz is acting like an @*&hole harping on Gamble pretty ferociously but gamble can take care of him.


Back on topic, I'm really interested to see how these headlights are going to turn out using Integra projectors..

maximus nismo

iTrader: (3)

Like I said before

aackshun

iTrader: (3)

If you think the headlights are hard, I hope you won't fool w/ the fog lights then.

I found the headlights extremely easy to take apart following digital's writeup on vqpower.

Fog lights... ugh....

Glad you got things rollin!

2000_MAXIMA_KING

iTrader: (30)

Bro don't even feed into that guys BS. Go along and do what you do and continue with the projectors

2000_MAXIMA_KING

iTrader: (30)

No wander it was hard for you guys!!! When I did my headlights I put them in the oven for 12 minutes each at 400 degrees and the came right apart actually to make it easier the second time I think I left them in their for a whole 15 minutes and they came right apart without any hassle what so ever didn't even need to pry.

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys. I had the integra headlight in the oven for probably 6-7min total at 350 and the bottom of the light melted, got all flimsy and is stuck to my rack now. But I put it on the 2nd rack from the bottom.
No big deal, it will burn off.
I moved the projector project to my parents house as they have more bench room and a heated garage compared to my icebox.
A few things to note about the integra headlights. They are made for 1000 lumens, which is a lot less than HIDs put out. Integra guys still do retro fits for that nice sharp cut off. They are also not bi-xenon. They don't have the selinoid that flips when you hit the high beams.
I did my research and found a few pics of members who had an hid kit in their stock integra and they still got a nice cut off. There were lots of pics on team-integra.com
I remember having an ok cut off on my hid kit on my integra but that was years ago. Also my integra and the lights I have are from a 94-97. The 98+ were a lot better. Why? I have no idea but they were more in demand for sure. So they aren't ideal for projectors, however they are far better than stock and will not glare like stockers do into oncoming traffic.
I've never seen a headlight that had such bad lightout as this car and my eclipse. Hence why I'm doing the retrofit and going with a 5000k hid kit to increase visibility.
So like I said they are not ideal projectors but keeping a budget in mind I think they will work out great. I got both headlights for 60. I asked him if he would ship them for 70 and he did. Can't really beat that deal, let's just hope they turn out good.



Well I'm working about 20 hours today so no time for much at all. Decided to take a spare few minutes and swap out my 4led bulbs in the gauge cluster for the 5 way. FINALLY, no hot spots.

I don't have to do the led needles either, but if I get a spare cluster I may play around.
(They are brighter than the picture shows)
Now what do I do with these spare 4 way led bulbs....and a few minutes of boredom.
Well let's put one here:


Not what I expected that is for sure. I'll put this on my list of things to do so they all light up equally.
I'll throw some in the front doors since that takes a minute if that. And now I have 2 spares.

Door pic.

And now off to bed, gotta be back at work at 2am. I have the day off tomorrow so hopefully I can get work done on my girls car and then work on mine again.

defiance

iTrader: (1)

Not bad not bad at all !! I have the same bulbs as you but a cool white color and mine came out like this.

cormasco

Did you just spray it with brake parts cleaner? Think I need to clean one of mine.

maximilia

iTrader: (4)

Keep at it Gamble. Your gauge cluster looks much better, I may do mine now.

Defiance, your's look great too, is that a night picture?

shadyonedeath

iTrader: (10)

While I do agree he should be prioritizing his spending, I don't agree you should judge a man for keeping his hobby's alive due to his financial circumstances. What's the point in living if you can't live doing the things you love?


Wizard, such a financially well off individual like yourself, however you got there, should really just keep your non-maxima related opinions to yourself. Apparently from your point of view, only the rich may support hobby's and the rest of us can carry on living miserably because we survive paycheck to paycheck.

Ain't that a *****.

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

^^Thanks

Yes I did. I'm trying to see who has hawk pads for a good price and I'll be doing the fronts pretty soon. Next week or two.

It looks a lot better now, I'm happy with it. $7ish on ebay, can't beat it. I had the white bulbs before and didn't care for it, I needed some color.
But it does look good.

Reece616

iTrader: (3)

what led bulbs did you use for the gauges?
could you provide a link?
i've been following your thread, but i didn't see any mention of it.
Thanks.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

wish i could do some LEDs...just to lazy to learn right now. love your dash man

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

These are what I bought
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...#ht_3229wt_941

The bulb is a hair on the big side so you have to angle it in and spin it and they will slip right in.
Thanks

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

Had some time before court today so I did some more cutting.


And court went to ****. Here is a tip, never get married. The day is still young so maybe some good can come out of it, I'm going to do more work on this light today.

whiteSE

iTrader: (2)

sucks to hear about your mariage. hopefully u get that taken care of.

but i like threads like this...they are intresting, and ppl want to see these kinds of threads....

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

Ya **** happens.
Ok so trimmed the outside of the light some more.


Got a huge tube for $14.99 at autozone of jb weld. Headlight there for size reference.


Size of the standard 9006 bulb hole, maybe we can change this to accept a 9004. Will come back to it later.
Ever wonder what gives it a sharp cut off?
Here you go.


Making a bigger hole


Test fitting. Cutting and test fittings. Back and forth.


Cut the bottom tab off the shroud to see what it would look like in the headlight otherwise it was too big.


Using a towel to hold it up.
Opinions? With or without?


Slightly turned


Aluminum tape on the projector to help reflection


Hole from the back side


See how it says TOP, make sure that is facing the top.


Black silicone to hold it in place. Will use JB weld later.
I chose to use the silicone for now because of some of the rather large holes around the light. It was easier to cover instead of trying to spread JB weld around.


Going to let it dry and cut away at the other light.


Edit: That was short lived. Project on hold, I'm out of dremel bits lol.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

looking freaking awesome dude...i'm sorry about your marriage and what not too

cochisegsxr

nice work man , good job

maximus nismo

iTrader: (3)

Don't mean to thread jack but did you preheat the oven to 400 degrees before the 12 min bake time, and did you do 1 light at a time?

maximus nismo

iTrader: (3)

Gamble ,thanks for the continued documentation of your light retro. I appreciate it.

2000_MAXIMA_KING

iTrader: (30)

Yea and Yea.

maxsmooth

Looking good man, can't wait to see em when they're all together. You gonna AE em?

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

I will probably AE them when it's all done. Unless I decide to go all black, but not sure yet.

So I found the pain in the *** part. The black silicone wasn't silicone, I grabbed the wrong tube. Oops. lol it was roof sealant. My dad has a whole drawer full of caulk and other ****. So I went over it with JB weld and that was a pain in the *** as you can't move the headlight without the projector moving.
Tried a little clear silicone in the front at the back but eh wasn't a good idea. Good thing you can't see it. Can you spot it?


Decided to cover the whole back with clear silicone


And smooth it out with a piece of cardboard from the jb weld box.


Not to sure if this part was a mistake or not, but I will check on it tomorrow after work. That should give it a full 24hours to cure and hopefully I can still adjust the angle.
Wish me luck.


Also if anyone knows how to remove the black back piece of the headlight that would really help me out a lot.

Car got 20.5mpg with 37psi in the tires. Before it was 19.x with 29psi. On the hunt for better gas milage little at a time.

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

Went to the p's house after work to see how the headlight dried. It's all dry and has some "slight" play because silicone is flexible. Is this normal?

Anyway I added a little more and put some small metal pieces in there to reinforce it once it drys. Just like rebar works on concrete roads that they use on the highway. Ever wonder what that green bar is? Yep, rebar, to reinforce the concrete.

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

Anyone want dinner, I'm cooking headlight.


My little helper, Roxie.




I put the oven at 350 and waited 1 minute while I unboxed the headlight and put it in the oven for 5.5 minutes. It was long enough to melt a thin piece of plastic at the bottom but not hot enough to peel the lens off easily. It was a *****. If you can get someone to help you and you pull apart the lens and have someone cut the grey silicone it will help it come apart.

The sides of these things are very weak and this one cracked too. Nothing that jb weld can't fix but still sucks.


My led map light came in today. Getting it up in that little hole sucks. Put it in and it tripped the 7.5 fuse. Replaced the fuse and the light went on and off really quick. I don't feel light fighting with it looking straight up. Next time I'm in the car I will.

2000_MAXIMA_KING

iTrader: (30)

Dude put a wet towel on the pan under the headlight no wonder your melting it with little heat and short time you have plastic on metal you nut!

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

lol someone else just told me that. I didn't even think of that.
Do you guys bake the lights when sealing them back up?

Btw, headers and y pipe should be here middle of next week.

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

Found out that one of the lens's was cracked.



Not much I can do about it at this point unless I find another headlight for cheap.

So thus far the hardest part is putting the 2nd headlight together and getting it even with the first one. I was counting the squares on the chrome background which you sholdn't do because they are not the same on each light. Go figure.
I tired to measure and couldn't because the way the projector is. They are not A symetrical.

So I eyeballed it and I'm pretty damn close if I don't say so myself. Well I think, but I do have 1 bad eye so who knows. I put the bezel on and put the lense on just to take a pic and see what it looks like. Whatever silicone the factory uses is crazy because it stuck the lens on pretty ****ing tight and cracked the other side of the headlight housing. (jb weld, no biggie)
I tried to jb weld this projector in, but I can't figure out how you people do it with the headlight laying flat how it is (like in the pics) So back at it with silicone again I go.

Here is what it will look like when it's done. Can someone photoshop this in black for me, I can't decide what to do. Also if you look at the sides you can see the aluminum tape and bolts on the projector, but I don't think anyone will be looking that close.




And the other one is drying.

Gamble

iTrader: (1)

So remember those pieces we cut out of the stock headlights? These hold the stock 9004 headlights.


The one on the left is how I cut it out; the one on the right is trimmed.


Then remove this black thing, whatever it is. I didn't see a use for it. 2 bolts snapped and 1 stripped so I used my dremel and cut it off.


Trim and test fit. Trim and test fit some more. Tried to make it as round as possible so it's easy to work with.


Slap some JB weld on there. Enough to hold it in place for now and I'll do a heavier coat when it's back on it's side. So now the 9006 to 9004 conversion is done.

JNCoRacer

iTrader: (6)

Nice progress thread!

First off, I'd like to sympathize with you about your divorce. I'm going throw the same thing so I know how it is. Getting stressed and dealing with it by modding...on a budget. Im totally with you.

So, being in your shoes...and knowing my way around budget mods, I have some tips on the projectors. I used similar ones, J30's. (BTW 1st gen Lexus SC300-430 projectors are identical but not dual. Running those now.)

1.) The hole in the back of the headlight you cut looks way to big, which is why you had to use so much sealant.
2.) Not removing the black headlight bracket and siliconing it to the headlight will come back to bite you in the ***. You have to have that free movement to be able to aim the lights. It shuldve been separated from the light while you were working on it.
3.) Using the 9004 socket stuck on the 9006 projector end will not help your light output. The 9006 socket is so deep as it is, it doesnt let as much of the bulb reflect on the projectors reflector cup.
4.) You couldve painted the projector with some chrome spray paint instead of covering it with tape. Less chance of heat causing the adhesive from pulling it apart.
5.) I like the inverted shroud idea. Definitely unique. Looks good.

Ok, #5's not a tip. I think I just slammed on you on 4 different things. Figured a little encouragement was necessary.
The good part is, is that if you dont like how it turns out, or any of my 4 tips reveal some problems, its totally fixable and you wont be out a bunch of money.