7" retrofit (GDAA WRX)

[satrya]

Offset mount

In order to allow for small roll adjustment, and in order to push the Micro DE to the outer edge (of the car) as much as possible, I experimented with adding a double bend on the bracket, on the part that mounts the Micro DE.

This means separating a good portion of the vertical piece of the bracket, before adding the double bend on the front part. (picture orientation shows the rear part closer to the camera) The rear will have to remain straight since it mates with the vertically oriented aluminum bracket. If I need a bit of a roll adjustment, I can bend the center part of the double bend to make one side of the Micro DE's mount higher or lower. I prefer this to making the mounting holes larger, because a large hole can mean that the alignment can drift over time as the screw gradually slides down.

[satrya]

Both sides mounted

Here's the Micro DE with both sides mounted using the same type of bracket, both with double bend applied. The angle of the bend will need to be adjusted later while aiming the roll & pitch of the beam. I had no plans of fine aiming the yaw, because by definition, the foglight pattern covers a wide angle and at a short distance. A minor yaw misalignment won't make much difference compared to the other 2, especially pitch.


Test fitment. I would have preferred the double bend be larger, but I didn't want to strain the steel bracket too much (and have it fracture while being used). Note how the 3 oem mounting screws actually don't intersect to make a 90 degree angle. I thought that was odd that they deliberately set up a taper. The back of the Micro DE sits behind the circular opening of the bumper cover, right above the brake duct vent.

[satrya]

Making use of extra space next to the Micro DE

Looks like there's enough space right next to the Micro DE for something small.

One option is to add a slightly angled unit that can serve to widen the angle of the Micro DE's coverage to the sides, and/or as a backroads cornering light.

This Hella Optilux 1182 seem like it could fit; see how the width and depth compares to the Micro DE:



Of course, there's no such thing as free lunch, or a smaller and shallower projector powered by the same rating bulb and giving you equivalent performance. But as an angle extender / aux. cornering light, it seems to be a good use of the small space. Low exposure (1/3 seconds, ISO200, f/2.8) of the 1182 (yellowish hue due to the cobalt blue tint on the lens) vs the Micro DE, both on untinted 55W H3 halogen bulbs:



The 1182 is quite old, and a good portion of the reflector bowl is badly burnt. It'd be good to find a clean replacement, had it not been discontinued. (Hella probably dropped a lot of these models for the very reason mine looks like this after 7+ years of use)

[satrya]

Replicating the left & right base brackets

Replicating the prototype brackets for both sides; to hold the Micro DEs together.





Remember Johnny 5?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_5

[BOO5TED]

NO #5 DISASSEMBLE!

Lol, loved that movie. Looking good so far.

[satrya]

^

Thx

[satrya]

Mounting the 1182s

One of the L brackets used to mount the Micro DE has a bit of space for the flat bottom of the Optilux 1182s.


Obviously, the overlapping metal pieces makes it hard for the 1182 to sit perfectly level. Also, the extra thickness due to the overlap reduces the amount of screw thread engagement in the 1182's bottom screw. Note that above the bottom metal plate of the 1182, there is a ~1mm thick gasket. Time to remove / replace it with something that doesn't stick out as much.

[satrya]

Removing the bottom panel & rubber gasket provided too much clearance; the screws will not go in far enough to secure the 1182 onto the bracket without some wobble.


There is about 0.5mm gap left for the screw to advance, but no more thread inside to advance into.


Keeping just the gasket makes it more difficult to seal the bottom.

[satrya]

Potential solution: replace the gasket with something thinner. Try adhesive-backed pipe insulation.


And trim so it seals from the inside.


It looks something like this:

[gold94corolla]

Can't wait to see these finished.

[satrya]

Can't wait to see these finished.

Thanks. I don't have a track record of finishing my retrofit in a short time though.

In the spirit of considering as many options fathomable;
here are some comparison of what happens if a spot high beam reflector (on 55W H1 halogen bulb) is put behind a 2.5" ribbed lens. Here's the high beam unit; it has a dish diameter of ~2.5":

Here's the ribbed lens mounted in a custom frame I fabricated previously for LEDs:


Previously, I tried to compare the effect of a ribbed lens when it replaces a regular 2.5" clear lens on a generic halogen low beam projector:


Which results in the following wall output difference (underexposed to better see hotspot etc)


The output without any lens (i.e. as originally intended for use) and with the ribbed lens right on top of the dish, at a similar shutter speed & ISO appear as follows:


If I replace the 55W halogen with a 35W H1 halogen bulb, then the high beam reflector unit + ribbed lens might work as a halogen DRL. I'd have to test this to make sure the intensity is not too high at the necessary driving angles (& simulated oncoming traffic).

[gold94corolla]

Looks like it pretty much eliminates any useable output lol... would make for a nice DRL if you wanted to use a halogen bulb (I like LED)

[satrya]

Well, the picture is underexposed. I try to stay around the same camera settings that works well for comparing HID hotspots. The trouble is, whenever I use it to take (55W) halogen outputs, there is barely anything on the picture. It's not that dismal in real life though.

I'm not against LED; it's just that halogen seems a lot easier to source, especially the generic H1 and H3 bulb types.

[satrya]

Alternate lens shroud

The custom acrylic ring (taped blue in this picture below) intended to hold the 2.5" ribbed lens from the back can also fit in front of the lens.


A smaller pipe (black pvc) can then replace the function of the clear acrylic on the back of the lens, and the acrylic ring can be placed in front. It would need some kind of bracket to mount everything together.


The nice thing about this configuration, is that the black pvc pipe has an indentation in the inner surface that can be used to mount a flat disc. For the LED DRL use, one can put a metal plate with a hole to mount the threaded back of the LED on. It would look more or less like this:


Compared to the previous design (with white PVC holding the front of the lens, and clear acrylic ring holding the back of the lens), this one could give the impression of a floating lens, if most of the donor housing is painted black.

[satrya]

Small projector foglight units

Qualitative size comparison of 55W H3 halogen foglight projectors.

Top view. Bottom row, left to right: ES300, Optilux 1182, Micro DE. Top row, left to right: ES300, Optilux 1002.


Same, with ES300 and 1002 tilted to the sides. Note the off axis placement of the ES300's lens relative to the bulb filament.


I had mounted the 1182 to the small gap next to the Micro DE on my bracket (work in progress; also visible in the pictures above). The 1002 is too deep to fit there, but might fit above the Micro DE (thanks to the tilt of the 7" oem lens represented by the white cardboard in the pictures below; shown with a 2.5" halogen projector no longer on my list of candidate units to retrofit).


Looks like the ES300, assuming it can be sealed within the available space, will also fit wherever the 1002 can.