**EDIT** Night Shots added to bottom of the post

First off, I am new here, and a relatively new Raider/Montero owner. I sold my evo because I wanted something more practical......right.... actually I sold it because I didn't want a car payment anymore, and I was bored.

I actually enjoy the raider more than the evo...

I don't know if this is considered appropriate content for this forum, it isn't directly technical, or a directly "practical" mod - but it sure does light up the road better.

This is my first retrofit, and probably won't be doing too many more, way too frustrating for me.

And sorry - I didn't take pictures during the process, only of the finished product. *beat me*

I purchased the Stage IV kit from TRS, w/shroud delete. Fast shipping, and great customer service - they more than tolerated my newbie dumb questions, they led me in the right direction. I've already referred a few friends their way.

First thing I did, was pull out the lens so I could paint the shields amber/orange. I know some people have recommended VHT - but I had a terrible experience with it. With or without primer - it just pooled up on the shield, and wouldn't stick. Basically, I ended up having to spray, and grab my heat gun and bake it on nearly immediately. This ended up bubbling the paint. Luckily, with the lens on - you would have to be inches away to be able to notice the crappy paint job on the shield. So, I was able to achieve the desired effect in the end. *shrug*

I purchased an ebay 7" round kit, the one with the projector (because it was the cheapest) - in hindsight, I could have just bought the regular ones. First one I pulled out of the box, I dropped it from a grand height of 4" on my table, and the glass broke. *pissed*

The second one, followed the oven process, and the glass came right off. I used the first one to play around with - found out that a sawzall is a poor choice. The fiberglass will rip and crack pretty quickly. Hacksaw is the way to go, then orbital to grind it down to the correct diameter.

If the surface you are working on is level, then as you are sanding it down, make sure to verify that the opening is level. After the opening was just wide enough to slide the projector with retaining ring in, I applied silicone gasket gel (form-a-gasket) to the base of the housing, and pressed it into the 7" round fiberglass bucket. (I had taped off the lens first) Waited for that to set, then applied plastic weld epoxy to the edges on the back. That seems to hold pretty well.

Once those were set, I primered the buckets (2 coats), then applied 3 coats of Krylon flat black.

While those were drying, I installed the harness and screwed down the ballasts. They fit right underneath the projector housings - hopefully this isn't a bad place for them.

While my front grill and light housings were pulled off, I painted them semi-flat black as well.

There is only one "before" photo - unfortunately. I just finished it yesterday, so I have to wait until later to finalize the aiming, it is a bit off right now - but I won't blind anyone (i think).

The steel cable you see that appears to be supporting the projector housing - it isn't. It is a backup. in the case that those plastic welds don't hold up, or i hit a speed bump too fast - i wanted something in place to protect it from just falling.

also, i decided to use plexiglass as a shield instead of the original 7" round glass - because I kept breaking them when I would try to pry them out. (yes, I followed the 15 minutes in the oven process) I think this looks better anyways. The cuts aren't perfect, so I'm going to find a place that has hardened Lexan (MR10-112), and hopefully they can cut it perfect for me.

Glad to be done with this - i'm quite incompetent with tools, and this took me entirely too long and i got way to frustrated.

but i'm happy with the end result.

BEFORE



AFTER



















[img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_...AAAAAAAfQ/1XEAHYwasVQ/s912/frontside.jpg[/img]

Night Shots

Night Shots

[img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_...AAAAAg8/yogRjApuvtw/s640/front.night.JPG[/img]

[img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_A7jqpXqpoik/TWxZ_vSNUoI/AAAAAAAAAhE/y_ylxXnPiP0/s640/single.JPG[/img]

[img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_...AAAAhM/CZtvtS8XJ6w/s640/front.night2.JPG[/img]

[img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_...AhU/B6Q_jhazYrQ/s640/frontside.night.JPG[/img]

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_A7jqpXqpoik/TWxaQKeaGuI/AAAAAAAAAhY/fB8XvylZ3I8/s640/cutoff2.JPG[/img]

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_...AAAAAAhk/rTESM0Zb2C8/s640/side.night.JPG[/img]

[img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_A7jqpXqpoik/TWxagVPS9II/AAAAAAAAAho/FFtozgAYaDs/s640/cutoff3.JPG[/img]

[img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_...Ahw/IDb94Imbu5g/s640/frontsidenight3.JPG[/img]

[img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_A7jqpXqpoik/TWxZ9TlSPNI/AAAAAAAAAg4/Y8BXw_iHy1Y/s640/cutoff1.JPG[/img]

That looks freaky a little bit! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Nice work and welcome to the wire!

Welcome and awesome to see a modification as your 1st post... but you forgot one very important thing... what is the functional result? Does it light better than stock? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I also ask because I've always heard these kinds of kits usually forego being tested for their light pattern and in many cases end up easily blinding other drivers at night. Did you check that your setup won't do that? Not so much to be kind to other drivers but more importantly so they don't cause an accident right in front of you. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

i'm glad someone brought this up - because I hate when i see someone on the road with a terrible headlight modification. they are a hazard.

this kit contains all oem parts - which also means it is NOT cheap. but it also means that when I am finished aiming it (i by default aimed it very low just so i wouldn't accidentally blind anyone.) - it will be as good as any new vehicle out there with HID's in a projector, ie: bmw's, mercedes benz, infiniti, acura, etc.

like any quality HID kit, they have a cutoff shield inside the projector housing, and using a projector focuses the beam rather than scattering and causing ridiculous glare. this one is a bi-xenon kit, meaning it has a solenoid that pulls the shield down when you flick your brights, meaning the cutoff is actually higher.

unfortunately, i never took any "before" light output photos - but I can take some photos with my '67 gmc that has similar round halogens, and the output was about the same.

i'll go to a business parking lot tonight, and park about 30 ft out - and make sure that my cutoff is no higher than 28" on the wall.

then if i park further away, i need to make sure that the line doesn't creep up - and it shouldn't since from the ground to the center of the lens is about 33".

otherwise, i'll mark off 26" and hit that.

not scientific by any means, but since the cutoff is pretty sharp, i will be able to tell when i am driving if the light is going above other drivers mid-door on cars - like miata's and the like.

but yes, it is important to me that I am not a hazard to other drivers, and good to hear that people on this board have that same ethic as well.

Nice mod. Not knowing much about lights, how do the HID's compare to a Hella H4 conversion? HID's can produce more light with less power(from what I've read) but if that wasn't a deciding factor, are there additional advantages? btw, welcome to the wire <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

the general numbers you will find floating out there is that a 35watt HID bulb puts out about 3 times as much usable light as a 55watt halogen. (i don't know that to be true) and there are 50watt HID's for sale now. I purchased the 35watt, because as far as I know, no US vehicles ever came with anything more - I also chose the 4300k color, because that is also what comes stock. There are a few vehicles that come with 5000k, but they are too blue in my opinion. White is easier on the eyes anyways. I have problems with night vision, and the halogens just weren't cutting it - even though they may also be rated at 4300/4500k - halogens are significantly more "yellow" than pure-white HID's. The pure white (for me) means I can actually see the road and objects.

it is for most, a "cosmetic mod". For off-roading, I think you would probably also want hella h4's mounted either on the roof or front grill as flood lights - because you wouldn't be worried about blinding anyone. HID's in projector housing are focused and aim-able, probably not all that useful when you and your vehicle are at a 45 degree angle (up or down). <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Nice cutoff pattern and good choice in not being sucked in by the higher Kelvin/bluer light is better stupidity. It isn't. Performance auto makers would be using them if they were. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />