PAGE 1: Getting Started
PAGE 2: Sound Deadening / New System
PAGE 3: Painting the interior trim
Page 4: Headlight disassembly

Page 5: Latest Updates! - kick install, trunk install, new wiring, new gear, etc.

I am pretty proficient at removing my front bumper now.

The beginning of the disassembly. Getting them apart carefully was quite difficult. The plastic snap-in nuts popped out, causing them to fall forward. So I took them apart and replace the plastic nuts with metal square nuts in a holder. We had to tap the square nuts ourselves since the machine screws adjusting it were metric.

Here is the schematic, the final version had one 16V 10mF cap as opposed to the two 4700uF 35V caps pictured on the breadboard. Basically I use the 12 volt step input (parking light flash) to charge a large cap which provides enough base current into the NPN transistor to keep it on as a switch. This allows current through the relay coil which closes a normally open contact and completes the circuit turn on the LED Halos. Total current draw of 180mA. If you can't follow that: the big cap stores energy to keep the lights on. I put this in a water-tight enclosure and stashed in my engine compartment. The circuit on the back part of the breadboard is a random number generator we mixed with a noise generator to test our regenerative repeater design. How did I do it, you may ask. Well, I'm an Electrical Engineer and designing circuits is what I do.

This is where I installed the circuit. You can see the project enclosure and terminal strip. Yea, it's held with tape for now, but I'll find some black straps to hold it in soon. What matters is that it doesn't move and it works - well.

This was during testing of the timing circuit. I have a full setup in my basement to build circuits; a Hewlett Packard triple output power supply, a BK Precision 30MHz oscilloscope, a 13.8V power supply, Tenma multi meters, and drawers of parts from resistors and caps to op amps and logic IC's.

Disasembly was interesting, but I didn't break a thing! You can see the asymetrical reflector in the bottom pic.

I visited some online forums about how to disassemble your stock headlights and that was how i got the idea to use an oven for my aftermarket headlights. now that it is summer and we had some 95 degree days i tried the much much easier method of letting the sun heat up my headlights for disassembly. it was so much easier, never use an oven. i let them sit in the sun all day, then around 4pm i pried them apart. it took only 10 minutes each!

there were three parts to the turn signal and reflector that needed to be removed.

I used a flat black paint for the reflector for a more subdued look. i had to use electrical tape as well as masking tape in order to protect the turning lamp reflector.

reassembly was simple, now i just need to let it sit in the sun again to re-adhere.