I just had some hid headlights installed on my z as the standard headlights are crap. I'm told usually they are installed under the front bumper but couldn't get the bumper of so the ballasts are sitting in the engine bay next to the headlights. Just wondering if anyone knows if this is ok, I'm a bit paranoid due to the heat the tt's make in the engine bay, could it possibly cook them causing a fire.
They'll be perfectly fine in the engine bay as long as they are securely fastened. I'd be more worried about having them spotted by the po-po if they pop your bonnet.
Who has a stock air box? that's on my old car. my current ones are under my the headlights, but this does require bumper removal obviously.
Yes. For it to be legal it has to meet certain light radiation limits, have auto levellers fitted and head light washers.
Yes correct to some point... Provided your a good lad or lass to the police you could get away with them.... After my studies in this "lol", I came to the conclusion that our pre 2000 spec headlights are only different to the point of bi-xenon lenses. The 2000 headlights did not need levellers and washers as the design of the headlights met the requirements for HIDs. Now the bi-xenon lenses have a sharp "cut-off shield" if you like that cuts the spread off the light on the top (shining at a wall). Other than that, our halogen lenses are actually fairly popular in the "DIY hid" world due to its good a of light.. So it's not like we are running around with reflector type headlights with HIDs, like commowhores ect. Ect. all you need to do is bluff to them that you have fitted the 2000 spec projectors in, and that the 2000 spec didn't have washers or levellers... Done
My Evo 7 didn't have levellers or washers and they have to be removed for compliance... Mine weren't though thankfully. Zed projectors are fine for HID's, cut off isn't too bad and they have reasonable adjustment. I can't see anyone getting defected for HID's if you don't have super blue ones, or the ballasts hanging off your cam covers. Be sensible, be polite and you will likely be fine.
Well said although my ballasts are just in front of the suspension towers it looks neat, and I de-stickered them lol it's more for ease of replacement
Light Meter App :Android I downloaded a few Apps to my Android. Some are better than others. I think this one is one of the better ones, so if you are interested in using an app to compare your lights to others this might be one to try out. https://play.google.com/store/apps/...=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5idGkubGlnaHRNZXRlciJd Please note: the app uses the light sensor in your phone, so there are a few considerations. 1. it has to be enabled (or exist) 2. it is not calibrated to the same sensitivity as another phone so your readings are comparable to readings that you make using your phone 3. the sensor would be on the face (front) of phone, so point to the headlights
Headlights will blow the arse out of a normal light meter. Waste of time IMO. All you will get is maxed out readings.
I installed HID's in mine... does anyone else have the problem of them not being very bright? Like.. at all...
Why are you thanking him? It's Chrispy (Pretentious Upstart) and he must have forgotten that I am referring to Zed headlights So to give an example of some readings taken from a Google Nexus S phone using the suggested light meter app from my previous post. phone held approx half a metre from car. Projector Low beam = 40 lux (yes they glow yellow, especially when the engine isn't running) Main High Beam = 600 lux LED driving lights = 1200 lux
Sharp cut-off beam patterns is not an exclusive byproduct from using Bi-xenon. If fact, if we were to open our headlights up and modified our own color shields from a ___/ pattern to the more traditional ___----- pattern, we probably wouldn't get the extra attention when fitting HID kits. The other unfortunate thing about our light units is the fact the glass lense design. It's embedded ribs/flutes on the inside of the exterior glass distorts what would have otherwise been a perfect cut-off beam pattern. I feel Nissan messed up in that department and was slightly correctly with the 99/00 spec HID units. Getting back to bi-xenon lights, Bi-xenon projectors use a mechanical shield that flips/rotates to generate both high and low beam. Our shields are fixed. The 99/00 spec HID's are not bi-xenon. Rather, they use a coned insert ahead of the projector to focus the beam and slightly minimize the extraneous blead-off. From a distance, one would be hard pressed to distinguish a 99/00 spec light pattern compared to a pre 99 spec headlight unit light pattern that's been fitted with correct kelvin rated xenon bulbs. If I'm understanding your regulations correctly, preventing the local police from taking notice of your improved lighting through an HID upgrade can be tricky. I believe there could be a few tricks available to possibly negate this. The first would be to do a thorough cleaning of the insides of the light unit. Specifically, the projector lense itself. There are how-to's out there where this can be accomplished without having to remove or dismantle the light unit. The second would be to use a proper kelvin rated xenon bulb. To accomplish this, one needs to give the appearance that they still retain their halogen bulbs. To accomplish this, using a xenon bulb rated at 4300k (kelvin) will produce a very white light as opposed to the ricers who like to have bluish/purplish beam color. The added benefit of using a 4300k xenon bulb is that it provides the most lumens (brightest/longest/strongest beam) compared to any other kelvin rated xenon bulb. Any bulb rated higher than 4300k produces less lumens and begins to stray from the white light section of the color spectrum towards blue anf then purple. Here's something I wasn't aware of til fairly recently and makes for good reading. I could use anyone's thoughts on the subject; For the OP, here's where I have mounted my HID ballasts. They've been there since the spring of 2007 and have never been replaced. They keep cool there and they're protected from the elements.
