lilrob1213

Hello, sorry for creating a new thread on this, but I have several questions. I have been looking to replace my headlight housings for my 2003 Civic 2Dr EX because they're fogged and I wanted HID's, but I have decided to go with just Halogen Projectors. I was looking at this set: Any opinions? I like the black housing, the halo look (although I think these halos might not be the best looking), and halogens produce more light from what I can tell.
So, these headlights come with H1 bulbs, but my civic has 9003/hb2 or h4 bulbs right now. Do I need to OR can I even buy h4 bulbs to replace the H1s that it comes with?
And of course, if you have any suggestions for similar products, let me know! Thanks!

06 EX Mild Mods

Autozone is one of the better auto parts stores you might check there. I bought a 3M brand kit for polishing the headlight lenses it took a while but worked pretty good and the kit was pretty cheap. I like the high intensity bulb option.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

do everyone a favor and don't just slap in HIDs in some random projectors. Do it right and retrofit it. Easiest to do would be to get some cheap OEM style headlights (maybe $100?) and gram a retrofit kit from theretrofitsource.com (which I will refer to as "TRS" for the rest of this thread).

I didn't click the link, but I can tell you pretty much anything you need to know about those headlights, since all aftermarket projectors for 01-03s are basically the same.

-Light output will be crap out the box. Trust me. I ran the "high quality" projectors for a while and seeing the road at night was scary.
-Yes, it runs dual H1s. It should come with a harness to split the H4 into two H1 connections.
-You can retrofit those projectors if you so choose, but it'll take a lot more work and "thinking out of the box" to make them fit and work properly (i.e. retain adjustability while sitting in the housing properly).
-If you want a blacked out look, it's really easy to do so with OEM or OEM style headlights. The chrome bezel comes out and you can paint it with a rattle can.
-If you get the retro kit from TRS, they have options to add halos around or within the shrouds. I've had a kit sitting around, waiting for a pair of OEM headlights to retrofit into, and it's ready to rock a less than traditional halo look (as seen below). Not my pic, but the same exact look I'm going for and have the parts to do so.

-If you retro, buy some 3m windoweld to reseal the headlights.

Feel free to ask any questions if you have any. I've tinkered with so many different headlight/HID combos over the last 12 years.

lilrob1213

I've tried using the turtle wax headlight restore kit but just wasn't quite as clear as I wanted. Thanks for the suggestion tho

lilrob1213

No, I won't slap HIDs in it since it's not meant for it and i don't really want HIDs. I really just want the same or better light output as stock with a brighter more pure white color and the sharp cutoff lines that projector headlights have and some halos or leds. And while i know retro fit is the way to go for HIDs i don't have the time or money right now. I'm looking for a complete headlight assembly that my in laws can buy for me for Christmas and i can just put on. Maybe do some slight wiring, but nothing major that requires a wiring diagram lol.

Do you have any more suggestions now with a better idea of what I'm looking for? Thanks!

Poopies

iTrader: (4)

@RiCeBoY, those are some GIGANTIC lenses! I wonder what they are going into!
@lilrob, many of us are gonna recommend doing a retro on stock housings because that is the most RELIABLE solution. Many of the aftermarket housings you can find will leak or have crap light output. As for the sharp cutoff, that's pretty much a projector-only feature. IMO, halos are relatively easy to install on projector shrouds too. The Retrofit Source sells them separately as well, if you want to try some finagling.. Just look at my sig.
Here's a REALLY helpful guide to lighting that I still use every now and again: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...-lighting.html

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

@lilrob1213, I'd say stick with OEM until you can afford the retro. If you want to clean up your dingy lenses, you can DIY.

Buy a few different grades of high grit sandpaper (like.. >1000 grit), wet sand the lenses in increasing grit increments using a solution of water and a little bit of soap. Don't sand in circles; up and down with lowest grit, side-side with the next, repeat up and down with the highest. Finish it up with some plastic polish, then some UV protective wax, or if you're feeling frisky, some UV protecting clear coat. I think there's a DIY guide around here somewhere..

Headlight restore DIY
Clear DIY 1
Clear DIY 2

@Poopies: It's not my pic.. I just googled it to find the effect. I have some Morimoto D2S's on standby with those same shrouds

lilrob1213

Okay, I will look into doing a headlight restore, again. Last time it didn't work out so well, but maybe I needed the extra buffing power of a drill. Do you know if there's a cheap buffer I can buy?

Also, could you point me in the right direction for how to retro fit?

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

I'll look around for morimoto retro guides later. On my phone at the moment. As for headlight restore, what dd you try last time? When I did mine, they were dingy and yellow, and I just used the sandpaper/elbow grease technique and it did me quite well

lilrob1213

Thanks! I tried that turtle wax restore kit

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Sometimes those restore kits aren't abrasive enough to remove heavy oxidation. Try the sandpaper method.

Also, send me a reminder PM about the "Morimoto retrofit guide." I just spent the last 7 hours studying molecular biology and beer sounded better than unloading my laptop.. Lol. I might forget about finding it otherwise >_<

lilrob1213

So where can I find some cheap sandpaper cuz the places I've looked it's about $6 per sheet which is pretty pricey IMO.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/2...1-install.html

$6 a sheet...? Holy.. where are you looking...?

$6/pack of 10 sheets seems more reasonable...

Poopies

iTrader: (4)

Retrofitting itself is laughably easy. The hardest part is working around the confines of your own car!

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Laughably easy when you retrofit morimoto projectors into h4/h7 headlights.

I helped teach my friend how to do his fairly recently. With his headlights already off the car (EJ6), I think it took us no more than a couple hours, and most of that time was spent digging old glue out of the housing-lens channel while we watched Mr. Nobody on Netflix. Actually retrofitting the projectors into his OEM headlights took *maybe* 10 minutes, another few minutes of lining the previously cleaned channel with new oxybutyl rubber (3M windoweld), and let's say an hour of reinstalling everything. TRS has made it so stupidly easy to retrofit headlights.

However, if you go about something like what I have currently (TSX projectors in TYC headlights), it's a bit trickier. I didn't do them myself (bought them from electric130), so I couldn't tell you how he mounted the projectors, but they are fully adjustable.

lilrob1213

I probably was $6/pack, my bad, but I guess I really try not to spend money haha. After looking at that link you sent me, that IS ridiculously easy to retro these headlights! Man... Well, I just found out today that my in-laws actually already bought me new headlights and they'll be here for Christmas! I guess I'll see the quality and decide if I want to keep them or maybe return and retro mine... idk
On a side note from the earlier topic of restoring my headlights. If I do decide to keep the new headlights, I don't want them to start hazing anytime soon! Any ideas as to the best cheap solution for UV protection/ sealant? I've been doing some looking around, and might try out blue magic sealant (because at Oreilly it said it was on sale for $0.67!!) or I might try some clear coat spray paint (does any kind work?)

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Not sure about the blue magic sealant, but a clear coat of sorts (uv protecting is the important part) will be the longest lasting way to keep them clear. I've used UV sealing wax on my dingy *** headlights and that doesn't really last that long.. Then again, I'm lazy and I don't reapply every couple or weeks or so

Just to give you some insight about the method I posted up on how to restore your headlights, you basically sand off the oxidation layer and remove some lens material so that you're left with a raw surface. Sealing the lenses with a UV protecting layer (be it a temporary sealing wax/sealant or a clear coat -- basically paint) is the only way to ensure they stay oxidation free.

lilrob1213

Well, I went by Oreilly and picked up two bottles of blue magic anyway since it was only 0.67 cents each so if it doesn't work out then oh well, not much loss, and if it does, then woohoo! haha