Quick smoked headlights question

[stuartgallafant]

Im in the middle of smoking my headlights but im stuck on the main beam

mr lee's guide says to create a 'thingy' which i did but im not happy with what it looks like

My next thoughts were to simply spray the back of the glass with tinting spray and just use a high power bulb for the main beam

i've got HID's for my dipped beams, so im not really concerned too much about my main beams

what are your suggestions? any tips welcomed. thanks

[d6dph]

Use the crosshair thingy Stu, worth the effort.

Speak to Malc as he has done loads now including the set on my car.

[stuartgallafant]

i've made one up already dave, but im just not happy with the look it gives, thats why im looking for another method!

[eko]

LaminX?
http://www.lamin-x.com/showcase_smoke.php

[d6dph]

My only concern is that you will end up with different gloss levels on the lamps if you use a film, spraying the inside of the glass may do the job and if you are fitting HIDs anyway you won't really use the mains much if at all.

[stuartgallafant]

dont really like the look of that stuff to be honest tony, but thanks for your help

[DRIFTBOY]

I'm doing another set for somebody at the moment, black cross-hairs all the way!

They can be glued / sealed in without much trouble.

[stuartgallafant]

...spraying the inside of the glass may do the job and if you are fitting HIDs anyway you won't really use the mains much if at all.

thats what i was thinking dave

im on ebay now looking at 100w bulbs to use, so they'll penetrate through the smoke spray sufficiently

do have to upgrade the wiring and the fuses for bulbs of that power?

[Speedtouch]

I'm doing another set for somebody at the moment, black cross-hairs all the way!

They can be glued / sealed in without much trouble.

How much would you charge to make another set?

[dips346]

...spraying the inside of the glass may do the job and if you are fitting HIDs anyway you won't really use the mains much if at all.

thats what i was thinking dave

im on ebay now looking at 100w bulbs to use, so they'll penetrate through the smoke spray sufficiently

do have to upgrade the wiring and the fuses for bulbs of that power?

the spary will brake down after a while and start cracking

[DRIFTBOY]

How much would you charge to make another set?

Pm sent!

[stuartgallafant]

...spraying the inside of the glass may do the job and if you are fitting HIDs anyway you won't really use the mains much if at all.

thats what i was thinking dave

im on ebay now looking at 100w bulbs to use, so they'll penetrate through the smoke spray sufficiently

do have to upgrade the wiring and the fuses for bulbs of that power?

the spary will brake down after a while and start cracking

b0ll0x, didnt think of that!!

i suppose if that happened i could just whip the glass off again and respray it?

so, would i have to change to thicker wires and larger amp fuses for 100w bulbs or not?

[DRIFTBOY]

so, would i have to change to thicker wires and larger amp fuses for 100w bulbs or not?

You may well do, I have seen cars (not E30s) that have melted wiring due to 100w bulbs.

i suppose if that happened i could just whip the glass off again and respray it?

It's a bit of a ball ache getting the lense off, not a five minute job!

[mrLEE30]

stuart,

i also had this dilema when i did mine as i also did not like the cross hairs, i did think about some other ideas...

1. dont spray the refector as it will render your high beam useless (MOT fail??)

2. dont bother spraying the lens with tint spray it will chip and look worse (plus attract the local plod no doubt)

what my idea was would be to get some fine metal mesh (the kind we use here on windows to stop flys and bugs flying in or what you see on screendoors popular with tobacco spitting baseball cap wearing American mid-westerners) , spray this mesh black and glue it to the inside of your high beam lens. it should make the lens appear dark but not affect the light output too much, this was my idea to smoke the fog lights but i cannot get the lens off!!

hope this helps!!

mrlee

[stuartgallafant]

cheers mrlee, sounds good

i also thought about getting some dark ladies tights and stretchin them inside the unit somehow?!

[harry_p]

they will melt!

tbh i'd go with the crosshair thingy, it's hard to see theyre a crosshair unless you look up close, much less obvious than a lot of ones for vw golfs and the like anyway.

from a distance you just see the black thingy being reflected in the reflector which makes the whole lamp look darker yet has very little effect on light output.

plus as it's the method proper hellas use it's the only non pikey way

[d6dph]

If you don't want to see the crosshair, Could you not file the leading edge to a point so it has less frontal area and less chance of being noticeable?

[DRIFTBOY]

Cross hairs is my prefered method, but I don't think you'll ever make them that 'invisible'.

You can still see them just as much in the proper Hellas.

It's not so much the frontal area, but at certain angles and in certain lights they do show up.
Personally I don't think it's avoidable, but still a great looking mod.

[Bananaman]

I'm getting prepared for some abuse over this, I wonder what an e30 would look like without the high beams altogether bit like a 2002???

my mate's used to remove the high beams from their golf GTI's for a cleaner look, but for an e30 you'd have to make custom grills.

[stuartgallafant]

I'm getting prepared for some abuse over this, I wonder what an e30 would look like without the high beams altogether bit like a 2002???

my mate's used to remove the high beams from their golf GTI's for a cleaner look, but for an e30 you'd have to make custom grills.

someone photoshopped that a while back

does anyone wanna do it again?

[dips346]

.

someone photoshopped that a while back

does anyone wanna do it again?[/quote]

[Bananaman]

someone photoshopped that a while back

does anyone wanna do it again?

whoa!!!!
first I thought eurgh! but now I love it.

[stuartgallafant]

i like that! looks different. would look great on a 'rat' E30

[shazE30]

I know everyone wants to be diffrent but the single headlamps are Not to my taste looks too much like a golf wannabe

[bmwbreaker]

definetly golf like but I think it looks pretty awesome

[stuartgallafant]

right, i think i've sorted it now!

after reading mrlee's post about the wire stuff, it got me thinking...

so, i dug deep into a pile of hoarded random 'bits' and found a couple of black speaker grills, which fitted exactly perfectly inside the inner circumference of the angel eye ring!!

so i just plonked a bit of sealent on it to hold it on place, and whacked the lens back on and i've left it to dry over night

once i've work out how to get my pics off the this crap phone i've got, i'll post up everything i've done

[maxfield]

Come on, tights are the way forward

[DRIFTBOY]

But you might get a ladder in your headlamp!

[eko]

right, i think i've sorted it now!

after reading mrlee's post about the wire stuff, it got me thinking...

so, i dug deep into a pile of hoarded random 'bits' and found a couple of black speaker grills, which fitted exactly perfectly inside the inner circumference of the angel eye ring!!

so i just plonked a bit of sealent on it to hold it on place, and whacked the lens back on and i've left it to dry over night

once i've work out how to get my pics off the this crap phone i've got, i'll post up everything i've done

Sounds promising,maybe ill have to steal this idea

[stuartgallafant]

let me see how it comes out first, it might be totally pants!!

its great in theory, because the gauze of the speaker cover is enough to make the reflector look dark, but shouldn't inhibit the light too much

[stuartgallafant]

right, the lights are done, and they'll be going in at the weekend if all goes to plan

here's a couple of snaps to show you how i put them together

the bottom light is the main beam lamp with the speaker grille placed inside the angel eye refractor ring. The top light is the main beam lamp with just the angel eye refractor ring in place and next to it is the speaker grille i used



this pic is the lights all back together with the angel eyes plugged in



the pics dont look right coz the settings on this camera phone are sh1te!!!

i'll put some more up when they're in the car

what do you think?

[DRIFTBOY]

I didn't think it would work, but it looks good in the photos!

I'd like to see pics of them on the car.

[eko]

They look spot on mate
What size was the speaker grill 5.25"?
Thinking I could maybe trim the next size grill down to an exact fit into the lense as theyll be no angel eyes going on mine?

[stuartgallafant]

They look spot on mate
What size was the speaker grill 5.25"?
Thinking I could maybe trim the next size grill down to an exact fit into the lense as theyll be no angel eyes going on mine?

I have no idea Tony. I was routing through a box of about 20 different speaker grilles, placing them all on top and they were either too big or too small, then all of a sudden, one just went 'PLOP', perfect fit!!

So i sealered it in place, then put the lens on!!

I had contemplated cutting some of the other speaker grilles to size, but my tin-snips have gone walkies, so it was just easier!!

DRIFTBOY, thanks alot! Im putting them in on saturday, so i'll sling some piccies up when they're done

[oze30]

nice idea, I'd use mozzie netting or fly screen. Same principal, jsut cheaper (though fly screens don't exist on this island for some odd reason!!)