how to make my retroed headlights for a 98 civic
Tools and materials needed
A Dremel
some butyl rubber sealant stuff if you need extra sealant.
the larget rubber pvc piping end cap you can find. has to fit over the rear opening.. remember.. rubber stretches.
tip ties
ANd other materials.. just read on..
Components
05 Maxima (E55) projectors
Custom shrouds
Some JDM style headlights
Hella Gen3 balasts
4100K Philips Bulbs.. or is it 4300.. I forget..
My custom shrouds
I was walking around IKEA when I saw something nice..
the bezel is coffee mug lip from walmart.. the shroud is a hanging ceiling light.
I cut out the shape and also cut out tabs for mounting the bezel and projector..
kinda looks like the E46 shrouds.. but for a fraction of the costs.. hehe [-(
So you can just buy a shroud/bezel or you can make it yourself.. just look around for ideas.
Here's a picture of the 05 Maxima projector with my first bezel idea on it..
You have to take your lights completely apart, drill out some holes for the mounting bolts and cut a big hole in the back for the back of the projector to fit through.. .. You also need to get a some long bolts and some lock nuts and washers.. The easiest way to retro the civic headlights is to mount the projector in the stock reflector. I used some 2"-3" bolts and placed a lock nut on it to mount them to the projector.. I then placed another lock nut on each bolt about mid way to keep the projector sticking out a little and then another set of locknuts from the back of the stock reflector to hold the projector in place.. Only use 3 bolts and not 4 as well.. The second picture shows it from the back. The first picture shows what the reflector would look like and my first shroud idea..
My bulb connector from my ballast had a grommet on it so i cut a hole in the bottom and sent my wiring through there..
Aint she a beauty..
Some closeups of the retroed headlight.
Light output from maybe 8-10 ft
And the results
Some night shots
Look.. no more glare!!
I wanted to try out some eyelids for my retro to reduce the so called "Cracked Out" look. Didn't really like the standard eyelids for a 98 civic so decided to make my own..
I just happened to have a spare set of some broken sonar projectors for materials..
Here's a pic of my car before:
And After:
so now i know im missing a bunch of steps but not all retros will work the same.. It all depends on the parts you have to work with... A good reference to use is http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/
They have a lot of helpful info there on retrofiting and working with HIDs. The hardest part about this retrofit was making sure the lights were level and not rotated.. in the end, your lights should look like this _________/-----------/----------------
There's also the steps of wiring that were not mentioned.. Let this post give you guys some ideas and if needed, i'll try to further explain the steps..
Tools and materials needed
A Dremel
some butyl rubber sealant stuff if you need extra sealant.
the larget rubber pvc piping end cap you can find. has to fit over the rear opening.. remember.. rubber stretches.
tip ties
ANd other materials.. just read on..
Components
05 Maxima (E55) projectors
Custom shrouds
Some JDM style headlights
Hella Gen3 balasts
4100K Philips Bulbs.. or is it 4300.. I forget..
My custom shrouds
I was walking around IKEA when I saw something nice..
the bezel is coffee mug lip from walmart.. the shroud is a hanging ceiling light.
I cut out the shape and also cut out tabs for mounting the bezel and projector..
kinda looks like the E46 shrouds.. but for a fraction of the costs.. hehe [-(
So you can just buy a shroud/bezel or you can make it yourself.. just look around for ideas.
Here's a picture of the 05 Maxima projector with my first bezel idea on it..
You have to take your lights completely apart, drill out some holes for the mounting bolts and cut a big hole in the back for the back of the projector to fit through.. .. You also need to get a some long bolts and some lock nuts and washers.. The easiest way to retro the civic headlights is to mount the projector in the stock reflector. I used some 2"-3" bolts and placed a lock nut on it to mount them to the projector.. I then placed another lock nut on each bolt about mid way to keep the projector sticking out a little and then another set of locknuts from the back of the stock reflector to hold the projector in place.. Only use 3 bolts and not 4 as well.. The second picture shows it from the back. The first picture shows what the reflector would look like and my first shroud idea..
My bulb connector from my ballast had a grommet on it so i cut a hole in the bottom and sent my wiring through there..
Aint she a beauty..
Some closeups of the retroed headlight.
Light output from maybe 8-10 ft
And the results
Some night shots
Look.. no more glare!!
I wanted to try out some eyelids for my retro to reduce the so called "Cracked Out" look. Didn't really like the standard eyelids for a 98 civic so decided to make my own..
I just happened to have a spare set of some broken sonar projectors for materials..
Here's a pic of my car before:
And After:
so now i know im missing a bunch of steps but not all retros will work the same.. It all depends on the parts you have to work with... A good reference to use is http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/
They have a lot of helpful info there on retrofiting and working with HIDs. The hardest part about this retrofit was making sure the lights were level and not rotated.. in the end, your lights should look like this _________/-----------/----------------
There's also the steps of wiring that were not mentioned.. Let this post give you guys some ideas and if needed, i'll try to further explain the steps..