I too want to clear out my corners soon, but I want to get all my ducks in a row. Since I won't be doing mine for another month or so (no time), can someone take pics of the HID Ballast and sockets, so that I know exactly what I am working with.

Please don't flame....I just have no idea what the ballasts are. Does it show you in the Helm?

Also, if the lights do happen to have a leak, what exactly will this cause? I guess what I asking is, is there a chance that the HID bulbs could be blown do to a leak, cause that could get expensive?

 

Basicly, without pictures, when you remove the light assembly, you will see a large aluminum box attached to the underside of the light assembly. Remove it with a T25 driver and the cord attached to it just unplugs. All done.

 

just to tell you,
i did mine with ballast and sockets, and all those electrical parts connected.
i figured that, since hid lights temp. goes up sooo high, it wouldn't matter
in the over for 15 min. or so.
it's been working fine for more than an year now.

however if you learn how to take them off the light housing,
i say you better take them off, just to play safe.

good luck.

 

Well, having done over 60 clearings now, I'd have to agree that on the "better safe than sorry" route, take the time to remove "the delicates" from the headlights before you begin cooking your headlight assembies. Only take maybe an additional 5 minutes per light to remove some extremely costly items. And given that there is a significant gasket that seats between the headlight assembly base and the ballast, I'd rather not have that exposed to that much heat. Similar gasket/heat issues would concern me with the bulbs themselves. Just take a little time to remove them.

If you have not noticed it yet, there are some excellent instructions offered on Rick's site. If you have Adobe Acrobat, then check out this .pdf file below...

http://www.ricks2k.com/info/instructions/diffuser.pdf

Best of luck...and if you have any interest, please feel free to click my sig/link should you desire someone else to do the conversion for you. Harrisonburg is not all that far from Richmond .

Best Regards,
Dave "w1ngman" Parker

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by w1ngman
[B]Well, having done over 60 clearings now, I'd have to agree that on the "better safe than sorry" route, take the time to remove "the delicates" from the headlights before you begin cooking your headlight assembies.

 

I guess the best way to reply to this and not take too much offense to your comment is that not one single customer -- folks that have not wished to do this conversion themselves -- has had any problem with either: 1) my pricing, or 2) my expert service. And a service is what it is...be it a plumber, TV repairman, or computers...you name it...some folks just don't wish to do certain jobs themselves. And as this conversion takes 3-4 hours to complete, that alone puts this service within the per/hour pricing of most services. Add to it that I assume any potential out of pocket expense if things go wrong (ballast ~ $200, HID bulb ~ $200, housing itself ~ $350...and these prices are for EACH unit...not pairs).

Again, some folks just like to pay an experienced, reliable person to perform this for them. Obviously you do not...and that is perfectly fine. I'm glad you take care of your own plumbing, electronics, and vehicle repairs out of your own garage and pay no one to provide a service for anything you own. That's what makes this country great. Each can do their own. However, I made no heavy-handed sales pitch. I hold no gun to anyones head. In fact, I willingly pointed this fellow to Rick's site for information on doing it himself. Unfortunate that you would find it necessary to call me out as though I'm robbing people or something . Perform a service for over 60 individuals and do so without a single complaint...then talk to me (and the entire board) about my price for this service.

- Dave

 

i've done 3 sets WITH the HID ballast on and haven't had any problems.
if you want to remove the ballast you need a T25 Tamper Proof TQbit.
2000, 2001 and 2002, 2003 have a slightly different assemble but no problem.

 

I've found that a pair of pliers/vice grips works just as well on that screw vs. purchasing that T25 TQbit.

- Dave

 

You simply cannot find a better person to entrust your car to than Dave. The errors a first-timer can make performing this mod could cost several times over his fee. At 4 hrs. his rate is a very reasonable $30.00 per hour. Best wishes with this mod.

 

absolutely worth paying someone who has experience...
just had mine done last weekend- by someone who also has done many. he did a great job, and it did take about 4 hours.
way too easy to mess up. while i was there, he was also going to work on fixing a car where the owner did his and one was full of moisture.