# MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Update 3)



## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

Okay, here is another update








Its beign going kind of slow now because I need the two 'bezels' made and since I can't make them at home because my lathe is too small, I am having my buddy (also a vw nut) machine them for me at school on his free time.
In the meanwhile, I was trying to figure out how I will have to modify the back so that I can fit the projector in there.
I took some measurements of the back housing and added them to my assembly drawing to see where the projector would sit with respect to the back. Here is what I got:








The red outline at the back is the outline of the back housing with the cover installed. As you can see, the projector protrudes in a number of places so that it looks like the backing will have to be modified. I was thinking that if I cut the left side of the housing (in this case the driver's side) and moved things over by about 0.6" then I would be okay. Here is what that would look like:








This would mean that I would also have to cut the cover and then fiberglass the gap. This is probably what I am going to do and altough it is pretty involved, it is not that bad.
I didn't want to cut the back housings yet without knowing for sure how the projector mounted inside. The drawings can give me a pretty good idea but just in case I want to see the real thing. Since I don't have the 'bezels' yet I thought that I would modify my little model that I had made earlier. I cut a hole in it to let the projector sit inside:








Here is a view from the backside:








Here is the projector inside of the model thingie:
























Next, I taped it all up to the reflectors that I have cut so that I can place the whole assembly inside tha back housing:
















I had to cut this support a little to clear the projector. This is the support that attached at the top to the low beam adjusting screw and at the bottom to a ball end that allows the whole reflector assembly to pivot so you can make adjustments.









When I put everything in there it almost seemed that I would not have to modify the back housing at all!!! I couldn't tell for sure because my model thingie is made out of cardoard and bodyfiller and it was giving a little here and there. I need the actual piece made out of aluminum and I need to bolt everything down as it will be to be sure of how much I have to or don't have to cut. So, before cutting anything at the back I am going to wait








In the meantime, I had nothing to do so I started to makethe eight little posts (four per headlight) that will attach the projectors to the headlights. Some of the pics to follow are more for showing off my machines but hey!
















Above is the aluminum 'stock' I am using to make the posts. The posts will be .375" diameter by 1.10" and 1.07" in length. The longer ones are for the top and the shorter ones are for the bottom. The difference in lengths is because of the shield at the bottom of the projectors. I didn't have any 3/8th aluminum stock on hand so I used 1/2" stock and had to turn it down to 3/8th.
First, I had to drilling a centre hole so I can rest the piece on the tailstock of my lathe. Then I fed the stock through the chuck as far as I could go because I am going to need to make eight of these pieces:








Next, I cut the diameter of the rod from 1/2" to 3/8":








Once I had that done, I cut the rod in pieces and faced each one on either end to get them to be exactly 1.10" and 1.07" in lenght. Here is a pic of all posts already cut to length:








Next, I drilled a hole throught the centre of all of the posts:








By doing that, I can cut a thread down the middle of the posts and insert a threaded rod of the proper size (#6-32 UNF) so that I can bolt the projectors down.
Now I wanted to put two flats on one end of the posts so that I could use a wrench to tighten them onto the bezel once they are made, so I made use of milling machine to do that:








What you see on the bed of the milling machine is a 'dividing head'. What this does is it allows you to rotate a workpiece in any given angle very precisely. It can even rotate a piece down to fractions of an angle! For instance, if you wanted to make a hex out of round stock, you would place the roundstock on the chuck pf the dividing head, make a cut with the mill, then rotate the piece by 60 degrees, make another cut, rotate again by 60 degrees, make another cut, and so on and so on until you have a hex.
Anyways, by using the dividing head, I can make a cut on one side of the post, than rotate the post by 180 degrees and make a second cut and I would have two perfect flats that I can use to tighten the posts using a wrench.
Here is a closeup of the post on the dividing head:








And finally here is a post with the flats machined on one end and the thread cut down the middle:








Its kind of hard to see what I am talking about, but that is the best picture I could get of it.
Anyways, that what I have so far and now I am waitting on my buddy to finish up those pieces. He may have them done sometime this week (hopefully early







). 
When I get more done, I will post again!
cheers























[Modified by Bugging55, 1:41 AM 1-27-2003]


[Modified by Bugging55, 1:42 AM 1-27-2003]


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Bugging55)*

Ok.
This all looks so awesome. But I was lost somewhere after the first picture (on your first update). This is mostly b/c I'm not an engineer of any sorts.
But my question:
What's this?








And how did you make it? Out of what material? 
This is what I am looking to make to help attach myprojector and also to cover the hole I put in my reflector (mk4-looks).
I'm very interested in what you are doing here but would love to find out more about that thingy above!!!
And you really got it shining nicely I saw!!! How did you do this???
Later,


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## finklejag (Apr 4, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Bugging55)*

Do you have all this stuff in your garage? 
You must of spent half a day posting this








Good luck


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## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (nater)*

quote:[HR][/HR]Ok.
This all looks so awesome. But I was lost somewhere after the first picture (on your first update). This is mostly b/c I'm not an engineer of any sorts.
But my question:
What's this?








And how did you make it? Out of what material? 
This is what I am looking to make to help attach myprojector and also to cover the hole I put in my reflector (mk4-looks).
I'm very interested in what you are doing here but would love to find out more about that thingy above!!!
And you really got it shining nicely I saw!!! How did you do this???
Later,[HR][/HR]​Nater,
That thing is what I call the 'bezel'. The one you saw in the pictures is only a mock-up of what the final one will look like. I wanted to make a mock-up or 'model' so that I could assemble my set-up and make sure I didn't have any problems with room.
Here is a drawing of that piece that I made after measuring the projector I got:








Now it is a little different. I tweaked the dimensions a little as I progressed for one reason or another. (sorry I don't have a dwg of the latest right now







)
The way I made this one is like this, I took measurements of the diameter of the piece at 1/8" intervals using the program I used to draw it with. Then I cut circles out of 1/8" thick cardboard and glued them together to get the following:








After that I took some automotive body filler or 'bondo' and plastered it on:








After some time of cutting and sanding, I ended up with the following:








and after that, I just painted it with some silver spray paint I had lying around in the garage:








Painting it really doesn't do anything other than look cool








After that I cut the hole in it so I could put the projector through to see what it would look like.
Mind you, this was only a mock-up and it was very weak! What could be done with it, is maybe make a mould from it (using it as a plug) and then make some fiberglass 'shrouds' out of it to cover the hole.
The final pice will look exactly like that piece I made, only that it will be machined out of solid aluminum billet and polished to look like chrome. So hopefully when everything is said and done, it will look like it belongs there. Also, it beign made out of aluminum will make the whole thing nice and sturdy. 
So basically that piece you were asking about was merely used to see if things would workout inside the headlight. If I saw it didn't then I would modify accordingly so that when I make the actual piece, It would work the first time








I guess, you could do something similar using the body filler. Problem with the one I made is that the body filler layer is very very thin and it cracks very easily. If you were going to make this piece out of body filler, you would need the whole piece to be solid bodyfiller pretty much. Also, this means that the only thing you could do with the headlight is to paint it. I guess you could do a 'joey mod' on it but I don't think that it would look that great with the projector. Personally I think the 'joey mod' looks awesome with the original reflectors.
If you want some ideas or anything on how to make this piece or something let me know








P.S. You don't need to be an engineer to do any of this







You just need to be motivated and enjoy yourself http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (finklejag)*

quote:[HR][/HR]Do you have all this stuff in your garage? 
You must of spent half a day posting this








Good luck[HR][/HR]​No way I could work on the stuff if it were in my garage up here in Canada








I'd freeze to death! I got the stuff down in my basement. Nice and cozy and warm








Bringing that milling machine down wasn't any fun though! I got a couple of friends that don't talk to me anymore. (don't know why







)
Yeah, these things take a while to post with all those dammed pics!


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Bugging55)*

Thanks dude.
Pretty cool stuff.
Keep us updated (as you have been).

Later,


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## boostnVdub (Dec 23, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (nater)*

That is bad ass! Sign me up when you can produce a kit or something! keep up the good work!
-Chad


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## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (boostnVdub)*

Hey if there were money in this, I would! Its just a lot of custom work with machinery to machine the parts (I don't think I will be getting any injection molding and chromic machinery any time soon, never mind the fact that I would not know how to design a reflector for the highs







)
But who, knows, Maybe I can start popping out the little shrouds to cover the projectors once you cut the reflector. They would be made out of fiberglass and you would have to paint them (Joey mod ?). I knwo for sure my buddy would be interested in doing this. It would be more of a word of mouth thing than anything else, not as a full time business. Any interest?
Disclaimer,
quote:[HR][/HR]Hey if there were money in this, I would![HR][/HR]​Just in case some people want to come on here and bash some more on how there would be no money in this because VW already offers OEM HIDs for the MK4s, for one, I am talking about MK3 kits here. Second, this is a one-off kit I am putting together and IMHO I think it will look a heck of a lot better than OEM HIDs once it is finished (aesthetics) because of two reasons: 1) I don't like the shape of the projector cover on the OEM HIDs (it looks like a nipple







) 2) the OEM projector is soooo small and the X5 Projector is huge in comparison!. In my opinion my low beam projector should be quite a bit bigger than my fog projector, not around the same size as is the case with OEM.
So there, I made my case as to why MY mod can and should be better than OEM because it whoudl perform as good as OEM plus it will look a LOT better!
Sorry, I have to get so deffensive about the mod given the past history


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## EvsnaJetta (Apr 26, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Bugging55)*

I did something similar with 330 headlights. I'm having problems now.







Good luck.


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## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (EvsnaJetta)*

what kind of problems? Do you have pics?
EvsnaJetta, I just saw your other post! Nevermind about my first question








Hopefully you can get the stuff dried out and hopefully it will work for you!
What exactly got wet? The Ballast? Where did you mount them?
Also, do you have any pics of your mod to post up?


[Modified by Bugging55, 9:39 PM 1-28-2003]


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## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Bugging55)*

I finally got the 'bezels' made





















My buddy finished them today so I picked them up and here are some shots!








































I still have to polish these guys up nicely to a 'like chrome' finish. 
I'll leave that for my next update


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## bora99_2000 (Jul 26, 2001)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Bugging55)*

hey nice post and very resourceful guy.......i wish i could do all that...
i was wondering,,,,,,,,,while the x5 has a great line.....y not just go for s2000 projectors...cuz they are GOD


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## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (bora99_2000)*

quote:[HR][/HR]hey nice post and very resourceful guy.......i wish i could do all that...
i was wondering,,,,,,,,,while the x5 has a great line.....y not just go for s2000 projectors...cuz they are GOD[HR][/HR]​Yeah, I heard that S2000 projectors are awesome but I coulnd't find any anywhere. Well, I didn't really look either to be honest. When I bought my projectors I checked out e-bay and usually what they have there is BMW and Audi stuff. 
I do like the size of the X5s though. I am not sure how big the s2000 projectors would be.
I am getting ready to do some more machining on the bezels. As soon as I get off the computer am going to work on thesehttp://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
I'll post up another update soon
P.S. bora99, do you have any pics of the beam pattern from an s2000?


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## vwtoys (Mar 31, 1999)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Bugging55)*

damn, can i move in with you?








I used to have access to a lathe and a mill back in school. But now at work, I couldn't touch the 5-axis stuff with a 10 foot pole.


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (bora99_2000)*

quote:[HR][/HR]hey nice post and very resourceful guy.......i wish i could do all that...
i was wondering,,,,,,,,,while the x5 has a great line.....y not just go for s2000 projectors...cuz they are GOD[HR][/HR]​They are god. Problem is they are unGodly expensive (relatively speaking).
I was just in contact with a guy that had a pair for sale and he wanted well over $200 (for JUST the projectors). Not other hardware included.
But they are a commodity!!!
Audi's are IMO the best out there (with the S2K exception) with Bimmers being next.
Plenty of Audi/Bimmer units out there for mid $100's. Like $150-200.
Later,
BTW, I think the s2k projectors are a bit smaller (actually, Much) smaller than the X5's. I think the X5's are the biggest ones out there (or damn close to it).
Later,


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## bora99_2000 (Jul 26, 2001)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Bugging55)*

quote:[HR][/HR]
Yeah, I heard that S2000 projectors are awesome but I coulnd't find any anywhere. Well, I didn't really look either to be honest. When I bought my projectors I checked out e-bay and usually what they have there is BMW and Audi stuff. 
I do like the size of the X5s though. I am not sure how big the s2000 projectors would be.
I am getting ready to do some more machining on the bezels. As soon as I get off the computer am going to work on thesehttp://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
I'll post up another update soon
P.S. bora99, do you have any pics of the beam pattern from an s2000?[HR][/HR]​sorry i dont have any pix but u dont have any s200 in your area?...seriously u can see s2000's line when hes behind you from a few cars and u can see his line on walls and stuuf in front of you....


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## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (vwtoys)*

quote:[HR][/HR]damn, can i move in with you?








I used to have access to a lathe and a mill back in school. But now at work, I couldn't touch the 5-axis stuff with a 10 foot pole.[HR][/HR]​Yeah it is nice to have the machines at home







I wish I had a bigger lathe though. Maybe with time! 
Hey about the moving in...
If you are a hot blondie (of the female type







) you donèt even have to pay rent


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## vwtoys (Mar 31, 1999)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (Bugging55)*

quote:[HR][/HR]
Hey about the moving in...
If you are a hot blondie (of the female type







) you donèt even have to pay rent







[HR][/HR]​crap! how much for rent then?


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## vweuroracer (Sep 24, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (vwtoys)*

amazing job, wish i was talented!!


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## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (vweuroracer)*

Thanks! It really isn't that hard. You just have to take your time and plan things out and have the equipment available.
I'll post another update soon!
Cheers


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## GS Audio (Oct 17, 2001)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (nater)*

Nater, why did you not tell me about this thread? This is great!!!!!


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (gsantelli)*

quote:[HR][/HR]Nater, why did you not tell me about this thread? This is great!!!!!






































































[HR][/HR]​Open your eyes, jackass!








Later,


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## Brake_Dust (Sep 24, 2001)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (gsantelli)*

quote:[HR][/HR]Nater, why did you not tell me about this thread? This is great!!!!!






































































[HR][/HR]​Yeah what the hell???
j/k been checking it out...........nice work buggin








same route I am going but I don't have access to those badass tools!!!!!! or the frukin' time








btw isn't that alum piece a little[/] heavy?? at any rate u have some awesome plugs for making multiple pieces


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## GS Audio (Oct 17, 2001)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (nater)*

quote:[HR][/HR]Nater, why did you not tell me about this thread? This is great!!!!!







































































Open your eyes, jackass!








Later,[HR][/HR]​Maybe I need a little more sleep at night........so I'm not so tired that things like this go unnoticed!!!


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## Bugging55 (Oct 2, 2002)

*Re: MK4 GTI HID mod. using X5 Projectors (gsantelli)*

I got the new update up. Here is the link
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=701084
Cheers


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