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Old 26-02-2016, 11:28 PM   #21
paulmac
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Another report on my trials with lights.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rupewrecht View Post
A shame - they were quite informative, and i enjoyed reading the challenges and testing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rupewrecht View Post
A shame - they were quite informative, and i enjoyed reading the challenges and testing.
I am sorry about taking them down, however, after thinking about it, and knowing the people who contribute to the HID threads here and HID forums elsewhere have links to professional solutions, I thought maybe it's bad communicating my bad habits to people who urgently need a reliable solution.

Anyway, over the past few weeks I have been experimenting with the two sets of headlight assemblies I have. I have been trying to research the history and development of projector headlights, and thinking about the bulb sizes and why they were introduced.

As I recall from years ago, the reason why different size halogen bulbs had different style connections and fittings was to prevent a bulb meant for one type of headlight or driving light being fitted to the wrong type. A H3 bulb, or globe, is designed for one type of reflector, a H1 or a H7 for their own respective types etc. Getting a bulb to fit a headlight or driving light via universal fittings is the wrong way to go. For a H1, H3 etc bulb needs a H1 or H3 compatible reflector . Otherwise the light will not perform properly.

The problem with the led and HID kits one can get on ebay is this: you can specify which type of fitting you want, but the bulbs, globes, whether led or HID are all the same from many suppliers. Only the base is the type specified, and who knows what headlight or driving light they work properly in. And that is true of projector types also.

I bought a couple of sets led kits and tried them in the stock astina ba projectors, and they were useless.

I read up on projectors, I've lost bookmark to the article.

Turns out the first generation of modern projector headlights were quite poor. Very inefficient. The units produced up until the early 2000s were first generation, and were very poor. I think its a scandal that such poor lights remained in production for such a long period. Its not only the Mazda BA series, but virtually any car made with projector low beams.

Anyway, my was made safe at night by fitting Narva plus series halogens. My initial experience with Led lights caused me to think I had no other option because I was worried about the legality of HID Lights.

Then I got to thinking about all the years until the second generation of projectors came out with improved performance. And I think, well if government agencies allowed makers to sell cars with what are obviously defective first gen projectors, stuff em, you cant trust the government, Ill have to fix it myself, because its the only flaw in the car in my opinion. I want to keep it and I live out in the sticks a bit and many places I go to have no street lighting on the roads I use. When I dip my lights, I dont want parkers + 20 as my low beam when a truck is coming at me.

There should have been a global recall of 1st gen projectors in my opinion. There wasnt, we have to fix it.

Learning that after about 2000 projectors improved quite markedly, I started thinking about what sort of Halogen projector low beams to get to replace the awful gen 1 units in the BA Astina. I was thinking late Toyota Camry fro Upullit. As luck would have it though, ( or not), I found a pair of B5 VW Passat headlights going cheap. very cheap. I know people in Europe complain about VW headlights, however, I thought, cheap, and got to be better than what I have. I wanted projectors designed for halogen. At that point in time. Trouble was the Passat projectors were 3 inch and the Astina BA uses 2.5 inch ones. Anyway I bought the Passat headlights, pulled the H7 projectors out of them, and adapted the spare Astina headlight units I have to fit them. Which they did. Just. Sticking to 2.5 inch would have been simpler and legal. anyway, I just wanted to see where I was going as best I could..... So I put H7 Narva +150s into the passat projectors and they were fine. Nothing extra ordinary. But I could see were I was going in the dark.

At that point I got to think about bulb, globe types again. H7 globes are invariably blacked out, painted out , at their end. And I thought well H7 lights only use, obviously, the light from the sides of the H7 globes, not the front. (the front of the globe being painted out) . So I thought, well, if I found an led kit that have leds configured in the right length, on four sides, in a form factor that matched the dimensions of a H7 halogen, then there is some logic in trying out such an led globe in the VW projectors. So I got another led kit and installed them. And they worked. They were an improvement over the Narva halogens in the VW halogen projectors.

So things were getting better. The leds used less current than the 55 watt halogens as well, which is good.

Anyway, I could have stopped there, but thought, OK, the police could stop me and determine my efforts were illegal, so what the heck, how much better would hids be in decent 3 inch hid projectors. So I sourced what appeared to fairly decent hid projectors from China. I think the cost of European and US projectors over budget. Im cheap. The 3 inch hid projectors arrived and I installed in my main set of headlight assemblies. (so now I dont have any stock headlight assemblies, so I cant say, "sorry officer, Ill put the stock lights back in right away, but I wont be able to see where Im going, but if that's what you want, fine, see you in heaven tomorrow sir. Or the other joint, whatever, who cares, the law's an ass." )

I finished installing the 3 inch hid projectors in the car tonight. On Monday night Ill take it for a drive between home and McLaren Vale and back down the secondary roads and see how the HIDs compare to the VW projectors with leds. Im kinda hoping the leds win, but I dont think they will. I think, from what I have seen under the carport tonight, that the HIDs will be clearly superior. I could be wrong. I got 4,300K hid globes, to be on the yellow side of white. Im glad I did. They make the leds look yellow. supposedly, the led's are 6,000k but that can't be right. Anyway, that's were I am.

I found I had to use the plastic lens surround cut to size for the 3 inch projectors with leds. If the surround is absent, there is a reflected glare from the headlight glass. It took a fair bit of mucking around to install the 3 inch projectors in the Astina headlamp units.

I wouldnt recommend people follow what I did. I refer people to Hid Planet and the relevant threads here.

This is just what I did. My basic question was "how come you need to pump so much light out of the globes just to get to see as well at night as I could in 1971 Superbug?" and I figured, if I used better projectors I would be doing more than just throwing lumens at the problem.

Not all projectors are equal, and most of the pre 2000 ones are crap. from what I have read and experienced. I find the Passat projectors fine, a great improvement over the stock mazda ones.

Projectors were forced onto car buyers before they were fit for use. even today, some new cars have crap projectors. But in general, the later the car, the better the projectors.

If you are on a budget, have to keep the stock mazda projectors, then well, there's Narva + series halogen. That's it. leds will not work in the stock projector. If you go hid, you need a hid projector.

So anyway, Ill post the result of Monday night's trip to McLaren Vale, a 20 minute round trip in the pitch black.

I might go down to UPullIt and get another set of BA Astina stock lights and keep em stock, just in case the law tells me I am not allowed to see where Im going at night and have to therefore revert to stock lights.

Who ever permitted gen 1 projectors into Australia between 1994 and 2000 odd, as standard equipment on cars complying with Australian laws need their bloody head read.

The VW projectors are 2004. and crap all over the stock gen 1 mazda 1994 projectors.
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Old 26-02-2016, 11:52 PM   #22
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On the BG Astina, its developed a fault. The speedo cable started screaming like a banshee today. I could only find a universal cable inner, one you have to cut to length and attach the drive dog with a hammer. Not impressed, but Sprint offered to send the old cable inner and outer interstate to be rebuilt for $120. Not impressed there either. Rendering a car useless due to lack of an economic speedo cable replacement would suite an Apple Corp GTS, but not a Mazda. imo. Ill have to hackintosh something there to fix it, but there's always UPullIt.

I dont recommend anyone follow what I have done re my lights. I think getting the highest value Narva + series halogens for the low beams is the way to go to start with. Take it from there if you have to. They cost less than 50 bucks for two. Maybe I should have stuck with 2.5 inch projectors. The problem is not just with the BA Astina. Its virtually any car with projectors of that ist generation era. From what Ive read.

its not what the lights look like under the carport that matters, its what they perform like on the road that counts. You cannot tell for sure from promotional photos or videos. You have to install, and try them out for real. The lighting issue was news to me. I'd never owned a car with projector headlights until I got the BA Astina. At least with the BG you can see where you are going at night. Even if Im happy with the HIDs come Monday night, I know the BG lights are fine. Stock. Progress is sometimes a myth.

Last edited by paulmac; 26-02-2016 at 11:58 PM.
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Old 27-02-2016, 07:29 AM   #23
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I never had a problem with the BA projectors. But I have the second version 97-98 ones. And I adjusted them myself til I was happen with there output. Yes they could be better. But those cars driving around with crappy abs plastic lens that have all frosted yellow after 7 years aren't much better.
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Old 28-02-2016, 09:30 AM   #24
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I had a 1991 eb fairmont with ed xr6 front grille and lights, I swapped out the oem projectors for morimoto mini h1 bi-zenons with 4300k morimoto bulbs, the difference was remarkable on low and high beam.
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Old 07-03-2016, 06:24 PM   #25
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Thanks to the people who have commented. I was totally unaware that the second series BA had better projectors. I will see what I can find down at U-pull-it.

"morimoto mini h1 bi-zenons with 4300k morimoto bulbs, the difference was remarkable on low and high beam." From my reading of HID planet and other places, people are very happy with the Morimoto solutions.

I test drove my BA Astina with the VW Passat B5.1 3 inch projectors with H7 40 watt led bulbs. And the results were good. clearly the best yet. Then, I tried it with 3 inch HID projectors (ex China) and yellow temp colour hid bulbs. My clear preference was for the leds. I didnt get an improvement over the leds with my setup, but of course you get what you pay for.

If I had known that the later BAs had better projectors or different projectors I would have included them in my experiments. Doing all this is obviously only needed because I am quite ignorant of projectors and modern lighting. Which is why I am worried might copy my solution. Choosing larger than stock projectors as I did makes things harder, but I was after a solution. From the very beginning, Narva + series globes provided a clear improvement in the stock projectors. But not good enough. I wont let my wife drive the car at night with its standard lights, and indeed she complained correctly about them when I first brought the car home. It was all a surprise to me, when I first drove the car at night. I was and am not going to let this issue spoil my experience with the car. It is a great car, I really enjoy it, and it has this thing where the lights cause annoyance. But Ive got them so I can now drive on unlit roads no trouble at all. Its not a realistic fix for most people. It was very difficult to mount the 3 inch projectors in the BA headlight assemblies. and really, it should be as stock as possible. given the laws. I will certainly the later BA headlight assemblies from the wreckers soon. If I knew more at the start it would have been easier, but that what learning is all about. I wouldnt part with the BA, I really enjoy it.
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Old 11-03-2016, 04:16 PM   #26
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I went for a ride in a friends Sukuzi Kisachi last night. Factory HIDs are amazing. so good high beam doesnt make enough difference for the owner. I had no conception lights could be so great as low beams. Taking him a ride in mine after, well, mine are not that bad now. The cut off is good, you can see it on the road very clearly, but well, I want more bright. My last change or variable or experiment is to fit 80 watt leds per side in the low beam projectors. and that I think will be as good as I can get with led. at the present time. being an older guy, used to reflector type lights since 1969, projectors were a total unknown to me until this car. However, now, I understand, for I have seen. If one wants to go the hid route, fine by me. Im not, least not yet. Just want to try the max wattage I can find just to see what the best is in led at 100 bucks roughly per pair globes. Its a fact of course that I had I bought a full retro fit hid kit from a recommended place it would have been problem solved weeks ago. That's not my way of doing things though. I was pretty blown away by the OEM hids I saw from inside the car last night. Oh **** , I thought, it all makes sense now. pity they introduced projectors before they introduced hids. that's history, and largely irrelvant.
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Old 15-03-2016, 10:57 PM   #27
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I have finished working on the lights. final configuration is: pair of 3 inch 2004 VW Passat halogen projectors shoe horned into the BA headlamp assembly. bulbs used: low beam a pair of 60 watt 8,000 lumen leds with 2 cree chips. High beam : 2 x 40 watt 4,000 lumen leds each with 4 led chips, one chip mounted on each of 4 sides. These nearly did the job in the low beam, but the 60 watt ones are brighter. The projectors steal half the light from the leds. Going HID via a decent retro fit supplier is the best solution I would think. I didnt want to go the HID route though. I can now drive safely at night, and that was the aim. My solution is pretty fiddly, fine for me. I dont recommend it for anyone else. If you are going led, you have to stick with halogen type projectors, and that pretty much means seeking out later model projectors from the wreckers. I was totally unable to make the standard BA 1994 projectors much better with anything I tried. Ive learnt a lot. My solution does not come close to a proper HID retro fit. You get what you pay for.
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Old 20-03-2016, 02:06 PM   #28
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best led lights for H7 halogen projector I have found so far are G5 brand 4000 lumen. They work, if a bit weak, because, I figure, they have four led panels on them, facing up, down, left and right. H7 halogen bulbs are blacked out at the ends. as are all led globes capable of being used. None have led chips facing forwards apart from low output led globes. So H7 halogen projectors with led globes work ok. Having said that the leds are a bit weak, they still give more light than halogen 55 watt bulbs.

And there is the problem. There are now 60 watt cree bulbs with 8000 lumen available. but they only have 2 led chips, mounted in an opposed fashion. these are 100 bucks or more a pair. You have to have more than 2 chips in an led bulb, covering more than up and down or left and right for such bulbs to work in a low beam halogen projector. such leds work fine as high beams though in a normal reflector hight beam or driving light. There is a 45 watt 4,500 three panel led available which might work ok, but I think they wouldnt be as good as the G5 brand 4 panel leds I have used.

Because they are a bit weak, and because a 60 watt more than 4,000 lumen version of a 4 panel led bulb is not available, and because winter is coming, I began thinking that it was a shame the sun wolf el cheapo hid kit I bought was disappointing. So I had another go - I have two sets of headlamp assemblies. One is led , the other sun wolf hid with what looks to be a copy of a hella bi-xenon 3 inch hid projector I got from China. sigh. In the beginning, when I first started trying to improve the lights, this hid set up was hopeless. worse than standard BA halogen. I didnt know what was wrong and worked on getting led light as good as I could. Well, it turns out there are layout errors in these Chinese projectors. the coil for the high beam cut out turns out to be in the way of the light. A horizontal extension on the cut out aperture was also splitting the light into two areas, with shadow in the middle. Its little wonder the light was terrible. I only figured this out 2 days ago. I took the hid projectors to bits, took out the coil assembly and shield, and made a replacement shield from sheet metal. It obviously is an accurate copy of the original shield.

I did this to both projectors, reassembled them and tested them for the first time last night.

The sun wolf hid kit is now able to work properly, and the light is far superior to anything I have gotten so far from led or halogen. As the hid kit was $55, even though its not a shadow of a proper retro fit, I have for the first time very good lights compared to what the lights were like when I first bought the car.

I am however keeping my eye out for led bulbs of the same configuration I want (4 led surfaces, covering the 4 directions) but with 6,000 lumen output or more. Once I find these at a reasonable cost I will get them and probably, if they work as expected, go back to led. Something about the constant refrain about hids being illegal puts me off, though of course anything I do to make the lights better is illegal. The police havent complained yet though. I prefer leds, its just a bias.

I would not put hids in a halogen projector, thats a no no. the standard ba projector is hopeless. not suited to leds at all. There is no quick solution for the BA projector weakness. I cant offer any quick solution, because either with hid or led you have to change projector unit for one of the right type for the type of lighting you want. H7 halogen projectors from 2004 on work fine with led, proviso being , even though they are better than halogen imo they are still weak at this point in time. So, hopefully a 5,000 - 8,000 lumen wth 4 panels of chips will hit the market soon. in the next few months. Cree chips are good, but COB are ok, and anyway its not the chip brand that makes the difference, its the layout of the led chips on the bulb stem that is crucial you need four, at minimum 3, led panels on the bulb stem each facing a different direction to the others. You need, as close as possible, 360 degree light coverage or orientation from the leds.

I think that's all I can say. I was totally new to projectors when I started. Im not anymore. HID is the best solution. You get what you pay for, but sunwolf at 55 bucks with the best hid projectors afforded is the budget way. Had I known at the start what I know now, I would have spent 300 on a decent kit from a retrofit supplier.

But I prefer led as a concept, Im just waiting on a the globe of the configuration I need to come out with the power rating and lumen spec I need.

At minimum, you always need to see, at the very least, where the left hand side of the road is, so you can stay on it, no matter what, even when blinded by oncoming glare. Sorry to take so long to figure out - in my mind - what the heck was going on.

You cannot judge the suitability of a lighting system just by looking at specs or just by looking at the light output from outside of the car. Its how well you can see from the drivers seat that counts obviously. Im just recording my thoughts here, as a newbie, and I am open to learning, but not to arguing. For those patient people who have read my posts, thanks, sorry to take so long. Morimoto 300 bucks. fit it and done. That , I figure is the easiest solution. I didnt go that way. Its the cheapest way to go if you dont want to spend time learning and experimenting.

Both cars are running well, and Im really happy with both. Astinas are great cars.
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Old 31-03-2016, 07:01 PM   #29
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I bought a pair of led bulbs. 6,000lumen/60 watt each. led panels on each of the 4 sides. Fitted into the 3 inch H7 Halogen VW Passat projectors I have fitted to the Astina, these globes work OK. These are the best leds I have tried so far. I dont know if they will be effective in standard Mazda projectors or not. They are an improvement over halogen in the projectors I use. I scored a pair of Kia 2014 3 inch halogen H7 projectors. Hopefully these will be more efficient projectors. Once they come and I have installed them, I will have finished the changes made in order to make the low beams better. These are the leds I have bought, and which are much better at working in a halogen projector. (H7 projector). http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281961039...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I can understand of course people fitting HID, which would solve the issue, however, Im happier not using HID. At least I am able to drive safely at night.
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Old 13-04-2016, 10:52 PM   #30
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Final Solution

I came across a pair of 2013 3 inch low beam h7 halogen projectors off of a Kia (unknown model) going for little money. So I bought them, wondering if halogen projectors had improved since 2004 (the year of the VW low beam halogen projectors I was using until today).

There sure has been improvement. I fitted the 2013 projectors to the spare headlight assemblies I have and put my led globes in them. Here's the result:


Low Beam


Low beam


High beam

I would say these projectors solve the problem completely to my satisfaction. Had I known that halogen projectors had improved dramatically in recent times at the start of my learning curve, well, it would have saved me a lot of time and money. Learning isnt cheap. The 2004 projectors were Ok, but the combination of 4 sided 4 panel led globes of 60 watt each http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281961039...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT (same as I have been using) and very recent halogen projectors ends my quest for decent lights. Problem solved. I dare say these modern halogen projectors would allow one to drive safely with 55 watt halogens in them.

Its amazing that in regard to halogen projectors it took so many years to provide motorists with decent units. Its a scandal in my opinion. Its certainly confined to Mazda. The forums confirm early halogen projectors, right up until the very recent past, were scandalously inadequate. Finally, I cant see any reason to continue the project.

Why it took the auto industry so long to come up with decent halogen low beam projectors is beyond me.
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Old 14-04-2016, 03:50 PM   #31
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Excellent work Paul. If you don't mind, could you share some photos and notes on how you did the conversion please? very interested to see how you went about it.

ps: Link to LED globes not working.
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Old 05-02-2017, 07:06 AM   #32
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LED globes and Hyundai Projectors in a BA.

Hi Jazzy, sorry its been so long since I was in the forum.

The Led globes I bought off ebay perform well in conjunction with the 3 inch projectors I obtained from a Hyundai (I dont know which model, I bought them off ebay) but they are a for H2 halogen. Placing the led globes in the projectors required changing the mount on the back of the projectors. I cut the mounts off and after finding the right focal length, securing the globes in place with high temperature silicone. The globes are firmly in place and dont vibrate.

The fitment of the 3 inch projectors required major work to the headlight assemblies. The units can pivot left/right via a bottom bolt and nut, and up and down via a nut and bolt and a mount slot cut into the upper plastic frame of the headlight unit.

The disappointing thing about the globes I am here to report is that one of them has failed - it is starting to flicker. I bought two sets of these 4 sided leds and took the precaution of fitting high output 12 volt cooling fans in place of the five volt fans they came with. But it is not even 12 months since they were installed. I have ordered a set of 8 sided led globes (19,000lumen per pair).

By the time I discovered that Hyundai 3 inch projectors for halogen actually work as decent low beams I was past thinking about halogen globes for them, so I think now had I not been obessed with getting cheap leds to work I would have tried them with halogens first. But I didnt. It may well be that with these Hyundai projectors halogens will be better than the cheap ebay leds. The only issue with the ones I used seem to be a short life of not even a year. admittedly I drive with them on during the day. Nice white light too.

I will put a photo up of the four sided and 8 sided ones up. These do not work in the standard BA projectors. Because of the type of globe used in the standard BA projectors the globes have to emit light from the front to a large degree. so high output led globes dont do that. They have a light pattern similar to H2 globes, not H1. No forward facing light output like H1 projectors require.

Lastly Im here to report that the BG Astina started leaking water. It required a new water pump (the gasket had gone, but the but the new pump and a timing belt went in of course.) and that has occurred 245,800Km.

The BA is running fine. No issues. Basically, they both run like clockwork.
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Old 05-02-2017, 08:13 AM   #33
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https://nuclearhistory.files.wordpre...17/02/led2.jpg these are the led globes I have at the moment - one failed - started to flicker - this week. I bought 2 pairs originally so I have 1 spare left. they are four sided, with 4 led panels total.

This week I ordered a pair of these 8 sided ones, which are claimed 19,000 lumen per pair. I will see how they go: https://nuclearhistory.files.wordpre...017/02/led.jpg

It is important to note that I spent hours and a few dollars trying to find a solution to the standard BA projector poor light output problem. H1 halogens are what are called for and Narva do not make a sufficiently bright enough globe to solve the issue with halogens. And no led on the market I can find with a forward facing led panel is bright enough either. No matter how the light is generatated by a globe, the standard BA projectors are woeful. My solution is a bit Barnes Wallis - very non professional. but it works and I dont blind other drivers - a most important thing. The police has never pulled me over, and I can see where I am going on dark country roads around here. There has to be a better to mine. I am lucky in that U Pull It wreckers has sold me three pairs of BA headlights for $40 - $20 (depending on who is on duty and the appearance of the headlights) so I had a few chances to prototype shoe horning the hyundai projectors into the units. Figuring out an aiming method and carefully cutting the plastic headlight housing to suite is a big chore. I did it out of desperation. The hyundai projectors came from a guy I know in America and I dont know the vehicle it came out of. They are actually driving light projectors and I carefully made the low beam block outs out of sheet aluminum. with rhd steps. As I say, I was very careful about not blinding other drivers and as a result my lights are aimed a little low to make sure of that.

When projectors were first introduced, the first generation were useless. BMW soon introduced the 2nd generation. The industry is now up to at least the 4th generation. Maybe more. If you can find a decent pair of projectors for halogen globes, and are able to securely fit them to the BA housing, using H2 halogen globes (Narva Plus 100 or higher) then the problem is solved. I turned to led globes in my experiments with the standard BA projectors - only to end in failure. I tried Passat projectors - not much better than the BA projectors, but at least they were H2 halogen projectors. It was then I got the hyundai units. I think If you can rip a pair of hyundai projector spots off a wreck, make proper spec low beam light barriers for them or find so other late model projectors and fit them to BA headlight housings, you will have great low beams. There shouldnt be a need to go to cheap leds like I did. By the time I solved my issue, I was surrounded with various types of cheap led globes. A bit obsessive. But the journey might help someone else. No Led is going to throw light as well a decent halogen globe. and sadly, putting cheap xeonon kits in the standard BA projector does not work either. There is too much resultant glare sadly for that to work and you get pulled over and blind people, plus the fact that cheap xenon kits are crap. No better than halogen probably worse. Other people have bought decent xenon projectors and globes from specialists and have had good results. My way was supposed to be a cheap solution. After all my trial and errors it wasnt all that cheap but I have decent lights. Knowing what I know now, I would have persisted with the brighest Narva + series H2 globes and not bothered with the cheap leds. They dont a last a year - given that I drive with them on during the day. They consume far less wattage per light output than halogen, their only real advantage. I was hoping they would last at least a year, but even with the larger more powerful fans I fitted to them, one has begun to die a couple of months short of year. The price of the leds are coming down, and now there are 8 sided ones for $60 a pair available, so I am waiting for them. I will report back once I have put them in. Never believe the claims made on ebay for such globes. The led globes used by Toyota etc have massive heat sinks and cooling systems. They are completely different to the cheap stuff on ebay. The ebay ones of at least 16,000 lumen (19,000 lumen ones are now quite cheap) work in the right projector. I also have a led light bar at the front the BA for use in high beam and that is really good. Having solved, to my satisfaction at least, the one big thing wrong the bA, the low beam lights, I am extremely happy with the BA. I love it, even though the BG is easier to work and still a great car. My wife drives the BG, she finds it a perfect fit whereas the BA for her is not a perfect fit.
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Old 05-02-2017, 08:26 AM   #34
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the led headlight from a Toyota Prius. These work in a very different way to the cheap led headlight globes on ebay and in contrast to the cheap units, the proper Toyota lights have massive heat sinks. If I knew at the start what I know know, (an impossible dream), I would have gone to h2 halogens and stuck with them until I found halogen projectors that were acceptable. Essentially, no cheap led is going to throw light as far as a decent halogen globe. People have improved upon that only with decent (non ebay) HID installations. I would hate to think anyone would copy me, I was a learner, I have solved my problem but I am not a pro. If you have a U pull it near you, you may care to experiment, but think about it and go your own way. The people who have installed proper HID kits report good results here. Fitting a 3 inch projector in a headlight unit designed for a 2 inch and making a solid adjustment mechanism is tricky. I am a wire and cheese cloth type of guy and Barnes Wallis solutions arent for everyone.
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Old 07-02-2017, 04:19 PM   #35
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I didnt really want to do this. Making a metal frame into which the projector is mounted by spring loaded screws with fixed (locked) nuts is the proper way to mount a projector so that it can be easily adjusted. It took me a number of tries to mount the 3 inch halogen projectors into the BA Astina headlight assembly. It required cutting. I initially tried to use adjusting screws but in the end came up with a half baked solution which enabled me to adjust vertical and horizontal alignment. Once I got it right I secured the unit in place with ties. I can readjust them if needed. There are better ways of doing this, it works, I see at night and its quite crude. its reliable and works. but you can do better. The 3 inch projectors only just fit into the headlight light assembly and glass. I took them to bits again as I am fitting daylight running leds in them. The normally closed relay/ headlights on running lights off is easily found at Jaycar if you cant source normally closed 12 volt relays elsewhere. So, do better than me and here's the photos of one headlight with the glass remove showing it from front and back. Its very rough, and probably a reason to laugh. Except it works. Finding a decent projector is a large part of the process. These are spot light projector from Kia/hyundai. I dont know what model. I have not yet tried them with halogen globes. The VW Passat units I previously used were pathetic and not much better than standard BA 2 inch projector either with halogen or the cheap ebay 19000 lumen four sided leds. I am still waiting for the 8 sided ones to arrive.


I removed the piddly little five volt fans from the globes and put much higher output 12 volt computer fans on the globes. So far one low beam globe has gone west.

anyone really can do better than me on this I am pretty sure. rough as bags, Im just saying it can be done, just do better than me with your own ideas. Dont blindly copy anyone.

Last edited by paulmac; 07-02-2017 at 04:22 PM.
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Old 07-02-2017, 04:23 PM   #36
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Yea, silicone sealants saves the planet.
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Old 08-02-2017, 03:39 PM   #37
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so the lights, including the daytime running lights inside the headlamp units, are finished.

lights off.

daytime running lights

Low beam

High beam.
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Old 16-02-2017, 07:48 AM   #38
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The current and recent Toyota corolla has oem led headlight projects. I found a similar form factor set on alibaba. Tossing up getting them. https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...555529260.html Look the same as the Toyota and Optima units, but they might perform well. still the cooling system is light years ahead of the ebay led globes.
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Old 16-02-2017, 07:36 PM   #39
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Looks good!
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Old 16-02-2017, 08:05 PM   #40
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they certainly do.
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