2Lexus430s

I have an Engineer currently working on Retrofitting the internal Low beam patern from a new 2002 ES300 in the SC30/400 Casing. This should give a much better beam and light flicker. If anyone is interested in this finished result, please Tell me. I will ask out much he charges to do so.

enginyr

Manaray....I just want the 7200k HID bulbs....is this possible?

///MDex

At that end of the spectrum, the bulbs will output color identical to our Spectra Blue Metallic.

enginyr

Exactly what I'm looking for...... Or these......

lexlikenother

Then you'll get less light output than those cheap blue tinted bulbs. lol

Toog4me

does that mean that an HID light doesnt have to be blue, it can be yellow or orange or some **** like that?

brendanlim

Please correct me if I'm wrong but YES, I think some bikes have yellow HIDs now.

enginyr

My homie ken got yellow hid's at first, then went to the 7,200k. Looked like someone pissed on the lights....naaasty...blue/purple is the way to go....siiiiiiick!

Manaray

Ok, I have some more install photos...this time, it's of my "cleaned up" installation...here we go...

First off, I relocated the Ballast locations. Autolamps recommends keeping them away from any moisture so I figured the very edge of the engine bay isn't a good idea.

I decided to relocate the driver side one on TOP of the fusebox...for the passenger side, I relocated it on TOP of the air box. In both cases, I only used the double sided tape at they are now just sitting horizonally flat (for the most part) and not vertically. Also, the mounting locations did not affect the ability to remove the fuse cover or open the airbox to change the filter...






Then, I just repositioned the other items (relay, fuse, etc.) to where the ballast on the driver used to be...on the passenger side, everything fit between the headlight housing and the airbox...




I also applied the heat shrink tubing to the connectors...here's a before and after shot...





Now you may be asking yourself, does that clear the hood ok? Well, I have it in there, so of course it does...how did find out short of slamming the hood down and seeing if a dent in the hood popped up?

Well I took some soft spongy earplugs and I positioned the ballasts then I slowly closed the hood. I wanted to see how far down the earplugs would compress...that way, I knew EXACTLY how much hood clearance I had...of course, it helped that it was cool because the earplugs hold their compressed shape much longer when they're cold....

Here's some photos...

Manaray

Now onto the battery terminal connections...here's the "final" product...notice the wire running across the top of the battery tiedown...this is the wire harness for the passenger side...due to the length, this was the best way I found to route this wire in the SC...other cars may vary!




Now here's how I got there...first off, here's the BLACK terminal in stock form...you can see the two wires to the left that go to the relay...




What I did is I found a pair of compatible thread 10mm nuts so that I could offset the wires so I could run them towards the back of the battery...




Of course, I had to modify the terminal covers..here's the black terminal cover from the inside...this is the unmodified photo...




Now what I did is that I removed some of the inner bracing. I have circled it in red...I just used some wire clippers to snip off the plastic...make sure to "round" off any sharp edges...




Then I routed the two wires between the battery covers' clip and the battery cover's housing. This way, it would not interfere with the battery cover's ability to hold onto the terminal...here's two shots...one from the front and one from the back...

Manaray

Now onto the RED side...basically the same deal as the black...




Here's the part of the battery terminal cover that I clipped for the red side...in this photo, it's partically clipped...




Here it's completely clipped off...




To make my job easier, I removed the RED terminals clip cover from the wire harness. It's attached by this simple clip...




Here's a rear shot of the RED terminal after everything has been said and done...looks MUCH better than my earlier "hacked together" wiring...




And finally, I wired the power lines from the passenger side under the SC's plastic "tray" by the radiator...here's a shot looking towards the passenger side from the driver's side...the wire is highlighted in red...




Ok, this should cover ANY QUESTIONS for EVERYTHING. AutoLamps online has been NICE ENOUGH to send me a 6000K bulb for my 9006 kit so that I can take photos of it and compare it to the 4100K setup. I should be getting it within a few days.

I will then snap some photos for a side by side comparison (4100K in one side, 6000K in the other side)...stay tuned.

lobito

Does that mean that you lose the DRL?

Manaray

DRL? It was installed on a '92 SC400...there was no such thing as DRL back then (at least not on this car)...

On the JZS-161 GS300/400/430 (2nd Gen), the DRL is the high beam lamp...so if your GS doesn't come equipped with HID's and you have DRL's, you will NOT loose them...

damnboy

Just wanna tell everyone Autolamps-online has great customer services.
I order a 4100K kit but they made a mistake and send me a 6000K kit.
They offer me either I try out the 6000K kit and keep it if I like it and will only have paid for the 4100K.
kit, or alternatively, if I do not like the lamps and would prefer the 4100K they will exchange them and
pay the carriage for the return of the 6000K.

I'll install it first and see how it goes!!

alfa2600

Manaray, after reading your very detailed postings on installing that British HID light kit, I have no doubt that for most of us on the SC430 forum this is going to be a job for a professional. The end result is enormously desirable, but the work is far beyond the usual tinkerer's abilities. And you did not do it to an SC430 anyway, so some of your details will be different.

Maybe the way to go is to persuade Lexus to make HIDs standard or optional on the next year's car, and to make the installation such that it can be installed as an upgrade on earlier cars.

Also, when checking out the forum, the light postings do not come up in the contents lists, if I did not know they were there last week, and hunted them down under "raffle", of all things, I would not know such a conversion kit exists.