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My Retrofit

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103
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23
Location
St. Ann
#1
While this won't necessarily be an install guide or a how to (everyone's retrofit will be different), I do hope to answer some questions to those wondering exactly how to go about the process and what you may need.

First lets start with my list of parts:

I got a set of TYC headlights from eBay for about $230 that way I can retain the factory headlights (just in case).

Then I got together the parts from TheRetrofitSource:
---Morimoto Mini D2S projectors (low/highs) with H11 HD Relay wiring, 5500K bulbs, 50W Ballasts
---ACME Standard H1 projectors (halogen highs)
---H1 high beam splitters
---Shrouds of your choice

Baking the lights was not an option for me. These headlights are huge and they didn't fit in my oven.



I didn't want to work around the entire housing with a heat gun, so I used the hot knife method of opening/closing with my soldering gun and a cutting tip, working around the edge of the housing.



Once apart, I disassembled the housing and trimmed the reflector bowls to fit the projectors.


Mini D2S bowl


ACME H1 Bowl

In the past, I found that placing the lock nuts for each respective projector in the bowl and marking the inside of the nut was the best method of measuring out just how much of the reflector bowl that needed to be trimmed to fit the projector.

Wiring everything up is pretty straightforward with the TRS wiring harness. The only thing I had to modify was the H1 high beam splitters.



There was no way of hooking them up as they came because of how the H1 high beam bulbs are powered. So my solution was to cut the blue parts off, and pull off the black caps and solder them to the existing high beam plug for the bulb and tape everything off (not pictured). All you're looking to do is grab the signal from the high beam bulb to activate the shield in the bi-xenon projector.



The high beam H1 bulbs fit in the H1 projectors with a little pinching of the metal bulb housing right at the base of the bulb.



Next step was to put the projectors in their respective reflector bowls, level (as best as you can off car), and figure out how you want to trim the shrouds. To level the projectors, I found a level surface and propped the housing on the flat bottom tab. I still had some leveling to do once the lights were on the car, but this process allowed me to get pretty close to straight off the car. My best advice for trimming the shrouds is to measure often and trim as little as possible at a time. This is easily the most time consuming part of the process. Rushing will cause you (and me) to cut too much of the shroud. Be patient. Measure twice, cut once.

After the shrouds are cut, it's time to paint everything. My choice for the theme of my car was gloss black.



While the paint is drying is a perfect time to wire up the HD Relay in the engine bay. The main thing is to find a place to mount the relay. I mounted mine on the relay box under the hood next to the fuse for my audio system.



Once the relay is wired up to the battery, take the unfinished lights out and test everything. All the lights should work (lows, highs, turns, parking lights, etc.). As I said before, wiring is very straightforward. The harness is well labeled and connectors only go to certain connections. It's virtually impossible to get it wrong.

After the paint is dry (best to wait 24 hours), put everything back together, close the lights, place on car and double check the straightness of the projectors (adjust as necessary). Use the passenger side factory light to adjust the height of the driver side projector beam, the adjust the passenger side projector to the height of the driver side beam.

Finished product:

The idea was to continue my stormtrooper theme. I think it turned out great.



Lows:



Highs:



When I hit the high beams, the high beam halogen bulbs light and the splitters send the signal to drop the shield on the D2S projector simultaneously. Thus having 4 projected high beam lights (I removed the low beam shield in the H1 projectors since I wouldn't need them, this also saved me from having to wire up something else.).

Lastly, the custom etching on the D2S lenses to go with the theme:

 


OP
erdna14
Messages
103
Likes
23
Location
St. Ann
Thread Starter #4
I don't think very well at all. With shrouds, they barely fit in the low beam bowls. But if you're willing to use epoxy, anything can be possible. Personally I think the MD2S is too nice of a projector to waste in the high beam spot unless you're gonna run FX-Rs or another OEM projector as your mains.


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Messages
454
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123
Location
Kansas City
#5
I don't think... ...or another OEM projector as your mains.
My plan was to run two sets of mini D2S or the acme mini's like the Fiesta ST concept car. Get double the light output. I just wasn't sure the highbeam bowls were deep enough.
 


OP
erdna14
Messages
103
Likes
23
Location
St. Ann
Thread Starter #6
My plan was to run two sets of mini D2S or the acme mini's like the Fiesta ST concept car. Get double the light output. I just wasn't sure the highbeam bowls were deep enough.
I was going to do the same thing. The issue I ran into is that my state only allows 5 lights for illumination. And that includes fog lights. I didn't want any issues from the police, so I just ran the Acme projectors as high beams since the factory high beam bulbs are already H1 halogen bulbs. I'm not sure what state you're in, but you may want to check out their lighting laws (then again, retrofits aren't necessarily DOT legal... but I've never failed a safety inspection for them or been pulled over for having retrofitted lights).

Also, aiming quad projectors is a huge hassle. I didn't want to go through all that effort, only to get harassed by police for having 6 illumination lights.


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Messages
454
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123
Location
Kansas City
#7
Not worried about police hassles and I welcome the quad light challenge (I'd love to tune a carbureted V12 haha). Would the acme mini fit in the high beam bowls you think?
 


OP
erdna14
Messages
103
Likes
23
Location
St. Ann
Thread Starter #8
The Acme MH1s are what I have in my high beam bowls. They'll fit.


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TheStig

Senior Member
Messages
860
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118
Location
Phoenix
#9
Any pictures of the cutoff? I feel I could do this but always worry I'd have a terrible cutoff and blind every other mofo.

Great work!
 




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