Final result

Well it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy and have not had the time to update. I found that the aftermarket lights that i purchased did not centre the H4 holder for the projectors and hence it caused a slight rotation on each light. It took a while before I fixed it (as much as I could be bothered). This involved trimming down each side of the holder on the back of the headlight.

I don't have output shots yet so I will post one last time with the output shots and also a post install review which will summarise all the "do not do's".

Here is the final picture of what the car looks like. I quite like it and I have driven 5 hrs continuously with them on (to the snowfields) in the dark and they perform well. The output of the Mini D2S are not as good as other cars with HID lights but it is an improvement over halogens. When I put the highbeams on, the combinations of the halogen highs and the Bi-X makes it look like daytime!

Bracket Removal

Okay while I'm at it, I may as well post how to remove the brackets for the lights.

There are 4 screws on one side. The middle two are pretty easy but the ones on the end require you to use a thinner screwdriver for one and to remove the level adjuster for the other.

Here is the adjuster removed. It is pretty easy to remove the adjuster with a pair of pliers. Same goes for the other adjuster on the other side.

Removed and ready for the oven!

 

Hehe, sneak peak! Here I was testing the lights for the rotation. All looks well as the H4 holder was used to align the projector.

Room, what room?

Last night I went and placed the ballasts inside the car and setup the wiring harness. There is no room anywhere in my engine bay!!!

On the drivers side I hid the ballast behind the windshield washer. There was a spare hole that I used to secure the ballast to the side of the car. The other side of the bolt is accessible by taking off the blinker.

The passenger side ballast is hidden underneath the battery. I found a spare hold after taking the battery out. This hole was already threaded so I just screwed into it, very convenient!

Now the wiring harness was very difficult indeed. I searched for about 30 minutes just to find a nice spot for it to sit, couldn't find one. As the wiring harness has a connection to the battery, it could only be located on the passenger side. I figured I could glue it to the relay box or drill into the relay box, but I prefer to use an existing hole. I found a nice snug place next to the battery and ran the cords beside the battery. From the above picture, you can see that I snaked the positive connection around the top of the battery.

The wiring was run between the bumper and the radiator. I used the provided 3 cable ties to hook it to the other side.

Update!

Well too much has happened since receiving shipment so I will have to write up the how to about removing the brackets later.

The above picture is of the components purchased. Top to bottom, left to right: Orbit shrouds, mini d2s projectors, some advertisement, Philip 85122+ d2s bulbs, cable ties, extra adaptor cable, morimoto 3five ballasts and lastly the wiring harness.

More pictures up close of the components. The funny plunger thing within the projectors is the spring and shaft of the solenoid for the high beams.

Fitted projector within my light housing that I took the lens off of a while back. Fits fairly snugly with no rotational movement so I hope they are aimed correctly. I will check this before placing the lens back on.

Up close shots of the projector. Everything was a lot larger than I expected but it fits into the housing well. If I were to purchase a larger projector (FX-R http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=101) it would have been very snug!

As you can see, the Orbit shroud does not fit at all. Time to purchase a rotary tool! I started this project with the thought of cutting as little as possible but it seems that I will have to for the shroud.

Picture of the Morimoto 3five ballast. Very solid build quality housing and the wires and plugs aren't too bad either.

Orbit shroud up close before the rotary tool tore into it!

Orbit shroud after the rotary tool tore into it! It took about 1 1/2 hrs to get to this point as it was my first attempt at using a rotary tool. I ended up using a saw and a off cut of wood to level out my cut. The cut was at right angles to the opening. After the initial cut, I had a reference to cut with and I followed it with a cutting disk and then buffed it with the sander attachment.

Projector and shroud within the light housing! Obviously no lens on but I have checked that the lens fits. For those reading out there, a word of advice, DO NOT push the lens and housing together cold. The glue likes to stick to each other and it is a pain to separate.

The last shot. You can see it is a tad rough but not too bad hehe..

That's all for now. I have 1 more side to do and I will take my time doing it as well. The step after will be to install the wiring.

Thanks for following

Shipment received...

I received my package from theretrofitsource! Oh how I have been waiting!

Unfortunately for me there are a few imperfection on the bowl. As these are the only PNP projectors, I guess if you go down this path, it's the only way you can go unless you want to hack up your headlight housing (which is what I would do next time I do a retro and would use OEM parts as they will have no imperfections) haha..

No pics yet but the shrouds are massive IRL. They are quite a lot bigger than I imagined, but the shroud centric rings that are provided fit perfectly.

Hopefully the projectors are fine even with the imperfections, all that really matters is the output!

Keep posted!

Baked... headlight?!?

Well I got bored and ended up baking my new headlights in the oven! This is the way to soften the rubber glue and pry open the lens from the holder.

Remove all plastic and metal from your headlight. For the Camry I had to remove 4 clips (2 top and 2 bottom), 3 screws and a plastic holder from behind the highbeam, a plastic stopper, the rubber foot and the clip that holds the H4 halogen bulb. Also to remove the holders (2 of them) I will show you this later :D

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and prepare your headlight on the tray. Turn the oven off and place the headlight in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

After you take your headlight out, pry a corner open with a flat head screwdriver. Remember to hold the headlight with something heatproof as it will be HOT.

Pictures above are of the lens and the housing separated. Now to wait for my delivery to arrive from America!

I guess a disclaimer is in order. Do not do this if you don't have the confidence or done more research than read my blog. I take no responsibility to anything you damage (either your possessions or yourself) while trying this or anything else posted.

Pictures

Finally got the pictures of the headlights and an output of my original halogen lights.

 

New clear headlight

 

Back of new headlight

 

Old headlight as installed on car

 

Notice the extra nut that needs to be undone before the headlight can be removed. This is why the side turn signal has been removed.

 

New and old Headlight side by side. No real apparent differences.

 New headlight installed. Notice the gap down the bottom close to the bumper. not too noticeable.

 

 There is a bit of a gap difference from top to bottom of the light next to the turn signal.

Output of old headlights. This will serve as a comparison for when the retrofit is done.

So this week the order is going through for the HID kit. Pretty much decided to go for 35W ballasts as 55W is pretty much overkill. I would like it but it serves no real purpose. I will be purchasing the Philips 85122+ as they are the standard globes used or OEM (original equipment manufacturer).

Well that's it for today. I won't be posting until the order goes through as I will just be boring you with more ranting on HID's!