DIY The Ultimate Mini H1 retro DIY 2013 civic SI

[austin1636]

Mod difficulty 6-7/10

MINI H1 retrofit DIY 2013 civic si

What I used:
Mini H1 projectors
Shrouds
OEM headlights
Black bumper paint
Painters tape
DDM tuning 35W 5000k H1 HID kit
Flat head screw drivers
Philips screw drivers
Needle nose pliers
10mm Socket/extensions
Steel wool
Wire cutters
Sand paper
Machine screws #4 1/2 inch

Warning
This mod takes a lot of time and patients. You must be confident in doing this mod. Do it at YOUR OWN risk. The plastic on the headlights will get soft and you can ruin it easily. Once you start painting there is no going back**

NOTE* i did NOT use the Dual function on these projectors(only low beam)


Here is what it looks like when you first open up the projectors

STEP 1
Bumper removal
(if you are not comfortable with this then do not attempt this mod)

This is as far as i took the bumper off since you only need enough space to get the headlight off

STEP 2
Headlight removal

there are 3 bolts holding the headlight on the car(10mm)

TOP

SIDE

BOTTOM
(need extension)

Next you need to get the bracket that holds the bumper/supports the headlight off of the headlight
(one 10mm bolt)

STEP 3
Prep the headlight for Baking

Remove all bulbs

Remove two large rubber seals(needle nose pliers)

Remove small rubber cover

Remove all screws
(I believe there are 4-5 just look around and remove them all)

these two

Do not remove the above 10mm bolt/the adjustment wheel in the above picture


Next make sure you do the worst possible job taping the backside holes of the headlights

 

[austin1636]

Heres what it looks like once you get it open

STEP 5
Clearing headlights
I cleared the headlights which took a couple seconds to figure out but if you look hard enough there is a tab(part of the orange reflector) and you have to use a flat head to pop it out

Here is the tabs location(it is in between the gap in the circle)

STEP 6
Trim the back side of the lens

Remove the two screws below(not circled) and take the 9006 adapter plate off.

then use some wire cutters to clip the tabs(circled in green). These are in the way of the locking nut when you try to tighten it down later on. Also use some sand paper to file down where the tabs were/ one of the screws to make more space for the locking nut.

If you do not sand it down enough you will run into the problem when trying to secure the locking nut/ projector and have to sand it down more.

NOTE* i did not circle one of the tabs to cut since you cant see it in the above pic.

Tape the inside of the reflector bowl if you have to sand more and you already painted(like i did)

STEP 7
Painting the Reflector bowls

Next tape off where you want to black out

It is really up to you to decide where you want to tape off. I just followed the bridge/top of line going down the high beam.

Next use some steel wool to scratch up the inside of the reflector bowl

Note* if you do it too much you will go through the chrome(make sure you do an even job)

I also taped/ painted the part of the turn signal reflector because it goes over the low beam section
These are just held into the front lens by some screws! just take them out very simple

Here is AlienPrime picture and you can see what part i am talking about

If you are doing a DIY you better pull up his thread because it has lots of useful info and pics

That is the thread i had open to make sure i wasnt doing it wrong!

Here is the painted bowl
(i let it dry over night)

The MOD is almost over!


STEP 8
Assemble the projector!

Here is the meat and potatoes to this project

attach the shroud to the projector(it only goes one way)
I used machine screws to do it since i didnt get anything to attach it with in the kit
(#4 1/2 inch)

The Above picture shows how you need to assemble it to the not so reflective bowl.
You will get a larger rubber seal and two adapter plates(not shown) that you do NOT need to use.

the order is: Projector - Rubber seal - Reflector bowl - lock nut - bulb holder

make sure you tighten it down enough that you can still turn the projector by hand for aiming them later

NOTE* Do not over tighten and strip the threads on the lock nut they are more sensitive than a feminist on her period

STEP 9
Now were going to skip ahead since this part is pretty much hands on.

Put the headlights back onto the car in there current state and wire it all up and turn them on.
Bring some microfiber towels to clean up your mess when you look at this rainbow cut off line that is beaming across wherever your car is parked.

i suggest you drive your car to somewhere with a really big flat wall to aim them cause i did it in my garage and they came out very level but just barely off.

twist the projector and make them level.

Next tighten the lock nut down and double check(put the headlights back onto the car) to make sure they are level still

(they wont be)

once you have them horizontally level its time to silicon them

I put the silicon in every nook and cranny and filled it up
you dont want these things moving on you so dont be shy to make it nice and solid

i about covered the whole lock nut

 

[austin1636]

Now let those things dry for a bit so they dont move on you!!

STEP 10
RE SEALING them

now that the projector is mounted and leveled in there MAKE sure there is now dust anywhere on the inside of the lens or reflector bowl/ headlights.

DO NOT forget to use a microfiber towel and wipe all the fingerprints down on EVERYTHING.
the shroud/lens/reflectors/projectors/ inside/ outside EVERYWHERE.

once its sealed its too late!

NOTE* i used some alcohol and glass cleaner but DO NOT Use it on the shroud!!!!! it will peel off the chrome finish....lucky for me you cant see it since its covered up!


smash the front lens to the headlight and make sure you line it up good! that glue will stick already!!

Tape up the backside of the headlight so you dont get dust or anything into the headlights

(much better this time)

I used a hair dryer on high heat to start sealing it back up

just heat portions until the glue is soft enough to press together and get the tabs back into place
(this is just as tricky as opening the damn thing)

then i baked it at 230 degrees for about 3 min to help seal them up some more and push it all back into place

once that is done RE install all of the screws into each headlight/ all of the bulbs

STEP 11

INSTALL it all back

here are the ballast with some weather striping on them to mount them to the underside fenders of the car

once the headlights are on and the bumper is one you're done!!!

CONGRATS you did it



Here are some extra pics

Thanks for looking

-Austin

 

[webby]

looks great

 

[AlienPrime]

Amazing! You left the orange signal bulbs tho!?

 

[FB2Chris]

Great DIY The finished product looks awesome!

 

[austin1636]

Amazing! You left the orange signal bulbs tho!?

I didn't think of this at the time lol!! I def will be switching out... Probably to yellow to match the DRL(I need to do yellow lenses for the fogs too)
Otherwise just clear

Great DIY The finished product looks awesome!

Thank you! I kinda stopped taking pics towards the end but once the projector is mounted it's just clean up/ re dealing and super easy!



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[iluvmycsx]

great diy

 

[Phaheem]

Great DIY man. The projectors look great in your CBP sedan. So. Damn. Tempting!
I've done this retrofit before, I just don't like baking the headlights open. I'll have to find a spare set of OEM headlights to do this to.

 

[austin1636]

Great DIY man. The projectors look great in your CBP sedan. So. Damn. Tempting!
I've done this retrofit before, I just don't like baking the headlights open. I'll have to find a spare set of OEM headlights to do this to.

Thank you! It was my first time and the actual baking of the headlights didn't bother me..., it was how hard they are to crack open... I feel like I was gonna break them..... And ruin the edge of the plastic lol but with time I got it open.

You should do it


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[austin1636]

Just realized I skipped the whole baking section of this DIY -_- ill update this tmrrw with all of those steps and pictures lol


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[Phaheem]

How easy/hard was it to level/aim the beam of the projectors?

 

[austin1636]

How easy/hard was it to level/aim the beam of the projectors?

It's extremely easy, as far as the height... I purposely left the reflector bowl in the headlight so I wouldn't have to do much with leveling the vertical.... You level the vertical how you would with normal bulbs... Just use the adjustment screws.... As far as the horizontal rotation.... You literally just twist it by hand a little and make it as level as you think you can..... That's all. After you tighten them you have to put them back on and double check cause they will be off a lot and you will have to re level them... Then just silicon it in so it never moves again


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[promar93]

Great DIY article. Very thorough. There definitely seems like a time commitment in completing this alteration!

 

[Michael Perez]

Curious to see what it looks like without the black painted reflector bowl

 

[webby]

Curious to see what it looks like without the black painted reflector bowl

few examples of unpainted here -
http://customlightz.com/?p=p_254&sName=9th-civic-single

 

[2013_Si_Guy]

How much would this something like this cost?

 

[webby]

projectors $85
bulbs/digital slim ballasts can be purchased for $30 on ebay
harness ~$15 on ebay
==
~$130

 

[AlienPrime]

Lol but will eBay bulbs and ballast really last webby? Hahah

 

[webby]

Lol but will eBay bulbs and ballast really last webby? Hahah

Going on 2yrs without issue. Where do you think 99% of all of that stuff is made? Some users here have had ddm stuff for 5yrs without issue. It's like 30-40 dollars as well.