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Old 04-13-2013, 01:07 AM   #201
wrxposer
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I don't think my current halogen projectors have it, but I won't know for sure until I bake the lights open again. It's been more than 2yrs since I've had them open so I can't remember.

Is it safe to say that the D2S bulb and ballast don't require this ground wire though?

I bought these projectors used I was told that they are 07 STI projectors. They may have been used in a previous retrofit, is it possible that the piece that looks like an aluminium sort of rear shroud that the ground wire is attached to is from the halogen projector? I notice the OPs STI projectors don't seem to have that aluminium rear shroud/guard piece.

Edit: Nope, that aluminium guard is definitely part of the projector housing and it keeps the bulb clip in place. I don't think it's actually a big deal but I would prefer to connect the ground since it's there, just wondering if there is a ground to connect it to inside the housing?



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Old 04-13-2013, 07:30 AM   #202
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The bulb does not need this ground wire. I am not sure where that came from as my '07 STi projectors didn't have them, and my '10 WRX projectors did not have them either.
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Old 04-15-2013, 11:17 AM   #203
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I removed those ground wires on mine. No need for them!


Did my OEM STI w/ TSXR lens retrofit this weekend. This thread helped a ton!

Here's my post!

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...1#post39591635

http://imgur.com/NfzLV7N
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Old 04-15-2013, 11:36 AM   #204
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Ditto^ This thread was a great help for my recent project, replacing my Mini D2S with RX-AFS w/ custom curved shields:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...&postcount=114

@ ~25ft:



Testing the shields indoors:

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Old 04-15-2013, 12:22 PM   #205
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Looks like you had greenkouki from HIDplanet do the shield mod job? Very nice.

Last edited by P.Rico; 04-15-2013 at 12:29 PM.
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Old 04-15-2013, 12:42 PM   #206
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Yep! It was well worth it, he's legit
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Old 05-02-2013, 04:14 PM   #207
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great thread
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Old 05-14-2013, 09:58 AM   #208
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Quote:
Originally Posted by honestabe View Post
Yep! It was well worth it, he's legit
Just sent him my STi projectors to have custom shields made and tuned. Looking forward to the results!

(will post the shots here when I get them).
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Old 05-14-2013, 10:07 AM   #209
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Sweet
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Old 05-20-2013, 10:21 AM   #210
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Here are some of his supplied images. I should be getting the projectors today so I'll take a few shots of them as well, compared to the OEM setup and the TSX-R with OEM shield.




I'm super stoked to try them out. He was impressed by their immense width after the custom shield work.
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Old 05-21-2013, 10:14 AM   #211
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Wow they look great. Sti projectors can be modded pretty effectively
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Old 05-21-2013, 10:28 AM   #212
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Quote:
Originally Posted by honestabe View Post
Wow they look great. Sti projectors can be modded pretty effectively
They sure can be. The TSX-R lenses are causing issues though. I've heard of some batches of TSX-R lenses being more pointed than others on HIDP, and he couldn't get around the weird curvature in mine, so the output is a bit bowed. However it straightens out and projects flat over distance, so I'm not worried about it.

The OEM fresnel lens shots are straighter, so it has to be lens curvature.
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Old 05-25-2013, 08:48 AM   #213
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Glad to hear you found the reason for the dreaded bowing! Haha that was one hard to find it appears. So you can order tsx-r ajd not get the same focal point as the next order or was it early vs later batches?

Edit: I guess if greenkouki could not get rid of the bowing entirely nobody will haha
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Old 07-09-2013, 02:30 PM   #214
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Quote:
Originally Posted by P.Rico View Post
They sure can be. The TSX-R lenses are causing issues though. I've heard of some batches of TSX-R lenses being more pointed than others on HIDP, and he couldn't get around the weird curvature in mine, so the output is a bit bowed. However it straightens out and projects flat over distance, so I'm not worried about it.

The OEM fresnel lens shots are straighter, so it has to be lens curvature.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frederik View Post
Glad to hear you found the reason for the dreaded bowing! Haha that was one hard to find it appears. So you can order tsx-r ajd not get the same focal point as the next order or was it early vs later batches?

Edit: I guess if greenkouki could not get rid of the bowing entirely nobody will haha

I just did my retrofit this weekend and didn't get the cut off I was expecting. (STI projectors w/ tsxr lenses)

Here is a pic of my cutoff... Is this the "bow" you are talking about?
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Old 07-09-2013, 02:56 PM   #215
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WilR View Post
I just did my retrofit this weekend and didn't get the cut off I was expecting. (STI projectors w/ tsxr lenses)

Here is a pic of my cutoff... Is this the "bow" you are talking about?
Yep, that looks exactly as mine did unmodified. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to fix it. My deduction is sloppy manufacturing tolerance with TSX-R lenses, as there's nothing else non-OEM in my setup, and I've seen both bowed upward and bowed downward with identical setups over and over again on this forum.
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Old 07-09-2013, 03:09 PM   #216
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bowing is caused when the lens is shorter or taller than OEM lens. In order to fix this you need to space the lens farther away OR closer to the projector bowl. Add washers between the sheild / lens section to space it, to bring the lens closer u need to take a dremel and slightly bring down the area where the screws go into the lens holder. (IE make them shorter)

-B

your 2nd option is to make a custom shield. When a custom shield is made you can alter where the shield sits, and can easily move it towards or away from the lens. this is the STi projector with tsx lens and custom shield (from allum flashing) is used.

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Old 07-09-2013, 04:32 PM   #217
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Quote:
Originally Posted by heresmymind View Post
bowing is caused when the lens is shorter or taller than OEM lens. In order to fix this you need to space the lens farther away OR closer to the projector bowl. Add washers between the sheild / lens section to space it, to bring the lens closer u need to take a dremel and slightly bring down the area where the screws go into the lens holder. (IE make them shorter)

-B
Hey thank for the insightful reply. After reading your post, I am guessing the tsxr lenses are shorter. The tsx-r lens does not seem to protrude through the chrome shroud as much as the halogen projector did. Could be the different projectors, the different lenses, or a combination of both .

Quote:
Originally Posted by heresmymind View Post
your 2nd option is to make a custom shield. When a custom shield is made you can alter where the shield sits, and can easily move it towards or away from the lens. this is the STi projector with tsx lens and custom shield (from allum flashing) is used.
Do you offer custom shield / tuning services ?
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Old 07-09-2013, 04:34 PM   #218
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I do make custom shields and tune projectors and do full retrofits. I've been doing it since 2005 in hidplanet.com and done numerous lights on nasioc, i just dont advertise cause I'm not a legit business, its more of a hobby

-B
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Old 07-09-2013, 04:42 PM   #219
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Old 07-09-2013, 04:49 PM   #220
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Quote:
Originally Posted by heresmymind View Post
PMed you on HIDplanet
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Old 07-09-2013, 10:23 PM   #221
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Quote:
Originally Posted by heresmymind View Post
bowing is caused when the lens is shorter or taller than OEM lens. In order to fix this you need to space the lens farther away OR closer to the projector bowl. Add washers between the sheild / lens section to space it, to bring the lens closer u need to take a dremel and slightly bring down the area where the screws go into the lens holder. (IE make them shorter)

-B

your 2nd option is to make a custom shield. When a custom shield is made you can alter where the shield sits, and can easily move it towards or away from the lens. this is the STi projector with tsx lens and custom shield (from allum flashing) is used.

The lens is not too much taller than OEM (I measured ~22.6 mm with a pair of Mitutoyo calipers in the lab), but the convexity of the curvature seems, at least from our qualitative analysis, a bit too peaked toward the center point of the lens. You would have to sand away at the black body mounts to get it closer.

greenkouki made my shields (output shots in post #210 above), and he couldn't eliminate the bowing completely either, although the bowing is reduced still and the width increased tremendously. The width is on par with my Fusion fog projectors. Sadly, none of the other 2.5" lens options would fit the holder, so he couldn't try another lens with a different focal length and lens curvature profile, although from what I know, most of the other clear lens options are taller than the OEM (22.5 mm).

I remember someone one here claiming that the GD had clear 2.5" lenses on their Euro spec HID cars. I would love to get my hand on those and see if they would fix the issue. Maybe the answer would be a polished OEM lens such as those polish jobs done on RX350 lenses.
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Old 07-09-2013, 10:44 PM   #222
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how about e30 lenses? i mean for the amount of work going into this, people should just buy a pair of rx330 non-afs projectors for the install. I've done custom work with these projectors before and had better much results than Oem sheild with tsxr lens

-B

edit* I re-read yoru post on tsxr batch of lenses being off. I'd recommend an S2k lens than those are more rounded and crystal clear lenses found only in the ap1's
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Old 07-09-2013, 11:04 PM   #223
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Quote:
Originally Posted by heresmymind View Post
how about e30 lenses? i mean for the amount of work going into this, people should just buy a pair of rx330 non-afs projectors for the install. I've done custom work with these projectors before and had better much results than Oem sheild with tsxr lens

-B

edit* I re-read yoru post on tsxr batch of lenses being off. I'd recommend an S2k lens than those are more rounded and crystal clear lenses found only in the ap1's
The e30's are too large a diameter, so are the black series lenses. Grinding would be the only option.

If I hadn't already owned a set of OEM STi bowls, I might have just gone with some 330 AFS's (however, they were also an issue to mount apparently, based on honestabe's install, the sets out now seem to be all symmetric whereas the earlier versions were all side specific and easier to mount without having issues with the vertical adjustment screw). IIRC you had a few sets in your huge projector sale just recently, and I debated picking up a pair from you. I also tried to get the pair of OEM STi's you had to send to greenkouki instead of taking my lamps apart and sending them to him, but someone else beat me to it quick.

I haven't seen too many pairs of AP1 lenses sans projector bowls. That might be a fun project to try if I get a hand on one, I have one more STi projector sitting around that I want to dabble and tinker with in the near future for fun.
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Old 07-10-2013, 09:40 AM   #224
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Originally Posted by P.Rico View Post
The lens is not too much taller than OEM (I measured ~22.6 mm with a pair of Mitutoyo calipers in the lab)
Is the additional .1mm really significant?

If the lens is taller, did you have to bring the lens closer or further away to the bulb? I was thinking the tsxr lens needed to be further from the bulb but it sounds like you are suggesting bringing it closer to the bulb?

Quote:
Originally Posted by P.Rico View Post
greenkouki made my shields (output shots in post #210 above), and he couldn't eliminate the bowing completely either, although the bowing is reduced still and the width increased tremendously.
How long did it take greenkouki to make your custom projectors? Recommend his work?

Quote:
Originally Posted by heresmymind View Post
how about e30 lenses? i mean for the amount of work going into this, people should just buy a pair of rx330 non-afs projectors for the install. I've done custom work with these projectors before and had better much results than Oem sheild with tsxr lens
For me, this isn't really an option because I can't send you my entire headlight housing. I need to atleast have the halogens working while the hid projectors are being worked on.

Quote:
Originally Posted by heresmymind View Post
edit* I re-read yoru post on tsxr batch of lenses being off. I'd recommend an S2k lens than those are more rounded and crystal clear lenses found only in the ap1's
Are the S2000 lens an option for the STI projectors? Do you have some to experiment with an STI projector?

Quote:
Originally Posted by P.Rico View Post
The e30's are too large a diameter, so are the black series lenses. Grinding would be the only option.
I thought the black series were also a 2.5" diameter?
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Old 07-12-2013, 08:54 AM   #225
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Is the additional .1mm really significant?

If the lens is taller, did you have to bring the lens closer or further away to the bulb? I was thinking the tsxr lens needed to be further from the bulb but it sounds like you are suggesting bringing it closer to the bulb?

The lens has to be closer if you want to remove bow. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to grind the black lens housing.

However, I don't think the issue was the lens focal height. I think the issue lies in the lens convexity from bottom to top.

How long did it take greenkouki to make your custom projectors? Recommend his work?

It took him a couple of days to do it. I would highly recommend his work. Width and brightness will increase, and color will be amazing. FWIW though, there are better projectors than the STi, so there's that.

I thought the black series were also a 2.5" diameter?

The diameter of each lens base can vary by several mm. Since the black holder uses a snap-in retention to hold the lens in, the sizing of the lens has to be exact.
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