Joey Mod is a replica for what?

[audimymind]

Basically what im getting at is... whats this Joey mod all about.. to look like a specific euro headlight? Or is it just a general headlight modifacation that had been done... i mean, i use to own a Honda.. and in Japan the Civic Type R headlights came with a gunmetal housing. So people would take their USDM healighs and black out the housing in them to give it a Type R look... so is the Joey mod made to look like another style audi headlight.. if so can someoen post some pictures... because i been doing some research and from what i found. people have done this joey mod a bunch of different ways. i have seen just the chrome trim painted.. and then i have seen that and the actual projection parts (the part that the bulb houses in) painted as well... not the reflective part that shines the light, but the housing... what im getting at is if i do it i wanna do it right.. not half painted or fully painted if its not really like that...

[dsq]

diy e-codes.

[wychoi36]

But E-code's projectors are diffrent than that of the US headlights, or is this a wrong information?

[absolutegtr]

But E-code's projectors are diffrent than that of the US headlights, or is this a wrong information?

Yes you a right about that...but for $600 plus, I dont think it is worth it.

Not only that but the codes arent even that dark....in my eyes

[Tgr_Clw]

But E-code's projectors are diffrent than that of the US headlights, or is this a wrong information?

ECE projectors do differ from the US DOT projectors.

[B6Lovin]

^you're right, but a lot of people just prefer the black look. and we also like not having that relfector that's on the side behind the amber piece. so we cut that out too.

there's a few of us that have joey modded our lights -- just look around for it

[audimymind]

oh alright. I feel dumb for asking the question...I thought the e codes looked silver... not black like what I have been seeing... they look like a gunmetalish color too just like the civic type r headlights... imma do a little research and get back here in a second...

[audimymind]

i read a joey mod how too on a4mods.com and he painted erveything black besides the actul reflector or whatever its called liek this...



but the ecodes that i been looking kept these silver or chrome

[quat]

essentially you could joey mod your head lights to what ever color you wanted. Most people do black. IMO the darker headlight looks a lot better than the standard chrome lights. I think it would be interesting to do a joey mod that matches the body color. I.E. a blue car with a blue joey mod. Martini has a write up on his site, a4mods.com. I have also seen the reflectors completely painted over...I don't recomment that.

[B6Lovin]

there's another thread up right now about different color joey mods, I'm seriously considering wrapping mine in CF. lol

[audimymind]

diy e-codes.

The e-codes also have an ectra little light... i think it is called a city light... well its funny because the civic type r head lights had the same thing...


Here is a USDM Civic headlight



Here is a JDM Civic type r headlight. as you can see... it has a gunmetal grey housing with a city light hole... kinda crazy that the two headlights are the same...

[Exanimas]

Hmm, eventually I'd like to Joey Mod my lights (along with CC) but don't have the balls to start tearing them apart. Anyone around Boston/Lynn who has done this feel like helping me out sometime? I promise there will be beer during and Jagermeister to celebrate after!

[audimymind]

When i had my civic... i wanted to buy a set of thes type r headlights... but they are $500!!! similar to e-codes.. so there was a "joey mod" diy thing for civic too hahaha (why is it called a joey mod anyways?)... but it didnt require any cutting.. you just had to take out the yellow reflector... as for the city light... it was a no go.. but you still got pretty much the same effect... I did this mod before.. .and because of that i am comfortable with doing the joey mod...

the hardest/gayest part of doing the joey mod is removing the plastic lense...you have to hit it with a heat gun and "peel" back the seal that holds them into place...



BUT THERE IS A TRICK!!! now i dont know if its gonna work the same as it did for my hond headlights... but all you have to do is remove all the rubber you can from the headlight and throw them in the oven... yes.. the oven.. at 200' F for 8 minutes... lol when i had my civic... i baked my headlights one at a time on a cookie sheet... for 8 minutes... took them out and literally just pulled my headlights apart (well i had to kinda pop it open at the "tabs" where it locked into place).. and strans of seal/glue stretched from one piece to the otther like i split a grilled cheese sandwhich in half! now im not tellin anyone to put your headlight in the oven... but imma take a good look at my headlights and if/when i do this joey mod... ill be the one to test bake a audi headlight... and i will also try to install this citylight.. or create one... one with a bulb that i can change without having to "unglue" the lense everytime (cause thats wack)

[diagnosticator]

But E-code's projectors are diffrent than that of the US headlights, or is this a wrong information?

The only difference between E-code HID-Xenon OE projectors and DOT HID-Xenon OE projectors is the cut-off shield used for each type.

[B6Lovin]

BUT THERE IS A TRICK!!! now i dont know if its gonna work the same as it did for my hond headlights... but all you have to do is remove all the rubber you can from the headlight and throw them in the oven... yes.. the oven.. at 200' F for 8 minutes... lol when i had my civic... i baked my headlights one at a time on a cookie sheet... for 8 minutes... took them out and literally just pulled my headlights apart (well i had to kinda pop it open at the "tabs" where it locked into place).. and strans of seal/glue stretched from one piece to the otther like i split a grilled cheese sandwhich in half! now im not tellin anyone to put your headlight in the oven... but imma take a good look at my headlights and if/when i do this joey mod... ill be the one to test bake a audi headlight... and i will also try to install this citylight.. or create one... one with a bulb that i can change without having to "unglue" the lense everytime (cause thats wack)

think again. and read some joey mod threads. you aren't the first to try the oven... it doesn't work. that "glue" is more like RTV sealant (the stuff you use to make exhaust gaskets when you're feeling cheap) and your whole headlight would melt and burn before that stuff ever melted.

IT CAN BE SOFTENED, AND IS MUCH EASIER TO REMOVE FROM THE CLEAR PART AND THE HOUSING AFTERWARDS IF HEATED! i highly reccomend getting an old, sturdy knife, or a very thin-bladed screw driver and working your way around to remove it after you get the halves apart. it'll make your life SO much easier when putting it all back together.

but as for the bake-n-split.... unfortunately it doesn't work like that. there's this air tight seal that works like one of those "gripper pads" against the clear lens. the way it grips against the plastic, you have to work your way ALMOST all the way around and break that seal on the top AND bottom of the light. (if you do it, you'll understand)

the biggest "trick" do doing our lights is to get a good hook/pick set, and use that to work your way around quickly, while prying up as little as possible. using that method, and knowing what i was trying to do already - i got a headlight apart in about 45 mins... (while drinking a couple beers, so i prolly coulda done it faster lol... beer just helps to dull the pain of joey modding)

others here have done it in as little as 30 minutes i think.

[audimymind]

think again. and read some joey mod threads. you aren't the first to try the oven... it doesn't work. that "glue" is more like RTV sealant (the stuff you use to make exhaust gaskets when you're feeling cheap) and your whole headlight would melt and burn before that stuff ever melted.

IT CAN BE SOFTENED, AND IS MUCH EASIER TO REMOVE FROM THE CLEAR PART AND THE HOUSING AFTERWARDS IF HEATED! i highly reccomend getting an old, sturdy knife, or a very thin-bladed screw driver and working your way around to remove it after you get the halves apart. it'll make your life SO much easier when putting it all back together.

but as for the bake-n-split.... unfortunately it doesn't work like that. there's this air tight seal that works like one of those "gripper pads" against the clear lens. the way it grips against the plastic, you have to work your way ALMOST all the way around and break that seal on the top AND bottom of the light. (if you do it, you'll understand)

the biggest "trick" do doing our lights is to get a good hook/pick set, and use that to work your way around quickly, while prying up as little as possible. using that method, and knowing what i was trying to do already - i got a headlight apart in about 45 mins... (while drinking a couple beers, so i prolly coulda done it faster lol... beer just helps to dull the pain of joey modding)

others here have done it in as little as 30 minutes i think.

[B6Lovin]

yeah. i wasn't too happy when i figured that out either.

i was halfway done with my first joey mod, and i wanted to just kill somebody. i seriously almost gave up because i made the mistake of doing it outside... where it was very very cold...

do yourself a favor and lay down some news paper or do this on an old table inside.

[skeeball]

oh alright. I feel dumb for asking the question...I thought the e codes looked silver... not black like what I have been seeing... they look like a gunmetalish color too just like the civic type r headlights... imma do a little research and get back here in a second...

Both US and Euro (ecode) headlights came in either chrome or blackout, depending on model and package. The ecodes are desired around here because there is no orange reflector.

However, something happened with the production at Valeo and supply of the blackout version has slowed to a trickle. Hence, more people are attempting to DIY replicate that look. It's also much cheaper to joey mod. But it's difficult.

I believe the first person to write up a big DIY on this was named Joey.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

here's the thing: our lights from the factory are VAC sealed, they put it in this mechanism, that sucks all the air out of the area and pulls the lenses and lights together and they are then sealed to work, this is why they never leak or for up! Now the thing i'm worried about is not being able to seal it enough so they start fogging up and leaking!

[rxrep]

here's the thing: our lights from the factory are VAC sealed, they put it in this mechanism, that sucks all the air out of the area and pulls the lenses and lights together and they are then sealed to work, this is why they never leak or for up! Now the thing i'm worried about is not being able to seal it enough so they start fogging up and leaking!

I doubt this is true, since there are vent holes at the bottom with plastic inserts in them, and stock housings fog up like a bitch. Maybe they suck them together to seal them, but they are NOT sealed housings when in the car.
My housings DON'T fog up after I Joey-modded, because I sealed better than the factory did, and I also put silica packets in them.

I believe the first person to write up a big DIY on this was named Joey.

Funny thing is, there were people doing this to old dub cars long before that DIY came out, too. Someone here claims the Joey to be his cousin or something.

[shedpress]

Regarding removing the amber reflective lens...will that pass inspection without the amber lens? I know VA state inspection is pretty strict. I just want to make sure I have a spare set before I remove the lens and seal the lights back up. Thanks.

[JerseyShoreA4]

My passenger headlight isn't sealed properly but I have no problems with the driverside. I found the source of the leak on my passenger side but haven't had time to reseal it. Last time I had the headlights out I taped some silica packets in both housings. The passenger still fogs up but the moisture disappears much quicker with the silica in there. Good call on the packets Lee. I am glad I did my joey. I went with the High temp engine paint you can get at pepboys or autozone. I can find out the brand and color later. But the gunmetal finish they had matched the back of the projectors pretty well so all I had to paint was the chrome insert. Cutting out the v portion behind the reflector was a bitch for me but I did it ass backwards I guess. Lee informed me of a much easier approach if you decided to delete the v section. I have that technique in a pm somewhere. I'm sure martini probably covered it on his diy also. If you just want dark housings and don't mind the v section. You could always clear the s4 headlights. Still paying a chunk of change for them though. But much less headache if you just want the color change.

[JerseyShoreA4]

I am not sure on the laws. I believe as long as your blinker still lights amber and flashes amber you are ok.