Fog Light Retrofit

This thread will track either the success or failure of retrofitting a set of projectors into the fog light housing. This has been accomplished by Yoda Toy so I'm just trying to improve on a design he already proved effective.
Here's Yota Toy's thread that started this soon-to-be trainwreck:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/171829-blazer-fogs-factory-fog-housing.html

Instead of drilling from the back of the fog light housing, I want to cut off the front of the housing and use a shroud to fill the gap between the blazer set up and the stock fog light housing. I may or may not be putting the clear lens back over the front of the blazer, we'll have to see how they come apart and how steady my hand is with the dremel...

Ordered from The Retrofit Source
Products
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1 x Blazer Fog Light Stage III Kit (BlazerIII) = $170.00
Projectors Blazer Fog Light Modules (Clear Lens)
Wire Harness Relay: 9006
Bulbs 880: Morimoto 3Five 3000K
Ballasts Morimoto 3Five (35w)
1 x Mini Gatling Gun (MiniGatlings) = $15.00

I also took AsianAnt's advice and picked up head sinks for the projectors
GWS Heat Sink for BL28XX Inrunners
GWS Heat Sink for 28mm Inrunner type motors
SKU Number:GWACS021
Price: $3.75/ea
Click Here for the HeatSink


Taken from TRS's website, this is sort of what I'm going for:

Let the games begin

 

So it begins...
Step 1 - Remove fog lights. No pics of this, just push the tabs in on either side of the adjuster screw and pull the light straight out.

Step 2 - Cut the lens off the fog light housing. I used a dremel tool for this with a cutting wheel. Wear safety glasses for this, the lens material is a hard plastic and it does make a mess. Don't cut in too far or you'll go into the chrome plastic on the inside (I did this in a couple places by accident). See lessons learned, I found a hack saw is a better way to remove the lens vs. the dremel.

Mis-Cuts

Step 3 - I cut off the fog light housing back where the light bulb goes in. This made it easier to use the hole saw in the next step. See lessons learned, leave this piece in place and it acts like a guide for the hole saw making sure you stay centered on the housing.

Step 4 - I used a 2" hole saw to cut a hole in the fog light housing. You'll notice the Blazers aren't round at the back though, they're more of an oval. To make the hole more oval, I used the Dremel tool attachment that looks like a weird drill bit but cuts sideways (not sure what it's called).

Mock-up of what the final product will be (minus the shrouds, I needed another set of hands to hold the shroud in place). Make sure the lens will clear the projector when put back on. This looks like it sticks out quite a ways but the lens will still clear by 1/4 - 1/2".


Step 5 - Off to the paint shop (AKA my basement). I decided to black out the shroud and the housing so the fogs will have a blacked out look until flicked on.


Step 6 - Do plenty of mock-ups and when you're satisfied with the fit, JB Weld the projectors in place, again make sure the lens will clear the projector. I used alligator clips to hold the projector where I wanted and hung it from the ceiling then applied the JB weld. I think I'm going to apply silicone over the JB Weld also to make sure it's water tight. Hanging by the projector seemed to be the easiest way to make sure everything stayed put.


Step 7 - Trim shroud and epoxy in place (JB Weld). When you trim the shroud, remember that if you just trim it square, it will only contact the reflector bowl on the edges. You need to make arched cuts to make sure everything stays tight so you can epoxy the whole shroud base. Again, I made the mistake of just trimming the shroud square.


Step 8 - Reseal the lights! Make sure the inside of the light is nice and clean, use a lint-free cloth to wipe everything down, wipe off the projector lens and thoroughly clean the inside of the fig light lens. Test fit the lens, make a mark so you know the orientation. There is an SAE stamp on the front, I make a mark over the A so I knew which way it fit best. Run a thick bead of silicone around the fog light base and put the lens on. I used my finger around the edge to smear the silicone around the edge for a good seal. Remember, you only have one shot at sealing these things up. It's not like your headlights where you can just throw them back in the oven to open them up again.


Step 9 - Remove Tape

Step 10 - Drink Captain





First light done! I only did one at a time because my passenger fog light was already leaking so it was a good one to experiment with.
Finally installed!


Second light underway...

 

Build Problems and Lessons Learned, still ongoing...
I tried to make note of any problems as I went.
1. When cutting the housing apart, remember the dremel is a high speed tool so take your time. The high speed cutting wheel will melt the plastic as it cuts so you need to keep moving around so you don't end up with a melted mess. For the second housing, I cut a guide cut (shallow cut) with the dremel then cut it open with a hack saw. I found the hack saw left a much cleaner cut and did not have the issue of melting the plastic that I had with the dremel. I also was better able to control the depth of the cut with the hand saw. The dremel would be perfect if it had more power at lower RPMs.
2. As noted and pictured above, cutting too far when I removed the lens. Fortunately, blacking everything out covers the mis-cuts but if you want to keep the inside of the light housing pristine, be mindful of how deep you're cutting.
3. For the second light, I did not cut the back of the housing off before using the hole saw. I found that leaving the back of the fog housing in place, it acted like a guide for the hole saw, ensuring I was centered and square.
4. Getting the projector set and square in the housing was a bit of a challenge, especially using JB Weld since you really only have one shot at it. Do plenty of test fits! Making a mark on the projector and the back of the fog light housing works so you know you're aligned correctly. Once the projector is mounted back on the truck, you can adjust the cutoff up and down using the set screw but if the projector is twisted in the housing, you won't have a horizontal cut off and there is no adjustment for this. Also, make sure you have the projector set far enough back to clear the lens. Using the Blazers, they can be exposed to the elements so putting the clear fog light lens back on is not a necessity. I opted to retain the clear lens to protect the projector and make it easier to clean (also retain a slightly factory look).
5. When cutting the shroud cover, I trimmed it up by 1/2" forgetting that where it sits isn't round due to the shape of the bowl. Because I forgot about that, the shroud is only attached to the bowl on the sides. I'll do the second one correctly and arch the cut so it contacts the reflector bowl all the way around so I can get a good bond with the JB Weld.
6. The projector and shroud sit pretty far back in the fog light housing and also fit fairly snug. I painted the reflector bowls black as well as the shroud but it makes the housing really dark and you can't really see the detail of the gattling shroud. I think a blacked out reflector bowl and a color matched shroud would look pretty awesome!
7. I prepped both lights the same for paint, a wipe with alcohol and a lint-free rag. The first one prepped fine, the second one the alcohol took off the chrome finish. It was fine for me because I was planning on painting them anyways, but if anyone was looking to keep the chrome finish, be mindful of this.

 

Light Output Shots...
Headlights only (PIAA Xtreme White bulbs)

Headlights and Blazers


Headlights and PIAA 540 fog lights (notice the faint yellow mark below the headlights)

Headlights (High beams) PIAA 520 driving lights and PIAA 540 fogs. Just messing around...

 

reserved for me to congradulate you on your success or congradulate you on lessons learned OR BOTH!

 

WOOT YOU ORDERED !!!!!!! when is it coming in!?

 

Not sure yet, they told me it'd ship out today. I just got the e-mail from them with my order confirmation and I got all excited and started this thread.

EDIT: Just got a backorder e-mail from them but it says the latest ship date is today for the backordered part... Not sure what to make of it but it sounds like the bulbs might come a day or 2 after everything else.

 

cool cool... if anythings, the projectors come with halogen bulbs already so you'll just be waiting a day or 2 for the HID bulb

 

Update: A package arrived from TRS

 

Lol nice rum shot

 

Nothing like a little captain to help get things started.

 

ahah @ the captain. depending on how much of a pain it is to achieve this goal, i may gve it a shot cant wait to see it all happen

 

Disclaimer: The Captain Morgan Rum was NOT part of the kit sent by The Retrofit Source and should only be consumed only AFTER the retrofit is either a great success or a horrible, unsalvagable failure.

 

They sent you Captain Morgans with it. I'll order from them too.

 

Everyone seems more interested in your booze. ^ yeah I know I was late on it too.

 

I know...

I guess I'll have to finish the retrofit so give people something better to discuss!

 

Or finish the rum so there is nothing to discuss

 

hahahahahahahah

 

^ haha. Except how he messed up his nice projectors and fog lights then lol. Drink it as a celebration AFTER you finish

 

hehe, I dropped a couple hints in another thread

I had no inclination to even attempt this until I saw someone's thread there they retrofitted the Blazers into the stock housing by using a hole say through the back. Then I got thinking... hmm, I could do that, my fog lights are leaking anyways so might as well try to crack them open. Next thing I know I was ordering projectors from TRS. Damn you TW :shakesfist:

So this thread is to share my experience so hopefully I can rope someone else into doing the same thing