7" retrofit (GDAA WRX)

[gold94corolla]

I like that a LOT better, and the gap isn't even there anymore

[satrya]

That looks ... OEM. Well done!

Thanks. I'm probably not done yet though.

I like that a LOT better, and the gap isn't even there anymore

It hasn't changed actually. The previous picture was taken at a slightly lower elevation, so the bumper cover ridge right above it doesn't obscure the gap like in these pictures. In real life, one would have to squat right in front of the piece to see the gap. It is still conceptually bothersome though.

[csjoh]

Thanks. I'm probably not done yet though.

Of course you aren't

[satrya]

Of course you aren't

Of course not. Since it has taken since August 2013 until now, what's a few more months here and there. I may circle back and end up right here, but I need to explore a few more things.

[satrya]

Functional testing...


Aux turn signal:


Forward facing foglights (Hella Micro DE halogen fogs on standard 55W H3 halogen bulbs):


DRL (or maybe aux city light):


For some reason, the fuse on my oem foglight wiring blew before I can test the side facing lights (ES300 fogs on standard 55W H3 halogen bulbs).

[csjoh]

I think that looks very good, and finished...

Sounds like you might have a bad ground somewhere. The metal cage housing the fog light conglomerate, perhaps?

[Fstrsn]

Hmmm, I like the color matched more than I thought I would.

Although I'm curious to see what you still have in store for this with it looking so close to completion.

[satrya]

I think that looks very good, and finished...

Thanks. It does. From a distance.

Sounds like you might have a bad ground somewhere. The metal cage housing the fog light conglomerate, perhaps?

Possibly. I tested the resistance across the opposite pins of the ES300, and from each of its pin to the custom metal housing as well as the Hella Micro DE pins. I get some short from the base of the H3 halogen bulb (which is one of the pins) to the ES300's metal bowl, to the DIY metal housing. The odd thing is that when the connectors of both the ES and DE are secured, but the DRL/aux turn connector aren't connected, I didn't see this issue. I may have to pull the assembly out and add a thin layer of insulation to insulate the bulb's metal base from the ES300 bowl.

Hmmm, I like the color matched more than I thought I would.

So do I. I think painting it black would make it look more aggressive. However, painting it yellow increases the apparent frontal surface area, which is nice. It looks friendlier imho. Not in a gen 1 dodge neon kind of friendly (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Although I'm curious to see what you still have in store for this with it looking so close to completion.

At least, I need to invest in a body color matching paint. I just cobbled up the yellow paint for the pieces right now by blending 2 generic spray cans on the fly, since I just wanted a general idea on how it looks. There are a few other design details that could be done differently. These won't show up in pictures similar to ones taken.

[csjoh]

PlastiDip has insulating properties and may be good for this type of application...

[satrya]

PlastiDip has insulating properties and may be good for this type of application...

Good point, although I don't know if there will be some slight movement between the bulb base and the foglight housing that will distribute plastidip peel all over the bowl over time. Maybe that's an extremely unlikely scenario.

I'm gravitating towards completely taking the housing apart and isolating the ES300 housing altogether. But if I do that, I'm afraid I'll be tempted into doing something more extreme and completely do over the retrofit.

Opening the housing may as well be opening pandora's box.

[csjoh]

No worries, we're good, as that means we'll get updates on your otherworldly build for another year. Do it!

[satrya]

No worries, we're good, as that means we'll get updates on your otherworldly build for another year. Do it!

I guess that's one way to look at it.

But instead of a pandora's box, it could well be layers of raw onion outgassing.

[satrya]

Some daylight color comparison.




Headlight: 3800K xb35 on top, 85122 D2S on bottom.
Foglight: Single emitter LED on top, standard 55W H3 halogen on bottom.

The LEDs are much bluer than anything else; maybe the amber LED is better.

[Ilikecars]

Omg they are on the car! Looks good, but are you worried about killing your alternator with all that light?

[satrya]

Omg they are on the car! Looks good, but are you worried about killing your alternator with all that light?

They're installed for a few days just for functional testing. In general, I'll always make sure that there shall be no more than 2 pairs of forward facing light turned on. That's especially true for the 2 pairs of biXenons.

But I thought the power draw isn't much more than the OEM setup; the 9007 halogen low beams are about 55W each side, and the H3 halogen fogs are also 55W. In the past (before discovering HID retrofit), I've also concurrently ran halogen 35W H3 bulbs or 55W halogen bulbs. So that should be between 145 to 165W each side. If I deliberately use all of them now, it would be 2 x 35W for the biXenons, 2 x 55W for the 2 fogs, and 2 x 3W for the LEDs. That's 186W each side (assuming the power draw is equal to the bulb rating). Wouldn't MK's setup draw much more?