mike96gtvert

Other then a retrofitting a headlight house.

What is the best aftermarket HID projector housing?

any ideas? your thoughts? thanks in advance.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

You'll get hella glare if you don't retro. If you go PnP mode in aftermarket projectors (for the 7thgen, they typically take the OEM H4 bulb and convert it into dual H1 bulbs), you won't get the full benefit of HIDs due to narrow beam pattern and, without some tinkering with the shield, a crap cutoff line, still with glare.

Case in point, here's a direct comparison pic of PnP HIDs in aftermarket housings vs a TSX retrofit into the same exact headlight assemblies. This is a pic I personally took of my own HID setup's output, after I had swapped one headlight for the TSX retrofit, yet the other was still the crap PnP into TYC housings. Mind you, the PnP beam, I finagled a bit with the shield to get that nice cutoff.

Top beam is H1 HID bulbs in TYC projector headlights.
Bottom beam is D2S HID bulbs with TSX HID projectors in a TYC projector headlight assembly.


notice the splotchy light output of the TYC projector, and the nice, even light pattern of the TSX HID projector. The TSX projector also has a much cleaner cutoff line than the TYC ones do.

Edit1: I dug around some old photos I had, and found a light output comparison of the two, at similar angles.

PnP in TYC housings:


TSX Retro in TYC housings:


Edit 2: As my car sits right now, I have a Morimoto D2S retrofit (holy crap, so easy to do) from theretrofitsource.com in OEM style headlights. Unfortunately, I don't have any beam pattern on flat ground shots, but if you click "her baby blues" in my signature, you can see pics of what it looks like, as well as a picture of the cutoff that these have (picture taken at 25 feet). I still have my old TSX retrofit laying around. If you wanted them, I'd highly suggest buying a set of TYC projectors off ebay and swapping the front lenses out. You'll see what I mean if you click the link in my signature.

mike96gtvert

anyone selling these retro's?

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

My old set is for sale, but the front lenses have seen better days.

You can buy a retrofit kit from theretrofitsource.com that are pretty much a drop in for OEM/OEM style headlights. Full kit, with sealant and your shrouds of choice would run you $332 plus shipping, and I'm almost positive you can find coupon codes out there. Or, if you feel like waiting 5 months, their black Friday sales are amazing

mike96gtvert

the lighting pattern looks much more amazing, and worth it.

mike96gtvert

so what do I need? i think i need new headlight OEM housing and this retro kit?

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

OEM/OEM style headlights
-Retrofit Kit that includes the following:
-An oven capable of going down to 210F
-Tools
Also, you can add the following for some extra uniqueness:
-Spray paint and masking tape
-LED halos/strips
-really anything to make your headlights stand out, if you wish.


How to:

1. Remove bumper, then headlights from car. Don't forget to unplug electrical connections and bulbs. Also, that little bracket on the bottom of the headlights. Take that off, too. Only uses one 10mm bolt.
2. Preheat oven to 210F. When it's ready, stick one headlight in for about 5-10 minutes. I went with 10 minutes
3. Remove headlight from oven. Be careful, it's hot. Use screw driver to separate front lens from headlight housing. Be careful not to break anything. If it's too hard still, stick it back in the oven for a few minutes.
4. Using your socket wrench on the headlight adjusting bolts, turn them fully counterclockwise until the adjusting bolt comes out of the reflector bowl.
5. On the back of the reflector bowl, there's a small phillips screw. Take that sucker out and remove the little shield reflector thingamabob.
6. Follow the included instructions to install the projector into the reflector bowl. Make sure the shield is on the bottom.
7. Reinstall the reflector bowl by screwing the adjusting bolts into the reflector bowl. Don't worry about adjustments for now, just eyeball it. I centered the projector in the hole in the back of the housing to start. That ended up being aimed way the hell too high.
8. Apply sealant to the channel in the headlight housing. If the included sealant is anything like mine, it's like really pliable rubber. Stretch it so it'ls maybe 1/8" wide and lay it down in the channel. Pop housing in oven for a few minute to get the glue more pliable, remove, then quickly get to putting that front lens on. The sealant should be pliable enough that you can seal it nicely by hand. If not, oven for a few minutes, then try again.
9. Rinse and repeat on the other headlight.
10. Install bulbs and whatnot into the headlight. Don't forget that big rubber seal on the back. Stretch it over the projector if you need. I actually cut a bit out so it could fit over the back of the projector
11. If it's still light out, use this time to figure out how to route the relay harness wiring and where to mount the ballasts. Pick a spot, any spot. You may need to bust out some soldering skills for high-beam solenoid wiring. Also, not necessary since they're sealed pretty well, but mine are mounted in areas that aren't quite exposed to elements. Just make sure that the HID bulb connectors can reach the connections. Your relay harness may only have one H4 connector. Mine did. Find a way to weather-proof the other one so you don't get any electrical shorts or anything. Anything that doesn't have a weather seal connector like 9005/9006 connectors do (e.g. h4 connector), a bit of di-electric grease will help stave off corrosion and future headaches.
12. Once you get all that done, reinstall the headlights into the car, connecting all the electrical connections. Keep in mind that the factory H4 connector will connect to the H4 plug on the relay harness.
13. Is it dark yet? Dark enough? Good. Find a big, flat, open spot with a flat wall. Go aim your headlights. I'll link a DIY guide when I find it. (requires a tape measure and a long phillips head screwdriver. And a sharpie or masking tape)
14. Voila, you got some bright *** headlights that don't blind the crap out of people. Enjoy!

edit: No pics, but here's the aim guide
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...k-warning.html

Also, I know it looks intimidating, but it's really easy to do.

mike96gtvert

it seems crazy to spend over 500 bucks for a car that is 2800 bucks.

but that retrofit light pattern looks sick~!

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

yeah, but it's fun. And you can claim it's a safety mod, since it allows you to see the road better.

Make your car yours man.

mike96gtvert

circling back.

any aftermarket hid projector housing headlights? with good light pattern, any pics?

thanks.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

not for 01-03s. Many will claim "XENON!", but they'll just be standard halogen projectors. They'll even come with bulbs and ballasts, but the light output will be like the crappy ones I posted above

at least, not that I've seen.

mcnoople

The vast majority of "HID" projector headlamp assemblies on the market use halogen projectors with rebased HID bulbs in them. Calling the output "poor" would be generous. There are NO proper/legal/safe HID bulbs in any "H" code bulb designation. All legit HID will have a bulb labeled as one of the following D1S/D2S/D2R/D3S/D4S. I believe there is a newer style HID bulb on the market but I don't recall what it is called.

Anytime you see an HID bulb labeled as H1 HID it is a rebased bulb. What they do is they take a legitimate HID capsule and attach it to the bulb base of a halogen bulb. The science for why this doesn't work can be found here.

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/...s/Hid/HID.html

He is an absolute expert in the automotive lighting arena and you can learn a lot if you read the various tech articles on his site.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

I'd argue that theretrofitsource did an excellent job with making an H1 HID system. Comparisons of the V1 versions of the Morimoto Mini H1 and the Morimoto Mini D2S showed that the MH1's actually had more light output than the D2S, while maintaining the proper cutoff and beam pattern of D- series HID bulbs.

Also, technically speaking, no aftermarket HID system is technically legal.

Those are the only counter arguments I can make. Maybe I just like being difficult. Lol.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

FIgured I'd share this highly relevant image.



You'd be looking at $249 shipped for a morimoto mini d2s retrofit kit to go in your OEM headlights.

Just to recap, what the kit would include:
-Morimoto Mini D2S V4.0
-Shrouds of your choice (there are a couple that make it cheaper or more expensive)
-Morimoto XB ballasts, your choice of 35W (standard) or high powered 50W (run hotter, color is more washed out, but much brighter)
-Morimoto XB D2S bulbs, choice of color (3800k, 4500k, 5500k, 6500K; I'd recommend 4500 or 5500K)
-Relay harness for H4 OE equipped cars (e.g. your civic)
-Headlight sealant

A smidge more if you want LED halos.


edit #(I lost count):
Modification may be (highly likely will be) required to fit the shrouds in the reflector bowl. I have Gatling Gun 2.0 shrouds and I had to take about an inch off the backside and sand down the bottom of the shroud to fit. You can't tell at all that I shaved them down.

mike96gtvert

8k is not available? i got that on my other car.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

You lose light output when you go higher than 6000K, honestly. Too much blue light in the mix. 4250-6000K is just about the sweet spot for optimum light output (natural sunlight is right around the 5000K mark). OEM HIDs tend to be around the 4300K mark, producing white light with just a hint of yellow for optimal visibility.