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Thread: Projector headlight Mods

  1. Top Of Page | #1
    BrentM's Avatar

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    Projector headlight Mods

    In my quest to eliminate all chrome from my truck, the headlights had to go. I picked up a pair of TYC sport projectors and heated up the oven.

    Bake for 15 min at 260 degrees.



    First one came right apart, started from inside top corner, just pulling the housing and lens apart.

    Second one was a *****, took 6 trips to the oven + heat gun which was probably not necessary, I distorted the housing in the top inside area getting frustrated and cut through a couple places of the housing where I used a putty knife to cut through the adhesive. After a couple of 260 degree bakings the housing finally separated. The lens stays rigid but at 260 degrees the housing starts to get a little soft and starts to bend and flex a lot.

    The interior section that holds the parts that are paintable and visible are held in place by the adhesive, so a hot putty knife is useful in cutting through the adhesive to get the piece out and it is easier when everything is still warm. A heat gun is useful to soften the adhesive as well. When using a heat gun be careful as the housing will heat up very quickly if you have the heat turned up high. I used my infrared temp gauge to watch the temps and you can get to 230 degrees pretty fast and the housing will become very soft.

    Once apart the 60mm halos i bought were way too small so I printed out actual size halo rings I drew on my cad program and put them over the projector to find the right size.



    The 90mm was the best fit, this halo is 7mm wide so the inside diameter is 76mm and the outside of the projector lens is 84mm This is going to sit on the projector, not on the shroud it will not be so obvious but should still look cool. With a black shroud I could not put the white halo on the face of the shroud, it would look out of place. I am not going to run these during the day, I also found some small amber LED lights that I am going to put into the highbeam side to light up that section of the headlight yellow.

    I cut off the “C”bars and sanded the projector shroud flat, sanded the paintable parts. I used 100 grit on the chrome projector shrouds and a red scotchbrite on the black plastic parts.



    Cleaned and sprayed epoxy primer and had paint issues. There were small particles on my epoxy primer, so sanding and new primer are next.

    In the meantime I mounted the halos, and the 90mm halo fits nice.



    Drilled the projector lens housing to mount the halos and then discovered the “micro mounts” were filled with something so I could not get anything to go through these little holes. Ended up using some electrical wire to bind the halos to the housing. I picked a 4” section of 10ga wire and pulled the individual strands to wrap over the halo and tie into the housing. Twisting them together pulled the halo tight to the housing and locked it into place.

    Mocked up one light with the halos and found there was some light coming through the gap between the projector shroud and the main housing.



    When I assembled these for the final time I used some 3M strip caulk to seal this gap and prevent that light from coming through.



    I wired the halos into the parking light circuit. Coming from the plug inside the housing, found the 12v positive (I think it is the green wire) and the ground, I did not connect the white halo light, these are switchbacks but I wanted the amber light only.

    Sanded with 400 grit paper and applied 1 coat urethane primer / sealer, 1 coat of body color to the headlight housings, and the projector shrouds. Went to mask off the Ram logos on the shrouds and I could not get the paint mask to stick, they would not come off the backing. The plan was to mask off a ram logo and spray the shrouds with black metallic leaving the grey Ram logo but since the masks were not cooperating the plan changed and everything got sprayed with crystal granite metallic. Followed up with 2 coats of clear. I let that cure then sanded with 400 and sprayed a couple more coats of clear.



    Once all was cured, sanded with 1500 and buffed out the rough spots and a couple of dust nibs. The orange reflectors are required in Hawaii so I wanted to darken these up a little. Sprayed a light coat of niteshades over the reflectors and that did the trick, hopefully not too much.

    Next step was to get the adhesive / sealant off the lenses. Tried several different methods. Scraping, pulling, put them back in the oven and the best way I found was to use the heat gun and heat up the adhesive pretty hot and then it peeled off fairly easy. I clamped the heat gun in my vice and just moved the lens around heating and pulling. Took a couple of hours but it got most of the adhesive off.



    The biggest issue I had was scratching the lenses. These are very delicate, I am not sure how but I got some small scratches and polishing these are a pain. I tried several polishing compounds and did not find any that got these totally clear.

    Started the reassembly using morimoto retro rubber and it went smoother than I expected. The adhesive is fairly stiff, but not too sticky so it is not to difficult to get into the groove in the housing. 7 minutes at 270° and the lens and housing were one again.



    Mounted them on the truck plugged them in and I think they look pretty good.







    I probably have about 20 hours in these headlights and they are not perfect but I like them. It is not hard, it just takes patience. Total cost was about $600 for the TYC headlights, halos and retro rubber sealant. Best part is the chrome is gone.

    Brent
    2017 Ram 2500 Limited / 6.7 / 68RFE / BDS 8" Lift / 38 x 13.5 Trail Grapplers / 20 x 10 Hostile Wheels
    2020 Ram 2500 Tradesman / 6.7 / 68RFE
    1993 W250 LE / 5.9 12V / G360 - 5 Speed


  2. Top Of Page | #2
    No Vacancy Power247's Avatar

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    Re: Projector headlight Mods

    Very nice work man! Building your own headlights is a real patience tester but looks awesome when you get finished. Well done!

    Greg
    2012 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | Custom tuned by Double R Diesel
    2016 | Heartland Pioneer | DS310

    Greg
    2019 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | 6.4 HEMI

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  4. Top Of Page | #3
    MOD watersupply189's Avatar

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    Re: Projector headlight Mods

    Very nice!!! I like them a lot


    2016 Ram 3500 4x4 Laramie Cummins, G56, Rough Country Leveling, MM3 EGRless Tuned by Double R Diesel

    2016 RAM 3500 4x4 Laramie Crew Cab
    Cummins,G56, Rough Country level, Morimoto LED fog lights, LED headlights, Lund Attitude Steps sprayed with Line-X, DRL's Activated, 35x12.50R18 Falken Wildpeak ATW3, Fuel Vapor Wheels Matte Black w/Dark Tint, A.R.E. Truck cap and swing boxes

  5. Likes david3gen liked this post
  6. Top Of Page | #4
    HKBIGDADDYDIESELDAN's Avatar

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    Re: Projector headlight Mods

    Great job very well done doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks as long as you like them

    2012 Cummins Ram 6.7L MM3 tuner full 5" Flo Pro TBE Exhaust LWBCC 4x4 Mag Hytec Double Deep Transmission Pan , Mag Hytec Rear Diff Cover
    Airlift part # 57595 7500lbs airbags ,Nitto Ridge Grapplers 35/12.50/20 on XD 829 Big Hoss ll Satin Black Machined Dark Tint 20 x 9 with + 18 offset rims,MM3 Tuner With full Custom Tunes by Ray at DRD , Autometer A13117 Pillar Pod , Edge 98004 mount adapter , Mag Hytec front diff cover, SuperNova V4 LED Headlight Bulbs

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  8. Top Of Page | #5
    Basic Member wannabeS4's Avatar

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    Re: Projector headlight Mods

    I'm getting ready to start my own retrofit, did you mount your LED driver for the halo inside the housing?


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  10. Top Of Page | #6
    david3gen's Avatar

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    Projector headlight Mods

    Quote Originally Posted by BrentM View Post
    In my quest to eliminate all chrome from my truck, the headlights had to go. I picked up a pair of TYC sport projectors and heated up the oven.

    Bake for 15 min at 260 degrees.

    https://i.imgur.com/smWaX3Xl.jpg

    First one came right apart, started from inside top corner, just pulling the housing and lens apart.

    Second one was a *****, took 6 trips to the oven + heat gun which was probably not necessary, I distorted the housing in the top inside area getting frustrated and cut through a couple places of the housing where I used a putty knife to cut through the adhesive. After a couple of 260 degree bakings the housing finally separated. The lens stays rigid but at 260 degrees the housing starts to get a little soft and starts to bend and flex a lot.

    The interior section that holds the parts that are paintable and visible are held in place by the adhesive, so a hot putty knife is useful in cutting through the adhesive to get the piece out and it is easier when everything is still warm. A heat gun is useful to soften the adhesive as well. When using a heat gun be careful as the housing will heat up very quickly if you have the heat turned up high. I used my infrared temp gauge to watch the temps and you can get to 230 degrees pretty fast and the housing will become very soft.

    Once apart the 60mm halos i bought were way too small so I printed out actual size halo rings I drew on my cad program and put them over the projector to find the right size.

    https://i.imgur.com/ul0WZwi.jpg

    The 90mm was the best fit, this halo is 7mm wide so the inside diameter is 76mm and the outside of the projector lens is 84mm This is going to sit on the projector, not on the shroud it will not be so obvious but should still look cool. With a black shroud I could not put the white halo on the face of the shroud, it would look out of place. I am not going to run these during the day, I also found some small amber LED lights that I am going to put into the highbeam side to light up that section of the headlight yellow.

    I cut off the “C”bars and sanded the projector shroud flat, sanded the paintable parts. I used 100 grit on the chrome projector shrouds and a red scotchbrite on the black plastic parts.

    https://i.imgur.com/7u5p5wvl.jpg

    Cleaned and sprayed epoxy primer and had paint issues. There were small particles on my epoxy primer, so sanding and new primer are next.

    In the meantime I mounted the halos, and the 90mm halo fits nice.

    https://i.imgur.com/1M3Ft96l.jpg

    Drilled the projector lens housing to mount the halos and then discovered the “micro mounts” were filled with something so I could not get anything to go through these little holes. Ended up using some electrical wire to bind the halos to the housing. I picked a 4” section of 10ga wire and pulled the individual strands to wrap over the halo and tie into the housing. Twisting them together pulled the halo tight to the housing and locked it into place.

    Mocked up one light with the halos and found there was some light coming through the gap between the projector shroud and the main housing.

    https://i.imgur.com/ZgihTzfl.jpg

    When I assembled these for the final time I used some 3M strip caulk to seal this gap and prevent that light from coming through.

    https://i.imgur.com/11dykGzl.jpg

    I wired the halos into the parking light circuit. Coming from the plug inside the housing, found the 12v positive (I think it is the green wire) and the ground, I did not connect the white halo light, these are switchbacks but I wanted the amber light only.

    Sanded with 400 grit paper and applied 1 coat urethane primer / sealer, 1 coat of body color to the headlight housings, and the projector shrouds. Went to mask off the Ram logos on the shrouds and I could not get the paint mask to stick, they would not come off the backing. The plan was to mask off a ram logo and spray the shrouds with black metallic leaving the grey Ram logo but since the masks were not cooperating the plan changed and everything got sprayed with crystal granite metallic. Followed up with 2 coats of clear. I let that cure then sanded with 400 and sprayed a couple more coats of clear.

    https://i.imgur.com/yqiW1FBl.jpg

    Once all was cured, sanded with 1500 and buffed out the rough spots and a couple of dust nibs. The orange reflectors are required in Hawaii so I wanted to darken these up a little. Sprayed a light coat of niteshades over the reflectors and that did the trick, hopefully not too much.

    Next step was to get the adhesive / sealant off the lenses. Tried several different methods. Scraping, pulling, put them back in the oven and the best way I found was to use the heat gun and heat up the adhesive pretty hot and then it peeled off fairly easy. I clamped the heat gun in my vice and just moved the lens around heating and pulling. Took a couple of hours but it got most of the adhesive off.

    https://i.imgur.com/h5NCTOIl.jpg

    The biggest issue I had was scratching the lenses. These are very delicate, I am not sure how but I got some small scratches and polishing these are a pain. I tried several polishing compounds and did not find any that got these totally clear.

    Started the reassembly using morimoto retro rubber and it went smoother than I expected. The adhesive is fairly stiff, but not too sticky so it is not to difficult to get into the groove in the housing. 7 minutes at 270° and the lens and housing were one again.

    https://i.imgur.com/hzOR7PYl.jpg

    Mounted them on the truck plugged them in and I think they look pretty good.

    https://i.imgur.com/tkLBZn1l.jpg

    https://i.imgur.com/YED6yoSl.jpg

    https://i.imgur.com/CPrDesnl.jpg

    I probably have about 20 hours in these headlights and they are not perfect but I like them. It is not hard, it just takes patience. Total cost was about $600 for the TYC headlights, halos and retro rubber sealant. Best part is the chrome is gone.
    Well worth it. They look much better now


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    2006 dodge ram 2500 laramie crew cab 5.9 cummins. 10x20 et-24 fuel offroad with 275.60r20 tires. bully dog gt tuner. 48re ATS built tranny triple disc converter ATS oilpan and transgo quick shifter. 4" turbo back exhaust. brembo discs and pads

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  12. Top Of Page | #7
    BrentM's Avatar

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    Re: Projector headlight Mods

    Quote Originally Posted by wannabeS4 View Post
    I'm getting ready to start my own retrofit, did you mount your LED driver for the halo inside the housing?
    Mine are inside the housing, there is plenty of room for the small driver

    Brent
    2017 Ram 2500 Limited / 6.7 / 68RFE / BDS 8" Lift / 38 x 13.5 Trail Grapplers / 20 x 10 Hostile Wheels
    2020 Ram 2500 Tradesman / 6.7 / 68RFE
    1993 W250 LE / 5.9 12V / G360 - 5 Speed


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  14. Top Of Page | #8
    Basic Member

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    Re: Projector headlight Mods

    Quote Originally Posted by BrentM View Post
    In my quest to eliminate all chrome from my truck, the headlights had to go. I picked up a pair of TYC sport projectors and heated up the oven.

    Bake for 15 min at 260 degrees.

    https://i.imgur.com/smWaX3Xl.jpg

    First one came right apart, started from inside top corner, just pulling the housing and lens apart.

    Second one was a *****, took 6 trips to the oven + heat gun which was probably not necessary, I distorted the housing in the top inside area getting frustrated and cut through a couple places of the housing where I used a putty knife to cut through the adhesive. After a couple of 260 degree bakings the housing finally separated. The lens stays rigid but at 260 degrees the housing starts to get a little soft and starts to bend and flex a lot.

    The interior section that holds the parts that are paintable and visible are held in place by the adhesive, so a hot putty knife is useful in cutting through the adhesive to get the piece out and it is easier when everything is still warm. A heat gun is useful to soften the adhesive as well. When using a heat gun be careful as the housing will heat up very quickly if you have the heat turned up high. I used my infrared temp gauge to watch the temps and you can get to 230 degrees pretty fast and the housing will become very soft.

    Once apart the 60mm halos i bought were way too small so I printed out actual size halo rings I drew on my cad program and put them over the projector to find the right size.

    https://i.imgur.com/ul0WZwi.jpg

    The 90mm was the best fit, this halo is 7mm wide so the inside diameter is 76mm and the outside of the projector lens is 84mm This is going to sit on the projector, not on the shroud it will not be so obvious but should still look cool. With a black shroud I could not put the white halo on the face of the shroud, it would look out of place. I am not going to run these during the day, I also found some small amber LED lights that I am going to put into the highbeam side to light up that section of the headlight yellow.

    I cut off the “C”bars and sanded the projector shroud flat, sanded the paintable parts. I used 100 grit on the chrome projector shrouds and a red scotchbrite on the black plastic parts.

    https://i.imgur.com/7u5p5wvl.jpg

    Cleaned and sprayed epoxy primer and had paint issues. There were small particles on my epoxy primer, so sanding and new primer are next.

    In the meantime I mounted the halos, and the 90mm halo fits nice.

    https://i.imgur.com/1M3Ft96l.jpg

    Drilled the projector lens housing to mount the halos and then discovered the “micro mounts” were filled with something so I could not get anything to go through these little holes. Ended up using some electrical wire to bind the halos to the housing. I picked a 4” section of 10ga wire and pulled the individual strands to wrap over the halo and tie into the housing. Twisting them together pulled the halo tight to the housing and locked it into place.

    Mocked up one light with the halos and found there was some light coming through the gap between the projector shroud and the main housing.

    https://i.imgur.com/ZgihTzfl.jpg

    When I assembled these for the final time I used some 3M strip caulk to seal this gap and prevent that light from coming through.

    https://i.imgur.com/11dykGzl.jpg

    I wired the halos into the parking light circuit. Coming from the plug inside the housing, found the 12v positive (I think it is the green wire) and the ground, I did not connect the white halo light, these are switchbacks but I wanted the amber light only.

    Sanded with 400 grit paper and applied 1 coat urethane primer / sealer, 1 coat of body color to the headlight housings, and the projector shrouds. Went to mask off the Ram logos on the shrouds and I could not get the paint mask to stick, they would not come off the backing. The plan was to mask off a ram logo and spray the shrouds with black metallic leaving the grey Ram logo but since the masks were not cooperating the plan changed and everything got sprayed with crystal granite metallic. Followed up with 2 coats of clear. I let that cure then sanded with 400 and sprayed a couple more coats of clear.

    https://i.imgur.com/yqiW1FBl.jpg

    Once all was cured, sanded with 1500 and buffed out the rough spots and a couple of dust nibs. The orange reflectors are required in Hawaii so I wanted to darken these up a little. Sprayed a light coat of niteshades over the reflectors and that did the trick, hopefully not too much.

    Next step was to get the adhesive / sealant off the lenses. Tried several different methods. Scraping, pulling, put them back in the oven and the best way I found was to use the heat gun and heat up the adhesive pretty hot and then it peeled off fairly easy. I clamped the heat gun in my vice and just moved the lens around heating and pulling. Took a couple of hours but it got most of the adhesive off.

    https://i.imgur.com/h5NCTOIl.jpg

    The biggest issue I had was scratching the lenses. These are very delicate, I am not sure how but I got some small scratches and polishing these are a pain. I tried several polishing compounds and did not find any that got these totally clear.

    Started the reassembly using morimoto retro rubber and it went smoother than I expected. The adhesive is fairly stiff, but not too sticky so it is not to difficult to get into the groove in the housing. 7 minutes at 270° and the lens and housing were one again.

    https://i.imgur.com/hzOR7PYl.jpg

    Mounted them on the truck plugged them in and I think they look pretty good.

    https://i.imgur.com/tkLBZn1l.jpg

    https://i.imgur.com/YED6yoSl.jpg

    https://i.imgur.com/CPrDesnl.jpg

    I probably have about 20 hours in these headlights and they are not perfect but I like them. It is not hard, it just takes patience. Total cost was about $600 for the TYC headlights, halos and retro rubber sealant. Best part is the chrome is gone.
    How come you didn't pull apart and paint the factory ones?

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


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  16. Top Of Page | #9
    Basic Member

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    Re: Projector headlight Mods

    Awesome! The only time I have actually appreciated halos!

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


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  18. Top Of Page | #10
    BrentM's Avatar

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    Re: Projector headlight Mods

    Quote Originally Posted by mxer125 View Post
    How come you didn't pull apart and paint the factory ones?

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
    I needed to drive the truck and probably would not be too good without headlights.

    Brent
    2017 Ram 2500 Limited / 6.7 / 68RFE / BDS 8" Lift / 38 x 13.5 Trail Grapplers / 20 x 10 Hostile Wheels
    2020 Ram 2500 Tradesman / 6.7 / 68RFE
    1993 W250 LE / 5.9 12V / G360 - 5 Speed


  19. Likes watersupply189 liked this post
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