Two days of work inc HIDs.

[Beastlee]

Well the last two days have been very busy, yesterday I did the oil and filter change to Amsoil. I then rebuilt one of the guys laptop in return, which took till this morning.

First job this morning was washing the car for the first time since before Christmas :afro: (Sorry Kieran) So now all shiney but the wheels look like poop due to etching.

Then I installed the HIDs Zaid has sent me to try. WOW, what a great improvement they made. I have taken lots of photos and will be writing up a new article as the pictures from Wirdy's one have disappeared and the new set uses slim ballasts.

Here's a couple of pics from the install, the only thing I don't have is pics of the original lights at night but the split shot will tell all.

uploaded/4273/1203105052.jpg uploaded/4273/1203105385.jpg uploaded/4273/1203105605.jpg

Article to follow as soon as I know where to fit the ballasts safely. THe one thign I did find is that someone has replaced the connector to the driver's side and reversed the polarity of the wires, thankfully it didn't blow the ballast.

[TAR]

looking good Lee.

Green Legnum's just look real good :afro:

[Beastlee]

OK so I wanted to get some night pics and Heidi asked the question 'How does the HID setup compare to the Bi-Xenons on my Mini?'. There was a considerable difference and I am impressed by aspects of both.

The first pic below shows a front view of both cars after approximately 30 seconds of power, Heidi's are self levelling so they adjust to the slope of the drive, mine don't.

uploaded/4273/1203110422.jpg

The second and third pictures show the effect turning on Heidi's lights have over my light throw. The Bi-Xenons are projectors and give a much more dispersed and wide pattern which is more effective but still ahs a yellow tinge to it.

uploaded/4273/1203110685.jpg uploaded/4273/1203110812.jpg

I was going to up a vid of the Bi-Xenons coming on and drowning out the HIDs but it's nearly 10MB so I'll reserve that unless anyone wants to see.

[Beastlee]

looking good Lee.

Green Legnum's just look real good :afro:

Just back from the wash station! Just look at the reflections and that's without any polish (sorry again Kieran ;))

uploaded/4273/1203111499.jpg

[Zaid]

Very good job Lee... and nice photos indeed!

BTW, didnt know there are VR-4s in green:)

[pezza]

love the green.. Hmmm. looking good..

[Beastlee]

Zaid,

Thanks, the colour is Finesse Green and it's another one that looks almost black until it's clean and in the sun.

Where have you fitted the ballasts? I have a few ideas but not the metal to make brackets. One is currently strapped to the top of the battery and the other is ty-wrapped onto the pipework behind the driver's lamp. I am not happy with either position and don't like the idea of 23kV shorting to the body! I think the only thing missing from the kit is a fixing kit, even if it's just some screws with the correct thread for the casings to help mounting.

Will get your payment off to you today.

[Johnny_Cashed]

You can see the difference between the cutoffs of the plug and play kit, and the OEM HID. Worse cutoff = more dangerous for other road users

[Zaid]

Lee, mine are installed on my beema... I saved a set for the Galant but didnt find the time to fit them yet... it will be nice to see what ideas you have for the ballasts... you are right about the 23KV, however this is just for the start-up ignition which then goes down to 3.5V I think when i measured it. Although the car's chassis acts as an earth (please correct me if I am wrong), its better to be safe than sorry.

BTW, was the mobile of any good to you?

[Zaid]

You can see the difference between the cutoffs of the plug and play kit, and the OEM HID. Worse cutoff = more dangerous for other road users

Ideally you need projectors (as in the Mini?) for better cutoffs

[Turbo_Steve]

Guys, I wouldn't get too hung up on the whole 23Kv thing. The lamps are driven off an inverter to get the spark (which is why the ballasts "sing" if you listen) so it's not really any different to the HT leads running around on top of the engine: they carry similar voltages for much longer.

As suggested, once the lamp is "struck" the voltage drops significantly anyway.

Just make sure the wiring isn't rubbing anywhere and you should be fine.
And, of course, that everything is properly fused.

[Beastlee]

Zaid,

I'm going outside in a few to work out where best to put them, I have seen a couple of possibilities but they each require brackets. I'll do the write up and include some alternatives once they are all done.

Sorry, I forgot to post about the mobile. I'm not sure it is really suitable for me, mostly because of it's size, I can't fit it in any of my pockets while out on a job. I don't know if you had the problem but the back won't stay on as the clip isn't actually holding anything in place so the battery tries to fall out all the time.
Function wise it works quite well, the bluetooth and camera functions are still there and it does have a memory card slot from which you can select 3 additonal ringtones. I like the touch screen actually as it's easy to select the options.
The size makes it too cumbersome for me I'm afraid so let me know what you'd like me to do. I'm happy to send it to someone direct if you have another taker or I can send it back to you.

[Zaid]

Zaid,

I'm going outside in a few to work out where best to put them, I have seen a couple of possibilities but they each require brackets. I'll do the write up and include some alternatives once they are all done.

Sorry, I forgot to post about the mobile. I'm not sure it is really suitable for me, mostly because of it's size, I can't fit it in any of my pockets while out on a job. I don't know if you had the problem but the back won't stay on as the clip isn't actually holding anything in place so the battery tries to fall out all the time.
Function wise it works quite well, the bluetooth and camera functions are still there and it does have a memory card slot from which you can select 3 additonal ringtones. I like the touch screen actually as it's easy to select the options.
The size makes it too cumbersome for me I'm afraid so let me know what you'd like me to do. I'm happy to send it to someone direct if you have another taker or I can send it back to you.

Am not bothered about the mobile, dispose it if you like.

[Beastlee]

Ok, so I have got the ballasts mounted, albeit a little on the gash side. I need the car to be drivable at the moment so it was more a functional answer than a long term one. I still need to make sure I can pass a lighting test so I didn't want to make any permanent changes to the car. Here's a couple of pics to go with it :

uploaded/4273/1203255102.jpg uploaded/4273/1203255268.jpg

Zaid, surely they must be some use to someone.

[Zaid]

Am sure they will.. how did you go about the bulb clips? and how are you finding the light patterens?

[Beastlee]

The bulb clips weren't too bad. I just bent the long end down about half way between the fixing point and the first bend then tweaked the remaining bends on that side so the clip still fixed unfer the hook tightly. Took about 5 minutes a side and isn't perfect but there's enough pressure to hold them in place. I was tempted with some window sealant to lock them in place but until they are confirmed OK on the light test I'm holding off.
For anyone else considering doing this conversion I would reccomend making a small C shaped washer about 3-5mm thick that can slip around the bulb base to make life much easier.
The only other change I had to make was to remove the two 12V feed wires from the rubber bung as it wan't designed for the Mitsi design.

[pitslayer]

looks good, i have done some reading up on the hid kits, and in the uk you have to do a lot of work for them to be actually 100% legal, had an article somewhere of the department of transport,

[Zaid]

Just seen a Polo today with aftermarket HID kits, they looked perfect with good patterens.

[Beastlee]

Typical, the station is on Stand-down for 2 days so I can't check anything till tomorrow. I actually moved the car, for the first time since Thurs morning, last night to put it in the garage, the light patterns looked good and at the right sort of height against the wall so I'm confident.

[pitslayer]

not to do with the patterns, you need self leveling suspension and what not, will find the thing later, which explains what you have to do

[pitslayer]

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps

[Beastlee]

Hmm, I can see a change back to the orginals coming on if I head back to the UK. Definitely need the tester to get back of leave so I can have them checked. It will be impossible to comply with the self levelling but I can see a mod coming on for headlamp washers on a VR4....

[Zaid]

On some of the posts I read here on the forum, the self leveling and washers is a must only on cars that originally come with xenon headlights.

I am thinking to get projectors on my headlights (which will cost about £300) to avoid any hassle.

[Beastlee]

Now he tells us LOL
Well I didn't get flashed at all last night even by the police car that came past the other way near the house (20mph zone for 800m so he had plenty of time to be bothered) so I'm happy for now. AS long as it passes the lught test they will stay on the car especially as I love the blue effect it creates on any reflective surfaces.

[pitslayer]

to qoute

In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above

[Zaid]

Now he tells us LOL
Well I didn't get flashed at all last night even by the police car that came past the other way near the house (20mph zone for 800m so he had plenty of time to be bothered) so I'm happy for now. AS long as it passes the lught test they will stay on the car especially as I love the blue effect it creates on any reflective surfaces.

I never got flashed either Lee or stopped by police. Many people here on the forum use HID kits without projectors as you might know. But as Pitslayer has kindly provided us with some documentation regarding this, then its probably worth get rid of the reflectors and fit projectors along with the HID kit :)

[Beastlee]

Zaid, if I had the £300 to get the projection units I wouldn't be opting for the great value HID lamps you have sold me. The £300 will go on an ECU next as I must get the fuelling sorted wheras I can always fallback to normal halogens (god forbid!)

All i need to do now is kick the Pet insurance into line and I may have some spare cash again...maybe some Cibies would become an option? ;)

[Zaid]

Cibies look nice, but they are way to pricey, something like £600?

As for me, my next upgrades will be the suspension, and after that I guess I will have to wait a long time for some spare cash.

[pitslayer]

Cibies look nice, but they are way to pricey, something like £600?

As for me, my next upgrades will be the suspension, and after that I guess I will have to wait a long time for some spare cash.
and the rest, try about 900 quid ;) i do want cibies though,

i dont htink you would get pulled for them to be honest, as they are quite hard to spot generally, and not many coppers know about them or bat an eye lid

[Beastlee]

Look at what just appeared on Ebay.de, fantastic units but pricey at 200+ Euros:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Mitsubishi-Galant-Linsen-Scheinwerfer-mit-AngelEyes_W0QQitemZ330214650213QQihZ014QQcategoryZ 33710QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Zaid]

Look at what just appeared on Ebay.de, fantastic units but pricey at 200+ Euros:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Mitsubishi-Galant-Linsen-Scheinwerfer-mit-AngelEyes_W0QQitemZ330214650213QQihZ014QQcategoryZ 33710QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Nice, although these are the 2 peice headlights so they wont fit a VR-4

[Beastlee]

They're also designed for a LHD. They would fit mine perfectly but I don't have that sort of cash available.

[Zaid]

I thought all VR-4's had the their indicators joint with the headlight, i.e. one peice. This one has the headlight and the indicator seperatly.

[pitslayer]

the VR4 ones are the JDM spec, and are one piece with poly carb lenses, the uk spec or euro specs are the 2 piece lights....and there is no reason why the 2 pieces would not fit the VR4, they all share the same body work, and alot of people with VR4s, fit the 2 piece as the glass is clearer than the poly carb

[Beastlee]

Ihave 2 piece ones on mine, see pics above. They are a perfect fit.

[Zaid]

Yes you are right :) ... and yours is a VR-4... hmm interesting :)

[Beastlee]

hmm interesting :)

Yep you could buy some VR 4 ones and conver them to HID, negating the worry of the E marking or the need to smooth them as the poly lenses aren't patterened as far as I'm aware. They would fit on a UK V6 Elegance too....

[Nice But]

Just ordered some from Zaid so will add my 10 pennies worth when fitted.....

[Beastlee]

I better get my writeup done then. Keep doing some of it then getting told to do some work, go figure LOL

If you want any of my pictures or advice in the meantime please ask away.

[Nice But]

Thanks ....don't worry I will:happy: .