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JDM HID Headlight Conversion Walkthrough


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This walkthrough is in progress. I do not have time to finish it all up right now, but the pictures should help a lot. I will be adding details soon. I also have lots of part numbers to be adding here, but if you do a search on the forums, you should be able to find most of them. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

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Edited by bbjones121
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Different washers to adjust cutoff. The washers are used because the shield actully protrudes out one side and when you flip the shield it changes the distance to the bulb. The washers make up for that and actually, you will find that the stock cutoff when the shields were the original way wasn't that good to begin with. Just get a couple different thicknesses of washers and mess around until you have the perfect cutoff. I can't remember which photo is which.

 

***Update***

As far as washers and spacers go, what I found out was that the more washers you put behind the shield between the shield and the bulb housing, the less spread of light you have. So you definitely want the shield as close to the bulb housing as possible. Next, the more washers you put between the shield and glass projector, the more blue you get, but past a point it will start to get fuzzy and blurry.

 

Once I flattened the concave/convex protrusion right at the stepping point on the shield, I found out that I actually didn't need any spacers/washers to get the perfect cutoff. I have pictures that I will update on here soon.

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Edited by bbjones121
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filling in shield hole

 

***Update***

More recently, I put the shield in a work bench clamp and I flattened the concave/convex protrusion at the step on the shield. You don't want to flatten the whole shield, just the center where the step up is. Do this carefully with a clamp or some way to evenly disperse force across the whole cutoff line. I recommend breaking or dremelling off the slit shade/flap that is attached to the shield (this will allow a more flat surface to work with). Once you get the cutoff line pretty flat, take a hammer and a flat surface and gently hammer the whole concave/convex area flat. Be carefull with the thin strip of metal that forms the flat cutoff, you don't want to elongate it from a hard hit with the hammer.

 

I took the attached shade/flap over the slit and dremeled the corners to remove and retaining the metal piece. I then drilled out the two dip points close to where they welded the shade/flap on the shield and rivetted it back on to the shield to act as a cover for the slit opening. I then used some high temp JB weld to completely fill the slit in.

New pictures coming

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Edited by bbjones121
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inserting washers to adjust cutoff

 

***Update***

Washers and spacers may not be needed if you just flatten the convex/concave portion of the shield.

 

Make sure not to use a screw that is coned, get a flat bottom screw. If you get a coned/wood screw type, it could crack the bulb housing as it is trying to stretch the hole as you tighten it. If you do have to use one of these screws, as I did in these pictures, put a washer there to make it have an evenly distributed pinching force.

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Edited by bbjones121
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DDM HID wiring harness modifications. I purchased two USDM wiring harnesses (part numbers I can't find anywhere right no). I then cut the original connector going to the main low beam headlight bulb off (as the D2S connector needs to be soldered in place of it).

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Edited by bbjones121
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Alternate (better) option for the wiring harness. This allows the headlight to be disconnected and removed from car easily.

 

***Update***

Make sure to get a 9006 connector, not the 9005 like I did, as the 9005 is actually a high beam connector. I didn't realize it at the time, but there is a difference. The 9005(high beam) connector has two slits for two ridges on the female side and the 9006(low beam) connector only has one. This helps so that you don't accidentaly install the connector on the wrong light.

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Edited by bbjones121
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Since the JDM headlight has both a running light (inside the 6 inch reflector accent) and a turn signal. The harness that connects to a USDM car is different. You must dismantle a USDM connector like I did and solder the wires accordingly. The turn signal bulb and socket are also different on the JDM headlight, so you will need to order a new socket (easy to find) and bulb.

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Wire connections for turning signal socket. I thought that I took more pictures, but this is all I could find. To get the wiring correct, all you need to realize is that USDM turn signals have two filaments inside one bulb. One fillament is for running lights and the other is for the turn signal. The JDM headlights split these two filaments into two different bulbs. So with that in mind, just make sure that you wire up the turn signal connections to the new single filament bulb that you will need to purchase and the running light connections to the other small bulb.

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Edited by bbjones121
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So here is another modification that needs to be done for the new bulb setup of the JDM lights. The wattage of the new running bulb is much less than that of the USDM multifilament bulb. So you will need to purchase two high wattage 6 ohm resistors(very cheap). These can usually be found at any shop that sells LED replacement bulbs. High wattage resistors are usually needed when switching to LEDs because you need to trick the system into thinking there is more load.

 

I have all my calculations somewhere, but I am sure they are long gone by now. If someone else wants to verify that this is the correct resistance, please feel free or just go get these resistors.

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Edited by bbjones121
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Attaching the ballasts and seal the compartment. Go to the hardware store and find some screws that will fit through the ballasts holes to secure the ballasts to the headlights. Then if you didn't already have them, purchase some screws that will work for the ballast covers. I will add these sizes later, but you should be able to figure it out. If you need to purchase the ballast covers, they are a JDM part (Ballast cover (part #: 84953A : 84953AE130)) and they should run less than $8(USD) a piece plus shipping.

 

All I used to seal them was some ribbed rubber RV weather strips. You can purchase a spool of this at any hardware store, usually by all the other weather stripping.

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Edited by bbjones121
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Sealing the headlight covers. I did this with the same gasket strip that I used on the ballast covers. It has held up through many carwashes and about 6 months of use without any condensation in my headlights.

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You will need to mount the resistors on a metal surface with some metal screws or nuts and bolts. THEY GET VERY VERY HOT!!!! Make sure they will not touch any plastic and it is probably a good idea to pick a piece of car frame that is not in direct relation to the paint on the outside of the car. If you can see from this picture, I got some wood screws and mounted them with a ton of washers onto a tab in the fender.

 

I routed the DDM HID headlight harness cables through the small holes on either side of the radiator and made sure that it will not come into contact with any hot surfaces.

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Leveling Switch is in progress. I think the level switch part number is a JDM part #83002AG000 and should be about $40(USD) plus shipping. My first attempt was to create my own with some connectors and epoxy, but then I just purchased the Toyota parts instead. Yes, I said Toyota, they share many connectors. The part numbers for the connectors are Toyota part # 90980-11016 (should be about $6 online a piece and you need two) and the wires are Toyota part #82998-12440 (you will need 6 of these and they are overpriced at about $4.50 online a piece)

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Edited by bbjones121
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Crap I need to finish this. I will try to this weekend.

 

I took some videos, but they are large, I can email some clips if interested. I will reduce their size this week, but will probably wait until i get my new Phillips ultinon 6000k and Denso ballasts installed and add something about that to this thread at the same time when I finish it.

Edited by bbjones121
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