Intro:
I am not a professional and these are not instructions on the only way to retrofit. This is my first retrofit and my first time dealing with HID’s. I am not responsible for anything you may do while attempting to follow my instructions.
Below is the method I used to retrofit my 2Gb Eclipse OEM headlights. I am writing with the assumption that you have basic knowledge on the idea of retrofitting and wiring. If anything is not detailed enough for you, let me know. This is for a quad projector retrofit, if you are only doing a dual retrofit then skip any step that I mess with the high beam reflector. I am not responsible for you messing up your high beam reflector or anything else while attempting your retrofit.
Review:
When searching for a place to purchase my retrofit items The Retrofit Source was highly recommended on many websites. Checking their product reviews on multiple websites it seemed like they had great customer service and sold very high end products. Because of their reputation, I purchased my entire Morimoto Mini H1 6.0 kit in hopes that they would live up to their reputation. Shipping was quick and I received every item in proper working condition as specified in the description. I have never done a retrofit before or used HID’s, so I had no idea what anything was that I had ordered. Their website has a link called DIY Installation Guides that explains how every product should be installed. Under the description of each individual item it also explains a detailed description of what the product is and what it does. After reading about what the products are, many of the popular products step-by-step installation can be seen on their YouTube page TheRetrofitSource Inc. I highly recommend The Retrofit Source every chance I get. I had the same great experience with their product when I ordered another set of Generic Mini H1 projects and I will continue to order from them for future projects.
For any questions or help with a retrofit, The Retrofit Source assists over emails on their website theretrofitsource.com or you can get great help from other retrofitters on their forum hidplanet.com.
Item list:
The Retrofit Source Items:
Tools/additional items used:
Computer Power Supply
9v Battery
Car battery
VHT Roll Bar & Chassis paint (Satin Black)
Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter (Clear)
Rustoleum High Heat BBQ paint (Flat black)
Easy Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner
320 grit Sand Paper
Painters tape
J-B KwikWeld (Can be purchased from TRS here)
Picture hanging wire
Microfiber Cloth
Medium sized towel
Something to bake the headlight on
Latex Gloves
Mechanic Gloves (Or any gloves you can use to grab the hot headlight)
Phillips Head Screwdriver
Flat Head Screwdriver
Ratchet and sockets
Rotary Tool (Sanding and cutting attachments)
Air compressor
Belt sander
Preparation:
As soon as you receive your retrofit kit in the mail, setup a clean and safe area to open everything and lay it out. Start to remove everything from the boxes. The projectors are delicate so be careful with them when handling. There should be a packing slip that came with a list of everything you ordered, use that as a check list and make sure everything is there. Also make sure you check that everything has its proper equipment like screws and such. Note that if you got anything from the closeout section like the generic Mini H1’s that I purchased then TRS is not responsible for included hardware. You may or may not have some things missing.
Pull out your power supply, 9v battery, or car battery. I recommend a power supply. The 9V battery could not have enough power to efficiently test the projectors if it is used. Eventually the battery could not activate the shield and I switched to power supply. Now check your projector cut off shield with the power source, switch it on 40-50 times per projector. Next test your halos if you ordered them with your power source. You could use a 9V battery to just make sure they work, but the halos will not be as bright. I wanted to test the halo brightness so I used the power supply. In the picture the bottom halo is running off the 9v battery and the top is on the power supply with 12v.
I decided to do a few custom modifications to the projectors. I won’t go into detail as this is just a retrofit how-to, but I decided to paint the cutoff shield and foreground limiter flat black with the Rustoleum high heat BBQ paint. I also made a custom solenoid shield inspired by the user satrya on hidplanet.com (Thread) that I decided to paint black as well to get a smoked lens look.
Procedure:
Remove your headlights from your car. If you do no know how, here are instructions. Once you remove the headlights you need to prepare them for baking. Optionally you can use the heat gun method (Google it) but I chose the easy way.
Remove the clips surrounding the lens with a flat head screwdriver. Watch out, the clips shoot out when you remove them. Then remove the plastic covers and bulbs then unscrew the bottom wire harness with a Phillips head screwdriver. I tucked the harness into the headlight housing to make sure it won’t touch any metal in the oven. Once done, get something to put your headlight on to bake. Place a small/medium-sized towel on it enough to cover the entire surface; you don’t want your headlight touching metal. Place one of your headlights on it and test fit it in the oven to make sure it fits. If it’s a little too close for comfort or it doesn’t fit because the headlight is too long, try fitting it in diagonally. I did this because I only had about 1-2cm of clearance on the sides of the headlight. Once you finish the test fit, pre-heat the oven at 265 degrees F. Drench the towel in water and wring it just enough so that water isn’t dripping. I rather have a too wet of a towel than a too dry of one. Place it back on whatever you are using to bake with and place your headlight on top the way you did for your test fit. Place your headlight in the oven and let it bake for 8 minutes.
After the 8 minutes are up, take your headlight out of the oven but keep the oven running. Wear some mechanic gloves and try separating the lens from the housing at the turn signal side. It should be easy to spread apart a little bit (In my experience). Use a flat head screwdriver to separate the lens starting at that corner. I would recommend separating as much as you can on the top of the headlight. After you separate what you could, you may need to put it in the over for 2-3 more minutes. Once the 2-3 minutes are up you should be able to have at least half of the lens off. The bottom might be hard since it is sitting on a wet towel. Flip the headlight over and place it to bake upside down. Make sure you do not have ANY part of your headlight touching metal. Bake for another 3 minutes. After that you should be able to finish off separating the lens with little effort. This was my experience with both lights. The worst and hardest part is over.
Once the lens if off you can optionally remove the bezel if you want to clean it or paint it to match your cars color. I removed mine to clean it because it was dusty. I will also be restoring the lens. The bezel has 2 Phillips screws holding it in place. You may need to use a little force to pull the bezel out as it has these 2 little bumps that hold the bezel tight in the lens.
I am not a professional and these are not instructions on the only way to retrofit. This is my first retrofit and my first time dealing with HID’s. I am not responsible for anything you may do while attempting to follow my instructions.
Below is the method I used to retrofit my 2Gb Eclipse OEM headlights. I am writing with the assumption that you have basic knowledge on the idea of retrofitting and wiring. If anything is not detailed enough for you, let me know. This is for a quad projector retrofit, if you are only doing a dual retrofit then skip any step that I mess with the high beam reflector. I am not responsible for you messing up your high beam reflector or anything else while attempting your retrofit.
Review:
When searching for a place to purchase my retrofit items The Retrofit Source was highly recommended on many websites. Checking their product reviews on multiple websites it seemed like they had great customer service and sold very high end products. Because of their reputation, I purchased my entire Morimoto Mini H1 6.0 kit in hopes that they would live up to their reputation. Shipping was quick and I received every item in proper working condition as specified in the description. I have never done a retrofit before or used HID’s, so I had no idea what anything was that I had ordered. Their website has a link called DIY Installation Guides that explains how every product should be installed. Under the description of each individual item it also explains a detailed description of what the product is and what it does. After reading about what the products are, many of the popular products step-by-step installation can be seen on their YouTube page TheRetrofitSource Inc. I highly recommend The Retrofit Source every chance I get. I had the same great experience with their product when I ordered another set of Generic Mini H1 projects and I will continue to order from them for future projects.
For any questions or help with a retrofit, The Retrofit Source assists over emails on their website theretrofitsource.com or you can get great help from other retrofitters on their forum hidplanet.com.
Item list:
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The Retrofit Source Items:
Projectors: Morimoto Mini H1 6.0 (Bi-Xenon)
Shrouds: Mini Gatling Gun (Included with projectors)
Ballasts: AMP Morimoto 3Five DSP
Bulbs: Morimoto 3Five (H1) 5000k
Wire Harness: HD Relay 9006
Halos: Morimoto XB LED Angel Eyes (70mm, white)
Glue: OCI Butyl Rubber Glue
Or you can buy this complete kit that includes all of the above: Bi-Xenon Morimoto Mini Stage III Kit (H1)Shrouds: Mini Gatling Gun (Included with projectors)
Ballasts: AMP Morimoto 3Five DSP
Bulbs: Morimoto 3Five (H1) 5000k
Wire Harness: HD Relay 9006
Halos: Morimoto XB LED Angel Eyes (70mm, white)
Glue: OCI Butyl Rubber Glue
Projectors: Generic Mini H1 (Bi-Xenon)
Shrouds: Mini Gatling Gun (Included with projectors for $15 extra)
Shrouds: Mini Gatling Gun (Included with projectors for $15 extra)
Tools/additional items used:
Computer Power Supply
9v Battery
Car battery
VHT Roll Bar & Chassis paint (Satin Black)
Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter (Clear)
Rustoleum High Heat BBQ paint (Flat black)
Easy Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner
320 grit Sand Paper
Painters tape
J-B KwikWeld (Can be purchased from TRS here)
Picture hanging wire
Microfiber Cloth
Medium sized towel
Something to bake the headlight on
Latex Gloves
Mechanic Gloves (Or any gloves you can use to grab the hot headlight)
Phillips Head Screwdriver
Flat Head Screwdriver
Ratchet and sockets
Rotary Tool (Sanding and cutting attachments)
Air compressor
Belt sander
Preparation:
As soon as you receive your retrofit kit in the mail, setup a clean and safe area to open everything and lay it out. Start to remove everything from the boxes. The projectors are delicate so be careful with them when handling. There should be a packing slip that came with a list of everything you ordered, use that as a check list and make sure everything is there. Also make sure you check that everything has its proper equipment like screws and such. Note that if you got anything from the closeout section like the generic Mini H1’s that I purchased then TRS is not responsible for included hardware. You may or may not have some things missing.
Pull out your power supply, 9v battery, or car battery. I recommend a power supply. The 9V battery could not have enough power to efficiently test the projectors if it is used. Eventually the battery could not activate the shield and I switched to power supply. Now check your projector cut off shield with the power source, switch it on 40-50 times per projector. Next test your halos if you ordered them with your power source. You could use a 9V battery to just make sure they work, but the halos will not be as bright. I wanted to test the halo brightness so I used the power supply. In the picture the bottom halo is running off the 9v battery and the top is on the power supply with 12v.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I decided to do a few custom modifications to the projectors. I won’t go into detail as this is just a retrofit how-to, but I decided to paint the cutoff shield and foreground limiter flat black with the Rustoleum high heat BBQ paint. I also made a custom solenoid shield inspired by the user satrya on hidplanet.com (Thread) that I decided to paint black as well to get a smoked lens look.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Procedure:
Remove your headlights from your car. If you do no know how, here are instructions. Once you remove the headlights you need to prepare them for baking. Optionally you can use the heat gun method (Google it) but I chose the easy way.
Remove the clips surrounding the lens with a flat head screwdriver. Watch out, the clips shoot out when you remove them. Then remove the plastic covers and bulbs then unscrew the bottom wire harness with a Phillips head screwdriver. I tucked the harness into the headlight housing to make sure it won’t touch any metal in the oven. Once done, get something to put your headlight on to bake. Place a small/medium-sized towel on it enough to cover the entire surface; you don’t want your headlight touching metal. Place one of your headlights on it and test fit it in the oven to make sure it fits. If it’s a little too close for comfort or it doesn’t fit because the headlight is too long, try fitting it in diagonally. I did this because I only had about 1-2cm of clearance on the sides of the headlight. Once you finish the test fit, pre-heat the oven at 265 degrees F. Drench the towel in water and wring it just enough so that water isn’t dripping. I rather have a too wet of a towel than a too dry of one. Place it back on whatever you are using to bake with and place your headlight on top the way you did for your test fit. Place your headlight in the oven and let it bake for 8 minutes.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
After the 8 minutes are up, take your headlight out of the oven but keep the oven running. Wear some mechanic gloves and try separating the lens from the housing at the turn signal side. It should be easy to spread apart a little bit (In my experience). Use a flat head screwdriver to separate the lens starting at that corner. I would recommend separating as much as you can on the top of the headlight. After you separate what you could, you may need to put it in the over for 2-3 more minutes. Once the 2-3 minutes are up you should be able to have at least half of the lens off. The bottom might be hard since it is sitting on a wet towel. Flip the headlight over and place it to bake upside down. Make sure you do not have ANY part of your headlight touching metal. Bake for another 3 minutes. After that you should be able to finish off separating the lens with little effort. This was my experience with both lights. The worst and hardest part is over.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Once the lens if off you can optionally remove the bezel if you want to clean it or paint it to match your cars color. I removed mine to clean it because it was dusty. I will also be restoring the lens. The bezel has 2 Phillips screws holding it in place. You may need to use a little force to pull the bezel out as it has these 2 little bumps that hold the bezel tight in the lens.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Last edited: