Projector Headlight Installation

I finally received my new projector headlights from Ground Dynamics.  These aren't the exact ones I ordered, but instead of pissing away another month waiting for shipping to get this set BACK to cali, and the ones I wanted, I decided to say the hell with it, and put these on.  They're made by Spyder Auto, and I got a damn good deal on them.  $295.00 and that included shipping.  Other companies have the same ones for about $50 more + shipping.

Just to give you an idea of the "From/To"

There are a hell of a lot more wires with these than the stock ones.  These are NOT HID or Xenon. These are just standard projection lenses with a stock halogen bulb.  It also has the "angel eye" halo around the high beam bulb, which is two of the extra wires.  These tie into the running lights.  Which is a considerable job. 

Above is the drivers side lamp. This is how it ships out the box.  The harness is the high/low beam wires. It snaps into the stock harness.  The Red/Black wire bundle is the turn signal wires, The bundle is about 6 feet long and has to be routed through the engine bay to tie into the stock turn signal wires. (Must be done for both sides) And the white/black wires are for the "halo" LED;You'll need about 6 feet of extra wire (20guage speaker wire will do) to route through the engine bay-these tie into the stock running lights.  (must be done on both sides).  ***Technically these wires are optional to hookup since there is a turn signal & running lights on the front bumper. But for $300, damnit i want the whole thing lit up.***  On the intercooler is layout of the tools you'll need.  Wire strippers, Adjustable Pliers, Cutters, Black Electrical Tape (1.5 rolls works nicely) and some zip-ties to replace the stock zips you have to cut out, and 6 feet of speaker wire for the halo connection. **You'll need 2 separate 6 foot rolls of extra wire. One for each side.

Here is the Stock Driver Side lamp still in place. The housing slides in from the front, and the three bolt extensions slide into corresponding holes.  You can see the hole locations on the brackets where the light has been removed.  You can use a socket to remove these, but you'll need a deep well. They are 10mm.   The harness is a click-in. To remove, squeeze the top and bottom and pull hard.  Remove the mounting nuts, and take out the housing. 

This is a retaining grommet that is attached to the stock lamp, it's really easy to remove. Just don't break it because you will most definitely need it later!!!

I'm trying to tape up all the wires before installation, It's hard to crane your neck around and tape once the light is tightened in place.  And yes I taped All the wires. It's added security for the wires against chaffing and heat.

Connecting the extra cable to the halo wires on the housing.

The lamp is in place, and all my wires have been taped, now it's time to start routing.  If you look at the far right side of the hood, you'll notice there are no other wires or grommets to connect to.  Which poses the problem of having nothing to anchor the new wires to.  This is a pain. I had to find an extra from another part of the hood and relocate it.  I also fished a zip tie through two adjacent holes and made a grommet.

You can see the Rear lamp mounting bracket on the right,  I snaked the wires around the lamp and pulled them through the gap between the lamp and the bracket. This keeps the wires from dangling.  The edges are sharp and will chafe the wire, so be careful.

This is the engine side of the new light.  in the upper left you'll the grommet, thats the same one that came of the stock lamp, there is a hole close enough to snap it in place without straining the wire or harness.   The harness is however left to dangle a bit, but not near any moving parts, and not in a location where it'll get crushed.

Here are the wires routed and anchored to the hood.  You can see the extra grommet I borrowed. There is also a black ground wire anchored to the hood arm, so you can zip tie or tape the wires to that.  Leave some slack, because the wires have to bend and move when the hood opens and shuts.

Now i can start running the wires throught the engine bay. There is a grommet with wires coming into the open space by the brake master cylinder.  I just pushed the wires through.

There are however no usable grommets coming INTO the engine bay.  I took a drill bit and made two small holes (1/4" each) and pushed my wires through.  I was going through plastic so i had to be careful not to cut the brake lines on the back side.  I pulled the top off the fuse box to make it easier to snake the wires down beside it.  I had to muscle it out of the way, the sucker doesn't move much.  That engine/transmission mount is a pain in the ass. The wires either go over it (which looks like amateur hour) or under it.  There is a wire bundle running underneath it already, so snaking the extra wires is tricky and the fit is tight, but not enough to cut the wires from chassy/engine movement.

The white wire sticking through is the Halo extension and taped with it is the turn signal.  You can see how close the gap is,  and guiding the two through that small opening is difficult at best.

I'm holding the stock running light and wires.  Do not cut these in two!! It makes tying in the Halo feed wires a major pain in the ass.  Take the wire strippers and cut the jacket in two places about        3/4" of an inch apart. Then take your razor and cut the jacket leaving bare wire.  Take the tip of the razor and separate the wires into equal bunches (effectively making an "O")  Then take your feed wires and guide the stripped end through the O and wrap it around as tight as possible.  Then tape it up and do the other one.  **the Stock wire colors were ((Drivers side running light (+)Black/Green Stripe & (-)Brown))((Drivers Side Turn Signal (+)Blue/Green Stripe (-)Brown.))** I had the passenger side hooked up backwards and the HALO wouldn't work.

Do this method for both light splices.  It takes longer and it's more tedious, but the connection is a lot better and stronger.

This is what the wires looked like when I finished. Nice and clean. Looks Stock.  Taping up all the wires isn't absolutely necessary, but it does make for a cleaner more stock looking installation, and again, gives extra protection from harm.

This is just an under shot of the passenger side installed. Again, I routed the wires between the lamp and retaining bracket.  The wire grommet from the stock housing is relocated off to the right side to hold the harness in place.  Again, there is slack but not enough to put the wires in danger. You do have to make sure the harnes isn't close to the hood latch which is in a pretty close proximity.

More passenger side shots. This side is easier to route since there are existing wires to tape/tie too. It is a little tricky running the wires from the hood arm through wire grommet by the firewall.  You can see the two white zip ties  in the pic on the left; you'll need to give it a couple extra inches to let the wires fold up as the hood shuts. Make sure they don't bind or get severed. I had to put a couple of bends in mine to make sure they tucked themselves away properly.

The picture on the left shows the stock rubber grommet the new wires can feed through into the engine bay.  The pic on the right is just the open area between the engine bay and the fire wall.

This is a shot of the passenger side wires all spliced in and taped up. The passenger side is Much easier to splice in than the drivers side. By that I mean you don't have to remove the bulb housings. There is a bundle of wire next to the chassy that contain the turn signal/running light wires, just take your razor and gently cut the electrical tape to expose the stock wires.  You can look at the wires running into the back of the light sockets to find the colors. I actually cut the running light wires in half and it took forever to splice in the halo feed wires correctly and reconnect the running light socket.  **Stock wire colors ((Passenger side-Turn Signal (+)Blue/Brown Stripe (-)Brown (Running Light-(+)Black/Blue Stripe (-)Brown))  **It is important to note which ground is which, since the bulbs have different loads on them, the grounds also have different return loads. 
 
All finished up and ready to rock and roll. The LED rings are on, but it was still daylight and they aren't super bright.  Everything works well and they just need to be adjusted.  **The fender flares are being replaced with a widebody kit from ZeeMax, Once they're in place, the lights will look considerably nicer.

More Stock Shit added to the pile in my den.