how hard was it to open the OEM projector housings pigeonman ?
I'm planning to open mine up for the FXR swap and paint the chrome shrouds black as well... or even black chrome.
Can you give me very specific details On how you opened them up? Like heat temp, time, areas you pryed on etc? And can you PM me the cost of the FXR swap from retroshop? Is it cheaper than retrofit source?
I'm not gonna lie man. Opening the stock lights up was a *****. As for details I can't recall the exact temps/times I went with. I PM'd JJ at Retro Shop and he provided me that info.
I used a small knife to cut a slit a the pointy end of the light, otherwise I couldn't get it over the lip of the lens. Then just started working my way around the light prying back the lip of the housing a little at a time. Make sure you keep it warm or the housing plastic can crack. The clear plastic tabs at the inboard side of the lens will most likely snap off. Watch out you don't snap of the housing mounting tabs ( Like I Did...), if you do you can use JB Weld to put them back on. Once you get the lip peeled back enough you'll nee to get something up and in between the inside of the lens and the inner lip of the housing and break the permaseal in there as well.
Take your time! Each light probably took me the better part of 2 hours plus to open. The guys who do it for a living can probably do it in a quarter that time but I had no desire to ruin a $600+ set of lights. Once you get the lights open warm everything up again and get out as much of the old permaseal as you can, it'll make sealing them back up with your new sealant easier.
Retro Shop pricing was on par with TRS's. I've shopped from both, shipping was way faster to Canada for me though Retro Shop and JJ's customer service can't be beat. I must have emailed him a dozen times with questions before placing my order and he answered all of them quickly and with exactly what info I wanted.
Thanks for the info! I don't have HID's, just the stock projectors (I belive they're HIR bulbs) so will I still have a heat issue? Also is it only an issue when the projector and halo are on or is it just the projector bulb putting out a lot of heat. Only reason I ask is I didn't think LED's put off much heat.
Definitely post up some pics of your results here when your done too! I've n vet seen halos on lows and I'm not even sure what matchboxes are, but you've definitely got me interested!
I'm not sure about the difference in heat output between the halogens and HID's. But if it was me I would still wire them to shut off when the low's fire up while your already inside the lights. A little insurance never hurt and the cost difference is minimal. Yeah, as far as I know its the projector heat that's the issue, not the LED turn signals or running lights (on the Canadian trucks the amber turn signals run constant as a running light and then blink when called for).
I'll definitely post pics! Matchbox's are small projectors that will fit in the fog light housing so that I can run HID's in the fogs and control the output. HID's are not legal in my area unless mounted in a projector.
