Just wanted to post up the status of my HID projector retrofit on my 2010 Honda Fit. Like many of you, I just can't fork over a thousand bucks for headlights so I started doing my own retrofits years ago. Along the way I learned a lot about the process and pretty much have it streamlined so it's not as painful to undertake. First of all, opening and resealing your headlights is a pain and you should do whatever you can to minimize the number of times you have to do it. I started out using mini H1 projectors and the high beam solenoid failed on two sets of projectors. To me, that is the weak link on the mini H1 projectors and why I switched over to the FX-R projectors. The FX-R projectors are built like a tank, perform really well, and are fully enclosed so a shroud is not necessary. The FX-R high beam solenoids have an OEM quality to them and none of my FX-R projectors have ever had a failure.

The set I am installing had been installed in two other cars previously, my Dodge Magnum to a Suzuki Vitara headlight and now the Fit. I'm not going to go into too much detail about opening the headlights but I will suggest not sticking them into your oven. You just never know what kind stuff is being released when you heat up plastic headlights so think about you and your family's health because they can be ingesting that stuff the next time food is prepared. The way I did it was simply using a heat gun, paint scraper, and reverse pliers. Using a narrow nozzle attachment on my heat gun, I heated only the seam where the lens and housing meet on the headlight. I started separating the lens at the front pointy end of the headlight. This is where the reverse pliers really come in handy. The tool is actually for removing external snap rings, but you can fit it in between the housing and lens and it works like another set of hands to lift the lens away from the housing. This is what it looks like:





When the pointy end is separated, I begin separating one side about halfway down the length of the headlight, then separate the other side. While pulling the lens off, the glue will have a tendency to stretch like cheese when you lift a slice of pizza, blow some heat from the heat gun and it will the separate the strands. Important note: Do not remove the factory headlight glue or get any debris on it, you want to use it to give you the best headlight reseal when you're done. Once you get both sides about halfway separated, you'll now have better leverage on the lens to remove it completely. Do not touch the inside of the lens, the surface is very different than the outside and will likely scratch if you try to remove fingerprints. I stick the lens back into the shipping box and close it as soon as it's removed.

With the lens off, removing the reflector bowl is next. The reflector bowl is held in place at three points; two sockets, circled in yellow, on the bottom and the adjuster screw on the top. The sockets on the bottom were holding the reflector bowl really tight and the trick to releasing them was carefully heating them with the heat gun. If you try to just pull them off, you risk cracking the bowl.




This is what needs to be done to the reflector bowl and it's pretty much the same for any headlight, I use a 2 5/8"/67mm hole saw to cut out the H4 bulb holder. The hole saw fits perfectly over the bulb holder and helps keep it centered. A 3/4" hole is needed at the bottom for the solenoid and to allow the projector to seat fully into the bowl. Once you have the projector seated, mark off and drill the four holes needed for the bolts that will hold the projector in place.

 

Here's the projector installed.


The projectors were painted satin black a few years ago and I think the reflector bowls in the same color will look nice.






Headlights were mounted on the car to confirm fit and make final adjustments before installing lens. There is a lot of free space on the passenger side headlight so I was able to mount the ballast on the side of the housing.


Sealing these big headlights with a heat gun takes a bit of patience but got it done and now they are ready for install.

 

no night drive test photos?

 

Looks awesome. Great job so far!!!

 

Thanks for the pictures and write-up! This is something I have considered doing on my Fit, but I like having a reference.

 

Not yet. I had an issue with the new tires for the car over the weekend and a lot of family stuff to tend to so pretty much nothing got done. What I plan to do this week is install the dashcam first so I can update this thread with before and after vids.

 

awesome, awesome write up.

can we convince you to do 1 more, for the gk5 people? lol

 

Thank you! I always appreciate information people take the time to share and try to do my part in return.

marmaladedad, I know what you mean and believe me, it's a bit scary the first time you crack open a perfectly good headlight, but once you get it done, you'll realize it's not that difficult. I'm not much of a video maker, but the passenger headlight I'm replacing has a pretty clouded lens so I'm thinking of making a how-to for removing the haze, which I've never done, and another on how to remove the lens that I hope will be helpful to anyone thinking of doing a projector retrofit.

 

Thanks! If anyone has a trashed gk5 headlight laying around collecting dust or taking up space in their garage and willing to send it to me, I'd be happy to document how to open it up and fit a projector into it for educational purposes.

 

Do you by chance have anymore photos of the way the denso is mounted? Did you not encase the d2s connector in the headlight? I actually found this thread because I am doing a projector retrofit on my CT200h and was thinking of somehow mounting the denso slim to the headlight housing but your's is the first I've seen of what I pictured in my head! This is awesome!

Did you only two two mounting points? How did you prevent water from the holes in the headlight housing from the bolts through it...etc?

Thanks!
Looks awesome!

-Nigel