DIY angel eyes on Priora

December 14, 2015 Lada.Online 34 310 2

Many modern foreign cars have daytime running lights designed in the style of angel eyes. Such lights can be made using different methods, but we will focus on only one of them. Let's look at the advantages of plexiglass tubes, as well as their disadvantages.

Angel eyes on cars - what is it and what types are there?

Angel eyes are luminous circles installed in the car's standard optics. This type of tuning became popular after the release of production BMW cars with such headlights. Nowadays, these lights are serially installed only on some models, but you can install angel eyes on any car yourself.

They are not only a car decoration, but can also be used instead of side or parking lights. LED rings cannot be used as daytime running lights.

LED angel eyes or LED

The ring is made of LEDs soldered to the base. Since LEDs are afraid of voltage surges, they must be connected through a stabilizer.

high brightness;
service life up to 50 thousand hours;
consume little energy;
are not afraid of shaking and vibration.

must be connected via a stabilizer;
If one diode fails, the entire ring has to be replaced.

Gas discharge or CCFL

The glass ring is filled with neon and protected by a plastic case. For them to work, you need to connect the ignition unit.

light is distributed evenly throughout the ring;
are not afraid of vibrations;
produce soft light;
low cost;
consume little energy.

short service life of the inverter, about 20,000 hours;
maximum brightness occurs after a few minutes;
Brightness is worse than LED.

Multicolor or RGB

LEDs soldered onto the base consist of three crystals (red, green, blue). Using the controller, colors are mixed, so you can get any color.

high brightness, therefore clearly visible even during the day;
long service life;
are not afraid of vibrations;
You can change the color and glow mode.

a controller is required for connection, and this increases the cost of the kit;
If one diode fails, the entire ring must be replaced.

Cluster or COB

Luminous crystals are soldered directly onto a solid base. In a conventional LED, the crystal is still in the ceramic substrate, so the COB is smaller.

best brightness;
long service life;
light is evenly distributed around the ring;
vibration resistance.

high price;
If one crystal burns out, the entire ring must be replaced.

An easy way to make bright DRLs in your headlights with your own hands

Angel eyes, half rings or DRLs of other shapes are the most popular way of tuning car headlights. Running lights can be made in different ways, and we have already discussed many methods earlier. This time we’ll tell you how to easily make super bright DRLs of any shape and uniform glow.

Required:

Light diffuser 2.5 mm thick. This is milky acrylic with high light transmittance. It is used in the manufacture of furniture or advertising structures (can be found in advertising agencies involved in outdoor advertising).
Chromed aluminum. A canister of ZIC motor oil will do.
LEDs. It is best to make the base of the required shapes from PCB and solder LEDs onto it, for example, SMD 3528. If you are not used to working with a soldering iron, then you can use an LED strip with a large number of LEDs (120 diodes per 1 m, otherwise the brightness of the DRL will be low), or buy a ready-made LED ring.

DRL manufacturing procedure:

We are coming up with a design for future LED running lights, exploring options (rings, half-rings, curved or straight lines).
Cut milky acrylic to the chosen shape using a Dremel.
Make the inner and outer ends of the light diffuser using pieces of aluminum (10 mm). We glue them with epoxy glue.
We insert an LED strip or a PCB board with LEDs into the resulting recess. We check the work. Don't forget about the voltage stabilizer for running lights.

After installing such super-bright daytime running lights in the headlights of a VAZ 2110, it may turn out like this: The main advantage of this method of manufacturing DRLs is the simplicity and availability of materials. You can learn how a light diffuser allows you to increase the brightness of LEDs from this video clip: What do you think, can such running lights be called correct? Let us remind you that other photo reports on making angel eyes:

Plexiglas leash rings
Installation of ready-made LED rings in Kirzhach headlights, another option
Flexible DRLs
We illuminate the headlight with LEDs from the inside
Easy installation of LED strip in Bosch headlights (one, two)

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Are there any penalties for installation?

The installation of angel eyes type lights must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of Rosstandart and the UNECE International Regulations:

in front - white lights;
on the side - orange;
behind - red.

Multi-colored lights can be used when tuning show cars. If a police officer encounters a car with multi-colored angel eyes, he must seize non-standard equipment and draw up a report on the driver.

There is no fine for such a violation, but in accordance with Part 3 of Art. 12.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses provides for the confiscation of these devices and possible deprivation of the right to drive a car for a period of 6 months to 1 year.

How to make and install angel eyes on a Priora with your own hands

You can make angel eyes yourself; there are several options for making them; let’s look at the example of using LEDs, since this is the most budget option.

To work you will need:

8 LEDs;
8 resistors of 1 kOhm;
a drill whose diameter corresponds to the size of the LEDs;
dichloroethane;
hacksaw for metal;
rod from blinds;
mandrels whose diameter corresponds to the diameter of the headlights;
sealant;
clear nail polish.

The procedure for creating angel eyes: on Priora:

Making a ring. To do this, the rod is heated in a basin of hot water or using a hair dryer. After this, they are bent into a ring on a mandrel of the required size.

Removing the headlight. To do this, you need to remove the headlight from the Priora.
Removing glass. It is sealed on. It is heated with a hair dryer and pryed with a knife or screwdriver.

Video: installing angel eyes on Priora

Disassembling headlights

First you will need to remove both headlights from the car. Remember how everything was attached and connected and collect all the fastening parts in some kind of container so that nothing gets lost.
It is necessary to remove everything removable from them, since the headlights will need to be heated in the oven.
In order to disassemble the headlights, they need to be heated and the sealant that connects the two halves softened. Preheat the oven to 130-150 degrees and place the headlight inside. It should stay inside for about 7 minutes. You need to be careful not to overheat the headlight. When removing the headlight from the oven, use an oven mitt to avoid getting burned. Instead of an oven, you can also use a hair dryer.
Next, you need to immediately carefully divide the headlight into two parts. For more information about disassembling a headlight, read the article “how to disassemble a headlight.”

Connection

It is best to connect angel eyes in parallel with the side lights of the car. You cannot do this directly to the Priora on-board network. When the engine is running, the car's electrical network is about 14.5 V, while the LEDs are designed for 12 V. Connecting directly will lead to them failing after some time. This is the reason for most of the negative reviews about this tuning.

Angel eyes must be connected through a stabilizer. You can do it yourself. In the store you need to buy an integrated voltage stabilizer KR142EN8B. It is installed on the radiator or on a metal part of the body so that it can be cooled. All eyes are connected in parallel, and then connected to the stabilizer output. Its input is connected to the power supply for the side lights.

Installing angel eyes allows you to make your car more visible and beautiful. They are visible when approaching 10 meters. When installing such tuning, you must follow the existing rules and then there will be no problems with the police.

Plexiglas products

Almost everyone can make “angel eyes” from plexiglass. To do this you need to prepare:

8 LEDs at 3.5V;
8 resistors with a nominal value of 2200 Ohms;
Sheet plexiglass or round rods made of it.

If the rods could not be found, then bars measuring 1 cm by 1 cm are cut out of a sheet of plexiglass. To determine their length, it is enough to measure the circumference of the headlights. The resulting blanks must be given a rounded shape. To do this, it is advisable to use a grinding machine. But you can do this work manually, using a piece of sandpaper. In the end, you should end up with three round rods, not just processed, but also polished. Next, the blanks need to be bent, giving them the shape of a headlight. For this purpose, it is best to use a hair dryer. In advance, you should find a round object whose diameter matches the size of the headlights. Pre-heated blocks must be bent according to a stencil and given time to cool so that they take the given shape. All excess must be removed. At the ends of the workpieces, you need to make holes with a drill into which the diodes will be inserted. They connect to the wires that supply power to the side lights. The positive terminal of the diode is connected to the positive wire, and the negative terminal is connected to the negative wire. Ballast resistors are soldered in at a distance of about 15 cm. You can use nail polish to attach the diodes to the holes. All connections must be properly insulated. If there is a desire to make the “angel eyes” radiant, then cuts are applied along the entire length of the rods, the depth of which should not exceed 1/3 of their diameter.

What is remarkable about the Lada Priora with “angel eyes”?

Stylish tuning of domestic cars can be done in different ways. But it is the installed angel eyes of the Priora that make it truly attractive and make it stand out from the stream of identical cars. The car looks impressive and allows you to additionally obtain high-quality lighting. LED or gas-filled lamps can be used for installation.

When choosing suitable dimensions, you need to pay special attention to their parameters. It is recommended to buy angel eyes for Priora, consisting of LED bulbs. They have a long service life and are unpretentious in operation. An additional advantage will be the low energy consumption of the battery, which is important for most drivers.

How to make angel eyes on a Priora with your own hands and at minimal cost?

Most drivers prefer to do car tuning themselves. Updating your vehicle yourself allows you to save on costs and get a truly high-quality result. Therefore, before buying angel eyes on a Priora, owners of domestic cars are exploring possible upgrade options at minimal cost. You can make stylish lanterns yourself.

The work of creating illuminators and installing them will take only 2-3 hours and does not require any special skills. Anyone can make angel eyes correctly on a Priora with their own hands. To prepare the eyes, you will need to purchase solid plexiglass tubes and 8 LEDs. Assembly is carried out according to the following instructions:

1. Plexiglas rods are placed in a container with hot water and, after softening, are bent. To obtain an even circle, you can use any round objects that are suitable in size. You need to get 4 blanks: 2 large and 2 small.

This is how this rod glows if you put an LED next to it (it lies below on the table)

2. Marks (small slits) are placed on the plexiglass circles with a step width of 2.5 - 5 mm. Holes are cut out at the edges for subsequent installation of LEDs. After cutting, the inner surface is treated with dichloroethane (for cleaning).

3. The eye blanks are attached to the substrate using sealant (it can get messy) or superglue. You need to grab them at about 3-4 points. After such an operation, Priora’s DIY angel eyes will hold securely and will not peel off from the backing when the plexiglass slightly expands when heated.

4. LEDs are inserted into the prepared niches in the tubes. It is not recommended to glue lamps in order to be able to replace them in the future. It is better to fix them with a shrink tube or electrical tape.

5. Parallel soldering of wires and a limiting resistor for breaking one cable is performed. Next, the headlight unit is assembled and sealed with sealant. At this stage, the installation of angel eyes on the Priora will be completed. The driver will only have to evaluate the result of the painstaking work.

After completing all the instructions, the Priora angel eyes with your own hands will be fully operational. Some drivers carrying out such an assembly noted the possibility of removing standard dimensions. The decision to leave the standard dimensions or completely replace them must be made by the driver himself. In any case, angel eyes will do a good job of illuminating the road.

Painting headlights

Tuning the front and rear lights on a Priora is not limited to increasing the aperture ratio. They can be tinted. But this does not mean that you need to paint the glass - the light will simply become cloudy. The tinting effect is obtained due to a change in the color of the substrate. This is done using high temperature paint.

This is done in the following order:

The entire block is removed and the backing is removed;
Wipe off the chrome from the substrate (zero polish will help). Cover the substrate with two or three layers of primer and wait about an hour;
Apply 4-5 layers of paint over the primer, wait for each layer to dry;
Assemble the block lights, close all the cracks to prevent fogging;
After painting, all that remains is to adjust them. The main thing is that the light is not too dim and does not cause inconvenience when driving.

Adjustment after any modification of the optics is performed as follows:

Place the car at a distance of 5 m from a flat wall (for example, opposite the garage);
Set the adjusting screws under the hood to “0”. Put a person of similar height behind the wheel;
The headlights are adjusted one by one; while one is being adjusted, the second one is closed;
The clear edge of the light should be 10 mm below the top edge of the headlight.

Adjustment is not a useless requirement of technical inspection standards. This must be done for comfortable driving at night - you won’t need to peer and look for obstacles on the road, they will be illuminated if adjusted correctly.

How to choose and how to install angel eyes on a Priora yourself?

If the owner of a Lada does not want to spend time making angel eyes for the Lada Priora with his own hands, he can contact any car store to purchase new illuminators. Among the proposed options, you should choose the most suitable one. There should be several criteria: price, type of lamps, type of headlights in the car. Ease of assembly in any version will be simple and fast.

You will need to initially study the angel eyes on the Priora, photos based on which are presented in the catalogue. The brightness of the glow will differ for different lamps. If you frequently drive at night, you should choose brighter elements. For daytime use of vehicles, you can purchase any products you like.

It is important to consider the parameters of the lamps purchased. The standard size of angel eyes on a Priora is 115 mm in diameter for a large one and 105 mm (Bosch) or 100 mm (Kirzhach) for a small one. There are no distinctive installation features. But you need to choose the correct size to avoid purchasing the wrong items.

Installing angel eyes with LEDs on headlights with lenses

Angel eyes are sold in different sizes, usually from 60mm to 120mm. The LED angel eyes set contains rings with LEDs, one controller with a connector, and a remote control for changing the color of the angel eyes, including blinking modes. Diffuser caps can be added to the rings for a more traditional, uniform appearance.

“Angel eyes” in headlights with lenses are installed on the housing.
It can be pre-painted black to make the rings more visible. It is recommended that the rings be attached at three points at equal intervals. To attach the luminous rings inside the headlight, glue, double-sided tape or special wire are used. Glue has its drawbacks. Vibrations from driving and heat can weaken the adhesive bond. Double-sided tape cannot always be used, since there is not always a suitable surface inside the headlight for secure fastening in this way. It is better to use thin wire for hanging pictures. You need to drill small holes on the lens housing and screw the rings with wire. If you do everything carefully, you get an almost invisible fastening unless you look closely. The advantage of this method of fastening is that it is very reliable and does not weaken from vibrations and heat.

If you choose an adhesive connection as a method of attaching the rings, then apply a thin layer of glue to the back of the ring and to the reflector, in the place where the ring will be installed. Let the glue dry for 10 minutes before pulling the wires through. Gently press the ring into place for 5 minutes. Try not to move the ring until the glue dries.

How much do angel eyes and their installation on Lada Priora cost?

The cost of purchased illuminators depends on their type. For example, manufacturers set the price for angel eyes for Priora CCFL (gas-filled) within 1000-1500 rubles. LED analogues (SMD) are sold for 1500-2200 rubles. Replacing them, if necessary, will be expensive.

There are other angel eyes, the price for Priora, which ranges from 1200 to 1700 rubles. They consist of COB diodes, which are inferior in brightness to conventional LEDs. They have less durability than the SMD type, but longer than CCFL. They are less common and are sold only in specialized stores.

Before purchasing, you should study each type in action. Priora's angel eyes will help in this photo, demonstrating the brightness of the glow of different types. Therefore, drivers who want to make their car stand out as much as possible are recommended to install diode elements. Practical owners should purchase durable CCFL illuminators.

For those who want to go even further, there is an example of RGB tape for angel eyes. Just remember: turning on any color other than white will raise a lot of questions from the traffic police. However, nothing prevents you from turning on such a thing to music during your next stop with friends. But I didn't tell you that!