Can I ask where you are buying these items from?
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Can I ask where you are buying these items from?
eBay is my only real option for JDM parts at this point. But, I am working on building some relationships in the land of the rising sun to get them a little more directly.
I know that some of my parts have actually come from other countries, like this Auto Climate is actually coming from Malaysia, the HIDs came from Hong Kong.
My BFM actually had a nice little round-the-world trip, as it came from a JDM car imported to Scotland, and parted there. I bought it from the guy in Scotland.
Well geez, I could've taken the one out of the S401 and taken pictures for you...Quote:
Originally Posted by rkrenicki
If you want to see anything further, just ask. I've taken pictures of all sorts of parts on the S401 for people so they can see how the Japanese stuff works. It saves you money instead of buying the stuff just to see it.
Let me know... I would love to have a connection to source me some items for the wife's Odyssey.Quote:
Originally Posted by rkrenicki
I appreciate that YamazakiSubaru, but I would need it to be nearly completely torn apart to see what I am looking for.. I would never ask you to disassemble something in your S401 to the extent that I would need for this.. :)
Ah okay. Yeah, I thought you just wanted to see the back or the connectors or something. Well, my offer still stands for anything that doesn't need to be torn down to its individual components.
Thank you YamazakiSubaru, I am sure at some point I will take you up on that.. I seem to really have the modding bug right now.. hah!
Todays project... Correcting the beam pattern of my JDM headlights. I used the process documented here on SL-i.. https://sl-i.net/FORUM/showthread.php?8762
When I got home today, I first baked my original USDM headlight so that I knew the procedure without destroying the JDM light.. It was a simple enough process so I moved on to the JDM light a few moments later. So far I have just done the drivers side (left side) assembly.
I picked up some flat black enamel and brushes at my locale Lowes, and went to town! I am right now waiting for the first coat to dry before I put another one on and reassemble.
In the meantime, I am going to finish my write-up of the BFM harness wire removal!
You, sir, are on fire.
The tutorial is up, amgarrety. I hope it has enough detail, as apparently I either just didnt take as many pictures as I thought, or my cameraphone ate some of the files.
Works great, already have two connectors completely stripped.
Hurray! The fact that each pin basically has two retention mechanisms was really throwing me off at first.. I guess they REALLY didnt want these pins to fall out on their own..
I finished my drivers side headlamp.. it now has a nice flat beam pattern.. the cutoff is not as nice as I would like, but its not horrible. I will do the other assembly tomorrow, as its too dark and too cold outside now.
I picked up my leveler switch this morning, and I am on the hunt for the connectors for the leveler servos. It looks like Toyota uses the same connector, and sells the housing for about $6, but each pin is another $5.. so $21 per connector which seems a little excessive. I am on the hunt for alternate sources right now for at least the pins.
Once I do the passenger side headlight this evening, I will put up some photos of that process.
I just realized that I never put a photo of the engine bay.. Not that there is a whole lot to look at with the big engine cover on top, but at least you can see the Supertones and tranny cooler. Oh, and the fall leaves that have accumulated in one night already..
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/import...1521_914-1.jpg
I snapped this off with my cellphone just before I pulled the passenger light out to mod it. Doing that now.. waiting on the oven to get to temp!
all done! I am a big fan of the flat beam pattern. Once I have the levelers connectors in hand, I will be able to finish that and be finally done with these headlights.
I unfortunately burned myself when separating this light.. I was focusing so much on getting the two halves apart, I did not notice that my forearm was pressing against the adjustment screw... I now have a great perfectly headlight-aiming-screw-shaped blister! If I look really carefully at it, I can see the philips head dent where it didn't blister.. lol
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/import...1528_159-1.jpg
I did not really take many pictures, since it was already well documented in that other thread, but I do have one of the headlight apart..
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/import...5207_907-1.jpg
And one after being painted! Actually this photo makes it look pretty sloppy, but in real life it is actually a really good finish.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/import...4723_293-1.jpg
:smt006Quote:
Originally Posted by Huffer
Here to help.
hansvonaxion: I had shot you a PM a week or so ago, did you see that? That particular request is no longer needed, but I do have a new one that I can send you via PM as well..
So, here is a question.. on the headlight leveling switch, is 5 the highest angle, or 0? 5 is the highest number, but you have to scroll it down to get there, so I am just trying to figure out what setting to use when adjusting...
0 is up. 5 is down. I just verified it on the S401.
Okay, so it works in the direction of sliding.. not the value of the number.. good to know.. Thanks!
I just agreed to buy an 090 cluster from Yahoo Auctions Japan, so I will be happy to have an accurate tachometer. I am also going to use that cluster with the new connectors that I ordered that will not be here until January.. One fel swoop to do it right. After that is done, I will likely be selling the 030 that I have, along with the current harness for those who want it.
In the meantime, I took a look at the VIN plate on my car, and realized that I had the wrong color listed for it all along.. It is color code 19X, or Silver Stone Metallic. One of the papers from the dealer had it listed as Titanium Pearl, but the more I look at that color on paint websites, it is totally wrong.
I found my old Hex-Crimp style coax crimper today, so I can now start on the grounding kit. I just fabbed up the Battery to Fender jumper a few moments ago, and it looks pretty good. I need to find my old heat gun to put this weatherproof heatshrink on, and then start measuring out the rest of the jumpers.
I also received my JDM heater control module and the Forester JDM 6CD changer w/ MiniDisc player that is destined for my BG.
I also wanted to note that the Low Beam bulbs from the USDM headlamp is the same as the High Beam bulbs in the JDM... So, I moved the Narva Rangepower+50's that I had into the JDM High Beam location. I think that one of the low beams is dimmer than the other as well, so I am on the hunt for a deal on D2R bulbs since I have no idea how old these are.
Is it your passenger side that is dimmer? I've noticed that as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by rkrenicki
Actually, its the drivers side for me. well.. the US drivers side..
The passenger side is great, has a fantastic cutoff even after the painting mod, the drivers side is just kind of mushy and dimmer than the other side..
That might be a bulb issue then. Mine isn't significantly dimmer, so i'm just letting it go for now.
What color did you paint your reflector? That is something I was thinking of doing, but I don't like having a solid black portion of my reflector. I was thinking of maybe doing it in a matte silver.
I used flat black but it blends in really well, without knowing to look for it, you would never notice that it was painted.
I had forgotten about an upgrade that I had done a bit ago.. I replaced the brake light bulbs in my car with 3457 bulbs instead of the stock 3157s. This gives about a 25% boost in light output.
I received the JDM environment controls on Monday, and its bad news.. It is COMPLETELY different from the USDM one. Nothing about them is the same, even made by different manufacturers, and completely different harness connectors... so back to the drawing board on that one I guess.
I suppose I can stop by a Canadian junkyard next time I am up there to see if I can snag a CDM version..
I also am working on installing my Alpine Imprint system, but I am rapidly running out of room behind my center stack... heh
I felt the same way when I got my BFM. I thought I could merge the cool parts of the BFM with my mileage from my old cluster. Nope. Nothing in common.
A fairly busy day today.. it was a beautiful day out, so I decided to work on my car instead of actually work.. heh
I half installed the KnuKonceptz 8 gauge amp kit for my Basslink sub... I have it from the battery to the drivers seat, and then it is just sitting on top of the carpet for now.
I installed the very first link in my 4 gauge grounding setup, from the battery to the chassis. I am working on assembling the 2nd link from the chassis to the intake manifold right now.
I completely re-did my stereo. Originally I only had the head unit, one DIN pocket, and the Bluetooth unit in the center stack, with the Sirius adapter in the center console, and the Sirius tuner under the back seat. Now with the addition of the Audyssey Imprint unit, and the way that it has to be in line with everything.. that would not work.
Somehow I managed to shove the headunit, 2 DIN pockets (finally finished that Onstar Delete), the Bluetooth unit, and the Sirius adapter within the center stack. The Audyssey unit is to the right of the stack, where the pop-out cup holder would be in earlier revisions of this car. I put it there so that the Mic and USB ports were "easily" accessible . That leaves the sirius radio itself which is now in the center console.
The car interior is still completely torn apart.. I am going to run the last power wires needed for my hide-away strobes, and then I should not have to run any more wires under the carpet ever.. Do it all at once, and be done with it.
So I think it goes without saying that pictures are a must after it's all back together. Hell, take some pictures now while it's all torn apart...
I actually have the S401 all torn apart on the inside too. I'm kind of doing the opposite of you- I'm removing the ETC and DVD/Nav system (taking out fancy electronics vice installing them). I have a feeling that you'll have your car back together long before I do though.