Rep Power: 173

If you have considered ordereing the Mini Morimoto Complete Retrofit kit from TheRetrofitSource, you may also have thought about including the Mini-Graphite shrouds. They're advertised as being able to hold their 80mm XBaLED ring inside for a "cool halo effect." Well my friend, it'll take a little doing.

Supplies needed:
XBaLED ring (80mm)
Mini-Graphite shroud
Dremel
File
Water source
Eye protection

Here's the shroud. It's translucent so the halo inside will look pretty cool, right?


Hmm... looks a little narrow in here. The flat sides are on the top and bottom.


The XBaLED ring: Looks cool, but notice the wires protruding out at the bottom. This is where our problem lies.


If you try to fit it inside, it WILL NOT FIT. You can break all the rings you want but that sumbich needs some modding.


The first step is to remove the three inside tabs with your dremel.


I found it easiest to level them out with the inside lip of the shroud. I've heard of people removing them completely but it'll work like this too. Careful now!


Next, you'll need to cut the holes. One toward the front (for the wire and their connecting point) and one at the back for the wires. You need the front hole big enough to pull the wire connector through.
***IMPORTANT*** Unless you want your wires showing, make the holes on the SAME SIDE so that they won't be visible when they're installed. Like this:

Rinse everything off when you're done. Here's what your shroud will look like with the LED and mounting ring inside:




Beautiful!

This DIY ain't fancy, but if you don't go crazy with the dremel no one will know that you cut your shrouds up. Happy modding!

EDIT: I secured the halos by pressing the black centering rings behind them and applying three small blobs of JB SteelStik behind those. This makes up for those tabs I had to cut earlier.

EDIT: Here we go, I finally got back and was able to take some decent pictures!

Here's the front:




And a close-up of the passenger side:




And under the hood:


With a close-up of the relay box! My halos are powered directly from the battery now!


Now I just need to find some amber 7440 turn signal bulb and I'll be set!

EDIT (again): Changed out my clear turn signal bulbs with 7440NA ones so that they are amber and only come on when signaling. The halos and parking lights are bright enough without them! Speaking of parking lights, I also changed them out with super bright LEDs. Now I almost don't even need to use the projectors! lol


Only the halos and parking lights:

 
Rep Power: 366

Nice!
don't forget pics installed!
Wish there was a general DIY section (this one could spam to several generations of cars, otherwise you earned a place in the DIY section

this is one installed in a miata NB (not mine):

 
Rep Power: 173

Thanks a lot for the near-immortality! Once I get back to my car in January I'll definitely get some pics of the install.

 
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I would have just used a large diameter drill rather than chopping up that front part.
But it is what it is.
Nice job.

How does the final product look like, light on and off?

 
Rep Power: 173

Got back to WA and finally got the retrofit done! Even without eating or drinking I still ended up finishing up in the dark so i didn't get a good picture.

Had to put the lights and bumper back on to make a run into Lowe's for a low-profile set of Torx and security Torx bits (for the amber inserts). What a pain.


Never saw my car like this before!


The one on the left is the finished product. Notice the removed inserts.


This is with just the halos on. Notice the red light on the XBaLED relay. Pretty cool, huh?


I can't take my eyes off those headlights now! When I was getting food, I kept hitting my remote so I could see those sexy halos. Unfortunately, I'm going to the Mojave Desert for a month starting tomorrow but I'll post a bunch of pics when I get back :-0

 
Rep Power: 173

Got back to my baby and took some proper pictures of the shrouds and halos!

 
Rep Power: 243

Looks good!

That's an interesting spot to mount the ballast relay

 
Rep Power: 173

Thanks! I'm running out of unused bolts! lol

BTW, thanks a lot for helping me make the decision to do this!