New Project in the works.

[parapraxis24]

Damn. Even with that stuff I don't think that would get me a true OEM plug and play due to the ballasts, igniters, etc. I'm gonna have a rats nest anyways. If I didn't have the retrofit source harness already I'd be all over these. I'll have to think about it. Is there a name for these or part number?

It won't, but at least with the HD relay harness the only wires in/out of the housing should be from the bulb and h11 adapter harness.

I'm doing this because I'm adding the LED strips and want to keep the extra power/ground wires into the housing looking stock. Hell now that I think about it I can probably use these pins to run the H11 adapter to the HD relay, one less set of wires to worry about unplugging...hmmmmm

Maybe.

PNs: CU2Z-14S411-ADA (harness side)
DU2Z-14S411-SA (headlight side)

They don't plug into each other, but I only wanted the pins anyway so I'm not concerned.

 

[parapraxis24]

So I got the relay figured out with the help of some of the guys over on the hidplanet forum. From their best guess the whole system is controlled by a computer of sorts, since the three wires for the turn don't function as one would assume based on their bulb's current state of output.

Now that that is sorted, I'll start on actually doing the remainder of the retrofit hopefully this week some time, but definitely going to tackle it over the weekend, I'll probably start running the wires for the LEDs and HID harness this week definitely so I can just retrofit the headlight and plug it in. Pics to come when I get started on it.

 

[posts]

My friend is available again and we're going to try to do the retrofit this weekend. After work I'm parking the car in the garage and getting everything prepped. Probably going to be a heat index of 100F so we'll be sweating our asses off. I have a feeling we'll be spending all day just trying to get them open but that still leaves sunday to finish it all up.

Hope your retrofit has been going well.

 

[parapraxis24]

My friend is available again and we're going to try to do the retrofit this weekend. After work I'm parking the car in the garage and getting everything prepped. Probably going to be a heat index of 100F so we'll be sweating our asses off. I have a feeling we'll be spending all day just trying to get them open but that still leaves sunday to finish it all up.

Hope your retrofit has been going well.

Nice! Yea it's been hot here, too. I've been trying to devise a way that I can mount and aim the projectors without needing to be on the car. Since I live in an apartment, which happens to lack any flat surfaces and the necessary wall to aim, driving to the nearest parking garage seems a bit sketchy if I only have one headlight. I think I have figured out a surefire way, but I need to test it out to confirm.

Between work and classes I haven't had time to tackle it, but I have a few days off from work, and classes are over for a week so I'll be doing it this weekend and a bit of next week.

 

[LedRobster]

Please tell me someone is going to do a proper walkthrough/DIY when they're done. =)

 

[V_2]

Nice! Yea it's been hot here, too. I've been trying to devise a way that I can mount and aim the projectors without needing to be on the car. Since I live in an apartment, which happens to lack any flat surfaces and the necessary wall to aim, driving to the nearest parking garage seems a bit sketchy if I only have one headlight. I think I have figured out a surefire way, but I need to test it out to confirm.

Between work and classes I haven't had time to tackle it, but I have a few days off from work, and classes are over for a week so I'll be doing it this weekend and a bit of next week.

What I do is set the housing on a table and aim it at the farthest wall I can, find some way to power the bulb (I use a spare battery and a donor connector), then mark the position of the housing and beam cutoff on the wall with masking tape. That way you have a reference for when you are aiming the projector. Using the same method to power the HID bulb as I use for the halogen. I have also been lazy and used a really bright flashlight to aim the projector beam. Both methods work.

 

[parapraxis24]

What I do is set the housing on a table and aim it at the farthest wall I can, find some way to power the bulb (I use a spare battery and a donor connector), then mark the position of the housing and beam cutoff on the wall with masking tape. That way you have a reference for when you are aiming the projector. Using the same method to power the HID bulb as I use for the halogen. I have also been lazy and used a really bright flashlight to aim the projector beam. Both methods work.

Yea that's what I was planning on doing except for whatever annoying reason I can't get the PSU I borrowed from my desktop to give me 12V. The PSU is good, it's from a working computer but so far it has been completely useless for me.

 

[posts]

I am marking the garage door with tape of the stock beams and then will mount them back in the car without the lenses on to check fitment.

 

[parapraxis24]

I am marking the garage door with tape of the stock beams and then will mount them back in the car without the lenses on to check fitment.

Yea that's the easiest way to do it, by far but not having a garage is making my retrofit a bit more challenging. I'll get it done I just knew it would take me longer than a day or two.

 

[posts]

Got both headlights open in an hour. This was a breeze. Don't fear these headlights guys. With my heat gun and a cardboard box it took 15 minutes to get up to 220. Stayed there for like 6 minutes then just started prying with a screw driver. Once you break the seal they come apart easy. Don't be gentle but don't go over board.

 

[parapraxis24]

Got both headlights open in an hour. This was a breeze. Don't fear these headlights guys. With my heat gun and a cardboard box it took 15 minutes to get up to 220. Stayed there for like 6 minutes then just started prying with a screw driver. Once you break the seal they come apart easy. Don't be gentle but don't go over board.

Nice! Look forward to seeing the results. Remember to clean out all of the old permaseal for a good reseal.

 

[eleven]

Explain the cardboard box and heatgun MacGyvering to me? Is this a method used if the headlight is too large for the oven?

 

[posts]

Fuck permaseal. My fingers will have blisters. This shit is nasty. It's like resistant to a blade yet hardly comes off. Gotta keep heating it up and scrape away ugh.

 

[parapraxis24]

Explain the cardboard box and heatgun MacGyvering to me? Is this a method used if the headlight is too large for the oven?

Yea you can make an "oven" out of a cardboard box. The headlights are pretty large and may not fit in some ovens without a bit of wedging.

 

[parapraxis24]

I ended up picking up a side job as a mover, so I've been doing that the past couple days; really cuts into my retrofit time. I have made a bit of progress though.

Some output shots:

So my plan is, since it isn't easy to test mount on my car, is to use the high beam's output as a guidance for alignment. I need to get a rough estimate of my current low beam in relation to the high as far as x/y axis distance so that both are properly aligned when mounted to the car. Sadly there isn't as distinct of a cutoff on the high beam as I was hoping so rotational alignment is a bit suspect at this point.

Tomorrow though I should have all day (unless a job comes up) to get this done. I want it done right so I'll be taking my time so I might not make any updates until Monday.

 

[posts]

Ok big update. A lot of things learned...

Started at 9:30 with my friend helping me. 30 minutes in we got the first one open, many fist bumps and morale was super high since we expected this to be the hardest part of the retrofit (it's not). 20 minutes later we had the other one open.

Next we took the reflectors off, whoops broke one of the mounts to the ball joints, specifically one going to the adjustment knob. JB Weld to the rescue. Be careful removing the reflectors...

We sanded the back of the reflectors flat and opened up the light bulb hole to accept the mini h1s.

Next we painted the reflectors and shrouds flat black, then it was lunch time.

After lunch we ran the harness and connected it to the battery and ground and mounted the ballasts to the crash beams. There was a hole I used to mount the relays as well. Pictures below.

The passenger side feed wire simply goes under the plastic piece on top of the bumper. Two screw push pins hold it closest to the engine bay, simply remove them and carefully pull it up enough to pass the harness over. Easy peasy.

It's 1:30 and we're getting started on removing the permaseal. We won't finish this task until around 5 pm. This is why retrofitters charge cash money on certain jobs. Removing this stuff is pulling gum out of shag carpet, only it's not gum it's construction adhesive. It doesn't respond much to heat but it helps. Sharp blades kind of just get stuck or don't really cut it. It's hell.

Well after that was all done we test fitted the drivers side, fired it up, and amazingly the height was almost spot on. The beam was at a 45 degree angle haha but we fixed that. Passenger side was straight and height was good. We had an annoying situation with a striker not firing but switching sides made them work. We did not like that game at 10pm.

Tomorrow we run through the final steps of checking and rechecking everything, cleaning the reflectors, and baking them up with fresh butyl.

I'm tired, my fingers hurt really bad, but I have proper HIDs in my Fiesta.

Sorry about the book of a comment...

 

[parapraxis24]

Sounds like removing the permaseal is worse than getting into the headlights. I haven't done that myself yet, but I'll be opening mine up today most likely. Probably do one side at a time in case something comes up and I need to use the car.

Thanks for the pictures showing where you mounted the ballasts. I hadn't yet taken a serious look around under the hood to plan out where everything would go but you did that for me so thank you. When you mounted the relays, did you use an existing bolt/screw or did you need to supply your own?

 

[fST]

Well, the lack of aftermarket support for headlights has been a disappointment to say the least. I was considering importing a set of Euro headlights, and putting an HID kit in them. Even then, I'd still be using an inferior light setup than a true retrofit. Plus the cost alone is staggering, $500+ for the headlights plus shipping from across the pond, then add in an HID kit and it's pushing $700, no way.

This made me chuckle a little bit. I came from an SVT Focus (still have it now actually) that I bought new 12 years ago. The HID headlight option for that car was $1050. And there was a HUGE aftermarket for it. They were a hot commodity and would sell used for just slightly under the new price on the forums. I was one of the ones who didn't have the option from the factory and bought a pair used from someone else. I chuckled because $700 is cheaper than what I paid for HIDs 11 or 12 years ago. Even more so when you take into account inflation.

As of now, I plan on importing a set of the Euro's and not changing them over to HIDs.

 

[parapraxis24]

This made me chuckle a little bit. I came from an SVT Focus (still have it now actually) that I bought new 12 years ago. The HID headlight option for that car was $1050. And there was a HUGE aftermarket for it. They were a hot commodity and would sell used for just slightly under the new price on the forums. I was one of the ones who didn't have the option from the factory and bought a pair used from someone else. I chuckled because $700 is cheaper than what I paid for HIDs 11 or 12 years ago. Even more so when you take into account inflation.

As of now, I plan on importing a set of the Euro's and not changing them over to HIDs.

My friend had one of those back in HS, a 2004/5 with the HID option, really nice headlights. Factory HIDs are always expensive second hand, because they tend to be even MORE expensive if bought outright from the dealer than they are as an option. The price of the EU headlights is just for halogen projectors, they aren't even HIDs!

To me it's a lot of money for a marginal improvement in light output. Sure they're better than the US headlights, but they won't match a quality retrofit. Yea there's extra work involved but I like working on my car so it's ok with me.

 

[parapraxis24]

So I pretty much made no progress today because I ended up picking up another moving job later today so that threw a wrench in my retrofit plans.

Just because I can't open my current headlights doesn't mean I can't move forward.

Testing out how I want the LED strip mounted. I initially wanted to mount it to the "eyeliner" panel inside the headlight. After testing it however, it doesn't look that great mounted there. Not to mention the LED strips only move front to back not side to side so it wouldn't follow the panel at all. After some thinking I noticed the fluted portion of the lens on the bottom, it's the perfect size and curves front to back so the strip follows it perfectly. Now, the only issue is that they are meant to be mounted on top of something, 3m tape on the back, not behind anything. Any thoughts on how to adhere the strips to the plastic lens? I think clear silicon would do it but I'd really hate to buy a caulking gun and silicon just for that. I was contemplating superglue but I'm not sure how it would react with the plastic since it gets hot/warm while curing.

Anyone have any ideas?

BTW, indoors, those LEDs are bright as hell.