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How to- Retrofit Projectors 97-03 GP

LS1GTP

LS1GTP

It's Slow
PLEASE ASK ALL QUESTIONS IN THIS THREAD- DO NOT PM ME, I WILL NOT ANSWER.

This write up is to retrofit Morimoto Mini H1 projectors into your 97-03 Grand Prix. This should also be helpful as a guide for retrofitting into other cars as well. I know there are some other write ups for doing this, but I felt they were a little lacking.

What you will need:

Morimoto Mini H1 projectors from theretrofitsource.com
Bixenon Motocontrol 9007 harness from theretrofitsource.com
New OEM headlights work best, they come apart MUCH easier than old ones
H1 HID kit
Dremel, cutoff wheel, and other basic tools


Take your headlights apart, removing everything you can from them. Set oven to 225 degrees



Bake them for about a half hour



Pull them out (use oven mitts, don't be stupid) and start to pry between the housing and lense. Be careful and don't use excess force, if it's not coming apart, put them back in the oven for longer. If you hear cracking, you're probably NOT being careful and are breaking the housing. I wouldn't recommend setting the oven for hotter, I have melted lenses on a previous retrofit.





Here's a shot of the housings with the lenses off. Passenger side is scuffed with scotch brite for painting them later.



Now we need to make the shrouds fit in the housing. I chose the gatlin gun ones because they are free with the projectors. You can also see that I broke some of the bottom of the housing getting the lenses off.



Here's the shroud cut, and on the projector.





Notice how the top is smoothed by the edge, this is important so the projector has a little wiggle room for adjusting.



Also note that where the sides of the projector start to curve, the shroud has been cut to follow the curve. Be careful not to cut into where the bolts thread into the shroud (this is only a concern on the top)



Put the big rubber washer on the back of the projector.



Now you'll immediately notice that the projector's threads won't be close to being exposed.



Cut that sucker off, at an angle where the projector will be angled "outward". I also used my dremel to thin it out some more.





I also shaved a little off where the bulb sits inside the housing, again, keeping in mind to make the projector face outward.



Drill a hole to where the wires from the projector will fit through.



Here's what you should now have, with the wires through the hole you drilled.



Now to secure the projector, use the thin rubber washer, then the metal washer, then the nut. BE CAREFUL! The nut can strip out the threads on the projector pretty easily. Take your time and thread it on by hand. If you happen to strip the projector's threads, TRS can send a new bowl for $15, ask me how I know. :(



Take a minute to admire your hard work, you've made it so far and it's pretty much downhill from here :th_winking:





Now you're going to want to find out if the projectors are aligned straight or if they need adjusting. Install the HID kit and motocontrol harness in your car. If you can't do this, seek help. :th_nervous: Put the bulbs in the projectors, they should look like this (it's pretty straight forward). I also sealed up the hole where the wires go through with RTV, but don't do that until you know everything is done with the headlights.



Once you have everything adjusted where you want it, you're done! I painted my housings and shrouds black before sealing up the headlights. Use RTV to seal them up.

Enjoy being able to see and not blinding people (but you sure as hell can with the high beams!)

I'm going to get some on-car pictures of mine soon.

AGAIN, ASK ALL QUESTIONS IN THIS THREAD, DO NOT PM ME.
 
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If the beams are crooked, use your hand and turn the projector before sealing them up. Of course, if the beams aren't at the right height, use the adjusters on the headlight bracket.

You can also make small adjustments if the beams aren't exactly straight once they're sealed. Just turn the hold down nut, and the whole projector will move a bit either way.

If your beams are like this /\ or like this \ / , you have bigger problems and will probably have to do more trimming to the shroud.
 


Should be a few days.

I'm working on finishing a second set. I didn't do enough adjusting for the first set and the beams are too crooked to just turn the hold down nut. They give amazing output but I know the crooked beams will annoy me. Another member is planning on buying them.

IMO they also look better than any other headlights available for GPs.
 
Great write-up. I had to cut out the bottom of the housing and seal with tape to get the solenoid to fit properly and not max out the height adjusters if using the 4.1 projectors. I also found it helpful to to find some rubber gaskets to help with the cross beam adjustment. Good job and you make it seem all too easy.
 
great write up bout time someone did a proper one,
i got a question about the shrouds, is there a way to mount the projectors with out using a shroud? ill find a pic of what im talking about
 


dpzelenak said:
great write up bout time someone did a proper one,
Click to expand...
agree.gif


I have all my parts now, but need to finish up my other projects before diving into this one. I can't wait, yet I am so afraid. :th_laugh-lol2:
 
dpzelenak said:
great write up bout time someone did a proper one,
i got a question about the shrouds, is there a way to mount the projectors with out using a shroud? ill find a pic of what im talking about
Click to expand...

Yea sure, you don't have to use the shroud. It's just held onto the projector with 4 screws. The projector doesn't look as good without it, and you'd be able to see the chrome reflector bowl- in my black housings, that will be easy to see and not look good. The advantage to not using it is just that you don't have to take the time to cut it to fit.
 
Scuffed the chrome with scotch brite, cleaned with dx-320, sprayed semi-flat black with this paint (it sprays better and seems more durable than other paints I've used).
 
Obviously you'd most likely need to have "vendor" status, but would you consider making and selling these if it was in your interest to do so?
 


Considered that when I did them for my Camaro (also put red halos in them). Almost pulled the trigger on vendor status on a different forum, but it's just too much work.

Getting the projector lined up before sealing them up requires them to be on the car. I don't want to have to be taking my headlights off for every set I make.

Not worth my time unfortunately, which is why I made the how-to instead.
 
Good write up. I attached mine at the back a little bit differently. I might take mine back apart and do it the way you did it so i can get some more adjustment out of them heightwise. Looks good
 
This may be a dumb question but, did you take out the projector when you painted? and did you paint the shroud too?

What did you mean by "Cut that sucker off, at an angle where the projector will be angled "outward"."
 
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