- Collect all necessary parts. For this retrofit, you will need:
- TYC Projector headlights for 2001-2003 Honda Civic
- 4 3" Cold cathode tubes (can be found on computer case fans)
- Valeo H7 or D2S projectors
- If you got the Valeo H7 projectors, you will also need the H7/D2S adapter plate. This requires modification of the base of the bulb, but also allows for a proper fit of the bulb into the H7 projector.
- Philips 85122 D2S bulbs
- Matsushita ballasts
- 8 #6 hex nuts
- Proper wiring harness (you can make a wiring harness by following this guide)
- Spray paint - color is up to you
- Tools, tools, tools! You will definitely need a phillips and flat head screw driver. You MAY need a torx screwdriver. If you plan on adding angel eyes, then you will also need a power drill with small drill bits.
- Lots of time
The headlight:
The CCFL tube:
The projectors that I used (Valeo DOT H7 with CLEAR LENS):
Matushita ballasts are waterproof (you want to remove the black box [inverter] from the gray cup thing):
Test all your equipment now. You don't want to finish this project only to realize that your bulbs, ballasts, or projectors are bad.
I had one projector that had a very strange looking color band:
But with a little shield bending, I made it look better (note: there is slight ghosting above the cutoff, but that is thanks to the DOT specific design of the projectors):
Everything works, and both projectors have pretty similar outputs and colorbands.
Mmmm. Look at that nice, thick blue coming out of the projector. The light output is actually white. Only the light at the colorband is blue. This is what HID kit manufacturers try so hard to mimic with their 8000k+ HID kits.
The following is by no means a step by step DIY guide to retrofitting your headlights, but it should be good enough.
Disclaimer: I will not be held liable for any damages done unto the user or the parts used in this guide.
You will want to open your TYC headlights now. Remove all bulbs and wires from the TYC headlights. Set your oven (yes, the oven in the kitchen) to 250F (121C) and let the oven reach said temperature.
If you prematurely insert a headlight into the oven, you run the risk of melting the plastic housing. You have been warned.
Now would also be a good time to take your existing headlights off of your Civic. Follow these directions, disregarding the fact that I just linked you to a 04-05 black-out headlight DIY. It's the same DIY, just with pointier headlights.
Now that your stock headlights are off the car, discard them or store them somewhere if you want to reuse them later. You also have the option of selling them to someone on 7thGenCivic.
Now that the oven is sitting at 250F, insert one TYC headlight on a baking tray into the oven and TURN THE OVEN OFF. Try to keep the headlight in the center of the oven to avoid overheating one half of the headlight more than the other. Allow the headlight to stay in the oven for 4-6 minutes, then remove and start prying the headlight apart. You are still following the 04-05 black-out headlight DIY, but with TYC headlights.
Try to avoid getting the headlight sealant on the TYC headlight insert (black piece for me, may be chrome for you).
You should now have this:
With your phillips head screwdriver, unscrew the TYC projector from the housing. There is also a clip that you need to get the projector off of, but it should be pretty straight forward. If you break it, who cares? It's not like you're going to reuse it.
Your headlight will go from looking like this:
To this:
The headlight inserts can be painted any color you want. The inserts are screwed into the clear plastic cover of the TYC headlights, so unscrew the single screw that holds it in. I wanted my headlights to look silver-ish, so I went with a dark silver paint.
Compare the original black TYC insert (bottom) to my painted TYC insert (top):
You can choose to skip this step if you decided not to install angel eyes.
Test the CCFL tubes.
Using your power drill and small drill bit, measure the distance between the gap of the CCFL ring and drill holes in the TYC headlight insert. I suggest drilling from the inside of the headlight out, just to make sure you don't accidentally scratch the front plastic. When you're done drilling the holes, snake the CCFL wires through the holes from the front to the back and reattach to the CCFL inverter. It will all make sense when you're actually at this step.
Before:
After:
Test the CCFL tubes again:
Place 1 #6 hex nut onto each of the adjustment screws:
Since the Valeo projectors are an almost direct fit, you can easily squeeze them onto the TYC adjustment screws. You can opt to use a third mount for the projector, but it isn't truly necessary. No, I will not show you how I mounted my projectors (these pictures are incomplete).
Screw the Valeo projector onto the adjustment screws:
Repeat the above steps for the other headlight. You should now have 2 *almost* retrofitted headlights. If you can, try to test out the headlights on the car. This can be a pain in the butt because you have to connect the wiring harness to use the HIDs, but disconnect it when you want to use your stock headlights. Anyways, the light output might look like this:
This means that you need to rotate your projectors in order to have them level out and be perfectly horizontal. In all honesty, though, That picture was taken with the projectors resting in my engine bay, not mounted to the TYC headlights. The above image was just to scare you.
I took this picture just to give you an idea of what the lights might look like:
Aim the headlights. You will be installing and removing the headlights constantly in order to get the perfect setting. Remember to follow these rules about headlight aiming.
Your Civic might look like this right now:
During the aiming process, try to get the lights as horizontally level as possible. You may come away with this:
Find a good location for your ballasts. I mounted mine here (sort of tucked underneath the fenders, all the way in the corners of the engine bay):
If you're done with everything, you can seal your headlights back up.
Put the headlights on your car and wire everything up.
Take some pictures of your light output.
Now look like a retard and squat in front of your headlights, then stand back up, squat, stand, squat, etc. Look at the pretty colors.
Take pictures of the headlights.
