Bass_Waves
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Hey guys. Today we shall discuss a topic covered many times but many still get lost.
How to make Mini H1 Retrofit headlights.
Process is rather simple. Pics to come and this is not the final edit =]
Step 1: Acquire headlights. Best choice is OEM GM headlights. They are a lot of money to start with but worth it. The sealant used in oem lights is called Ocy Butyl.
Step 2: Set your oven to 275 degrees. Or do what i do, use a heat gun. My personal favorite is the Ryobi Heat gun from home depot. i paid near 30$ for it and have had it for about 2 years and still going. i have it set 1 click right under 750 so its near 600.
For oven method. Set it to 275. Pop in the headlight. Put on the timer. let the light bake for at least 10 minutes. Check on it constantly to prevent it from melting away. Once time is up , put on some mittens u don't plan to keep using for cooking purposes. Take out the oven. Begin prying open by pulling apart at the edges. Once apart. You will come to a point where there is butyl all over the place. don't panic. Clean up is simple. Since the glue is still hot. take a plastic knife since disposable. try to pick up as much as u can and take off as much as u can by scrapping away.
For the heat gun method. My method. Heat up the glue directly. Back and forth motion 1 section at a time. pry apart section per section. Since the light is not full blown hot. You can use your hands to open up easily. Or stick screwdriver(flathead) in between the headlight edge and lens edge and pry apart.
Step 3
Ok your at a point where u have lenses off and headlight parts on the other end. store away the lenses. lets work on the headlight guts. Flip the headlight around. You should find 3 torx screws or philips screws. Take them off. This releases the headlight shroud from the headlight and you can go ahead and paint w/e u may want to paint on it. Now we look and have 3 pieces laying around. The lenses. The housing. Finally the headlight shroud. woot.
Step 4
You now are at a point where you can't figure out how to take the final piece from the headlight. i call that the Headlight Bowl. here is my favorite method. You will notice 3 clips holding it on. I usually take my heat gun and heat them up and pop off the bowl with my hand. this insures the bowl will not break. Those clips are pretty sturdy and hold pretty well. Sometimes when trying to pry when cold. the clips will hold that bowl down so good, the bowl will break. Crazy i know. But now we all know. Heat softens up the plastic enough to help pull off. Don't heat up a lot. it will melt. Its plastic.
Step 5
Yay we have all the parts apart. The headlight housing. The headlight Shroud. The headlight bowl. Finally lenses. Turn over the bowl and you will see and wonder "how can i get this mini h1 projector in there?". Simple. Cut away the 9007 bulb holder. Yes cut. Take a dremel or belt sander. Cut around the ring and make enough space for the mini h1 to slide right thru and bolt in. there is 1 spot where u can cut quickly and swiftly and allow the projector to go in with ease. Pics to come with arrows pointing.
Step 6
Now that u have cut the bowl , clean it. rinse it with warm water and dry off properly. Take the projector. Slide on the rubber washer. put the projector thru the bowl. Once its thru, put on the h4 clip which is the biggest "washer" . Screw on the nut. tighten and voila . U bolted up the h1 projector. Now that you know the process. take it apart. leave the rubber washer on and take the projector out. now its time to put on shrouds. reason i made u put the projector in first is simple. to make sure it fits. now for shrouds. any 3 inch shroud will fit with proper cutting and centric rings. but mini h1 come with mini gatling gun shrouds or gatling gun 2.0. There are screws that come with the kit and those screws are long wood screws. put the shroud on. there are 4 holes that line up with the projector. line them up and put the wood screws thru the hole and screw them onto the shroud. this holds the shroud from ever coming apart from the projector. once thats said and done. Put back into bowl. bolt it up and all.
Step 7
Take the headlight housing and u will notice all the butyl all over the place. 2 things can be done. heat it all up and reform it back into the crack of the housing where the lenses sit on. Or heat it up and remove by scrapping it with a flat head screwdriver or butter knife. If you cleaned it all off. Use window butyl. You can purchase a box of window butyl anywhere they sell automotive parts. Prefer 3m Window Butyl. Its almost the same as the grey butyl that comes in the lights just black. same thing happens when u heat it up. To put the butyl in, just feed a small bead in and push it into the cracks. once its all on. it should look nice and clean.
Step 8
Assembly time. With heat put the bowl back on with the projector on or off the bowl. up to u. once all 3 clips are on, i would advise the use of jbweld on the 3rd (upper) clip. these tend to break loose when you try to adjust the lights. Also the weight of the projector doesn't help either lol. Once u dab the tab let dry. If you plan to just run like that. Go for it.
Put on the headlight shroud same way you took it off. If you decided to paint, make sure the reflector is on the side of the shroud. They tend to fall off once u remove them for the first time. Some jbweld on the back helps keep it in place.
Align the lenses and start to push it together. Push as much as u can. Once u feel the lenses won't go further. Its time to heat up the butyl. With the butyl nice and soft. Push the lens and headlight assembly together as tight as possible. the lenses actually go in pretty deep.
Step 9
Alignment. Easy stuff. Up and down is pretty straight forward. There is a screw on the back of the light that is accessible thru the top. Now. when you go and see the light. You may notice the lines going vertical. you may ask. WTF is going . Nothing to worry about. take the light out. With the light out, you can see your able to reach the tab where the h1 bulb is held. with pressure turn it clockwise or counterclockwise. the projector will turn and give you the horizontal lines you NEED. once its nice and straight, you will see a step like pattern. that a cut off line. its needed. Legal stuff aka not to blind the oncoming traffic.
Finished product. Mini h1 retrofit.
How to make Mini H1 Retrofit headlights.
Process is rather simple. Pics to come and this is not the final edit =]
Step 1: Acquire headlights. Best choice is OEM GM headlights. They are a lot of money to start with but worth it. The sealant used in oem lights is called Ocy Butyl.
Step 2: Set your oven to 275 degrees. Or do what i do, use a heat gun. My personal favorite is the Ryobi Heat gun from home depot. i paid near 30$ for it and have had it for about 2 years and still going. i have it set 1 click right under 750 so its near 600.
For oven method. Set it to 275. Pop in the headlight. Put on the timer. let the light bake for at least 10 minutes. Check on it constantly to prevent it from melting away. Once time is up , put on some mittens u don't plan to keep using for cooking purposes. Take out the oven. Begin prying open by pulling apart at the edges. Once apart. You will come to a point where there is butyl all over the place. don't panic. Clean up is simple. Since the glue is still hot. take a plastic knife since disposable. try to pick up as much as u can and take off as much as u can by scrapping away.
For the heat gun method. My method. Heat up the glue directly. Back and forth motion 1 section at a time. pry apart section per section. Since the light is not full blown hot. You can use your hands to open up easily. Or stick screwdriver(flathead) in between the headlight edge and lens edge and pry apart.
Step 3
Ok your at a point where u have lenses off and headlight parts on the other end. store away the lenses. lets work on the headlight guts. Flip the headlight around. You should find 3 torx screws or philips screws. Take them off. This releases the headlight shroud from the headlight and you can go ahead and paint w/e u may want to paint on it. Now we look and have 3 pieces laying around. The lenses. The housing. Finally the headlight shroud. woot.
Step 4
You now are at a point where you can't figure out how to take the final piece from the headlight. i call that the Headlight Bowl. here is my favorite method. You will notice 3 clips holding it on. I usually take my heat gun and heat them up and pop off the bowl with my hand. this insures the bowl will not break. Those clips are pretty sturdy and hold pretty well. Sometimes when trying to pry when cold. the clips will hold that bowl down so good, the bowl will break. Crazy i know. But now we all know. Heat softens up the plastic enough to help pull off. Don't heat up a lot. it will melt. Its plastic.
Step 5
Yay we have all the parts apart. The headlight housing. The headlight Shroud. The headlight bowl. Finally lenses. Turn over the bowl and you will see and wonder "how can i get this mini h1 projector in there?". Simple. Cut away the 9007 bulb holder. Yes cut. Take a dremel or belt sander. Cut around the ring and make enough space for the mini h1 to slide right thru and bolt in. there is 1 spot where u can cut quickly and swiftly and allow the projector to go in with ease. Pics to come with arrows pointing.
Step 6
Now that u have cut the bowl , clean it. rinse it with warm water and dry off properly. Take the projector. Slide on the rubber washer. put the projector thru the bowl. Once its thru, put on the h4 clip which is the biggest "washer" . Screw on the nut. tighten and voila . U bolted up the h1 projector. Now that you know the process. take it apart. leave the rubber washer on and take the projector out. now its time to put on shrouds. reason i made u put the projector in first is simple. to make sure it fits. now for shrouds. any 3 inch shroud will fit with proper cutting and centric rings. but mini h1 come with mini gatling gun shrouds or gatling gun 2.0. There are screws that come with the kit and those screws are long wood screws. put the shroud on. there are 4 holes that line up with the projector. line them up and put the wood screws thru the hole and screw them onto the shroud. this holds the shroud from ever coming apart from the projector. once thats said and done. Put back into bowl. bolt it up and all.
Step 7
Take the headlight housing and u will notice all the butyl all over the place. 2 things can be done. heat it all up and reform it back into the crack of the housing where the lenses sit on. Or heat it up and remove by scrapping it with a flat head screwdriver or butter knife. If you cleaned it all off. Use window butyl. You can purchase a box of window butyl anywhere they sell automotive parts. Prefer 3m Window Butyl. Its almost the same as the grey butyl that comes in the lights just black. same thing happens when u heat it up. To put the butyl in, just feed a small bead in and push it into the cracks. once its all on. it should look nice and clean.
Step 8
Assembly time. With heat put the bowl back on with the projector on or off the bowl. up to u. once all 3 clips are on, i would advise the use of jbweld on the 3rd (upper) clip. these tend to break loose when you try to adjust the lights. Also the weight of the projector doesn't help either lol. Once u dab the tab let dry. If you plan to just run like that. Go for it.
Put on the headlight shroud same way you took it off. If you decided to paint, make sure the reflector is on the side of the shroud. They tend to fall off once u remove them for the first time. Some jbweld on the back helps keep it in place.
Align the lenses and start to push it together. Push as much as u can. Once u feel the lenses won't go further. Its time to heat up the butyl. With the butyl nice and soft. Push the lens and headlight assembly together as tight as possible. the lenses actually go in pretty deep.
Step 9
Alignment. Easy stuff. Up and down is pretty straight forward. There is a screw on the back of the light that is accessible thru the top. Now. when you go and see the light. You may notice the lines going vertical. you may ask. WTF is going . Nothing to worry about. take the light out. With the light out, you can see your able to reach the tab where the h1 bulb is held. with pressure turn it clockwise or counterclockwise. the projector will turn and give you the horizontal lines you NEED. once its nice and straight, you will see a step like pattern. that a cut off line. its needed. Legal stuff aka not to blind the oncoming traffic.
Finished product. Mini h1 retrofit.
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