Hgeocities.com/jvxdriver/tC_s2000_retro.htmgeocities.com/jvxdriver/tC_s2000_retro.htm.delayedx[J/nOKtext/htmlnb.HTue, 15 Jan 2008 23:11:45 GMTMozilla/4.5 (compatible; HTTrack 3.0x; Windows 98)en, *[Jn Scion tC HID Retrofit With S2000 Projector With Prism-Tail Shield Mod


How To Retrofit a Honda S2000 Projector into an Scion tC (May 01, 2007)

In this project, I will be replacing an '06 Scion tC internal reflector-base halogen unit with an '03 Honda S2K HID clear-lens projector unit. The '03 S2K projector utilizes a clear lens, which produces a sharp beam. However, the beam is sloping downward on the sides. This is by OEM design of the internal cutoff shield. Upon request of the tC owner, the S2K projector will be shield-modded with a prism tail. The modded cutoff shield (if done correctly) will produce an evenly horizontal beam while maintaining the same brightness and sharpness (or even better). In addition, the prism tail will give a special multi-colorful flickering effect as the car bounces. You have to see this in person to really appreciate what I mean.

Scion tC oem beam at 20ft with halogen bulb. S2K oem beam at 20ft with Philips 4300k D2S bulb. Sharp and straight, but sloping
downward and softened on the sides.		 OEM spec limits output. Shield mod can maximize light output (if done correctly).
S2K beam at 20ft with modded shield for sharper, more evenly spread output. Prism tail for a non-glaring multi-color flickering effect.
3x the color effect you normally see in a S2K as the car bounces.		 Replaced S2K oem cutoff shield with custom mod shield using aluminum flash sheet.
New shield gives sharper, evenly straight, and multi-color flicker (with prism tail).


Materials and Tools Used
The only major parts for this project are the projectors, the ballasts, and existing headlamps.

Honda S2000 Projector
Infiniti G35 Matsushita Ballast
JB-Weld Glue
Lexan XL Sheet
#8 Mounting Nuts & Screws		 Flat Black Paint Canister
Long Nose Plier
Dremel Tool
Alligator Clips		 Flathead Screwdriver
Philips Screwdriver
Scissor
Balloon Rubber
Dust Mask


Accessing the Headlamp
To access the headlamp units, the bumper has to be removed. Here's a link for doing just that: Scion tC Bumper/Headlight Removal. Credit goes to Alexis8181 for the nice write-up. The procedure is very straight-foward and should take 30-40 minutes.

Bumper has to be removed before taking out the headlamp unit. Front bumper removed.


To remove the headlamp, there are 3 screws and 1 latch. Headlamp removed.



Removing Headlamp's Lens Cover Using Conventional Oven
The headlamp's clear lens cover is held together to the black housing using isobutyl rubber. Isobutyl rubber hardens at normal temperature, but will soften at high temperature. To separate the headlamp, it must be heated inside a conventional oven for the rubber to soften. Before putting the headlamp inside the oven, there are a few screws on the headlamp that need to be removed. Next, preheat an oven at 350F for 7 minutes. Then turn it off and place the headlamp inside and allow it to sit for 7 minutes. The isobutyl glue will be softened by that time. Immediately take out the headlamp. Using a pair of thick socks to handle the headlamp as it will be hot. Use a stretch edge screw driver and pry the headlamp open.

Remove these screws first before putting the headlamp in the oven. Front lens cover removed from headlamp body.



Remove Reflector Bowl from Headlamp
The next step is to remove the reflector bowl from the headlamp housing. To do this, use a long-nose plier. There are three mounting latches that need attention (see pic). The replacement S2K projector will be mounted onto the tC original reflector bowl.

Reflector bowl removed.



Cut Off Reflector Bowl
The reflector bowl needs to be modified in order for the replacement S2K projector to be mounted. Cut out the bottom portion of the bowl as shown. First trace out a horizontal line around the bowl using a simple self-made tracing guide like I did. The bowl will tip over, so place something heavy like a medication bottle in the bowl. Next, use a Dremel cutting wheel to cutoff the bowl. Be sure to wear a mask to prevent breathing in fine dust.

Make a circular line around the bottom portion of the bowl to be cut.
Use a tracing guide to draw a straight horizontal line around curve object.		 Use a Dremel cutoff wheel to cut off the reflector bowl. Be sure to wear a mask to prevent breathing in fine paritcles. Ideally you want to make the cut flat and horizontally straight.
This will help later during mounting (less glue to use).



Creating a Mounting Bracket for the tC Relector Bowl
The next step is to create 3 mounting holes on the tC reflector bowl. Then, I created a base mounting bracket with 3 mounting screws. Be sure the opening hole in the center of the bracket is large enough to accomodate the S2K projector. The bracket can be made out of Lexan XL sheet from Home Depot. This base bracket will be glued onto the back of tC reflector bowl using JB glue. The S2K projector will be mounting onto these 3 screws.

Create 3 mounting holes on tC reflector bowl. Create a base mounting bracket with 3 mounintg screws. I use #8 screws.
Be sure the center hole is large enough to accomodate the s2k projector.		 Mounting bracket is 'JB' glued to back of tC reflector bowl.
The s2k projector will be mounted onto the 3 screws.


Creating a Mounting Bracket for the S2K Projector
In order for the S2K projector to fit onto the tC reflector bowl, its original mounting bracket has to be trimmed off using Dremel cutting wheel. You will then need to create a new S2K mounting bracket with new mounting holes in order for it to be mounted onto the tC reflector bowl's 3-screw mounting bracket created above. The S2K mounting bracket can also be made out of Lexan XL sheet. This mounting bracket will be 'JB' glued onto the S2K projector bowl.

Trace out the S2K projector bowl, and use it as a template for the Lexan XL sheet. New S2K mounting bracket with 3 mounting holes.
The holes are designed and cut like peanut shape to allow rotational adjustment later on.		 S2K mounting braket at different angle, which will be mounted
to the back bracket that goes behind the tC reflector bowl.


S2K mounted onto the tC's 3-screw mounting bracket. During testing, I used alligator clips
to hold the bracket to the s2k projector, but eventually JB glue it.		 A side view showing both the S2K mounting bracket and part of the back bracket. Back view showing the tC reflector mounting bracket during testing.
I have yet to JB glue the back bracket to the reflector bowl.


Blackout the tC Lowbeam
In this step, I painted the S2K projector, the tC reflector bowl, along with the mounting brackets with flat non-glossy black paint. This will make the entire tC lowbeam housing black. Since the s2k projector is self-enclose, a separate bezel is not necessary. I could use a chrome bezel over the S2K projector, but it turns out really nice at the end with a blackout lowbeam housing.

Painted the entire lowbeam with flat non-glossy black paint. Top view looking down This is how it looks like with the front lens cover on.


Test Before Putting Everything Back
The next step is to do some testing on the car and make appropriate horizontal, vertical, and rotational adjustment to the projector beam output. Here, you don't need to put all the parts back together. Note, I don't have the headlamp's front lens cover on. I don't have the bumper on neither. The mounting brackets and adjustment screws are exposed, giving me free access to adjust them while the light is on.

Projector back onto the car without front lens cover and bumper. I'm ready for some testing. While the light is on, I can make appropriate adjustment to the beam output. A closeup view of the S2K mounting bracket. Note the 3 curved peanut shape holes.
This allows me to make minor adjustment horizontally, vertically, and rotationally.
BTW, that's a TL projector /w ZKW clear lens next to the S2K. Overall, S2K is still better.


Closeup test at 30ft. It's ideal to test against a white, long and wide wall. Distant test at 220ft. Ensure both driver-side and passenger-side beams are aligned correctly.


Put Everything Back Together
Once I fully tested both driver and passenger projector beams at 20ft, 50ft, and 200ft, I'm ready to put everything back together. I put the tC headlamp unit back into the oven, heated for 7 minute at 350F, and put the front clear lens cover back on. One last step is to cover up the back lowbeam opening where the projector is exposed. I use the same rubber gasket and added a rubber over it to seal the ballast plug connecting to the projector. The rubber is made out of balloon; I suggest getting the largest balloon you can find, and double layer it. I will be using a Matsushita balllast (came of a Infiniti G35) to power up the S2K. The Matsushita ballast is small in size, and can connect directly to existing lowbeam connector without using a relay.

Passenger and driver-side headlamps with new S2K projectors. Need to cover up opening in the back. We don't want water to come in. The opening of the original rubber gasket is bigger than the s2k socket.
I will use two-layered balloon rubber to give a tight fitment.


Before and after the balloon rubber add-on. The ballast D2S socket will fit nicely onto the new rubber gasket. Matsushita ballast socket connected to S2K projector with new rubber gasket.


Scion tC headlamp back on car with new retrofitted S2K projector.
Smoked-out lowbeam housing turns out pretty good.		 Front view. Side view.



Projector Beam Output
Finally, some projector beam output. All pictures taken with Canon SD400 digital camera using auto mode, no flash, and a set of steady hands. Some of the pictures come out blurry, but in real life, the beams are nicer and sharper. Pictures are resized, cropped and logo added. Both S2K projector uses Philips 4300k D2S HID bulb. Special thanks to the owner for lending me his Scion tC for 3 weeks while doing this project and taking the car out at night to take pictures.

Car parked 25ft from wall. Picture taken 35ft away. Pictures taken 60ft from beam center for a wider view. Unlike oem S2K beam, modded beam doesn't slope downward and
doesn't blur near on the side.


100ft away from house. Note the lower step running along the side 20ft away. Upper step along the wall, 10ft from side. Camera placed on top of car to capture forground and distant shot.


Note the thick concentrated layer of light below the side cutoff line.
It can go deep to the far side before fading out.		 The driver-side cutoff step at 150ft from the distant wall,
while the passenger-side step at 50ft from closer wall.		 Clean and sharp all the way.


Thick concentrated blue color band Wide, and evenly straight at 150ft. The prism tail will produce multi-color flickering
as the car bounces. Really nice effect.


I like how the beam cuts along the green bushes. Good foreground intensity too. Cutoff beam stretches across five parking spaces. That's five lanes on the freeway.


40ft away from wall. Picture taken 80ft away. Picture taken 120ft away for wider view. Straight and sharp from one end to the other. Another angle 120ft from beam's center.


Up closer shot. You can barely see the passenger-side cutoff step, which is over-shodowed
by the driver-side cutoff step.		 I sat in front of the car, partially covering up the driver-side beam.
You can see both driver-side and passenger-side multi-color cutoff steps.


Another side-wall shot. Car is park 5ft from side wall. . Car is parked 100ft away. What you see is the passenger-side cutoff step.
The driver-side cutoff step is hidden behind that center foundation.


Most of the pictures above are taken against light-color buildings. Here, the cutoff beam is still visible against the dark green bushes. Car parked 35ft away.



My Other HID Related Retrofits
Converting a Halogen Projector Foglight Into an HID System (Jun. 2002)
Converting a Stock Reflective-style Headlamp to Projector-style Headlamp (Aug. 2002)
Do-It-Yourself Custom BMW Angel Eyes (Sep. 2002)
Retrofitting an OEM D2 Base Bulb Into an H3 Base Foglight (Nov. 2002)
Upgrading My Angel-Eye Rings With Reflective Tape (Dec. 2003)
Retrofitting a BMW X5 Projector Into Aftermarket Lowbeam Housing (Dec. 2003)
Retrofitting an Audi A6 Projector Into Aftermarket Highbeam Housing (Dec. 2003)
Honda S2000 | Acura TSX | BMW M5 Retrofit Combo (Dec. 2004)
CRX with Honda S2000 and Acura TSX Dual System (zTail Shield Mod + Mirror Mod) (Sep. 2005)
S2000 and TSX Dual Beam Output (Oct. 2006)
Projector Beam Comparison (a6, x5, s2k, tsx, m5, 330xi zkw, tl, sc430, rx330) (Oct. 2006)
Scion tC with S2000 Projector (Prism Tail Shield Mod) (May 2007)
How To Create a Custom Shield for an S2000 Projector (November 2007)


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