Cleans Official Retrofit Thread. Pictures of Work.
- Thread starter cleangtp
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BoostJunki3
Needs A Turbo
lookin good man i want some mori5k bulbs now lol my ddm bulbs suck ass they have some weird yellow shyt in them.....makes my lights yellowish at the cutoff GAY
cleangtp
Banned
I've got the shrouds and housings done, well besides painting which 1st coat is drying as we speak. Another coat of hi temp black enamel and I'll be doing 1 last test fit with everything locked down.
I've came to the conclusion that its way easier to just use a large cone bit to remove the cross beam. If I have any it's minimal, very minimal.
The morimoto bulbs are way better than ddm, only thing I'd use from ddm is the ballasts. I get morimoto bulbs pretty cheap actually and will continue to use them in the future until someone shows me a better H1 bulb.
Upon the 1st test fit I could drop my cutoff shield with my finger after the lights had been on for over 15 minutes. It was running much cooler than the DDM bulbs I used before. Don't get me wrong I'm not bad mouthing DDM for the price their kits are a great deal but I'd rather spend the money for better quality parts. I also will be switching to 880 morimoto bulbs. Cooler operating bulbs in the fogs is a must.
Swiggles
Donating User
could you explain this more? how did you remove the cross beam? grind the corners of the projector?
cleangtp
Banned
Looks great Brad..... making me wish I had a black gtp not a red one:th_laugh-lol2:i love them, this man does amazing work.
Tommyp2010
New member
Looks good Clean. These cars look really good with retros, especially the black one. You do make these for others right? I may have to contact you about this in the future (maybe a few months down the road). I basically gave up on the set I was making, gonna put them in the cobalt instead, lots more room to work with.
cleangtp
Banned
No you don't have to dremel or grind the corners of the projector. There's a raised ring inside the headlight lense once you open the lense and take out the oem bulb reflector/holder out you can see it much better. You have to take that ring out. I call it the "cross beam ring" since it's the reason the projectors point in. You don't have to take it all the way out but I do. You just have to be careful because if you enlarge the hole by taking the ring out to much then the projectors will stick thru the housing to far to lock the projector down using the lock ring. You pretty much have to just take that raised ring out and keep the hole somewhat perfectly round. I found the easiest and quickets way is a large cone bit and about 10,000rpm on the dremel.
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cleangtp
Banned
Here's the set I'm finishing up today, should be done sometime tonight. I have to bolt these into the headlight brackets for a final test fit, then proceed to crank down the lock ring. After that it's just resealing the lenses, cleaning and installing. I have working headlight brackets so I should be able to get the cutoff to be pretty perfect......
I really need to go purchase a better camera this 3.2 mp doesn't do these justice they look amazing in person. Notice I didn't black these housings out completely this time. I like the look, the shroud doesn't look out of place since it has the chrome backing. I'll switch it up or do whatever a customer requests. I can't even begin to explain how much work these actually are. I've been working on these off and on for over 3 days. It didn't help I cracked the lip on the bottom edge of the housing to start with which created a lot of extra work......
Here you see I cut the bottom of the housing this time directly behind the projector to fit the pnp bi-xenon solenoid wires thru. I don't like to make a hole this big however I will seal the hole with JB Stick it's a damn good product. You could cover it with foil tape but I feel more confident JB Stick will keep out ALL moisture.
I really need to go purchase a better camera this 3.2 mp doesn't do these justice they look amazing in person. Notice I didn't black these housings out completely this time. I like the look, the shroud doesn't look out of place since it has the chrome backing. I'll switch it up or do whatever a customer requests. I can't even begin to explain how much work these actually are. I've been working on these off and on for over 3 days. It didn't help I cracked the lip on the bottom edge of the housing to start with which created a lot of extra work......
Here you see I cut the bottom of the housing this time directly behind the projector to fit the pnp bi-xenon solenoid wires thru. I don't like to make a hole this big however I will seal the hole with JB Stick it's a damn good product. You could cover it with foil tape but I feel more confident JB Stick will keep out ALL moisture.
cleangtp
Banned
do you mean this ring thats part of the headlight, well at least on mine they are.
Yes swiggles but I'm guessing those are original OEM gm headlight because that ring doesn't look anything like the aftermarket headlights ring I've been dealing with. You want to knock out the edging around that hole. You see the 3 tabs where the stock bulb locks into place. Make it look like that all the way around. Do NOT go any bigger than where those tabs stop at the bottom edge or you will be bolting your projectors instead of being able to just lock them down via the lock ring.
Also you want to take a little more off the fender side of the ring as it should allow you to just use your adjusters to remove anymore cross beam but it will be minimal at this point. It lets the projector rotate towards the fender side of the housing.
You also have cut the housing flat in the back like in the picture above or you wont' get the lock ring and bulb holder on!
cleangtp
Banned
Pre-peeled lenses FTW :th_thumbsup-wink:
Take your time and I cannot stress this enough, test fit them 10 time's if you have to before you lock them down and put the lenses back on.
Paypal is [email protected] now that i've basically done a write up on how to do them for ya:th_laugh-lol2: $100 will suffice, jk! Honestly I know of 1 person that has successfully completed a retro on their first time and thats boostjunkie. Expect to be buying another pair of headlights just so you don't get upset if you mess them up.
RedDawnGXP
New member
Clean can you post a pic of the rear of your retro'd headlights? Just curious how you 97-03 guys seal the backs up.
cleangtp
Banned
Sure thing here ya go,
Notice I mount mine differently than most, I invert the belly of the 3 tab washer inside he belly of the housing, helps to center it better than mounting the 3 tab with raised part out. These aren't finished, dang college hoops keeping me from working on them......
I will RTV a nice bead around the backside of the 3 tab washer and a bead of RTV around the lock ring where it touches the washer. The inside is sealed with the big nylon washer they give you with the hardward. This eliminates any chances of moisture entering from the back of the capsule.
RedDawnGXP
New member
Sure thing here ya go,
Notice I mount mine differently than most, I invert the belly of the 3 tab washer inside he belly of the housing, helps to center it better than mounting the 3 tab with raised part out. These aren't finished, dang college hoops keeping me from working on them......
I will RTV a nice bead around the backside of the 3 tab washer and a bead of RTV around the lock ring where it touches the washer. The inside is sealed with the big nylon washer they give you with the hardward. This eliminates any chances of moisture entering from the back of the capsule.
Cool thanks Clean, nice work. Now do you run the solenoid wires UNDER the reflector so you don't have to drill a hole in the reflector?
SilvaMan61
GPFs Sexy Ginger.
damn that was quick swiggles.
do my set :th_biggrin2:.
do my set :th_biggrin2:.
cleangtp
Banned
Good deal Swiggles I'll be looking forward to output pictures here very soon. Also the shrouds is what takes the longest, always cut small at first. You can always slowly grind away to make the shrouds fit perfect but if you cut to large then you're purchasing another set of shrouds. The shrouds will also change the angle of how the projectors sit so you're hardly done :th_laugh-lol2:
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