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Trs basic retrofit review/ sort of a guideline

A7xogg

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Hampton roads
#1
First off if your interested in a lighting upgrade this is the top of the line. The only way it gets brighter is with a bigger/ better projector(rx350 or d2s 4.0 come to mind first). I wish i took enough photos to make a true diy but that didnt happen so this is gonna be more like a guide line/ review. There is a few threads about retrofitting on this forum already( ill prob add links to them in this forum) and i wanted to add as much info as i can to you the people.
If you have no idea what a retrofit is, dont worry i didnt know a few years ago. Its adding projector lights to a halogen housing headlight to improve lightening. If you want an ideak check out www.theretrofitsource.com or www.hidplanet.com to check out many different applications and cars. Yes i know the European fiesta came with projectors and there is a thread to convert them but like most projector headlights their output sucks (imo) and i dont like the way they look. Plus the cost of a new seat of headlights + a retrofit conversion is cheaper than a euro headlight conversion. Yes i say its more work but much better output/performance. So since this isnt a diyhers a thread and a video to show what your infore if you decide you want to do this
http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/diy-...plete-mini-h1-retrofit-diy-8th-gen-civic.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IatVCjV4ekY

I wanted to post the civic one to show in detail what it takes to take apart a headlight. but a aftermarket fiesta on is much easier because it has no screws and just needs to be heated up or if you use a oem one you cut the permaseal.
Its more time consuming than hard. Id say if you can change your brakes you could do this.
Onto some pic to keep this thread somewhat interesting


retrofit output. Blurry picture but you can clearly see the sharp cut off and how it looks while driving.


stock output


retro output. Even in daylight you can see how much wider they go


JUst to show when its dark out how much light is given off by the headlights


Now the specs for this reforfit are really simple, the refrofitsource mini h1 v7conversion with 35w ballasts and 4500k bulbs. High beam splitters with stock highbeam and the bixenon. Low beam and protector shroud painted black. The biggest reason i went with this kit is ease of instillation. the mini and d2s kits are the only one with a threaded shaft on the back of the housing to make it really easy to secure and align the projector.



http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/threads/9211-New-Project-in-the-works
Another reftofit thread.
Im sure i forgot info and Please if you have questions or want to chime in, just post i will help you out the best that i can if you want to partake in a retrofit or just have general questions.
 


Last edited:
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YYC
#3
Looks awesome, I need to get around to doing this one day. I hate the OEM headlights
 


Erbarry

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Rancho
#4
Did you open up the headlights yourself? I have all the TRS stuff ready to go just haven't got to it.
 


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Bowie
#5
Don’t won’t to thread jack but would anyone know would it be possible to retrofit something like this from the st3 focus into ours?



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Indianapolis
#6
I think it would be really cool if you were to build and sell your own "oem like" usdm retrofitted projector headlights. I think alot of people on here prefer the blacked out look of the usdm cars and if you bought a set of new headlights like this... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Headlight-Set-For-2014-2016-Ford-Fiesta-Driver-and-Passenger-Side-w-Bulb-New/351800555442?fits=Model%3AFiesta%7CSubmodel%3AST&epid=1680223022&hash=item51e8f277b2:g:ve4AAOSwhj9aj~XM&vxp=mtr
and bought the retrofit kit and installed it and made it essentially plug and play....it would be a good seller. You could have it made to order (so the customer would anticipate a little bit of a wait) and could even collect a core charge for their old ones. I think something like this would be great.
 


OP
A7xogg

A7xogg

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Thread Starter #7
Don’t won’t to thread jack but would anyone know would it be possible to retrofit something like this from the st3 focus into ours?



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yes, but it would be way easier to get a morimotto projector set and retrofitted it into ours.
 


OP
A7xogg

A7xogg

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Thread Starter #8
I think it would be really cool if you were to build and sell your own "oem like" usdm retrofitted projector headlights. I think alot of people on here prefer the blacked out look of the usdm cars and if you bought a set of new headlights like this... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Headlight-Set-For-2014-2016-Ford-Fiesta-Driver-and-Passenger-Side-w-Bulb-New/351800555442?fits=Model%3AFiesta%7CSubmodel%3AST&epid=1680223022&hash=item51e8f277b2:g:ve4AAOSwhj9aj~XM&vxp=mtr
and bought the retrofit kit and installed it and made it essentially plug and play....it would be a good seller. You could have it made to order (so the customer would anticipate a little bit of a wait) and could even collect a core charge for their old ones. I think something like this would be great.
I could do that, i actually want to do that but if i somehow got more than a few light sets at a time i wouldnt be able to keep up(2 year old takes up most of my time). But if some one really wanted me to build a set up i could do it for alot cheaper than a company with the same quality.
 


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Location
Beckley
#9
Is this the exact setup you bought? Just curious trying to nail down specifics. How did you open your lights did you bake them or cut them open?

Also assuming you got the H11/H9/H8/880 harness as well or did you get a the canbus relay for them? I know our stock low beam is an H11 that is why I am assuming that is the correct wire harness.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/p...iversal/bixenon-morimoto-mini-h1-stage-3.html

Thanks for the help.
 


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Indianapolis
#10
I could do that, i actually want to do that but if i somehow got more than a few light sets at a time i wouldnt be able to keep up(2 year old takes up most of my time). But if some one really wanted me to build a set up i could do it for alot cheaper than a company with the same quality.
I completely understand the parenting aspect lol. I really want an led or hid set-up and for me, projectors are the only solution. While I could attempt to do this myself, I wouldn't mind paying someone a reasonable rate to do the retrofit for me (who had experience doing so). If i do go this route, I would most likely buy a set of headlights, like those shown on the link, so I could always go back to my stock headlights if need be. I'm gonna keep you in mind (as i'm not quite able to afford this now) but certainly want this done. But if I was you, I would consider possibly starting a small vendor service on here of retrofitting lights. I think you would do really well.
 


danbfree

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#11
You can get excellent quality Depo Euro replica's for $350 shipped now... Not sure about the past but these things seem to be better quality than OEM to me, and tons of vertical adjustment available so no worries about the leveling motor thing at all for those of you have heard of that issue, on the really cheap TYC many come way out of adjustment and don't have much vertical adjustment available. Anyway, they work really well with some solid quality LED's that are designed with halogen filament placement in mind, HID's glared badly... In any case, since they are aftermarket, they can be actually heated up and split (butyl) while OEM headlights are perma-sealed and usually need to be cut open... so, you can have Euro OEM projectors to start with and much more easily split them to upgrade the factory projector vs. trying to split and possibly mess up your only OEM set to retrofit. Apparently the Morimoto 4LT-R is near a perfect plug and play projector upgrade but I'm happy with the OEM with Katana LED's, more output pics coming soon.
 


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QLD, Australia
#12
You can get excellent quality Depo Euro replica's for $350 shipped now... Not sure about the past but these things seem to be better quality than OEM to me, and tons of vertical adjustment available so no worries about the leveling motor thing at all for those of you have heard of that issue, on the really cheap TYC many come way out of adjustment and don't have much vertical adjustment available. Anyway, they work really well with some solid quality LED's that are designed with halogen filament placement in mind, HID's glared badly... In any case, since they are aftermarket, they can be actually heated up and split (butyl) while OEM headlights are perma-sealed and usually need to be cut open... so, you can have Euro OEM projectors to start with and much more easily split them to upgrade the factory projector vs. trying to split and possibly mess up your only OEM set to retrofit. Apparently the Morimoto 4LT-R is near a perfect plug and play projector upgrade but I'm happy with the OEM with Katana LED's, more output pics coming soon.
Where do you get the Depo euro projectors for that price? Thanks

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danbfree

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#13
Where do you get the Depo euro projectors for that price? Thanks
Wow, I thought I spammed every single thread that I had mentioned them at one point with the link and pics, so here goes!
They are the left and right individually available HERE for $139.92 each plus shipping. If you do order, they don't charge enough shipping up front and will ask for $12-17 but it's a legit company with good customer service, so when you order send them an email with your order # right away asking to please advise on any additional shipping right away and they will arrive within a few weeks. Also, after a LOT of research, you want to go with Katana H7 LED's from Amazon for the low beams, for some reason that exact model works amazing in projectors. The high beam are the same H1 reflectors as our USDM stock reflector housings, I got $10 LED's off eBay and $4 H1 Ford bulb holders off Amazon and the blinkers take 7507 blinkers, just got some behind the parts counter generics for a couple of bucks each. You do have to move one pin in the harness to activate the LED brow as markers, complete instructions and parts list is available to make a harness for fully automatic DRL functionality, just do a forum search here to see more on these topics.

Anyway, as far as on topic, I'm honestly shocked at how decent the low beam projectors are, I now have no plans to upgrade them!
 


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Location
QLD, Australia
#14
Wow, I thought I spammed every single thread that I had mentioned them at one point with the link and pics, so here goes!
They are the left and right individually available HERE for $139.92 each plus shipping. If you do order, they don't charge enough shipping up front and will ask for $12-17 but it's a legit company with good customer service, so when you order send them an email with your order # right away asking to please advise on any additional shipping right away and they will arrive within a few weeks. Also, after a LOT of research, you want to go with Katana H7 LED's from Amazon for the low beams, for some reason that exact model works amazing in projectors. The high beam are the same H1 reflectors as our USDM stock reflector housings, I got $10 LED's off eBay and $4 H1 Ford bulb holders off Amazon and the blinkers take 7507 blinkers, just got some behind the parts counter generics for a couple of bucks each. You do have to move one pin in the harness to activate the LED brow as markers, complete instructions and parts list is available to make a harness for fully automatic DRL functionality, just do a forum search here to see more on these topics.

Anyway, as far as on topic, I'm honestly shocked at how decent the low beam projectors are, I now have no plans to upgrade them!
Wow awesome find! Are the tyc ones the exact same? Do you know what sealant they both use (butyl or the other bad stuff)

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danbfree

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#15
Wow awesome find! Are the tyc ones the exact same? Do you know what sealant they both use (butyl or the other bad stuff)
They are superior to the TYC it seems, zero quality concerns as far as aiming range of motion and ease. I wouldn't go with TYC just to save $17 each, they are also an aftermarket Euro copy but have shown to have aiming adjustment and other quality issues... and yes they use butyl, which you can heat to separate while OEM including Euro and USDM reflectors use perma-seal, that you have to cut open.... but with how surprisingly good the projectors are and ability to use decent LED's for the high beam reflector, I have no plans to worry about splitting them for other projectors now.
 


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#16
Looking at cutoff 30 feet from the car only tells you nothing. Have someone drive the opposite way from you and have them observe scatter and general focus down the road then post results 😎
 


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#17
I just ordered around $1200 worth of parts for a retro fit. I'm from Australia so shipping will be around a month or so but I'll keep this thread updated and make my own.

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danbfree

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#18
Looking at cutoff 30 feet from the car only tells you nothing. Have someone drive the opposite way from you and have them observe scatter and general focus down the road then post results 😎
Yeah, with a clean cutoff with a projector you can use other projector cars as a guideline, I didn't have to tweak mine much at all!
 


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Simi Valley, CA, USA
#19
Hey Guys,
Just wanted to provide a little first hand info on a retrofit, but not on a Fiesta. In February I completed a full retrofit on my '05 Tacoma. I used Depo brand headlights as the base since my stock lights were horribly fogged and the tabs were broken, etc. I used Morimoto D2S 4.0 projectors and Morimoto HID kit, as well as adding LED halo's used as DTRL's, that I wired to turn off when I turn the headlights on to keep the life long (heat issue). The 2nd gen Tacoma Depo headlights were only $80, the retrofit kit from retrofit source was $525 but I bought the stuff around 4th of July and got 25% off that. So about $500 in parts. I didn't carefully watch the time, but it probably took me at least 30 hours of work with physically building the lights and completing the wiring. The end result is fantastic, especially with nice LED DTRL's. The Depo headlights I got were the "blacked" models, so the only things I had to paint were the main reflector bowls and the projector shrouds.

The things I am curious if anyone knows, what is the largest projector that will fit into the Fiesta reflector? I have to imagine the overall process, especially physically building headlights with the projectors, would be very similar, but don't have first hand knowledge on the Fiesta headlights and specifics yet.

See below for some pics
 


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