Clear lenses on OEM headlight housing

[stdyhand]

I have some clear headlight lenses off of an old pair of "euro" projector headlights that has chrome peeling badly inside. The lenses are still clear.

Will aftermarket clear lenses fit on OEM headlight housings?

The reason I ask is because I am going to do the HID retrofit using E46 projectors. I've seen someone do something similar in the past, but I wasn't sure if it was the same thing.

I can get OEM headlight housings fairly cheap and since I already have clear lenses for the front, I won't mind as much about cutting into old headlight housings like I would cutting into a 180 dollar pair.

If anyone knows if they will fit please let me know.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

They "should" fit. The production tolerances might be a little different between the two with one being OEM and the other being Chinese. All you can really do it try it. Stick them in the oven to get them separated and swap lenses.

 

[stdyhand]

Most of the retrofits I've seen done for the foxbody have all used the E46 projectors. The retrofitsource.com has Acura TL, FX-R, and E55 projectors. Will any of these work? I don't know the size difference between E46 vs. any of the others.

I hear the Acura TL has the best light output by far, but their site says it is really large. My concern is the solenoid clearing the bottom of the headlight housing.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Ebay is littered with e46 projectors. The only issue with them is you will need to address their open projector design by building some kind of shroud around them to keep the light from scattering. Here's what I did:
http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-for...-with-hids-the-right-way-lots-of-pics.612779/

I sold the whole setup last year. Going back to stock.

I also did a TL retrofit when I had my bike:
http://www.kawiforums.com/two-wheeled-discussion/96547-real-hids-07-zx6r-acura-tl-bixenon-retro.html

The TL lenses are huge. No way will the solenoid fit into the stock housing.

 

[stdyhand]

Ebay is littered with e46 projectors. The only issue with them is you will need to address their open projector design by building some kind of shroud around them to keep the light from scattering. Here's what I did:
http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-for...-with-hids-the-right-way-lots-of-pics.612779/

I sold the whole setup last year. Going back to stock.

I also did a TL retrofit when I had my bike:
http://www.kawiforums.com/two-wheeled-discussion/96547-real-hids-07-zx6r-acura-tl-bixenon-retro.html

The TL lenses are huge. No way will the solenoid fit into the stock housing.

I am finding the E46 projectors with both 2.5" and 3" lenses. Is it ok to use either one and do you have any idea which is better?

What size did you use?

 

[RacEoHolic330]

I want to say that mine were 2.5" but don't quote me on that. As long as they are bi-xenon you should be fine. 3" sounds big and there may be fitment issues.