Quote:
Originally Posted by jmlenz
First of all I want to throw out huge props to Marco (DJcuetip) for getting these headlights done in a rush. Him and his friend did an amazing job on these with a crazy 2 day turn around time! I literally dropped them off Friday and had them back on my car Sunday. These guys have great attention to detail and it shows...and an unbeatable price! Shoot him a PM if your at all interested in doing this mod.
Now on to the headlights >>> Unlike everyone else I have seen do this mod I didnt go for the color matched shrouds/bezels. I wanted an aggressive all matte black look with no 'bling'. Not satin black or gloss black...flat black. I removed the corner marker bulbs too so all that is left is the OEM amber LED side markers. The strip LEDs kinda overpower the camera and makes them look almost too bright...they look much better in person trust me. Now for the matte black wheels to match...
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That looks great on silver! Thank you the headlights look gorgeous they add a elegant yet agressive touch to your ride. That flat matte was a beautiful touch and we trully enjoyed working with you. It's very true the output of the L.E.D will appear blue on camera. If you compare the H.I.D. color to the L.E.D they are equal in color. Removing the corner bulb was a good move as the OEM bulb does not have the same color output.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kannibul
Not my kind of thing, but if you dig it, enjoy it!
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True, not everyone will like it but it is trully unique and not plain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by motoextreme
That's some nice work! The headlight LED thing seems pretty popular these days since Audi's came out with it but not sure I'm onboard. Nismo's already look a little like porsche's so putting audi lights on mine may be too much.
Makes the car look pissed off. Again, not for me but cool mod just the same.
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I have to agree it looks mean and ready for the track.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goolsbymd
Already decided months ago that im doing this, I just gotta get to CA first. So in April time frame ill be getting that done. Anyone know if DJCuetip and his buddy are using a toggle switch to turn the LEDs on and off or is it tapped right into the parking light?
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It can be pre wired to the parking light. Or wired in multiple ways to get 12v source power. You can wire it yourself or we will wire them using a switch if you please. Marco's has a relay, and mini toggle switch to over ride the voltage if need to be switched off for whatever reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SOLISIMO
Not a fan of the lights either, if you wanted an Audi or a Porsche then buy one....
BUT! If you mod your car based on others opinions then its not your car  |
I'm not sure why but It's funny people are referring to this as an Audi mod. I've been putting L.E.D.s since the 90's back in the days when glass headlights turned to plastic headlights and people so happened to find out how to first bake open a headlight. It just so happens people who love the Audi compare L.E.D's in headlights on just about any car to the Audi? I guess Audi's marketing strategy and headlight design has done quite a good job brain washing people. It's like the Lexus IS300 when Japan introduced the Toyota Altezza. All reflector tail lights assemblies with circles refer to them as Altezza Japan tail lights when designers make a distinct look people quite forget the root of how things began. Circle tail lights came long before the Supra and the Supra is a rare legend and has long been a pioneer of the rear circle 1998 smoke tail lights. And if resemblances are made if you stare hard into the 370z headlight you can also mistake them for copying the Celica triangular designed headlights. Which many companies people bit off of. Look at every Nissan automobile up to date the newly designed the GTR to 350z and now the 370z all the way to the rear of the back end of the car it looks like a Celica going both ways. A beautiful design. Any more resemblances people want to make I can name a ton more...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jookiyaya
theres a new diffuser out to replicate the now famous landing strip that was made popular by the audi group.
they have these small plastic strips that you can mold or fit to the LED itself so that it will diffuse the light only at given angles so that in 1 direction the LED brightness will be at its highest intensity as opposed to it being too bright from any given angle.
I think the audi LED's also has them slightly peaking down to lessen direct exposure to the intensity of the light, and when looked from the side itself looks very scattered yet pretty, but when viewed from head on, beautiful even lights.
but anyways in other news, a friend of mine whos in the army in japan whos also into Z's stated that for the JDM sports upgrade for 2010 coupe, there IS a OEM jdm landing strip similar that can be added for 2k. not sure if its on the bezeled dimpled vertical or the horizontal strip.
for 2009 there was the very pretty jdm sports upgrade for the tail lights which i could not pass up. if my friend can confirm this, goodbye 2009 and hello 2010 ^^
more info to come on that... ^_^ cant wait.
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Thank you that is very informative info.
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Originally Posted by SOLISIMO
You guys talk about Audis' , but forget your driving a 370 which I feel is better for what you guys are looking for. Stop imitating other cars....
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I've seen those strips. Nobody is immitating anyone? The topic was L.E.D Mod and headlights it's good information that was added I think you totally confused the comparison regarding the L.E.D's. Nobody is pressuring people to immitate either. Seems like your assuming imitation?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ricochet48
Looks great! I like the all black look, sharp.
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I think matte black 370z headlights on silver looks great just about on any car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmlenz
for those that think that this mod is ripping off audi/porsche...well your entilted to your opinion but your missing the whole point IMHO.
If/when the dual clutch trans comes to the Z will you not adapt because it was pioneered by another automotive group? Do you tell GTR owners that if they wanted a DSG they shoulda bought an Audi/Volkswagen? 
This mod is about adding a distinct look to the car while also adding a useful safety function as super-bright DRLs. The kickass light signature at night is nice too. In 8-10years when almost EVERY car has LED DRLs and LED headlights are you still gonna be whining that everyone ripped off the Audi group and only Audis should have the tech?
Anyways, your entilted to your opinion...thats just mine  |
Couldn't have explained it better myself...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jookiyaya
thats funny how you said we should stop imitating cars WHEN THE DESIGNERS FOR 370Z GOT THE DESIGN FOR THE PORSCHE LOOK
idiot..... think before you bark.
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Some people have a different taste and speak for all before speaking for themselves.
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Originally Posted by DJcuetip
Looks great Jeremy! Pics don't do justice on how the matte black looks, we took many high def macro pics of the matte color separate from the lens, i will upload them asap.. you will see how the matte black really brings out each groove of the light.
For anyone interested, we can crank this out in one day. He dropped them off Friday and they were ready for pick up Saturday night. If anyone wants quick turn around, if you can get us the headlights by Thursday or Friday we can ship them out or have them ready for pick up by Saturday!
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Thank You Marco!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJcuetip
His headlights are soldered to the parking light, but for further precaution we soldered it into the the part of the wire under the rubber weather gasket that way there will never be a problem with the connection over time because it is weather proof (heat/water/etc)
We can definitely make an option for the leds to run through a relay then a toggle switch to be installed into the cabin.
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I will say this is the good way to wire it if you plan to not use a inline switch which is another great way to have full control of the l.e.d's and more conveniant for those who decide later on they would like to tap into the l.e.d wire.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goolsbymd
San Diego is gonna be sweet. Blacked out headlights, LED mod, KW V3 coil overs, Stillen CAI, FI exhaust all in the first month of moving in. DJ can you PM me a rough estimate for the basic install and blacked out head lights?
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Wow your going to have one awesome ride.
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Originally Posted by motoextreme
Try and make it up to the Fontana event in Dec, would be cool to see them in person.
Its cool we're all going our own ways, that's why Custom cars are so much better then just buying all the same thing!
I'm curious to what it costs to, can you give us an idea just for reference?
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PM Marco or I for pricing. We will be listing warranty and pricing soon to come. I am organizing everything and options as we speak.
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Originally Posted by motoextreme
I didnt even notice the part about the black lights... I was just looking at the LED's. Can I just get the lights done in black? Can you quote it both ways please with and without the LED's. You pretty sure the paint will hold up from the heat?
Thanks in advance.
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The paint is heat resistant and not some cheap canned paint. No drips, runs, sags, ripples, orange peel. I paint professionally we are using PPG quality paint so no cheap materials the paint will be wetsanded and buffed. It will hold up to your everyday weather and heat. Should be no problems. I will tell you one thing when I painted Marco's Shrouds Lamborghini Gunmetal a local shop here in San Diego was charging him $350.00 and that was just for the big shroud piece no paint on the inner lens shell or the upper mini clear shroud. You have nothing to worry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJcuetip
Also everyone please note the picture of the leds in this thread are way bluer then they are in person. The leds we used are true white leds. Most cameras try to capture the true color and its comes out blue on the camera. This picture is the closest it is to what it really looks like in person.
I will get before and after pictures by tomorrow
Also, I attached pictures of what the leds look like in person, true white leds..
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Yes, Marco is 100% correct the L.E.D's are pure white and equal in color of the H.I.D bulb. If you notice in every photo they are all the same color as the H.I.D D2S bulb. A camera can only capture so much...
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJcuetip
I feel like even if Audis didn't come out with this, people would still be doing this. The 370z strip of dimples was made for a mod like this!
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The area is the perfect location for L.E.D's as long as they are facing the correct direction and not in the middle or to far upward or downward but just right.
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Originally Posted by SOLISIMO
Well like I said, If you mod your car based on others opinions then whos car is it really |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caravanshaka
BTW, there is an easier way to wire the lights into the parking light. There is a connector inside the light housing that you disconnect the side amber LED's/circuit board from, that gets power from the parking lights.pull the pins out, tap into those wires, and you don't have to run anything outside of the headlight.
Glad to see I still haven't even gotten a mention for the DIY that you guys used to do this...
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Seems like you're implying something? Okay, I understand where your coming from but do you feel you did the work? Did you sit down with me and map out what to do, where to wire, how to wire, what materials, tools, and time to setup a working set of headlights. Yet alone paint open, seal, and reseal. I've created tons of headlight projects and put tons of hours into what I do. I put a great deal of work into what I do and had Marco help me in any way possible to say we have to mention your name for everything I've done yet alone you did nothing??? So what do I have to prove what I did differently, you keep asking and nagging Marco. He told me he wanted help with his headlights and came to me so I helped. Are you upset he didn't go to you? Did the thread starter post a thank you to you? The internet can be very offensive so I would be careful with how you phrase and write I would disregard you trying to be smart with us in providing help when the headlights after all is said and done. The help could've been provided when I was in the process but I never asked you? BTW do you realize the internal board is quite an expensive Nissan part and more expensive then cheap wire yet costly to replace if you burned out those onboard resistors. A quick tap to the harness parking light bulb directly behind the plastic slide on protector behind the rubber boot protector on the parking light bulb area is the most conveniant yet safest method. Have you proven to measure the voltage drop at that location you refer to with the extra resistance added. I have and I would not cut into it just to hide the measly wire. That was not our intention. Our intentions were to protect the wire at the most conveniant source with the simplest access. I would not risk cheaply tapping or pulling out uneccessary pins on that internal parking light board harness clip as well. It seems like you want credit for what we've done? We did not run the wires like however your thinking nor did I go about what you did,do, or have done...
Quote:
Originally Posted by semtex
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but don't you have to be a forum sponsor to solicit business on this board?
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No mistake you have to be a forum sponsor.
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Originally Posted by motoextreme
For what its worth...
I was playing with the idea of making the mod, still on the fence. BUT...can't do it if your not a sponsor.
Sorry...
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We are a site sponsor...
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJcuetip
We are going to be a vendor during starting December |
Quote:
Originally Posted by semtex
That's awesome, DJ! |
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJcuetip
Hey man sorry your DIY was helpful to get an idea of how the headlight is setup, but when we starting working on it, we took a different path on taking them apart, wiring them, testing them, and resealing them. All of it was the ideas of my friend who has lots of experience with it (he has done over 100 headlights of different cars). But thanks for helping me when I had questions (as i am not the expert in electricals as my friend is). But again thank you your DIY has good information for some led parts and also touch up paint!
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Not sure if people know but were not using touch up paint. We used quality materials PPG and a SATA spray gun in a dust free paint booth. On top of prepping sanding primer, paint, clearcoat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJcuetip
And yes we saw that LED circuit board in the housing and we considered doing that but after further thought we decided to do it the way we did because it still has the total protection from the weather, but as a benefit if the owner ever decides he wants to disable the leds, it will be easy for them to disconnect it rather then re baking the headlights just to get them off the circuit board.
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As explained. You don't want to tap into the internal board and risk damage to the internal l.e.d's
Quote:
Originally Posted by G35guy84
I've just got one quick question. Based on previous experience with headlamp LEDs and the knowledge that Audi is having problems with their LEDs burning out, how do you protect your customers from this problem (e.g., warranty, replacement guarantee, etc.)?  |
All information will be posted shortly I am organizing some previous work. Please be patient for the time being. We will have a warranty!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caravanshaka
FYI, that connector I wired mine to is easily accessible without having to unseal the headlamps. I believe it is right inside the ballast hole.
Also, regarding wiring, your harness looks identical to mine, even down to the green wiring between the 3 led's for each "set"....what you did "different" I can't tell.
Not trying to be a ****, just a little peeved after you PM'd me for a couple months trying to get me to do your headlights, then you didn't even acknowledge the fact that you used my DIY...
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What the heck??? Used your DIY. If you want to keep attacking Marco on every thread and post. On behalf of my friend Marco, please don't take your peeved moment out on him. Take it out on me. Thank you for making a DIY for all to do, don't expect a thank you from everyone who somehow does something similar. My friend already thanked you as well for the general info. If you truly want to know what I did, how meticulous I am, my work ethic feel free to keep asking Marco to thank you some more. You don't own my hands nor know what I did, can you just be glad another member has another set of unique headlights that he appreciates. I hope this doesn't escalate further because your really pushing it into another topic side lining the thread which is about a unique set of "All Matte Black Headlights + L.E.D mod". The wires are the same in color in those photos Marco posted because I bought a spool of copper wire that came multicolored. The photo's was me testing the voltages that I was running but if you want to know some major differences I did here are some differences. Wire paths, wire bends, wire lengths, heatshrink sizes lengths, specific wire type, custom paint, headlight opening method, sealing method, drilling method and l.e.d angle. I know by heart we are not using some cheap stranded copper wire with rubber insulation, every l.e.d is also tested for precise output before soldering. All angles of each L.E.D are at a specic angle and not just some random diode shoved into any random position. In your DIY you're running the most basic setup with three l.e.ds wired in series parallel. It's not had to figure out what to do??? Have you been soldering on a tougher micro scale then you'll know where I come from. Theres dead ends in your diy. Don't take it out on my friend Marco he came to me for help so I helped him and just like you, you want to help others like we both are in this community please do so kindly but don't call us both out saying we don't thank you enough? Common now, you did not help me figure out everything I was at a loss reading your DIY I did it my own way mapping out short paths and calculating voltage drops and constantly checking resistance of the entire wiring the circuit precisely in multiple locations. Which I tackled better my way. I'm thankful that Marco is being so kind and understanding to you. He is such a nice guy and you are rubbing it in on him to much though. I hope you trully understand. If anything if it makes you happy thanks for making a DIY for those who want to tackle the l.e.d. project but don't have the electrical experience nor do they plan to break open a set.
Anyway, here's a quick sample my sisters 6Gen Accord with amber and white L.E.D's matte black interior shell with retrofitted projectors, this was done back in 1999 when retrofitting and l.e.ds were pretty new to the scene and before Audi did anything L.E.D related... I can post thousands of photo's right now but I don't feel the need to and really don't want to be posting other pics of many other cars I worked on in the past it will only ruin integrity of this topic and get off track. I will post and make another thread of my own instead. But for now here is some work from the past just a quick glimpse.
Matte black on a 370z is really a great look I must say. More pics soon to come...
12-01-2009, 04:42 AM
. I'll take a second to thank EVERYONE that contributed to making this mod happen for the Z community. Caravan> I initially thought about doing this mod myself and looked at your DIY but ultimately said "hells no" that's way outta my league lol! But thanks for taking the time to help other DIYs!
That would look sick! Good luck fellas.
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