[Mk2] [Generic] DIY Projector lens retrofit into H6054/7x6/MR2 headlight housing

[tiff_lee]

Ok this is taken from my project/diary/thingy thread
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... highlight=
but would probably get more exposure here and some people may find it of interest.

As i'm sure some of you are aware the standard headlight output from an MR2 is pretty pants, of course you can buy expensive philips bulbs, osram nightbreakers etc but nothing compares to the light output from a 'Projector' headlight and i'm not talking about the cheap stuff you find on ebay.

Unfortunately there is no off the shelf retrofit projector headlight for the MR2 although due to the fact the same style of light is used in many other vehicles (search H6054, 7x6) many other people have already done retrofits making it that little bit easier.

Anyway on with the show... First up some donor headlights, unfortunately these ones had markings on the glass which I didn't realise when I ordered at the time however it has minimal impact on the light output (i've tested)


When buying donor lights some are all plastic with polycarb lens or in my case metal and glass just depends what is easier for you to get hold off.

The parts came from Vikom here in Australia who appear to be a reseller or in some way connected with the retrofit source in the US.
Parts ordered were the Morimoto mini D2S with associated bulbs and H4 wiring loom, also ordered Apollo 2 shrouds. The shrouds serve no real purpose other than cover up the projector assembly or in my case I will also be mounting LED rings behind and at the front.



The mini D2S is actually designed to be a 'plug and play' projector for H4 headlights, it's designed to slot straight into the H4 bulb socket, so providing your headlight is deep enough that is all you would need to do and you're done! unfortunately this is most certainly not the case here.



Oven baked headlights and voilà



Old computer desk serving as test rig, marked the walls to see where the unmodified headlight would shine so I knew where about's to fix the projector in place


Time to start cutting up the headlight......



Still not enough....



As I now had a massive hole in the rear of the headlight I needed to secure it in place for alignment and long enough for the epoxy to set, in order to do this I decided to use some PVC pipe and the original H4 locking nut like so


The shrouds needed significant modding in order to fit before and after



Once I was happy with projector alignment I removed them again to allow me to paint the headlight reflector bowl.
Cutouts on the shrouds is to allow for the LED ring wiring


The exposed parts around the pvc tube would be filled with epoxy after painting and projector installation as the exposed parts of the projector would them also be bonded in place


All painted, not sure how good it will look when all assembled but most definitely won't be worse than standard


Test fit


Projector final installation


This is as far as i've got, still waiting on my rear LED ring before I can fit the shroud and seal the headlight.
Before someone asks "why bother" this is why

Halogen (full beam actually no low beam shot)


Projector low beam


I think those pics speak for themselves

[SteveH]

Amazing.

Always wondered if someone would take the plunge and do a proper retrofit. I'm considering it if I can get my hands on a Rev 6 bumper at a decent price.

I've read nothing but great things about the Morimoto kits, especially the mini. and that CUT-OFF!

PLEASE post up ongoing pics, can't wait to see the finished product.

[tiff_lee]

You will be surprised how many people have already done retrofits into this style of headlight, if you just google H6054 or 7x6 retrofit there is loads (a lot of american trucks).

You can buy already converted headlights, I wanted the gladfab ones which are slightly different as they don't use the original reflector bowl for mounting (it serves no purpose now anyway) but he wanted a minimum order of 20 sets which was never going to happen.

I'm now starting to think it will look better with the shrouds black as well, that way when the LED rings are powered up it will contrast alot more than it would with the white shrouds. The original reason I did them white was it would go with the car being white as well but it's just all cosmetic at the end of the day....

[tiff_lee]

These are the LED rings/halos I have for the shrouds, although the bigger one of the two is actually about 5-10mm too large diameter so doesn't line up properly behind the shroud. The front one (which has that black control box attached to it) is a dual colour white/amber, so when sidelights are on it is white but whenever you indicate the white turns off it flashes amber then once you are no longer indicating it goes white again (the replacement rear also does this).



Apologies for the picture quality, they are so bright it offends the camera!
Front and rear on


rear one off as the white was washing the colour out but front in amber mode (indicating)

[SteveH]

Morimoto XSBs?

Love them. Lighting is so interesting and you can drop 100s of hours into research into it. I'm currently planning an Audi style rear mini-lightbar for inside the rear lights that follows the curvature of the lens.

Loving your work dude

[tiff_lee]

Cheers mate good to see i'm not the only 'saddo' into this.

These were from ebay and significantly cheaper, good job really since the rear one was too large.

The apollo 2 shroud had some 'sticky out' bits inside the centre at the part so had to do some sanding etc in order to fit the small ring but should look good when fully assembled.

Any links to that audi style setup?

[SteveH]

Oh really? They're very bright in that case, nice.

I don't yet buddy. Still have to man up and separate the rear lens from housing which is the scary bit. I've done headlights before, but I've heard the rears are quite brittle. Might try and tackle it this weekend, even just to get some measurements.

Inspiration: http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthr ... t=car+vreg

[tiff_lee]

Will be interesting to see how they turn out given the style of the MR2 lights

[C35Rob]

nice work mate, light output looks awesome, what's the total cost, roughly?

[tiff_lee]

I paid AUD$313 for all the parts from Vikom (Aus supplier of the same stuff the retrofit source sells).

The LED rings were pricey about US$40 a pair or something like that and then it's just a donor set of headlights which you can grab off ebay.

I'm not sure if there is a UK distributor for the morimoto gear but if you was ordering from the retrofitsource this is what you'd need

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/compon ... bulffmqrcg
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-sy ... bultfmqrcg (select H4/9003 in harness box)

and then choose desired shroud, any circular shroud would require the top/bottom edges squaring off just because of how big they are
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/compon ... rouds.html

[tiff_lee]

Ok so repainted the shrouds satin black as I wasn't totally convinced with the white although in retrospect the white would of been just as good.



Front and rear cob LED halo fitted


Normal 'sidelight' operation


Indicator mode

[tiff_lee]

Yep these things are finally done and dusted thank feck what a pain in the a*** they have been.

Headlights re-assembled


a note for anyone else doing this and a mistake I won't make again is that when 'bonding' the projectors into the housing I ensured the light output cutoff line was in the same place as the original halogens, what I didn't take into account was this resulted in the projectors pointing off centre (downwards) so when it came to fit the shrouds with LED halos attached there was next to no give in them and I have to sand/remove a load of material from the bottom of the shroud.

So in short just ensure the projector is completely central and the higher cutoff point can be compensated for with the headlight adjustment.

Butyl strip to seal the headlights


used a little too much on one but its not like its going anywhere


The LED ring 'switchback' drivers were soldered into the removable part of the the indicator sidelight loom, turns out the reason my sidelights were not working was because the 'crystal clear' fittings were US spec and didn't have the holes although they do now.

Also good to see scotchlock bodgers are still out there


So that'll be why my indicators sucked


One of the corner lights appeared to be missing the correct fixing so naturally the previous owner just used whatever they could find on the floor smh


Another oversight I found was that when I initially checked for clearance in the headlight 'bucket' I didn't take into account the D2S bulb connector which is considerable, I removed some material from the bucket not just for clearance to fit it but to also allow movement when making adjustments.

I cut a portion from the bottom to allow the connector lead to go straight down, I could of rotated the connector 90 deg either way but would rather not put any stress on the D2S connector lugs as they are very very fragile and easily snap, I know.



I fed the cables through the headlight bay grommet and fitted the ballast and LED drivers on the inside part of the bay like so



I struggled to get a decent photo at all and the photos I have don't do them justice, they have come out rather blue (I really need to figure out how to use my DSLR)
most pictures turned out like this until i started changing ISO and shutter speeds (winging it)


Side lights


Hazard/indicator


Low beam


High beam