TiN's Mini H1 Retrofit

[TiN]

If you're asking yourself, "What can I do to give my headlights a new, cool look?", this thread (along with the many other retrofit write-ups) will hopefully be helpful. I guess you could call this a dynamic thread, almost a log, of my day-by-day progress on this project. I'm a first-timer, so I will be providing as much information as I can that will help other newbies follow along. This also means suggestions are very welcome... I will probably need as many as I can get.

Links to items used:

• 03-05 Eagle Eyes Headlight Assemblies
• Morimoto Mini Stage III (H1) Projector Kit
• Gatling Gun Shrouds
• Shroud Centric Rings
• Morimoto XB LED Angel Eyes
• 10W Mini-Aux, 2" Modular LED Off-Road Work Light
• LED Wiring Harness
• Wireless LED Strobe Controller
• 5W LED Corner Marker Bulbs (5-SMD)
• Krylon Fusion for Plastic Spray Paint

Day One:
Today, I began working on my retrofit a few days after receiving the majority of the components. I'm using Eagle Eyes housings and the BI-XENON MORIMOTO MINI STAGE III (H1) kit from The Retrofit Source.

Before any retrofitting can happen, the housings need to be opened. I started by removing the following parts: Lightbulbs (x2), circular rubber seals (x2), plastic vent covers (x2), plastic mount clip (x1), and lens screws (x4).

I then preheated the oven to 200°F and let the headlight assembly bake for 8 minutes. I never experimented with other temperatures, but I can imagine a little more heat would have done the job more quickly. Although, I think the plastic housing felt flimsy enough after my low-temp slow roast.

After the 8 minutes was up, I used oven mitts to remove the assembly from the oven (it was a little hot to the touch, but not horrible after 30 seconds of being in room-temp). While the housing was still very warm, I began to pry the lens away from the backing (with a little help from a flathead screwdriver, but mostly my hands). I would recommend starting at the pointy, outer corner of the light and working your way down and around, but be careful of the clips. The adhesive used is some tough stuff, so don't be afraid to apply a decent amount of even pressure. If the glue gets too stiff again, just throw the headlight back into the oven for another minute or so.

All that was left to do was to remove the silver trim by taking out the two screws at the bottom of the inside of the lens. I ended the day with completely separated headlight assembly sections and hardware.

 

[ebg18t]

Posting nice pictures and easy instructions will really help others complete this modification. Props and I look forward to day two's post.

 

[808DA6]

Do you need to apply more lens seal after you're done? Looks like you cleaned the residue off of the lens. Did you do the same to the housing?

Following this one. Many thanks for great documentation.

-Brian

 

[TiN]

Do you need to apply more lens seal after you're done? Looks like you cleaned the residue off of the lens. Did you do the same to the housing?

Following this one. Many thanks for great documentation.

-Brian

When I pulled the lens completely out of the housing, most of the adhesive stayed on the housing in what appears to be a little glue-trough. I purchased some more adhesive just in case, but I'm not sure if I'll be using it as there is plenty left on the housing.

 

[TiN]

Day Two:
I continued the disassembly of the headlight housings. The first part that I removed was the low beam light shield. This required the removal of the awkwardly angled screw and the bending of the two retention tabs shown below.

Next was the reflector bowls. Loosen the two adjustment screws until the reflectors can be pulled out of the rear housing. These screws were made out of a poor material, so I got creative (using an 8mm socket and a pair of pliers) after nearly stripping out the Phillips screw heads.

With, the bowls removed, I went ahead and took off the bulb holders.

Also, I removed the reflector and parking-light lenses from the headlight trim. Just pop out the circled clips and the lenses should pivot out of place.

Our headlight housings need a bit of modification for the Mini H1 projectors to fit. The protrusion on the back of the reflector (where the bulb was) needs to be shaved down so that the nut and HID bulb holder can be attached correctly. I did this with a Dremel tool and some sandpaper, but a sanding belt would work too. Fortunately, the material used for the reflectors is very easy to work with. I 3D printed a ring to indicate where I needed to stop grinding and to help keep my cuts level.

Lastly, I tested the shield solenoid on my new projectors (with a 9V battery) and test-fitted the projectors into the reflector bowls. I might get some larger shrouds... What do you guys think?

Next up will be prep/paint.

 

[gshadow325]

i would go with bigger shrouds. small ones tend not to hide the whole projector enough. so you will get light bleeding from the sides.

before you paint. look for my pictures on my first version of retrofits and second version. i changed colors in them.

 

[TiN]

i would go with bigger shrouds. small ones tend not to hide the whole projector enough. so you will get light bleeding from the sides.

before you paint. look for my pictures on my first version of retrofits and second version. i changed colors in them.

Thanks! I think I'm going to order some regular Gatling Guns for the low-beam bucket and put my Mini-Gatlings to use in the hi-beam bucket if my plan works out. I took a look at your 5th gen retro. Do you still recommend getting the SEM paint over Krylon? I've heard Krylon's Plastic Fusion paint works well.

 

[gshadow325]

Thanks! I think I'm going to order some regular Gatling Guns for the low-beam bucket and put my Mini-Gatlings to use in the hi-beam bucket if my plan works out. I took a look at your 5th gen retro. Do you still recommend getting the SEM paint over Krylon? I've heard Krylon's Plastic Fusion paint works well.

SEM spray cans average $11-15 per can
Krylon $3-5

I have "heard" lots of stuff too, I KNOW SEM paint is great stuff.

You can go by what you "hear" (i actually think is more like reading LoL, like right now ), I'll go by what I know hahaha

I would advise against a projector in the high beam bucket. its not fun trying to get all 4 beams to line up right AND if you run low beams on all 4 chances are you ill not be able to get them to all aim on the same horizontal plane. oh you will get flashed by every joe schmo good samaritan telling you that the high beams are on. So freaking annoying, i just ended up rewiring mine to come on with my highbeams and off with low beams.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Looking good Tinman, can't wait to see them finished. Love me some retrofits

 

[TiN]

SEM spray cans average $11-15 per can
Krylon $3-5

I have "heard" lots of stuff too, I KNOW SEM paint is great stuff.

You can go by what you "hear" (i actually think is more like reading LoL, like right now ), I'll go by what I know hahaha

I would advise against a projector in the high beam bucket. its not fun trying to get all 4 beams to line up right AND if you run low beams on all 4 chances are you ill not be able to get them to all aim on the same horizontal plane. oh you will get flashed by every joe schmo good samaritan telling you that the high beams are on. So freaking annoying, i just ended up rewiring mine to come on with my highbeams and off with low beams.

I actually have something other than projectors planned for the high beam buckets. Like you said, quads are hard to calibrate and I didn't want to have to deal with that lol. Standby for further details :zoom:

 

[TiN]

Update 3:
This past week, generally speaking, has been full of some good ol' research and development. To start, I did some test painting with some Krylon "Fusion for Plastic" satin black paint. After 3-4 reasonable coats, the parts had full, even coverage. I think the finish looks great, but we'll see how it holds up.

Most of my time has been dedicated to the unique aspect of my retro. I ordered some 2" 10W LED Cubes from Superbrightleds and began designing a mounting system. After hours of 3D modeling and prototyping, I ended up with this:

The LED cubes were made to be modular, so they have mounting points on all 4 sides of the aluminum case. I used these to attach my custom mount.

I created tabs on my mount that allow the provided fasteners to screw into the mounting posts in the Mini-Gatling shroud.

To attach the whole LED assembly into the high-beam light bucket, I made a lock ring that slides onto the shaft and bolts it into the original light socket. This method provides a pretty tight fit, but I may use some adhesive sealant to keep it in place.

Here's a few shots of the test-fitting:

 

[jdigitty]

That look's really good.... great job.

 

[gshadow325]

Nice. Very nice.

 

[TiN]

Update 4:
Over the past few days, I have been continuing to paint parts in my free time. The Krylon paint still seems to be holding up well, and after using exactly two cans of it, I think I'm completely done with that part of the process.

Today, I got around to doing some halo mounting. To do so, I drilled holes in the shrouds (4 sets of holes in the Gatlings and 3 sets of holes in the Mini-Gatlings) and tied them down with 32 gauge bead wire. I chose this method instead of gluing because I like the idea of being able to easily replace the halos if they go dead at some point. On the Mini-Gatlings, I also had to grind out a slot for the halo wiring so the ring would sit flush on the shroud. Additionally, I had to do some serious grinding on the four tabs inside of the Gatling shroud. Shortening the tabs allowed the centric ring to slide down further into the shroud, and therefore allowed the shroud to slide further onto the Morimoto projector.

(Gatling)

(Mini-Gatling)

On a side note, my current pattern is laughable...

 

[edwardvmassey]

Definitely subscribed. May be contacting you for some of those 3d printed doohickies

 

[TiN]

Haven't finished compiling the next update yet, but here's a teaser of a quick mock-up.

 

[riceandpho]

i hope you did some reaiming and then add some jb weld on the threads. but nice job so far.

 

[rsingh0405]

Hey can you tell me where you bought your headlights from and what brand they are.

 

[earthrealm]

looks great, so far

 

[TiN]

Hey can you tell me where you bought your headlights from and what brand they are.

The headlights I'm retrofitting in to are Eagle Eyes that I got off of eBay. My old headlights were Spec'd Halos off of eBay as well.