I just picked up my next project, thanks to Craig.  I am sure most of you will recognize this vehicle.  The good news is it is already trail ready now just have to add my personal touches and dial it in.  It is already dog approved :)

I am now on the hunt for a few parts. ARB compressor and lights on the front bar will be the first additions. Then winch and dirt!

Note the mud on the tires... we took it for a proper test drive at Walker Valley ORV park. :-)

Right on, Justin. Let's roll! What is the first mod?

Dustin

Things that will be done soonish.

I have some Hella 3000 spots that will be going on the bumper.

New security system with remote start, paging, and possibly gps tracking.

Some form of audio system.

Things that I will do later.

New window tint.

Front winch

Roof Rack ??

I am sure I will come up with some other things as I go along.

I new that white discovery looked familiar, I saw you pull out of chevron yesterday in the rear view mirror. Looks good!

Got the new HID Headlights installed last night, first mod to the new toy.

Got the new HID Headlights installed last night, first mod to the new toy.

Here is a picture of the new bulbs turned on, I should have taken a before and after.  This is a full HID upgrade kit with a BiXenon motorized H4 replacement bulb and Ballast system.  It runs on a relay harnes to not pull power from the stock harness and uses less amperage than the original headlight.  I actually sell the kits at my shop, so if some of you are interested contact me on PM and maybe I can work up a group deal.

There are many types and qualities of HID kits out there.  Some of the original aftermarket kits just used one bulb with multiple housing adapters to fit the stock housings.  There are a lot of cheap crap on ebay that are still like this today.  The kits I use are good quality and are actually made to match the proper positioning of the bulb and light reflectors.  Some of the kits like the H4 kit have shields over the bulb to make sure the pattern stays the same as stock.  Here is a picture I just took of the light pattern on my garage door, looks just like the stock light pattern just better.  There is no more scattered light than the old bulbs had.

 

The beam pattern looks ok, but barely. It is brighter and it probably makes the road better lit for the driver but the glare for on coming motorists is still probably pretty bad. As far as I have seen, no amount of trickery on the part of bulb positioning will make up for inadequate optics.

I mean to cast no aspersions towards you Justin, or your shop.

Here are some images of cars that have had the entire projector assemblies from other cars (eg-Infiniti's FX45) retrofitted into their stock housing. This mates the higher output of an HID bulb with an optic that was designed to make the most of it. I think the proof is in the proverbial pudding.

Andy

 

Comparing cars with "projector" hid conversions will always look better. That is why most OEM HID Headlights use them, better beam focus.   It all depends on the glass (or plastic) lence you are using.  All I stated is the beam battern is like the original beam pattern.  I was not saying it would magically make it look like a projector system.  I have had these kits in many of my vehicles including motorcycles and they all have had results that matched the factory beam patterns on all of them. 

Justin,  I need to come visit you at your shop soon, but lost your contact info.  Can you PM it to me?