Custom Glass Carbon Fibre R33 Projector Headlights Group Buy!

[PM-R33]

Hey guys

Ever since I have owned my car I have wanted better headlights. While the factory S2 lights looked allright, I got sick and tired of having to polish them constantly to get them to look ok, but they were never "new" looking. I ended up getting a bit of a crack/hole in one and since then no matter how much I polish them on the outside, the inside still looks crap. Then adding on top of that HID's in the factory reflectors don't have "perfect" cut off and need a bit of playing around with the height adjustment to get good I realised I would either have to get new S2 lights or something else. While the factory S3 GTR Xenon headlights look awesome with their projectors, regardless how expensive they were, S2 owners couldn't fit them due to the shape difference! So at the end of the day there was no choice, new S2 lights at $1200-$1500 or try and custom make something.

A thread discussion that was on the subject in the Cosmetic section the other week ( http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/R3...rs-t265496.html ) got me rethinking about the idea of getting something custom made. I knew of a few good companies in the US, but the costs involved in shipping lights there and shipping lights back would start really getting expensive. Never the less I sent some emails through. After a bit of a chat with my mate on the subject in the next few days he mentioned his headlights he had on his Supra. He bought them a few months back and when I first saw them I fell in love. Made the car look so much more modern, without crossing the line of looking out of place. One thing that I didn't realise when he had bought them though was they were made by an Aussie company that specialises in custom headlights. Instantly I sent an email and thats when the ball got rolling....

DETAILS

Initially we are looking at custom making some R33 S2 headlights and then making them available on the market.

After a bit of a discussion a basic design has been created. While this is only in the theory stage, I am quite happy with what we have so far:

First the headlight will be remoulded in 2x2 twill carbon fibre.

Into this the factory high beam reflector will be fitted.

For the low beam a Hella 90mm DS2 projector kit with gen 3 ballast and adjuster will be fitted.

For the parkers a group of small LED's shall be used.

Now for the cherry on the cake... The lens will be remade in a piece of hand curved glass with a cermaic black border. There will be no lines and will be crystal clear to show of the carbon fibre inside.

Couple of reasons with why this design will work well. Using the factory high beam reflector will keep costs down. The LED parkers can either be fitted with 6000k white LED's or orange LED's. This allows people like myself to use the LED's as indicators if they wish. The glass lens offers a much better clarity and will never go yellow like the factory lenses do. In essense it will look similar to what the S3 GTR Xenon lights do in overall design.

This is a quick image of what it could look like; remember nothing is set in stone yet, we are just in the theory stage.

The company doing this for us is Spinto. Here is their website where you can see the Supra headlights; ours will look similar design wise to them.

http://www.spinto.com.au/

So currently Spinto is getting their hands on a set of S2 lights where measurements will be taken, and the overall process can begin for the carbon moulding. Anything can still change and nothing is set in stone but atleast you know of what is currently happening.

The S2 lights will be the first to get done, but i'm sure if numbers go well S1 lights will be not to far off (but S1 owners can still fit S3 GTR Xenons so stop complaining ).

So for the group buy we will need an intial order of 5 to get the ball rolling. Obviously the more people we get, the lower the price will go (up to a point).

I currently I do not have any prices or more details to what I have posted. Since this is completely in the design stage I can't give ETA's or final costs so bear that in mind. I realise for a group buy there needs to be a start and end date, but obviously that can't be given yet. I would rather post this thread up now and get interest going and letting people know than simply posting up the thread once they are done, I hope this is ok and understandable.

Guys I am very excited about this because to my knowledge this will be the first time ever (Hell S2's are 14 years old now) an aftermarket full glass headlight will be available for purchase!

Any feedback/interset can be given in this thread and I will keep it updated with any progress.

Thank guys

Phil

[Bliksem]

In for S1 when it goes ahead.

[Basti]

In for S1 when it goes ahead.

this. our cars are older therefore we should get preference. respect your elders!

[PM-R33]

Lol smart ass. Atleast you guys can fit S3 Xenons, stop being greedy!

Edited August 27, 2010 by PM-R33

[On Edge]

when we have finalised pics will prob be in for S2, sounds great phil!!!

[75coupe]

This will probably be the most monumental group by ever... cant wait...

[Kinks]

very interested in this, S2 R33 here.

[Nick033]

I'm in like Flynn

[NYTSKY]

Also in.

So thats 5 so far. No doubt more to come.

[na beast]

In

[NA_Goodness]

Definately in

[MANWHORE]

I'm definitely in, but I'd like to make a few suggestions.

1. I think there is a difference between something that looks ultra stylish and nice versus something that looks just crap and rice. For example, I think that the s3 gtr lights look nice and stylish. On the other hand, some of those lights on ebay, like most of the tailights look like crap. I think if we could achieve a look like the s3 gtr, that would be awesome.

2. Not a real fan of destroying the factory set of lights (mine are in perfect nick) just to harvest the high beam reflector. I'd much rather a complete light so I can swap back to the standard ones if I ever sell the car. I'd much rather a set of twin projector lights and I'd be willing to pay for the second set of projectors rather than destroy my factory lights.

3. would be good if we could get el rings around the twin projector setup I suggested in 2.

just a couple of my ideas.....

[75coupe]

did I say Im in? well yeah keen as...

[75coupe]

oh yeah no angel eyes... tacky...

[Nick033]

Would a twin projector set up be better in terms of lighting? Or are the stock reflectors better to have on your high beams?

[PM-R33]

I think we can agree on no angel eyes, while I love them, I love them on BMW's. They are to much of a "common" aftermarket headlight option and I don't think we should go down that path.

I agree that I want them to be classy and not something ricey, hence the simple use of a projector and reflector side by side will make it very similar to the S3 GTR lights which every one loves but with the added look of the carbon fibre. From a few metres away the carbon fibre just looks plain black so doesn't look out of place, it's only on closer inspection that you notice the nice weave. This carbon look should give the lights a dark look to make them look aggressive yet nice.

I'm assuming a set of factory headlights needs to be used in either case due to needing all the mounting brackets, the rear housing for the headlight etc.

Since HID's need some time to warm up they are not always used inside of a single projector for high beam purposes, more commonly use a bi-xenon projector where a shield is moved infront of the bulb to switch low/high without turning off the light. Since Skyline headlights disengage the low beam when you flick to high beam you would have a few seconds with very low/no light. This would mean if another projector was used for the high beam, it would still need to be a normal bulb which in that case there is no real benefit switching to the projector other than looks (possibly slightly better light output; I don't know that much technical optics information). While I quite like the look of dual projectors I understand how it would bump up the costs quite a bit since the projectors are quite expensive. But we can see what happens.

Like I said guys this is completely in the design stage and I appreciate all the input and discussion, keep it coming and let me know what else you think.

Edited August 27, 2010 by PM-R33

[Basti]

i like the idea of twin projectors. with the warm up time, why cant both lenses be sheilded. ie: u get lowbeam from both until you flip the switch/sheid and high beam from both.? give the truckers a run for their money.

also, i believe that in vic you are legally required to have working parkers. so relocating the indicator needs to cmbine with this and not replace completely. this will cater for both people relocating and those not.

im voting against any angel eyes OR audi style strips. these are neith audis nor beemers.

point 3, why not take this as an opportunity to completely redesign the light? if we are getting custom housings made in cf, we dont have to stick to the original layout do we? this will obviously increase the price a fair bit, and has the potential to fail badly

[na beast]

i like the idea of twin projectors. with the warm up time, why cant both lenses be sheilded. ie: u get lowbeam from both until you flip the switch/sheid and high beam from both.? give the truckers a run for their money.

also, i believe that in vic you are legally required to have working parkers. so relocating the indicator needs to cmbine with this and not replace completely. this will cater for both people relocating and those not.

im voting against any angel eyes OR audi style strips. these are neith audis nor beemers.

point 3, why not take this as an opportunity to completely redesign the light? if we are getting custom housings made in cf, we dont have to stick to the original layout do we? this will obviously increase the price a fair bit, and has the potential to fail badly

im full against twin projectors, looks way to after market and just a complete cop defect coz its way to out of place, and price is already going to be expensive considering the supra setup they sell is just the glass and carbon and its $1400 and where getting both that and a projector and parker setup which is gonna be pricey as hell as it is let alone another set of projectors or a whole new design, keep it simple and at least a little price effective for all of us.

[89CAL]

I think twin Bi-Xenon's would pose an issue with cost. I'm interested but will wait to get a look at the finished product. Has the design of the R32 projector head lights been looked at for some design ideas? I know its outdated but I think for a standard head light back then, it looks pretty good

[PM-R33]

Agreed guys, you gotta realise the cost of this aint going to be that cheap. Bi-xenon projectors are very expensive, let alone two of them with dual HID's. I'm not really keen on paying $3000 for some headlights. I agree it would probably look nice, but I don't think every one could afford that, even this will be pushing some peoples budgets.