Keyan
12-05-2004, 10:31 AM
DIY: Electroluminesent Angel Eyes for 01+ Elantra's
Written By: Keyan
Pictures By: Keyan
Original Concept By: Fray Adjacent, Adopted and Modified for 01+ Elantra's By: Keyan
Other References:
DIY:Painting Headlights (http://www.elantraxd.com/DIY/headlight.php)
Newtiburon Forums EL Wire DIY by Fray Adjacent (http://www.newtiburon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2422)
Materials Needed:
2 - Elantra headlights
2 - 5ft EL Cable Kit (consists of 1, 5 foot length EL wire, and 1 transformer) (purchaced from either www.beingseen.com or www.elwirecheap.com )
1 - Package of super glue (doesn't matter what brand but make sure it adheres to plastic)
1 - Roll of Eletrical tape
1 - Household oven
1 - Razor blade or sharp object to cut with
1 - Dremel or Drill with pointed tip
1 - Person who knows how to splice wires correctly
Concept:
Ok, so you want to have angel eyes for your elantra but don't want to spend 300+ dollars to have someone do it for you, and you don't want to have a half-melted acryllic rod sitting ugly inside your high beam's path of light. Well this is the way to do it.
This method involves using Electroluminesent Cables (EL Wire) to outline the edges of your highbeams and low beams, essentially giving the effect of "angel eyes" or "devil's eyes" found on newer BMWs.
Why would I want to do this?
To add something unique to your Elantra, something that cannot be purchaced in stores.
Explain to me how this version of Angel Eyes is superior to the glass/acryllic rod version.
Well for starters, it's very low profile compared to the other versions. It doesn't get put in the path of the beam, so you can see more at night. Secondly, since it uses a wire attached to a transformer, there are no LEDs to burn out; which means the first time you open up your headlights to install these wires, it's gonna be the last time. Also, it provides a bright, constant beam encompassing the headlight compared to a "hotspot" like effect produced by poorly made rods with the other versions.
How expensive will parts cost?
I bought my cable kits off of www.beingseen.com for about 25 dollars each for a total of 50 dollars (56 when shipping is added in) Superglue ran me 2 bucks, electrical tape ran me 99 cents, and the elantra headlights...well yeah. Had those already. Total came to under 60 dollars, and expect to spend the same or even less, depending where you buy your equipment.
Anything else I should know before attempting this?
Yeah. Don't turn the temperature on the oven too high, or you will literally melt the headlight. I'll explain more about that later. Oh, and one more thing. You WILL glue your fingers to each other. Trust me on this one.
Instructions:
Step One (1):
Remove the headlight from the car. This is accomplished by opening your hood and unscrewing the 3 bolts holding the headlight in place. Two are easily seen, on top of the headlight, the third is behind the headlight on the same level as the bottom of the headlight, essentally inside your engine bay. You'll see it. Once you remove these bolts, remove the electrical connection sticking out the back of the headlight next to where you took that third screw out. To get that off there's a little tab you push down and then the connection will slide right off. To take the headlight out of your car, pull on the outer-edge of the headlight, and it should pop out (might require some jiggling). The rest of the headlight should slide out. BUT WATCH OUT! There is still a wire attached to the headlight, so DON'T PULL TOO HARD! This is the wire going to your blinker bulb. You'll see a white little connector that houses the bulb with the wire sticking out of it. just twist it and the connector will come out with the bulb. Let this wire rest in the new "eye socket" while you take youe headlight inside
Step Two (2):
Prep your headlight for "melting". This is done by removing the 2 caps on the back of your headlight, and removing the bulbs. To remove the high beam bulb (H1), remove the "plug" that's attached to the bulb, then remove the 2 screws and it should all come out. Consists of one H1 bulb, 2 screws, one little metal peice and another "V" peice of metal. To remove the low beam bulb (H7), you want to remove the "plug", then remove the screws on the left and right side of the bulb (not the top one!) and it will all come out. Consists of one H7 bulb, 2 screws, one little metal peice and another "V" peice of metal. The reason you don't remove the top screw is because this is the screw that holds the "bulb cover" on, and you don't need to take it out. If you look at the headlight from the front side you'll see it. Don't worry about the plugs and their wires, they're thick enough to resist the small amount of heat you will be applying.
Step Three (3):
Melt your headlight apart. Preheat your oven to about 300 degrees F, and place youeheadlight on a FLAT, ALUMINUM FOIL COVERED baking tray. When the oven is preheated, place the headlight inside, on it's tray. Every 2 or 3 minutes, take it out and test it's warmth. You want it warm but not so hot you burn yourself. When I did this, I had the oven at 350, and I put the headlight on a too-small tray so it's sides were holding the headlight up. Hard to explain. But I left it in for 15 minutes...and when I took it out, the spot where the headlight was being held up by one of the tray's sides, had melted into the headlight, melting one of the clips you're gonna have to pop open in a minute. It was not fun. Anyway, when the headlight is warm to the touch but not burning, take it out and start prying. You're gonna want to flip up all the little black "clips" to let the clear front of the headlight to come off. Pull pull pull, but don't break the clips (I broke 3 but it still goes back together fine later when you reheat the glue) When the headlight starts to pry apart, you'll see the super sticky glue holding this together. Get your your sissors / razor blade and trim it right down the middle. It will retract back to the sides, so it's not like it's gonna melt down all over everything. Get the headlight in 2 peices.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step3one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step3two.jpg
Step Four (4):
Unscrew the black inside from the clear part of the headlight. It's 3 screws and a little tug, the black inside will snap out. This is the part we will attach the EL Cable to, but first we have to create a hole for the wires to come out the back of the whole headlight unit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step4.jpg
Step Five (5):
Drill a hole in the back park of the headlight somewhere near the blinker hole to wire the EL Cable through. The picture explains this one, I drilled this hole with my mini-dremel's pointed tip.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step5one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step5two.jpg
Step Six (6):
Assemble the EL Cable Kit. The kit I bought came with a transformer that has 4 wires coming out of it. One red, one black, and two white wires. You can guess what the red and black ones do. The EL wire itself ends in 2 wires, a brown and a yellow. You need to attach the brown wire to a white, and the yellow wire to the other. It doesn't matter which. Now tape crimp, solder, whatever you want to do to connect these. You don't want them comming apart. When you get the white wires attached, you're gonna want to encase EVERYTHING up to the EL wire's glowing part and EVERYTHING down to (and including) the transformer. We're doing this to waterproof the setup, being that the transformer is going to be sitting in your engine bay, not in the headlight.
Step Seven (7):
Feed the EL Cable through the dremel hole. Simple as that.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step7one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step7two.jpg
Step Eight (8):
Glue the EL Cable to the edges of the black inside of the highbeam-headlight. This is fun. Slowly, applying the correct amount of super glue, Glue the EL Cable around the edges of the highbeam, starting on the top, going toawrds the middle, following around the circle, and overlapping where you started on the top, going behind it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step8one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step7two.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step8three.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step8four.jpg
Step Nine (9):
Glue the EL Cable to the edges of the black inside of the lowbeam-headlight. Glue your fingers together yet? Cross behind the black inside to get to the top of the lowbeam, and start glueing again. When you get back around, overlap it as nice as you can and glue it around to the inside-area of the black inside, (shown in pics).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step9.jpg
Step Ten (10):
Cover the span of EL Wire from the highbeam to the lowbeam in electrical tape. Why? When you turn them on, The last thing you want in a reflection visable in the chrome showing a straight line of blue.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step10one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step10two.jpg
Step Eleven (11):
Snap and screw the black inside back to your clean front peice. Simple.
Step Twelve (12):
Reseal the front of the headlight to the back of the headlight. Pull your EL Cable back though the the hole you drilled, so you don't have Wire just sitting in the bottom of the headlight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step12.jpg
Step Thirteen (13):
Squeeze the headlight back together. Did you leave the oven on? Put the headlight back in there for 5 minutes. DO NOT CLOSE THE OVER DOOR. You CAN NOT put the transformer in that heat. HOLD the transformer in your hand, as far away from the head as possible.
Step Fourteen (14):
Resqueeze the headlight until you can pop all the tabs back together.
Step Fifteen (15):
Wrap in electrical tape the EL Wire you have coming out of the back of your headlight. We want to cover the hole so water doesn't get in and cover the wire so your engine bay doesn't light up when you turn them on, right?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step15.jpg
Step Sixteen (16):
Reinstall your Bulbs.
Step Seventeen (17):
Reinstall the headlight into your car. You're almost done! (With this headlight)
Step Eighteen (18):
Splice the wires into your sidemarker, or other power source. On the sidemarker, green is +, black is -. Splice into them red-green, black-black. I never got to do this before my car got smashed up...
Step Nineteen (19):
Turn on the powersource to see if it works correctly! It does! Hurray! :)
Step Twenty (20):
Repeat steps 1 - 19 on your other headlight!
END OF DIY
Written By: Keyan
Pictures By: Keyan
Original Concept By: Fray Adjacent, Adopted and Modified for 01+ Elantra's By: Keyan
Other References:
DIY:Painting Headlights (http://www.elantraxd.com/DIY/headlight.php)
Newtiburon Forums EL Wire DIY by Fray Adjacent (http://www.newtiburon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2422)
Materials Needed:
2 - Elantra headlights
2 - 5ft EL Cable Kit (consists of 1, 5 foot length EL wire, and 1 transformer) (purchaced from either www.beingseen.com or www.elwirecheap.com )
1 - Package of super glue (doesn't matter what brand but make sure it adheres to plastic)
1 - Roll of Eletrical tape
1 - Household oven
1 - Razor blade or sharp object to cut with
1 - Dremel or Drill with pointed tip
1 - Person who knows how to splice wires correctly
Concept:
Ok, so you want to have angel eyes for your elantra but don't want to spend 300+ dollars to have someone do it for you, and you don't want to have a half-melted acryllic rod sitting ugly inside your high beam's path of light. Well this is the way to do it.
This method involves using Electroluminesent Cables (EL Wire) to outline the edges of your highbeams and low beams, essentially giving the effect of "angel eyes" or "devil's eyes" found on newer BMWs.
Why would I want to do this?
To add something unique to your Elantra, something that cannot be purchaced in stores.
Explain to me how this version of Angel Eyes is superior to the glass/acryllic rod version.
Well for starters, it's very low profile compared to the other versions. It doesn't get put in the path of the beam, so you can see more at night. Secondly, since it uses a wire attached to a transformer, there are no LEDs to burn out; which means the first time you open up your headlights to install these wires, it's gonna be the last time. Also, it provides a bright, constant beam encompassing the headlight compared to a "hotspot" like effect produced by poorly made rods with the other versions.
How expensive will parts cost?
I bought my cable kits off of www.beingseen.com for about 25 dollars each for a total of 50 dollars (56 when shipping is added in) Superglue ran me 2 bucks, electrical tape ran me 99 cents, and the elantra headlights...well yeah. Had those already. Total came to under 60 dollars, and expect to spend the same or even less, depending where you buy your equipment.
Anything else I should know before attempting this?
Yeah. Don't turn the temperature on the oven too high, or you will literally melt the headlight. I'll explain more about that later. Oh, and one more thing. You WILL glue your fingers to each other. Trust me on this one.
Instructions:
Step One (1):
Remove the headlight from the car. This is accomplished by opening your hood and unscrewing the 3 bolts holding the headlight in place. Two are easily seen, on top of the headlight, the third is behind the headlight on the same level as the bottom of the headlight, essentally inside your engine bay. You'll see it. Once you remove these bolts, remove the electrical connection sticking out the back of the headlight next to where you took that third screw out. To get that off there's a little tab you push down and then the connection will slide right off. To take the headlight out of your car, pull on the outer-edge of the headlight, and it should pop out (might require some jiggling). The rest of the headlight should slide out. BUT WATCH OUT! There is still a wire attached to the headlight, so DON'T PULL TOO HARD! This is the wire going to your blinker bulb. You'll see a white little connector that houses the bulb with the wire sticking out of it. just twist it and the connector will come out with the bulb. Let this wire rest in the new "eye socket" while you take youe headlight inside
Step Two (2):
Prep your headlight for "melting". This is done by removing the 2 caps on the back of your headlight, and removing the bulbs. To remove the high beam bulb (H1), remove the "plug" that's attached to the bulb, then remove the 2 screws and it should all come out. Consists of one H1 bulb, 2 screws, one little metal peice and another "V" peice of metal. To remove the low beam bulb (H7), you want to remove the "plug", then remove the screws on the left and right side of the bulb (not the top one!) and it will all come out. Consists of one H7 bulb, 2 screws, one little metal peice and another "V" peice of metal. The reason you don't remove the top screw is because this is the screw that holds the "bulb cover" on, and you don't need to take it out. If you look at the headlight from the front side you'll see it. Don't worry about the plugs and their wires, they're thick enough to resist the small amount of heat you will be applying.
Step Three (3):
Melt your headlight apart. Preheat your oven to about 300 degrees F, and place youeheadlight on a FLAT, ALUMINUM FOIL COVERED baking tray. When the oven is preheated, place the headlight inside, on it's tray. Every 2 or 3 minutes, take it out and test it's warmth. You want it warm but not so hot you burn yourself. When I did this, I had the oven at 350, and I put the headlight on a too-small tray so it's sides were holding the headlight up. Hard to explain. But I left it in for 15 minutes...and when I took it out, the spot where the headlight was being held up by one of the tray's sides, had melted into the headlight, melting one of the clips you're gonna have to pop open in a minute. It was not fun. Anyway, when the headlight is warm to the touch but not burning, take it out and start prying. You're gonna want to flip up all the little black "clips" to let the clear front of the headlight to come off. Pull pull pull, but don't break the clips (I broke 3 but it still goes back together fine later when you reheat the glue) When the headlight starts to pry apart, you'll see the super sticky glue holding this together. Get your your sissors / razor blade and trim it right down the middle. It will retract back to the sides, so it's not like it's gonna melt down all over everything. Get the headlight in 2 peices.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step3one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step3two.jpg
Step Four (4):
Unscrew the black inside from the clear part of the headlight. It's 3 screws and a little tug, the black inside will snap out. This is the part we will attach the EL Cable to, but first we have to create a hole for the wires to come out the back of the whole headlight unit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step4.jpg
Step Five (5):
Drill a hole in the back park of the headlight somewhere near the blinker hole to wire the EL Cable through. The picture explains this one, I drilled this hole with my mini-dremel's pointed tip.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step5one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step5two.jpg
Step Six (6):
Assemble the EL Cable Kit. The kit I bought came with a transformer that has 4 wires coming out of it. One red, one black, and two white wires. You can guess what the red and black ones do. The EL wire itself ends in 2 wires, a brown and a yellow. You need to attach the brown wire to a white, and the yellow wire to the other. It doesn't matter which. Now tape crimp, solder, whatever you want to do to connect these. You don't want them comming apart. When you get the white wires attached, you're gonna want to encase EVERYTHING up to the EL wire's glowing part and EVERYTHING down to (and including) the transformer. We're doing this to waterproof the setup, being that the transformer is going to be sitting in your engine bay, not in the headlight.
Step Seven (7):
Feed the EL Cable through the dremel hole. Simple as that.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step7one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step7two.jpg
Step Eight (8):
Glue the EL Cable to the edges of the black inside of the highbeam-headlight. This is fun. Slowly, applying the correct amount of super glue, Glue the EL Cable around the edges of the highbeam, starting on the top, going toawrds the middle, following around the circle, and overlapping where you started on the top, going behind it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step8one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step7two.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step8three.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step8four.jpg
Step Nine (9):
Glue the EL Cable to the edges of the black inside of the lowbeam-headlight. Glue your fingers together yet? Cross behind the black inside to get to the top of the lowbeam, and start glueing again. When you get back around, overlap it as nice as you can and glue it around to the inside-area of the black inside, (shown in pics).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step9.jpg
Step Ten (10):
Cover the span of EL Wire from the highbeam to the lowbeam in electrical tape. Why? When you turn them on, The last thing you want in a reflection visable in the chrome showing a straight line of blue.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step10one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step10two.jpg
Step Eleven (11):
Snap and screw the black inside back to your clean front peice. Simple.
Step Twelve (12):
Reseal the front of the headlight to the back of the headlight. Pull your EL Cable back though the the hole you drilled, so you don't have Wire just sitting in the bottom of the headlight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step12.jpg
Step Thirteen (13):
Squeeze the headlight back together. Did you leave the oven on? Put the headlight back in there for 5 minutes. DO NOT CLOSE THE OVER DOOR. You CAN NOT put the transformer in that heat. HOLD the transformer in your hand, as far away from the head as possible.
Step Fourteen (14):
Resqueeze the headlight until you can pop all the tabs back together.
Step Fifteen (15):
Wrap in electrical tape the EL Wire you have coming out of the back of your headlight. We want to cover the hole so water doesn't get in and cover the wire so your engine bay doesn't light up when you turn them on, right?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Keyan/step15.jpg
Step Sixteen (16):
Reinstall your Bulbs.
Step Seventeen (17):
Reinstall the headlight into your car. You're almost done! (With this headlight)
Step Eighteen (18):
Splice the wires into your sidemarker, or other power source. On the sidemarker, green is +, black is -. Splice into them red-green, black-black. I never got to do this before my car got smashed up...
Step Nineteen (19):
Turn on the powersource to see if it works correctly! It does! Hurray! :)
Step Twenty (20):
Repeat steps 1 - 19 on your other headlight!
END OF DIY