HID Projector Retrofit into a 2nd Gen Camaro

HID Projector Retrofit into a 2nd Gen Camaro
This write up documents how to install true OEM style projector headlamps into a
2nd generation Camaro. Although the target vehicle in this write up is a 1971
model year, the application should be very similar (if not identical) to other years
between 1970 and 1981. In addition, as so many vehicles from that era share
similar headlamp configurations, with a little imagination the methods described
here should be very adaptable to other vehicles as well. While installation is a bit
involved, I tried to make it as simple and reproducible as possible.
The projector headlamps used in this conversion are true projectors used by the
OEMs, not the $29.99 “projectors” commonly found on E-bay that scatter light all
over the place in a blinding attempt to give off “HID blueness” to on-coming
drivers. The OEM style projectors will provide the lighting performance found on
the high-end vehicles which illuminate the road only where necessary, deliver a
sharp cutoff line, and (only as a byproduct of this functionality) deliver the
attractive purple/blue colors that many people try in vain to emulate.
Note, it’s strongly recommended to read this entire document before doing
anything. Like I said, as simple as I tried to make this retrofit process, it is not a
bolt-on and does require some decent mechanical ability and a lot of thinkingahead.
There are four aspects to this write-up- parts/materials, tools, mechanical
installation, and electrical installation. We’ll first address the parts/materials.
Parts/Materials
1.) First the headlights themselves. There are a myriad of choices available.
I went with 2004-2008 Acura TL projectors (below). After much research
online, it was determined that these were one of the best performing OEM
units available for the money. What’s more, the housings are almost fully
sealed by themselves (making it relatively easy to weatherproof them- as
described later). You’ll find that some OEM projector housings have very
large gaping holes in them, which may require much more complicated
methods to seal them up. Take this into account during your selection
process. I purchased a pair of TL’s on Ebay for approximately $175.
Another good option are the FX-R’s from the Retrofit Source. These units
were designed specifically for retrofits into vehicles not originally equipped
with HID projectors. As such they have features that make it easier to
retrofit than OEM housings. The one thing about the TL’s that complicates
their retrofitting are the solenoids being placed so far forward. They also
sell TL’s and other types of projectors as well. Nonetheless, The Retrofit
Source has a wealth of information on projector headlamp technology, so
this write up won’t spend a lot of time delving into that subject here.
Rather, you’re encouraged to go there and read up on it prior to getting
started on anything.
A few other important things to note about projector housings: The
projector housings MUST be bi-Xenon in order to retain the high-beam
function. Some vehicles came equipped with non-bi-Xenon projectors
and used auxiliary incandescent lamps for the high beams. The bi-Xenon
projectors are given away by the solenoids mounted on them. These
solenoids activate a moveable internal cut-off shield which determines
how much light is emitted from the housing (the D2S light bulb itself does
not change it’s luminosity for high/low beam).
Low beam cut off shield position.
High beam cutoff shield position (I used a screw driver to move it
manually). Again, the shield moves, thereby exposing more of the bulb
light output. The bulb luminosity remains constant.
Try to get the solenoid pigtails as well with the projectors. The below
picture shows the Acura TL pigtails (note the picture shows them clipped
off which I did in preparation for integrating them into the vehicle harness).
Connection is simple. Red goes to the vehicle’s high beam activation wire
and black goes to ground.
The housing dimensions are critical as well. The Acura TL projectors (at
~6.5” long) are pretty compact relative to other OEM units which make
them desirable and very adaptable to other vehicles- particularly a 2nd gen
Camaro. The FX-Rs from the Retrofit Source are even more compact at
5.5” long. What’s also critical is the location of the mounting flange
relative to the front and rear of the housing. The Acura TL’s that worked
on this particular conversion measured ~2.80” from the front of the lens to
the flange and ~3.50” from the rear of the housing to the flange. It places
the front of the lens in just the right location relative to the factory 1971
outer headlight trim ring.
2.) The installation kit. It’s advisable to sole-source a complete kit to do this
installation. The kits should include as a minimum, the wiring, the highvoltage ballasts, and the D2S bulbs. I purchased this kit from The Retrofit
Source. In addition to the above, the kit included clear lenses and
shrouds. The clear lenses perform better than the OEM Fresnel lenses
and will produce a sharper cutoff line. Note that the kits have nothing that
addresses the mechanical installation into the vehicle. That’s entirely
dependent on the DIY’er to develop.
3.) 7” headlight housings. I got mine from ebay. Get the kind with the clear
lenses in front. The diamond pattern on the reflector won’t matter
because it won’t be visible with the finished product. I already had Hella
H4 housings (which didn’t have clear lenses), and the way my project
went, it forced me to buy another set with the clear lenses (which I
ultimately destroyed to get the lenses off of). But if you’re careful about it,
you can use one set to do this install.
4.) Plexiglas sheet material. I ordered some 1/8” mirrored Plexiglas sheet.
As you’ll see, it’ll be necessary to build a small housing around the
solenoids when using the Acura TL projectors as part of the weather
proofing. Since a portion of it will protrude into the decorative outer
reflector housing, I chose mirrored Plexiglas to help it blend in. Get a big
enough piece to do two 7” diameter circles and a spare (in case you mess
up). Got mine from www.estreetplastics.com.
5.) Steel sheet metal (approx .050” thick). This will be used to fabricate the
mounting tabs to attach the HID projectors to the factory headlamp
buckets.
6.) Headlight relay harness. It’s recommended for safety reasons to get a
headlight relay harness. The HID system will draw between 5 and 6 amps
during steady state operation (depending on the alternator voltage). Each
bulb will consume 35W of power for a total of 70W. So 70W/12V = 5.8A at
steady state. However, during start up, the current draw can be
significantly higher, around 20A for up to 10 seconds (plenty of time to
overheat a wire and cause an electrical fire). I already had a Painless
Wiring headlamp relay harness installed to power the old halogen lamps,
so it was retained for this conversion. The relay harness reroutes the
current flow to come directly from the battery rather than through the dashmounted headlight switch. The headlight switch merely activates the
relays and therefore handles very little current itself. Since I do not
recommend doing this conversion without a headlight relay harness, this
document will not describe how to do it without one.
7.) Hardware. This conversion uses #8-32 hardware. So you’ll need #8-32
fasteners in two sizes (1/2” long, 3/8” long), flat washers, nuts, and some
thread locker.
8.) Sealer. I went with the following. Most silicone sealers are the same
though.
7.) Weather stripping. This “peel and stick” type stuff you can get at the local
hardware store.
Tools
The tools you use will either make this conversion relatively easy or very difficult.
And the results will probably vary as well. I utilized the following tools.
Drill Press (preferred) or Hand Drill
Scroll Saw (preferred) or hand held jig Saw
Ø 3” hole saw
Dremel tool with cutoff wheels (this was by far the most important tool).
You’ll go through A LOT of cutoff wheels during this project. I recommend
getting 3 packs of the heavy duty cut off wheels by Dremel (or equivalent).
It comes in 20 per pack. 60 cutoff wheels seems like a lot, but trust me
they wear down fast (and sometimes break).
Various screw drivers and wrenches
Safety Goggles THESE ARE A MUST. Can’t stress this enough. The
cutoff wheels can shatter sometimes, and at one point a fragment
bounced off my goggles. It would have been bad if I wasn’t wearing them.
I DO NOT recommend doing this project without safety goggles.
Dust mask. The cutoff wheels generate quite a bit of dust as the wheel
grinds away. Definitely recommend wearing a dust mask. You don’t want
that junk collecting in your lungs.
Mechanical Installation
Note before starting: You’ll notice I work with the projector housings with the
glass lenses in place. The lenses in these pictures are the factory Fresnel lenses
that I was going to discard anyway and replace with the clear lenses from the
Retrofit Source. I didn’t install the clear lenses until the very end. So if you’re
planning to use your OEM lenses, they WILL get scratched up during this
process. You should either protect them with something or remove them
altogether and cover the housing opening with something to protect the inside of
the housing from debris.
It’s necessary to slightly modify the projector housings. The metal tabs used to
hold the hi-beam connectors on the side of the solenoids needs to be removed.
The dremel and cutoff wheel comes in handy here, followed by a deburring.
Now we have to build the weatherproof housings around the solenoids.
Basically, I took the 1/8” Plexiglas material and cut out some pieces to glue
around the solenoid. It’s all pretty much cut-to-fit with the scroll saw and using a
bench grinder make everything fit together nicely. I glued them on with the
silicone sealer (which does a good job as an adhesive) In the picture below, I
have a c-clamp holding the pieces while the silicone cures. This is for the rear
portion of the solenoid. Note, I used some clear Plexiglas I had laying around,
but you can use the mirror stuff too just fine.
For the front portion of the solenoid, the picture below shows weather proofing
that was done around the front. Basically, look for any place that moisture can
find its way into the projector housing and seal it off. It doesn’t need to very neat
since all of this will be hidden behind the final trim work.
Now it’s time to modify the headlamp buckets.
The first step is to take the factory Camaro headlamp assemblies out of the car
and disassemble down to the mounting bracket (below). Note: Once modified,
they will not be able to be used in the factory configuration any longer. As such,
not wanting to cut up my originals, I bought some extras and used those.
Using the dermal tool and cutoff wheel, remove the bucket portion as shown
below.
Now, some of the modifications will be dependent on the type of projectors you
buy. The following description is specific to the Acura TL’s, but they should
provide a basis for other housings as well.
A section of the bracket is then removed for the solenoid housing.
Position the project housing on the back of one of the buckets and eyeball the
pattern to the bucket using a permanent marker. When making your cuts, be
conservative here! Expect to make several passes at this, and sneak up on the
right opening.
Like I said earlier, you’ll want to cut a little, then fit the projector housing and note
the interferences- then cut some more and do another fit check, and so on and
so on. When you’re done, the projector housing should fit like a glove in the
opening. It’ll now be easier on the second bucket since you can transcribe the
opening from the first bucket and get a better starting point.
It’s clear the bucket has now been structurally weakened, but once the projector
housing is bolted to it, the housing itself will reinforce the bucket.
Next, we’ll need to modify the sealed beam reflectors. They’ll serve as a good
alignment tool for mounting the projector to the bucket. Start by removing the
glass lens. The way I did it was to take a small screwdriver and go around the
housing literally scraping away the adhesive a little at a time. It’ll take a few
passes per headlight but eventually the lens will separate easily. Be patient here
and Do NOT pry on the lens as it WILL break (glass is very brittle.)
After the lens comes off, you can use a razor to carefully remove the residual
adhesive.
Using the modified bucket as a guide, transfer the outline to the back of the 7”
reflector using a permanent marker. Again, be conservative on the cutting and
make several passes to get a good fit.
Note there are three tabs on the back of the 7” reflector. These tabs have to fit in
the three recesses in the bucket when you’re done. So take this into account as
you’re aligning the reflector to the bucket to make the marks for cutting.
With the bucket modifications and housing modifications complete, we have to
fab the mounting tabs to attach the projectors to the buckets. Using the .050”
steel sheet metal, I cut out 4 strips (each about ½” wide) and bent them into 90°
angles.
Then placed them on the housing like so.
Next, mark the holes from the projector mounting flange to the 90° brackets. Drill
the holes and then fasten the tabs to the projector housing in the same positions.
Bend them down to about 45°.
Insert the projector housing into the back of the bucket and mark the locations of
where you’ll drill the holes to fasten the mounting tabs to the buckets.
Here, it’s important to make sure the headlight is aligned properly to the bucket
since later on the 7” factory sealed beam reflector will be mounted and you’ll
want the projector housing to be centered properly in it. You can bend the tabs
a little or add shims (washers) to position the projector properly so that you get a
centered fit of the projector in the housing. You will also have to trim the tabs
to fit during this process.
Before you start drilling holes, you’ll also want to note the true horizontal and
vertical of how these buckets sit when they’re mounted in the car on the
brackets. Here’s why. In the picture below, it shows the inside of the projector
housing. You can see the cutoff shield.
Ultimately this cutoff shield needs to be horizontal to the ground otherwise your
cutoff line will be skewed. I recommend identifying and marking the true
horizontal and vertical on the buckets and then using those marks to align the
projector housing. Take the bucket and bracket assembly and temporarily mount
it in the car. Then mark the horizontal and vertical. The way the bracket mounts
onto the front radiator core support will allow some adjustment in the end, but not
very much. Worse come to worst, you can elongate the bracket mounting holes
to get some clocking adjustment if you need it. But try to get it as close as
possible at this point.
Once you get everything positioned and aligned properly, drill the holes in the
mounting tabs and then use those holes to mark the buckets. Then match drill
the buckets. Fasten the brackets to the bucket using the 3/8” long #8 hardware
and some thread locker. Repeat the process for the other bucket. Here’s the
quasi-finished attachment.
Now remove the projector housings. You should end up with this. Note in the
above and below photos, how the mounting tabs have been trimmed and
rounded off around the projector housing.
Now we need to modify the main headlight brackets. Use the modified bucket to
mark the locations that need cutting. Put factory the aiming adjustment screws in
just enough to mount the bucket to the bracket.
Flip the assembly over and it becomes clear where cutting is necessary.
You’ll want to cut enough around those mounting tabs such that they don’t
interfere with the main bracket when the bucket is attached. Also want to allow
for movement of the bucket as it’s being aimed. Also match the opening for the
high beam solenoid. In the picture below, note that the clearance cut is
significantly larger than the mounting tab (for the reasons I just mentioned).
When the proper cutouts have been achieved, the bucket, projector, and main
bracket should fit together like this.
Moving back to the 7” reflector, take the weather stripping and put some around
the perimeter of the housing. This will seal the lens and front trim work to the
housing
Go ahead and put the 7” sealed beam reflector onto the projector assembly.
Then seal the projector housing to it with the silicone sealer. This will create the
seal at the rear of the projector. Allow the sealer to cure for several hours before
attempting to work on it any further. Though, it’s a good idea to mount the 7”
lens on it and factory headlight retaining ring to ensure that the silicone cures
with the reflector in the right position.
While the silicone is curing, you can start the final trim work. Cut a Ø 7” piece of
mirror Plexiglas (I used my scroll saw) and then put a 3” hole in the center using
the Ø3” hole saw.
Then just like on the housing, put a piece of weathers tipping around the outer
perimeter of the Plexiglas on the top side. This Plexiglas plate will seal to the 7”
sealed beam housing and then the 7” lens will seal to this Plexiglas plate. The
whole thing will be sandwiched together using the factory ’71 headlight retaining
ring.
For the outer lens, I took the Ebay 7” housings and cut the back off using the
dremel tool and cutoff wheel.
I then cut a notch in the front portion.
That notch then became my starting point to gently twists off the remaining
housing material and separate the lens.
Moving on to the car, the car itself will also require some modification to fit these
projector housings. For this modification, it’ll help to remove the battery and the
charcoal canister. Given the length of the housings, there is some interference
with the front radiator core support. Fortunately, there is a pre-existing contour in
the core support which makes it easy to describe where to cut. Again, this
particular cut supports the Acura TL projectors only! Other types of projectors
will require careful measurement prior to cutting. Once again, the trusty little
dremel tool and cutoff wheel makes short work of an otherwise difficult task
(considering the confined workspace). Looking through the front headlight
opening…
The notch circled in red below is clearance for the hi-beam solenoid. I also had
to move my horn relay over toward the passenger side by about ¾” which
required drilling some new holes.
Lastly, you’ll have to clearance the driver side fender sheet metal a little to
provide clearance for the back of the projector housing.
Once the silicone cures, reassemble the whole thing back into the car just as you
would with a standard sealed beam. The only thing here is when you install the
brackets to the radiator core support, you’ll need to put in a 3/8” to ½” spacer
behind the lower hole (circled in red below). The reason is that the factory
aiming adjustment screws don’t have enough adjustment to get the cutoff line to
the right height. It needs this “head start” if you will.
For the most part, this completes the mechanical installation.
Electrical Installation
Before beginning the electrical installation, it’s important to identify each
connection so that the installation can progress smoothly. Below is the electrical
harness from The Retrofit Source laid out and annotated.
1.) Control module
2.) Connection to +12V battery
3.) Connection to existing vehicle headlight relay harness connector *
4.) Connection to vehicle ground (chassis) – driver side
5.) Connection to vehicle ground (chassis) – passenger side
6.) Connection from module to high voltage ballast – passenger side
7.) Connection from module to high voltage ballast – driver side
8.) Connection from module to high beam harness – driver side **
9.) Connection from module to high beam harness – passenger side **
10.)Connection to high beam solenoid on projector housing - passenger side
11.) Connection to high beam solenoid on projector housing – driver side
12.) High voltage ballast
13.) High voltage ballast
14.) Connection to D2S bulb
15.) Connection to D2S bulb
* Connects to the passenger side output connectors on my Painless Relay
harness.
** I decided to clip these connectors off and hard-wire the Acura TL hi-beam
mating connector pigtails to the relay module rather than have two connectors
redundant on this circuit.
Since the majority of connections to the vehicle electrical system occur near
the battery, it made sense to place the control module itself near the battery.
The module was placed right on the core support in front of the battery. You
may have to drill a hole in the core support for the mounting tab on the
module. Once the module was installed, it was a simple matter of routing
wires per the harness identification list above.
I opted to mount the high voltage ballasts inside the fenders for a cleaner
non-descript installation. The Retrofit Source supplies mounting brackets
which simply need to bent into a 90° angle and the hole (annotated with the
red arrow below) drilled out for a ½ bolt.
The bracket is then installed as shown below. One of the fender bolts is
removed and then used to mount the bracket. The solenoid is then screwed
to the bracket. Below is the driver side.
And the passenger side….
At this point, go ahead and make the electrical connections to the battery,
chassis grounds, and ballasts. The chassis grounds may require drilling
some holes in the front radiator support or some other part of the vehicle
sheet metal. And that takes care of the electrical portion.
The installation is now complete. As far as the aiming, find a level surface for
the car and a wall to shine the headlights on. Then simply aim the lights as
you normally would.
If everything was done correctly you should end up with a nice sharp cut off
line and the two beam patterns aligned with each other. In my case, the
ground was slightly angled down to the right, which resulted in the cutoff line
being tilted to the right. But I took that into account during the aiming.
Some pictures of the finished product.