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Any interest in headlight modifications?

113K views 327 replies 85 participants last post by  Mrlandy 
#1 · (Edited)
Finally got the projectors installed! This is a very time consuming thing especially if you live in a apartment without a garage.

Here is my write up.


Disclaimer: I am no way responsible for any damages to your car or headlights due to your decision to tackle this project. If you feel this project is too challenging for you, hire a professional to do this modification.

Things you will need:

1) BI-XENON MORIMOTO MINI STAGE III KIT (H1) with Mini Gatling Gun Shrouds & H11 Wire Harness & 35w Bulbs/Ballasts- $270.00
2) Morimoto H11 Stand Alone Can Bus Harness- $30.00
3) Lots of Time
4) Lots of Patience

Step One: Very carefully get the headlights out of the car by removing the two screws and sliding them forward to remove them off the car. Then remove the headlight plugs.

Step Two: Now pre heat your oven to 275 degrees. While you are waiting for the oven to heat up, take a sharp hobby knife around the gap of the headlight to score the adhesive, as you are doing that remove the access adhesive that is sticking out from the factory. Once the oven is heated up, place one of the headlights in the oven for 7-8 minutes. Once 7-8 minutes have passed remove from the oven (BE CAREFUL ITS HOT SO USE OVEN MITTS) and start going at the headlight adhesive with sharp razor and scoring the adhesive, try to remove as much as possible. I also used a small flat head screw driver to pry up on the black plastic. BE CAREFUL TO WITH THE PLASTIC BECAUSE ITS HOT AND SOFT, IF YOU PRESS TOO HARD ON THE PLASTIC WITH THE FLAT HEAD YOU WILL PUNCTURE IT OR TEAR IT. Repeat this process until you have the headlight separated. Once you have the headlight separated, you need to remove the reflector from the black plastic piece. It just pops off with a some pulling. Firmly but carefully. If you wanna remove the crome inner-ring of the lens, you need to remove the screws by the turn signal housing with a T-10 screw driver. The it will require some wiggling around and it will come out easily.

All apart


Step Three: Next remove the little head light bulb end cap. Its a single screw (T-20) on the base of the reflector. Once you get that out, take a dremel and sand some material out of the bulb socket, go a little at a time until you are able to fit the projector in the hole snugly. Now. Where the bulb end cap was, grind out a little material so you can get the projector solenoid wire through it. Once you are done with that. Clean up all the dust. Install the silicon washer on the projector and install the projector by feeding the threads through the hole. If you look on the back of the projector (the shiny side) on the lip you will see "TOP" make sure that it is upright and on the top and as level as possible. Once you get the projector in place, you will need to wire the solenoid wire into the high beam harness. I pushed the blade tips into the backside of the pin connector on the black housing. Once you get that done, you will need to slice the rubber access covers that go on the backside of the black housing to make way for the the factory wire and the bulb wiring. The bulb wiring from Morimoto has a rubber grommet on it so I just pulled that through. Now reattach the reflector housing to the black housing by aligning the holes to the silver poles, done this firmly but carefully.

This is where I did the grinding to the slot where the little bulb end cap was.


This picture shows where the wire went through the slot and how the silicon grommet has to go on the projector.


The projector installed


The projector installed with the Min Gatling Gun Shroud.


How I fed the wires through the rubber plugs



Step Four: Reassemble the entire headlight assembly. Make sure you have removed most of the factory adhesive if not all. Now lay down your butle adhesive that you got from TRS. This stuff is very reactive so as soon as you start pushing the lens back on, it will start sticking so make sure you have the two plastic pins lined up as you are placing the lens back on. Then start pushing the lens on firmly. Once you have the headlights together place them in the oven at 275 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Once they come out the oven you may have to press some places of the headlight together again. Let the headlights cool off.

Step 5: Install the headlights into the car and wire the bulbs and ballasts. Everything in the kit connects together with 9006 plugs. I tried using the Stand alone Can-Bus Harness by itself as TRS advertises but it doesn't work, well it works part of the time. I think the harness overheats. So you have to use the regular harness that TRS normally packs in their kits.


Optional Mods: Ti Style Shroud and LED outlining.

The LED Outlining Mod:

I used the underside of the black part I painted. I just super glued the LED strand to the bottom of it. I had to super glue each LED until they dried. So it took me a while. Once they where all dried, I ran the wire to the back and assembled my headlight assembly. I ran the positive wires to the fusebox and used a slot that was powered when the car was started. I ran the ground wires to the ground on the strut mount.

The LED strip I used I was able to cut with 36 LEDs (I think) on each side. Here is the link where I bought them. They are the Cool Blue that cost $22.95+ Shipping
http://www.superbrightleds.com/more...ies-96-led-waterproof-flexible-light-bar/123/

All Installed pictures: Daytime








Installed pictures night time:




Light Shot from drivers side of car with High Beams Off 5000k bulbs



Light shot from drivers side of car with High Beams On 5000k Bulbs and Stock High Beam bulbs installed



Cut off with Highbeams off 5000k Bulbs



Overall, the install was very time consuming and not the easiest thing. But these projectors are very bright with a nice cutoff. I plan on upgrading the bulbs in the high beam space to some that match the color of the HIDs. I do still have the bulb out warning come on but for now the lights work flawless. Feel free to ask questions about the install. I hope this helps anyone willing to tackle the job.
 
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#6 ·
If you could make an LED DRL and projector retrofit for this car... I would pay you in money and possibly sexual favors.

EDIT: As long as it's less than Ford's $3,600 BEV headlamp price tag.
 
#12 ·
I do plan on this operating like factory equipment. I really want to make it plug and play. The wiring part is usually the easiest to me.
 
#13 ·
Umm...hell yes?

4 grand on Ford's HIDs (front only, backs 1k more for LEDs...) is a BIT steep I think.
 
#17 ·
I was considering making headlights last week but decided it would probably be a bad idea considering I know next to nothing about this electrical system... or molding plastic... or headlights in general. [scratch]
 
#20 ·
Figured I would help out here.. Since thats what we do here..

Heres some wiring info on the Headlamps/Park lamps circuits...

If it helps, great.. if not, well its worth what ya paid for it <grin>

All lights are run off the Body Control Module.. each bulb has its own dedicated circuit except the high beams. . The Headlight switch is digital and send commands to the BCM using Pulse Coded Modulation..

Wires of note...

Drivers Side....

Low Beam - Circuit Number CLF04 Brown/Blue Stripe.. Driven off BCM Connector #C2280D POS# 2... FET driven and BCM monitors current on this circuit and has short circuit reset protection...

High Beam - Circuit Number CLF02 Gray/Brown Stripe - BCM Connector #C2280D position #11 (Internally Relay Driven From BCM and Fuse Protected (Fuse F74 in BCM). Passenger side High beam is also driven from this same circuit but has its own wire coming off the BCM. (Purple/Orange Circuit # CLF03 From Connector C2280D position #10)

Passenger Side Low Beam -
Circuit Number - CLF05 (blue/Green) BCM Connector C2280D position #1 Also FET Driven and has current monitoring and short protection..

Since the low beams have current monitoring, you may have to compensate for the current draw of your HID's if they draw more or less current than the factory lights do...

There IS a GOTCHA to watch out for... The pass side low beam uses a Blue/Green Striped wire.. and there is a Blue/Green stripped wire at the drivers side headlight but it is for the left turn signal.. not the low beam headlight... so besure to take note of that...(Most people, myself included would see the common wire colors from side to side and assume its the same circuit.. but this is not the case here..

Other than that, good luck with your project.. I'm interested to see how it goes...

If the BCM for some reason freaks out on your HID's and detects a higher than normal current load (not sure how HIDs work in this regard).. the BCM will shut off the affected circuit(s) until the excess load (or short) is removed and the ignition key is cycled... I know when i did my fog lights I tripped the FET protection on the park light circuit and it took me about 20 minutes to figure out what the hell happened.. I thought i fried my BCM for a bit...[???:)]
 
#22 ·
Same here. Him and I are the two people who have already split these lights open.

One thing I can tell you...there is a VERY fine line between the heat needed to soften the insane glue, and stuff melting. The amber reflectors inside melt very easy. Ask me how I know [facepalm]
 
#24 ·
huh permaseal? it think thats a windshield glue brand.. lol which is kinda funny because i used windshield glue to seal em back up

i already sized a lexus rx projector from www.retrofitsource.com and seem to be just the right size.

this being a dual bulb set up you cant or wont be able to use bi-xenon for both high and low unless you modify the whole harness and make sure the computer dont detect a burnt bulb.

since the focus head lamp is really big .i was thinking the lexus rx low beams and then possibly the mini bi-xenon morimoto for high beams just wire the beams correctly to run the solenoid up at high beam only. and possibly run both bulbs at the same time but we may run into problems with hid balasts and room..

but thats my notes on this project that i never ventured into hope it will help
 
#25 ·
See, now you asking me to divulge my evil plan. [sadpanda] JK. I'm trying to keep it quiet until I finish the lab rat and fit all the parts into the car and ensure it functions properly and it adds to the suspense of the project. I am trying to figure out the most cost effective way to do this without sacrificing quality. I am very determined. [grinking]
 
#30 ·
I would be interested if the lighting was truly an improvement. My neighbor has a BMW with HID's and they are poor compared to the lights my 2012 Focus has. The low beams have a sharp cutoff and don't reach very far, yet the dealer told him that is normal for these types of lights. My low beams are almost better than his high beams despite the fact his car cost literally twice as much. I would not make a change strictly for looks, only for a substantial lighting boost. Form is 2nd to function to me.
 
#31 ·
I am very interested in these retrofits.... I would be willing to buy a set from ya... if you can make them for less than what Ford is asking.....
I would also be interested to see how it turns out :D
You prob could start a small business doing retro fits <.<
 
#33 ·
I would be interested to purchasing a set too, if you want to sell that is.

The cutoff on these headlights is amazing for not being HID. I would only upgrade if it was a major improvement because compared to my sable, it's a night and day difference, literally.
Even if there is little to no improvement, projectors make the HID lights in the focus "legal". Or alteast much less obvious to law enforcemnt. Right now i have HID's in my projectors and i always worry about that ONE time, but obviously not enough to not run HIDs.
 
#38 ·
So I got my "lab rat" headlight on Friday. Working on getting it apart now. Kind of disappointed with what I received. The headlight was destroyed. The black backing is gone and the inner reflector is separated. But its still somewhat useable for what I am gonna do. There is enough of the backing to be able to practice getting the clear lens off. Here are some pictures of what I got.



 
#39 ·
So I just got what was left of the black backing off. The tools I used: A steak knife, razor blade, flat head screwdriver, and some oven mitts. The Permaseal is very hard stuff to work with. First I looked around the headlight and used a razor to cut off the adhesive that was sticking out, more adhesive you can get off, the better. Then I heated it up at 250 degrees for 7.5 minutes. Started working at the adhesive right out of the oven (use some oven mitts because the headlight is HOT), then once the adhesive became almost impossible to work with, I popped it back in the oven. I repeated that process 6 times. This requires and steady hand and some patience. Be careful when you are working the adhesive out of the headlight, the plastic is slightly brittle, it does have some give, but it will let you know when you went too far, by breaking. Work around the headlight as quick you can, but carefully, because the permaseal gets tougher to work with relatively quick.

I am still waiting to get my Projectors. I had some unexpected things pop up that is delaying my little project.
 
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