New Retrofitsource FX-R Projectors

[jdemara]

Hey all,

Just received my new FX-R D2S projector retrofit kit. Thought I would share some photos of it. I will post some pics as I fit these into the housings - clearance will be tight, as well as some finished product pictures next week sometime. Super excited to get these in.

For those who haven't heard of it, http://www.theretrofitsource.com is a great site for HID's and projector retrofit kits, so have a look!

^Example of cutoff line. Just using a Cree LED flashlight aimed through the projector lens.

 

[shaeff]

I'm dead in the middle of a 7x6 FXr retrofit for my Pickup. (uses the same headlights as the Supra) All I bought from TRS was the projectors, though, as I had everything else already. They're awesome to deal with for sure.

I've got my housings modified already, just need to adjust rotation of each projector with the lights installed, solid mount them, and seal them. My digicam is dead, though, so I don't have any decent pics.

 

[GrimJack]

Damn, you should have bought mine! Could have saved a few $$$...

Still, maybe I'll get off my ass, and retrofit the 7m car too.

 

[shaeff]

Dave, you've still got them!? Crap! I'd have bought them from you in a heartbeat if I'd known you still had them!

Edit: My reason for doing a retro in the Pickup, is because I did a full OEM FX35 retro in my M3, and when jumping back and forth between the two vehicles in the summer, it made me despise night driving in the pickup even with rewired Hella E-codes running Osram Nightbreakers.

 

[jdemara]

Damn, you should have bought mine! Could have saved a few $$$...

Still, maybe I'll get off my ass, and retrofit the 7m car too.

They are FX-R? Too late anyways - you SHOULD retrofit the 7m car as well!

I have read briefly on the forums that the Mini D2s fit with about 1/2 inch of clearance behind them to the rad support, and the FX-R are 1/2 longer than the mini D2s. So some trimming of the "headlight basket"? is required, and possibly the rad support. I want to stay away from eating away at the rad support though...

 

[SupraPieces]

How much you want for yours?

 

[whitehat89]

Subscribed! I want to do this to my car!

 

[Poodles]

Definately gonna have to hack the core support.

 

[hvyman]

Mine was bent to fit the tsx or tl projectors in my car.

 

[airhead04]

Poodles, you going to be making any more of your setups?

 

[jdemara]

Well, I am probably going to have to space them forward 1/2", and "bend" or "hack" the rad support to make them fit. Is there any real negative to cutting into or bending the core support? Will it really make any difference to the structural integrity of the car?

It would be kinda cool to be able to just have the projector fitted within the headlight cavity, with no actual 6x7 housing, and custom fabricate some sort of surrounding to fill the gap around the projector itself - so it is flush all around. Hard to explain, but I'm sure some of you can visualize what I mean.

 

[Poodles]

Poodles, you going to be making any more of your setups?

Eventually, just haven't had time.

 

[shaeff]

Well, I am probably going to have to space them forward 1/2", and "bend" or "hack" the rad support to make them fit. Is there any real negative to cutting into or bending the core support? Will it really make any difference to the structural integrity of the car?

It would be kinda cool to be able to just have the projector fitted within the headlight cavity, with no actual 6x7 housing, and custom fabricate some sort of surrounding to fill the gap around the projector itself - so it is flush all around. Hard to explain, but I'm sure some of you can visualize what I mean.

Build yourself a vacuum table and the possibilities are endless. It's pretty easy, actually. I've got a good how-to bookmarked on my home PC. I'll post it up later.

 

[jdemara]

Here is a couple of pics of some progress...

Did some test fitting today, had to take the top piece off the headlight (painted cover) and do some trimming and cutting of the plastic and metal underneath. Will have to space the headlights out about 5/8 of an inch forward. And, unfortunately, I am going to have to remove the headlight assemblies and cut into the rad support...

These are Lordco housings, and they are actually made REALLY well. The shell is a fairly thick metal, and the glass fronts were siliconed on so well, it took 4 days to finally get them off. Talk about a lot of work!!

 

[jdemara]

Projector setup is finally finished. Very happy with the look and the output.
Here are some pics...

Fitting...

More fitting. Had to take out the whole headlight assembly to do a bunch of trimming. The FX-R is a TIGHT fit.

Installed...

Cutoff line...

Cutoff line...

Lowbeam inside the car...

Highbeam inside the car...

 

[GrimJack]

So... how much mashing about was required in the end?

 

[jdemara]

Take off the shroud around the headlights.
Take off the top painted headlight covers.
Remove the whole assembly on each side (motor and all)
Cut and notch out the thick grey plastic casing (on top)
Cut part of the bottom out on the metal headlight basket to allow room for where the solenoid sticks out on the bottom of the projector.
Cut and notch into the rad support to allow room for the bulb connector to sit when retracted.

To sum that up, basically just a 2" wide cut and remove from the top, all the way back to the core support. Took about 5.5 hours.
I am trying to decide if it would be wise or not to reinforce the upper rad support now. It is still fully in tact, but with a square chunk cut out of it.

 

[GrimJack]

Did you space the lights out from the stock location at all?

 

[jdemara]

About 1/2" yes. More so because of the way they fit into the metal headlight basket, not so much because of the lack of clearance against the rad support when the lights are down (now that the support has been cut).

There is absolutely no way to fit these FX-R's without cutting into the rad support. And if there is, somebody should have showed me beforehand - cuz I tried! :icon_razz