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Old 05-04-2012, 10:37 AM   #26
Bluefoton
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Count a full weekend if you do it yourself, and a 6-pack of beer. At least. I did my retrofit with minimal skills, and while it was long, it wasn't really difficult. The scary part was cooking the headlights (4 times... - 1 to open, 1 to close, 1 to reopen as i badly screwed the projectors, 1 to reclose ) No issues though, no water infiltration during rain, no screwed up connections.
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Old 05-04-2012, 02:06 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suby Noobie View Post
OMG dude, that looks AMAZING! I've been thinking about doing a retrofit, but doubt my abilities... wouldn't want to screw anything up. How much would you charge to do this for someone else?
LOL! Thanks dude! I really never thought too much about getting paid to do this since not many people I know is into retrofitting like I do. I only did another reftrofitting beside this one for a friend's 93 integra. But I think this is easy enough for you to attempt it yourself since this was my very 1st try at retrofitting and it came out great. I'd say give it a try and take your time doing it. You should be okay. But if you're willing to pay me to do it for you. Sure I'll do it.
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Old 05-06-2012, 08:08 PM   #28
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Had morimotos in my 04 WRX, loved them.

Like others said the 12's just look like they belong there. Great work
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Old 05-12-2012, 02:24 AM   #29
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Damn, Now I need to go spend some money and do this to my '12. Although, I'd get a different headlight housing to hack up so I could take my time and do it right. (and also to be able to return to stock when I sell it)

What did you do to make sure the HID was concentric with the original low beam? In the pic showing the cut-off, it looks like the right light was higher than the left, is this because of the misalignment?
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Old 05-14-2012, 09:39 PM   #30
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What all did you have to cut on the reflector to mount the projectors?
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Old 05-15-2012, 02:42 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by monkeyracer View Post
Damn, Now I need to go spend some money and do this to my '12. Although, I'd get a different headlight housing to hack up so I could take my time and do it right. (and also to be able to return to stock when I sell it)

What did you do to make sure the HID was concentric with the original low beam? In the pic showing the cut-off, it looks like the right light was higher than the left, is this because of the misalignment?
I just needed to rotate the right projector a bit to correct it but I just left it alone since its only higher on the right side and not the left so it really doesn't bother me much. Aligning it is not a problem at all since I can use the stock alignment bolts to adjust it.
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Old 05-15-2012, 02:44 PM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FastJK View Post
What all did you have to cut on the reflector to mount the projectors?
Here's the pic of the back of the reflector that I cut to fit the projector.


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Old 05-15-2012, 04:45 PM   #33
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That's cool that you didn't have to cut much out. How did you mount the HID projectors? Just screw them to the back of the stock reflector bowsl?
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Old 05-15-2012, 04:59 PM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suby Noobie View Post
That's cool that you didn't have to cut much out. How did you mount the HID projectors? Just screw them to the back of the stock reflector bowsl?
Yeah, the Morimoto Mini D2S projectors came with mounting screws that made the installation a breeze. The Morimoto Mini H1 is even more easier to install. I retrofitted my friend's integra with it and it involved less cutting than the D2S.
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Old 05-15-2012, 10:02 PM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JDMSTA View Post
Yeah, the Morimoto Mini D2S projectors came with mounting screws that made the installation a breeze. The Morimoto Mini H1 is even more easier to install. I retrofitted my friend's integra with it and it involved less cutting than the D2S.
Sweet man, thanks for the info! I hope to attempt this soon, but I think I'll buy a second set of lamps to cut up. BTW, anyone know where I can buy a set a 2012 head lamps and how much they are?
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Old 05-16-2012, 02:14 PM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suby Noobie View Post
Sweet man, thanks for the info! I hope to attempt this soon, but I think I'll buy a second set of lamps to cut up. BTW, anyone know where I can buy a set a 2012 head lamps and how much they are?
To be honest with you, its safe for me to assume that its gonna cost you an arm and a leg because its a 2012 headlamp. I ask the parts department at subaru just for 1 replacement foglight housing without the bulbs goes for well over $130. So you can imagine how much a headlamp housing would cost.
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Old 05-17-2012, 03:19 PM   #37
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Subarupartsforyou has them listed pretty high...
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Old 05-26-2012, 11:30 AM   #38
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I absolutely want to do this retrofit on my new 2012 impreza sport also. I had a few questions.

I can't seem to figure out how you mounted the projector to keep it place. You posted a photo above that shows a threaded end coming out of the hole you enlargened. Is there some sort of cap or nut that threads onto the end of that to mount the projector permanently? Did you have any more photos of how these are mounted?

What are the red and wires coming out of the headlight for?

What type of paint did you use to paint the inside of the housings?

What was your baking procedure to open and seal the headlights properly? I noticed you bought the reselling kit.

Sorry for all the questions. If you can provide whatever photos you took of the retrofit it would be greatly helpful for us to plan out the install before ordering all the parts.
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Old 05-29-2012, 01:31 PM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dplus12
Subarupartsforyou has them listed pretty high...
Thanks for the link! $300 per lamp is expensive, but about what I expected. I assume the " high illumination type" for almost $700 are the HID lamps sold in other countries?

Last edited by jr0bb5; 05-29-2012 at 01:39 PM.
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Old 05-30-2012, 03:25 PM   #40
JDMSTA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by subbie206 View Post
I absolutely want to do this retrofit on my new 2012 impreza sport also. I had a few questions.

I can't seem to figure out how you mounted the projector to keep it place. You posted a photo above that shows a threaded end coming out of the hole you enlargened. Is there some sort of cap or nut that threads onto the end of that to mount the projector permanently? Did you have any more photos of how these are mounted?

What are the red and wires coming out of the headlight for?

What type of paint did you use to paint the inside of the housings?

What was your baking procedure to open and seal the headlights properly? I noticed you bought the reselling kit.

Sorry for all the questions. If you can provide whatever photos you took of the retrofit it would be greatly helpful for us to plan out the install before ordering all the parts.
You'll get a pretty good idea how the projectors are mounted from this video.

The red and black wires are from the bi-xenon solenoid that I have to splice into my high beam in order to use the high beam function with the projectors.

As for paint. You can use these. http://www.krylon.com/products/indooroutdoor_paint/

I pre-baked my oven to 260degreesF and once it reaches temp. I just bake each headlight for 6mins then carefully pry open them. I do the same thing when I reseal them.

Hope that helps.
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Old 05-31-2012, 01:44 AM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JDMSTA View Post
how to beginners projector retrofit (1of2) - YouTube You'll get a pretty good idea how the projectors are mounted from this video.

The red and black wires are from the bi-xenon solenoid that I have to splice into my high beam in order to use the high beam function with the projectors.

As for paint. You can use these. http://www.krylon.com/products/indooroutdoor_paint/

I pre-baked my oven to 260degreesF and once it reaches temp. I just bake each headlight for 6mins then carefully pry open them. I do the same thing when I reseal them.

Hope that helps.
Thanks for that video. His series of videos definitely help with a lot of questions. I think I got this figured out. Our cars use the H11 harness correct? Any info on splicing for the high beam to work? Do you splice into the stock harness or retrofit harness? Do you remember off hand which black color you used?
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Old 05-31-2012, 02:10 PM   #42
JDMSTA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by subbie206 View Post
Thanks for that video. His series of videos definitely help with a lot of questions. I think I got this figured out. Our cars use the H11 harness correct? Any info on splicing for the high beam to work? Do you splice into the stock harness or retrofit harness? Do you remember off hand which black color you used?
I just used a couple of these "high beam splitter" to split the high beam from the stock high beam bulbs and the solenoid.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...oducts_id=9717
Reason being is that I can still use the stock DRL and use the projectors high beam function.

I just used some cheap 9006 LED bulbs from ebay and use it as DRLs. I didn't even care if its bright since I'm only using it as DRLs and the projector's high beam is brighter than stock halogens anyways.
As for the color I used? I used the "flat black" color for my housing.


And the close up night shot of the leds.

Last edited by JDMSTA; 05-31-2012 at 05:33 PM.
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Old 05-31-2012, 11:48 PM   #43
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Hey JDMSTA, I sent ya a couple of pm's over the past week. Just wondering if you got them.
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Old 06-01-2012, 03:36 AM   #44
JDMSTA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suby Noobie View Post
Hey JDMSTA, I sent ya a couple of pm's over the past week. Just wondering if you got them.
Yeah I just replied to them now. Sorry that I never noticed the notifications up top since no body ever pm me so I never bother to look that way. I don't mean to ignore you bro.
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Old 06-01-2012, 04:02 AM   #45
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im way too big of a ***** to do my own retrofit hahaha. i have nightmares of taking apart my silverado and tacoma headlights to paint the insides, haha, what a pain in the ass that was!

jhmsta that LED mod looks awesome!
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Old 06-01-2012, 04:13 PM   #46
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JDMSTA View Post
Yeah, the Morimoto Mini D2S projectors came with mounting screws that made the installation a breeze. The Morimoto Mini H1 is even more easier to install. I retrofitted my friend's integra with it and it involved less cutting than the D2S.
What is the difference between the Mini Ds2 and the Mini H1?
Do your recommend one over the other?
I am planning on doing a projector retrofit and want to be sure it comes out as good as yours :P

Where did you get the black headlight housing from? is that your own or was it also from the retrofitsource?
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Old 06-01-2012, 04:20 PM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JDMSTA View Post
I just used a couple of these "high beam splitter" to split the high beam from the stock high beam bulbs and the solenoid.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...oducts_id=9717
Reason being is that I can still use the stock DRL and use the projectors high beam function.

I just used some cheap 9006 LED bulbs from ebay and use it as DRLs. I didn't even care if its bright since I'm only using it as DRLs and the projector's high beam is brighter than stock halogens anyways.
As for the color I used? I used the "flat black" color for my housing.


And the close up night shot of the leds.
Your headlights look awesome!!
Was it difficult to replace the DRL with the LEDs? I checked on ebay to try and find the same ones but im not sure of the exact product. Is it the LED strips that you purchased?
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Old 06-01-2012, 05:17 PM   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gregorz4 View Post
What is the difference between the Mini Ds2 and the Mini H1?
Do your recommend one over the other?
I am planning on doing a projector retrofit and want to be sure it comes out as good as yours :P

Where did you get the black headlight housing from? is that your own or was it also from the retrofitsource?
"For the most part, the performance of the Mini D2S and Mini H1 projectors is even, but I will highlight some of the small differences below:

1) Beam uniformity: The Mini D2S is a bit better in this category, with slightly more even-ness in its output.
2) Beam Width: The Mini H1 is slightly wider here
3) High beam performance: The Mini D2S has a brighter, more defined high beam (bi-xenon) output
4) Cutoff color/sharpness: The projectors are even, since they use the same exact lens - giving them a sharp and colorful cutoff line.
5) Bulb type used: Obviously the H1 takes H1 and D2S takes D2S, and we feel that D2S bulbs offer a bit more precision, though no more light.
6) Size: The D2S version is about 1/2" shorter in overall depth, but is also barely wider and a little bit taller than the H1 version.
7) Modification to your OEM housing: the diameter of the mounting shaft on the H1 is 22mm, whereas it's 32mm on the D2S model, so you probably wont have to modify anything at all when using the MH1, whereas you will likely have to just widen the diameter of the existing bulb opening to use the D2S projector."
Now I've taken the comparason above from HIDplanet.com forum. #7 was the main reason why I said H1 is the easiest to install.
The black housing was painted by myself.
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Old 06-01-2012, 05:21 PM   #49
JDMSTA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gregorz4 View Post
Your headlights look awesome!!
Was it difficult to replace the DRL with the LEDs? I checked on ebay to try and find the same ones but im not sure of the exact product. Is it the LED strips that you purchased?
Its not difficult to replace the DRL bulbs. Its just a standard size 9006 bulbs and I just replaced it with a cheap ebay led 9006 size bulbs.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/270954488397...84.m1497.l2649 Something like this will work just fine.
As for the led strips. I bought them from superbrightleds.com. http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...-flexible.html "SWFLS and SNFLS series Flexible Light Strips with Side Emitting LEDs" is the exact ones I bought.
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Old 06-01-2012, 06:07 PM   #50
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Move out to so cal do you can do my lights. Haha
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