HID retro-fit source ? and...

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OtisBlkR1

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Looking for a company thats sells the replacement housing units for HID lighting, not just a conversion kit but the entire housing unit so the HID kit is correct. car is a 2001 Lincoln town car.

If i cannot find a retro-fit kit, im going to have to buy new housing units anyways, im finding plenty of options on ebay/amazon but dont want to be disapointed in fit/finish in aftermarket.. but certainly dont want to pay OEM retail..

If i have to go with factory housing units and not HID, whats the (atleast somewhat) undisputed best 300k "bright/superior/best" high output bulb ?
 
not sure of the best projector source for your application, but a VERY good source for the electronics side of the install is ddmtuning.com. I have used ddmtuning ballasts and bulbs for several years with good results. and the most efficient lighting temperature will be 6000k anything over is wasted light(lumens).
 
I appreciate this info, i have used DDMtuning in the past with great results, my problem is the factory housing MELTED when i attempted to install the HI/LOW kit from DDM in my dads car !! the bulbs dont click or snap into place.. they just slide in and there was nothing to hold them ?? so the cups the bulbs sit in melted within 10 minutes and started melting the actual housing units next.. so now im replacing it all, i wish there was a already fit setup thats was plug and play for HID housing for this car.. i will call this andrew at the above mentioned and get his advice.
 
Originally Posted By: Roob
Definitely go to The retrofit source. www.theretrofitsource.com
Speak to Andrew or Matt. It's where I purchased all parts for my retrofit.
They will answer any questions and are very fast at replying to inquiries.
Enjoy your new retrofit...


so just how hard did you find the project to be ?
 
The morimoto H1s go in pretty quick. They are made to install through the light bulb hole. The others will take heavy modification to the housing, but give better results (though for the ease of installation, the MH1s are not bad. MILES from the factory housings.)
 
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Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
The morimoto H1s go in pretty quick. They are made to install through the light bulb hole. The others will take heavy modification to the housing, but give better results (though for the ease of installation, the MH1s are not bad. MILES from the factory housings.)


well, the factory houses are unusable for standard bulbs now as i managed to melt the tabs and bubble up the holes where the bulbs fit in.. heavy modification as in cutting out bugger holes so the HID projectors fit in ? thats a option. Id like to speak to someone thats done it though. I also see where you can send off your lights to customizers who will retro-fit these kits into your housing units.. thats a option as well depending on price.
 
Ordered ! got the stage three kit. Zack was very helpfull at the retrofit store ! im going to start disasembling the headlights so the install time is less when the order is recieved. I sure appreciate the input. I think this is going to be a great solution to the problem.
 
Apologies for the late reply.
I had a shop do the full retro into new OEM lights. That way I had lifetime warranty and a professional job.
It's not cheap by any means and with the new headlights its about $750-950 in total.
The end result is stunning though, once you get over the shock of cost!!!
Good luck with the retro.
 
Originally Posted By: Roob
Apologies for the late reply.
I had a shop do the full retro into new OEM lights. That way I had lifetime warranty and a professional job.
It's not cheap by any means and with the new headlights its about $750-950 in total.
The end result is stunning though, once you get over the shock of cost!!!
Good luck with the retro.


thanks, i called several installers and with me supplying them my headlight housing and they supplied parts and labor i was looking at $900.00 bucks... that was a instand NO.. im out $280 for parts and shipping and should have it all by the weekend. the install looks straight forward and simple enuff.
 
this is not just "drilling a hole" and mounting a projector.....
You have to be VERY conscious of your fabbing, you have to retain your OE adjuster setup and be able to adjust these lights (projectors) as intended by the factory while maintaining water proofing to prevent condensation. also if your OE light housing have diverters built into the lenses than you have to find a replacement housing with CLEAR lenses, than bake the housings apart and document the physical OE mounting structure and understand how the adjustment mechanism works and than replicate that in YOUR design.
 
Originally Posted By: wsar10
this is not just "drilling a hole" and mounting a projector.....
You have to be VERY conscious of your fabbing, you have to retain your OE adjuster setup and be able to adjust these lights (projectors) as intended by the factory while maintaining water proofing to prevent condensation. also if your OE light housing have diverters built into the lenses than you have to find a replacement housing with CLEAR lenses, than bake the housings apart and document the physical OE mounting structure and understand how the adjustment mechanism works and than replicate that in YOUR design.


i ordered the stage three kit, no drilling or cutting required.. although if your factory bulb hole isnt big enuff you may have to trim a little. Ive looked over the instructions in great length and im fairly certain that i can mount these projectors. complete install time from start to finish is a estimated 3 hours (to include wiring) so in short there should be little to no fabbing at all with this kit, and it doesnt effect the factory adjusters at all. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=227
 
Well, i havent recieved the kit yet (Friday) but i did remove the headlights and took them apart. If i can post of pics i will.

Let me also add that the three hour estimated time is probably for a easy to disasemble housing unit, I used the oven and took my time to get the 2001 lincoln town cars headlight assembly's to come apart, and that was easily 1.5 hours. Im looking at painting part of the factory reflector thats chipped or the chrome is missing (wont be needing it anyways) to make this install alot cleaner. The hardest part is already done and thats getting your factory stuff back apart without cracking or breaking any of it.

I will post up more as this project continues. Im hoping to have it back together and working in the car by Saturday afternoon.
 
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Great to see positive progress and that you are taking your time with the retro. It's the only way to make sure it's done right.
One site I visited to "experience up on" was HidPlanet.com. This site has everything hid and many of the pros in the industry are members and will assist directly. The guys from TRS are members.
Post pics when you start....

Cheers!
 
wow,
I have never installed a kit like this.
I have always had to fully mod an OE housing to fitt (whatever) available projectors. I hope this works out the way they say it wilL..... I just can't imagine it going through as they advertise..
You will love the HID output, they are amazing and when done correctly they GREATLY improve the safety of your vehicle.
 
This is interesting.I did an HID conversion years ago on my BMW with parts from DDM Tuning with no issues. However my car had projector lights.
 
I did the conversion over the weekend, I spent 6.5 hours on it start to finish. Alot of the time spent was spent modding the factory housing (the holes) in the back of the reflector that were melted. I will say even if the holes were not melted that i would have still had to mod the factory holes. also there is no "re-activating" the old factory glue. It must be scraped out and new sealand put in.. scraping out 12 year old glue took alot of time. I did take pictures throughout the process on my android phone. I will have to find a way to upload them. Overall im pleased with the end results, the lights work very well and it was'nt a whole weekend killer.. My father (his car) was very pleased with the end results. The quality of the parts is leaps and bounds above DDM's stuff, and i have DDM stuff in two of my three cars. your deffinately getting what you pay for through Theretrofitsource.com . If anyone has any questions about this im happy to do my best to awnser them.
 
I pretty much figured this would not be as easy as you anticipated.........
If you are putting DDM HID kits into reflector type housings, thats not an indicator of bad products....thats an indicator of bad application
 
Originally Posted By: wsar10
I pretty much figured this would not be as easy as you anticipated.........
If you are putting DDM HID kits into reflector type housings, thats not an indicator of bad products....thats an indicator of bad application


I didnt anticipate anything, i quoted what >>>>THEY With that said i agree HID kids without projectors are great for the driver (very bright) but bad for everyone else, (as in annoying) I have two applications like that now and do intend to retro-fit with new projector's For the time being i have the lights pointed way down and nobody "bright's" me.. in time now that ive retro-fitted one job and have some experience i will do others.
 
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