Projector Retrofit Group Buy

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Old Aug 4, 2012 | 03:41 PM
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Projector Retrofit Group Buy

HID Illusionz is sponsoring a group buy for Morimoto H1 or D2S projectors

labor is $200 for the first 20 members, only goes down from there.
theretrofitsource.com is also offering 20% the kit to the first 24 participants, and goes to 25% for 25+.

All in all a complete retrofit for about $450 or so. I'm probably gonna sign up for this, their work looks good and I've heard they stand by it with a lifetime warranty.

http://hidillusionz.blogspot.com/201...-event_13.html
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Old Aug 5, 2012 | 12:38 PM
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I have a quad morimoto retro on my wife's CL and and a oem fx35 bi-x single retro on my TL-s (both done by me) and I am NOT impressed with the morimotos performance at all. They have awesome, colorful cutoffs but really lack in quality and design. IMO, it's worth the extra cost in parts (as well as labor) to use an oem projector. There's really no comparison at all...
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Old Aug 5, 2012 | 02:27 PM
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really? That's one of the first negative things I've heard about them. HiDplanet did a comparison review on the different projectors available and theretrofitsource.com also recommended them.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/cont...-FX-IS-e46-LR3
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Old Aug 5, 2012 | 02:57 PM
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So we would send them our housings and they would do all the work and send them back correct?
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Old Aug 5, 2012 | 04:52 PM
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yea as long as you sign up by the 15th and you send the headlights in by the 30th. They say its about a week turnaround time so if you can live without driving for a week...I have my motorcycle at least but I'll have to stock up on groceries
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Old Aug 5, 2012 | 04:53 PM
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unless you have a spare set of headlights you could use in the meantime
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Old Aug 5, 2012 | 05:14 PM
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I bought brand new 03 housings a few months ago and removed the amber reflectors inside before I installed them. Since the seal was so new I only used a very small amount of hondabond around the lens and whatever comes on the headlight OEM. It's very pliable after coming out of the oven.

I've been thinking about color matching my bezel inside the housings to the car lately. I might pop them off and do that. While they are apart I could send them in to have this mod done if I decide to. It just sucks because I would probably have about $850 tied up in just my headlights which is ridiculous lol.
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Old Aug 5, 2012 | 06:29 PM
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you might as well send them in, they do most of the painting and amber reflector removals and stuff free when you do a retrofit, including color matching. can't hurt to ask, see what they can do.
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Old Aug 6, 2012 | 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by yungone501
I have a quad morimoto retro on my wife's CL and and a oem fx35 bi-x single retro on my TL-s (both done by me) and I am NOT impressed with the morimotos performance at all. They have awesome, colorful cutoffs but really lack in quality and design. IMO, it's worth the extra cost in parts (as well as labor) to use an oem projector. There's really no comparison at all...
Do you mean the morimoto projectors aren't impressive? Because I have a morimoto pnp kit and love it. As for the projectors I can't speak to that as I used TSX projectors in my retrofit
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Old Aug 6, 2012 | 12:23 PM
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Can they do this for a tl?
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Old Aug 6, 2012 | 12:37 PM
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its all makes, all models!
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Old Aug 6, 2012 | 01:06 PM
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Hmmm I'm might have to think about doing this.
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Old Aug 6, 2012 | 02:07 PM
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Originally Posted by trackvaulter01
you might as well send them in, they do most of the painting and amber reflector removals and stuff free when you do a retrofit, including color matching. can't hurt to ask, see what they can do.
I'll think about it and decide what I want to do. It just sucks I would have a lot of cash tied up in my headlights total lol. Is they're any examples of 2nd gen cl housings that they modified to see?
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Old Aug 7, 2012 | 12:50 PM
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How is the quality of their work? I have seem some done(not sure what company) that just looked awful before. Would you still need to realign them after you get them back?

I should just do them myself but I have been hesitant and putting it off.
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Old Aug 7, 2012 | 04:37 PM
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They seem to have a lot of experience from the pictures I've seen, they back their work up with a lifetime warranty so I don't foresee any problems. Lightwerkz quoted me around $1000 for the same project so $475 or so wit hthis group buy seems like a good deal.
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Old Aug 8, 2012 | 03:53 PM
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We have a vendor here that specializes in headlights, JnC. For anyone that's had work done by him, how much does he usually charge for this type of service?
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Old Aug 8, 2012 | 06:09 PM
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Originally Posted by yungone501
I have a quad morimoto retro on my wife's CL and and a oem fx35 bi-x single retro on my TL-s (both done by me) and I am NOT impressed with the morimotos performance at all. They have awesome, colorful cutoffs but really lack in quality and design. IMO, it's worth the extra cost in parts (as well as labor) to use an oem projector. There's really no comparison at all...
This. Im running the latest version in my FR-S. They are good for their price, but there are MANY better options available.

I also feel that a 2.5" projector is just way too small in the CL housing. You either need to build a large shroud to shrink the space (so the projectors dont look like theyre floating in the middle), or run 3" projectors.
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Old Aug 16, 2012 | 11:15 AM
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I am very familiar with both hidplanet and theretrofitsource (TRS) as we use the latter as a vendor here at the shop. They excellent aftermarket products (especially the morimoto ballat) but I'm speaking in comparison to OEM projectors here. If you compare the mini h1's to any other aftermarket projectors, they will win hands down IMO. Like civic said, in the housing your really need to run 3" projectors...of which are only made by OEM manufacturers. Check out the RX350 projectors on TRS's website, these are some of the best ones around. Throw on the lense upgrade and youre the hottest thing out on the road and have the ultimate lighting combo with razor sharp cutoff as well as beautiful colorband effects!
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Old Aug 16, 2012 | 11:17 AM
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Ps- JNC does some really amazing work but I've heard he's retired. What a shame...
If you get on Hidplanet, they have a list of shops that do retrofits on there. Of which I myself am listed on.
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Old Aug 27, 2012 | 01:27 AM
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my retrofit is complete, just waiting on them to be shipped back to me. here's the link:
http://hidillusionz.blogspot.com/201...-retrofit.html

let me know what you think...personally I think the orbit shrouds did a good job using up the space.
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Old Aug 27, 2012 | 10:54 AM
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Good choice on the shrouds. Most of the MH1 retros Ive seen use the mini gatling gun shrouds it comes with which are entirely too small for our headlight.
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Old Aug 27, 2012 | 03:46 PM
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yea i saw those retrofits and they looked so tiny, I was debating going with the FXR projector but the group buy was for the H1 so I just picked a larger shroud.
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Old Aug 28, 2012 | 01:53 PM
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FYI they extended the sign up date to the 31st, my lights should be here tomorrow. I'll take pictures of the cutoff and stuff once theyre installed.
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Old Aug 29, 2012 | 10:16 PM
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shit I wish I saw this sooner. there's no way I can get them my headlights by the 31st now.
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Old Aug 29, 2012 | 10:43 PM
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Outstanding thread, thanks all for joining.

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Old Aug 30, 2012 | 01:09 AM
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Originally Posted by trackvaulter01
my retrofit is complete, just waiting on them to be shipped back to me. here's the link:
http://hidillusionz.blogspot.com/201...-retrofit.html

let me know what you think...personally I think the orbit shrouds did a good job using up the space.
Those headlights looks nice. Make sure you get some pics up.
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Old Aug 30, 2012 | 12:40 PM
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As long as its postmarked by the 31st you should be fine, if anything shoot them a email and see if they can squeeze you in. I should be able to install them tomorrow the lights are in but TRS is sending me the ballasts bulbs and wiring harness separately so once thats in I'll get pictures up. Excited to do some night drives now lol
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Old Sep 5, 2012 | 11:32 PM
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Old Sep 5, 2012 | 11:33 PM
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I left the stock high beams off for now, the bixenons are pretty awesome by itself, I might decide to splice into them for a crazy bright high beam. I put 96 led switchbacks in which are ridiculously bright (too bright for my taste actually) and a wedge underneath, and then installed a flasher unit to keep them from hyperflashing.
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Old Sep 6, 2012 | 09:41 AM
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Looks like your passenger side beam can come up slightly.
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Old Sep 6, 2012 | 10:32 AM
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thanks for pointing that out, it looked fine at first glance lol ill adjust them
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Old Sep 6, 2012 | 08:01 PM
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Looks like your passenger side beam can come up slightly.
and opposite way on passenger side fog beam. possibly rotational adjustment too? It might be just pic or i'm crazy.

They look pretty good over all! It reminds me of my headlight..
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Old Sep 7, 2012 | 10:49 AM
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Originally Posted by anthracitecl
and opposite way on passenger side fog beam. possibly rotational adjustment too? It might be just pic or i'm crazy.

They look pretty good over all! It reminds me of my headlight..
Good catch. The pass side fog is very slightly higher then the driver side.
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Old Sep 7, 2012 | 11:33 AM
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unfortunately the place I had my fog lights installed did a completely half ass job and actually broke off some of hte mounting tabs on the projector that would have allowed me to adjust them. they also used some retarded glue like stuff to keep the projector in place (which of course melted when the projector gets hot...) it seems liek two separate guys did each side because one side was fine and the other side the projector was mounted basically sideways. I took it to another shop to have it fixed when they showed me all the retarded shit they did. He mounted them correctly just couldnt really adjust anything since they broke off the tabs. im just happy theyre pointing the right way and not about to fall off when i turn them on...
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Old Sep 7, 2012 | 11:37 AM
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That sucks. Its tough finding a good shop to do custom things like this.
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Old Sep 7, 2012 | 11:39 AM
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Yea I looked for a long time, got to the point where I wanted to just do it myself but I'm not handy with things like this. I'm fine doing typical maintenance like brakes and oil but opening up headlights and retrofits and stuff is too much risk for me haha
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Old Dec 8, 2012 | 10:14 PM
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anyone know where I can go in Buffalo to fix my headlights? I bought new bulks but its not working. Not sure what the problem could be. 2 years ago, i replaced the passenger side headlight and couldn't figure out how to put the clip on housing back on, so i just let the bulb hang. I am thinking of ordering an HID Kit from hidextra.com ($60) and having someone install locally. The kit includes 2 bulbs and 2 Ballasts. Is there a better way to go about this?

Thanks.
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Old Dec 9, 2012 | 08:41 PM
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the back of the housing kind of just turns back in. your problem is probably the ballast. if one of the bulbs "burnt out" but the new bulb isnt working either the ballast is probably dead. id try a new ballast before buying new ballasts and bulbs.
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Old Dec 9, 2012 | 08:46 PM
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Thanks. Do I have to remove the bumper to get to the ballast?
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Old Dec 9, 2012 | 09:24 PM
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So yes, I do have to remove the bumper. Found this youtube video describing the process.


Last edited by Djrx; Dec 9, 2012 at 09:26 PM.
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