Thats correct fellers. A proper projector has a specific bulb mounted in a specific manner which reflects the light from the "bowl" of the projector thru a focal point, at which a cut-off shield is mounted to provide the low beam (on bi-xenon which means hi and low in HID, the shield moves to project a high beam.) It then travels thru a glass lens which optimizes the light output towards the road.

Most "projector" style lights are junk. they use your standard halogen bulbs and usually are worse in light output and performance verses a stock light. If i am not mistaken they dont have cuttoff shields nor proper reflection for an HID setup.
They are essentially a cosmetic item made to look like high end projector style lights.

Heres a good review on this site,

and this link is a great resource for HID lighting.

 

Could we replace the projectors in the aftermarket lens with real HID projectors? That way we don't have to hack up the stock lights.

 

If you look at the original post, he says he spent $100 on extra headlights, so I think he did that, plus I'm sure it was handy to be able to drive around while he was working on this project as well.

 

you could, but it would probably be harder to mold the large projectors into that small "projector" like area on aftermarket lights and in the end it would look like a cheesy aftermarket light to the passer-by. besides those are 250 plus and OEM aftermarket lights are like 100 bucks.

another thing i noticed is that those projector style lights have a high beam light on them too. so the crappy projector doesnt even do hi beam duty...
just do it right, and put a bi-xenon projector into the OEM lights or some OEM repros.
Exactly, a pair of oem style lights is about a hundred bucks. why spend an extra 150 to buy the ugly projector style junk.

 

Where did you get your headlights? I have been searching around and $100 is a good price. How have they held up since you installed them?

 

I got mine off a local buy and sell. Try gregslist (or what ever it is) or Ebay. Alot of people are selling the OEM headlights because they bought those cheap plastic projector headlights.

*** I added 4 new lows and highs pictures bottom of post 3

 

Hey powerz, I'll be doing this soon. How do I go about aiming mine differently, seeing as my headlights sit about 9" higher off the ground than yours do. At this height, being only 2-3" down at 25 ft is going to put my cutoff pretty high, dont you think?

Also, what Kelvin are your D2S bulbs? I want something around 5000k.

 

When you drive by parked cars or pull up beside one see where your headlight sits at the car. If your lights sit at drivers head height I don't think you can do much. But you are right, you will have to aim them down more. The problem with that is the lower you aim your lights the more feet you lose in distance. But at the same time you are higher up so the light might travel a bit further. When I was aligning my lights I had them 5 inches below level and highway driving was crap on lows but highs was great. How are your lights now? Is it like your driving with high beams on all over the place?

I have 4300K and 5000K. In this how to the fence picture is 5000K
The iphone picture in post 3 is 4300K. The snow picture below the iphone picture is 5000K. And the fog light picture below is 4300K but in projectors are 5000K. 4300K in a projector have no yellow, and no blue except for the band from cutoff. At first I had 5000K then switched to 4300K then back to 5000K but now i think I like the 4300K and will switch them again. I guess Philip's came out with a 5000K D2S bulb that throws as much light as a 4300K. I think thats my problem I like the look of 5000K but the brightness of 4300K.
Sorry for the confusion!

 

I have my stock lights aimed down to where it is about level with where my dad's stock F150 light pattern is at 50 ft from the truck and it is fine. Yes, due to the lift my headlights light up a small car's rear view mirror when Im behind them but thats life with a lifted vehicle, oncoming traffic is my main concern. My friend has a Lexus LS that has the most defined HID cutoff I've ever seen, I may park next to it and get it to be level cutoff at 100 ft or so and see how it turns out.

I definitely like your 5000k pics much more, I'll go with that. Also plan to do angel eyes for both the shroud and the turn signals. Think a 120mm halo will fit on the turn signal reflector?

 

Try the 4500k d2s from phillips.

 

I trimmed out both shrouds and got one projector mounted in the headlight. I just snapped on the clear cover to see what it would look like and wow... they look great with the apollo shrouds! They were easier to fit than what Powers posted on the Gatling shrouds. Just three small clearance cuts and they cover a whole lot more area than the gatlings and they come with a mounting ring so its a breeze to install. I was so excited i threw on the one i had finished just to see the result. I was blown away at the difference between the halogen and the projector! It is literally and figuratively a night and day difference! took some pics but its late. Ill post them up tomorrow.

 

Nice! I went with the Apollos too, would love to see some pics when you get a chance. Can't wait to do the project when I get some time.

 

NICE!
How much space from the apollo shroud to clear lens?
It's cool to see how the DIY projector retrofits are looking better and better. As more people are doing them, and adding different things to them. Did you use my markings on the bowl? If you did how close were they?

 

Well hell im still up so ill sync the phone real quick and get the few pics up.

I followed your guide pretty closely. Im a bit ballsier though so i marked and went to town cutting. I didnt do much sanding since my cutting and fabbing skills are pretty up to par with all the projects i have had lately. I also tapped the holes since i have a tap and die set. I actually stuck the tap to a cordless drill and just went in slowly. Took about 2 min to do all four holes and the screws just went right in. I used 10-32 1 1/2" machine screws but would definitely recommend 1 1/4" at the LONGEST. i had to trim the lower two because they hit the black rear bracket on the bowl. I should have just gotten the 1 1/4 but i couldnt remember what you used at the time and figured i could cut them if needed.

I did sink the projector just a tad bit more (+-1/8"). Its not even evident in pics but it made the shroud fit just perfect to where you really cant see the projector housing at all.
The shroud has plenty of room to spare from the front clear lens. I would estimate between 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.

 

here we are. These are the semi finished pics. Projector mounted, shroud fit. The headlight still is a bit dirty from the cutting and sanding so thats why it looks a bit hazy and lighting wasnt that great. No clear lens yet



Clear lens on in these


This was the initial fitment. Crappy pic but you can see the projector still, thats why i decided to recess it another 1/8


Retro'ed and OEM side by side comparison



Quick fit and lit up.


And finally the money shot. For you guys questioning this, here is your answer, this is why we do this.
This picture alone is worth a thousand words and is why a projector is above and beyond any halogen or crappy HID replacement setup.
Stock halogen on the left, projector on the right. Notice the cuttoff, the brightness and the 4-5 times larger diameter light output. This is about 4 foot from the door.


About 25 foot back