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HID/ Projector Retrofit Question!

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Old Aug 28, 2011 | 03:49 PM
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Default HID/ Projector Retrofit Question!

Good Morning!

I have a quick question here. I'm planning on getting a set of HID's for a retrofit I plan to do next week. The projectors are the OEM 08-10's. I have an 05 Scion TC and have not installed HID's on it before. My question is, what size does the bulb need to be? The size of what the projectors use or the 9006? Will I need a conversion harness for all of this?

Also, is a dual-in-out harness necessary for a 35W kit? I'm not too sure about what it's used for besides, not ruining your HIDS, wiring, and or flickering of bulbs.

My last question is, what size of Shroud fits the OEM projectors? Anybody have any experience?

Thank You in advance!
Old Aug 28, 2011 | 04:29 PM
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you are using just the projectors from an 08-10 tc? why?

they are halogen projectors, if your going through the whole process of doing a retrofit why not use a legit HID projector? tsx, fx, s2k, etc etc
Old Aug 28, 2011 | 04:36 PM
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Well the OEM projectors for the scions (I assume thats what you were referring to) will house the H11 bulb so thats the connector you will need. so yes you will need the pigtail connector and you can just solder that into your old harness or you can get **** and re-end the harness with the pins and slide them into the new pigtail connector for more of a OEM look..

As far as the dual in's and out you wont need but I would def get the relay that gets power straight from the battery, I know other guys are running them without but you always want the correct distro for power.. that relay protects all of your equipment and is just mickey mousing your car when you don't.. the risk is up to you..


as far as getting a kit that won't flicker I would suggest calling the boys down at www.theretrofitsource.com and pick yourself up a morimoto stage II kits with the H11's and go with 4300k unless you like running the annoying blue crap.. its your choice.. Their kits are solid and I run them on all my vehicles.
Old Aug 28, 2011 | 08:44 PM
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Originally Posted by chicotunner07
you are using just the projectors from an 08-10 tc? why?

they are halogen projectors, if your going through the whole process of doing a retrofit why not use a legit HID projector? tsx, fx, s2k, etc etc

Halogen Projectors? The main point being that there projectors. I'm not putting HID's in my reflector housing like all the idiots out there. And Plus, I got a pair of the OEM projectors for $35 bucks, so I don't get why not?

I'm on a budget
Old Aug 28, 2011 | 09:00 PM
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Originally Posted by kingofthecrate
Well the OEM projectors for the scions (I assume thats what you were referring to) will house the H11 bulb so thats the connector you will need. so yes you will need the pigtail connector and you can just solder that into your old harness or you can get **** and re-end the harness with the pins and slide them into the new pigtail connector for more of a OEM look..

As far as the dual in's and out you wont need but I would def get the relay that gets power straight from the battery, I know other guys are running them without but you always want the correct distro for power.. that relay protects all of your equipment and is just mickey mousing your car when you don't.. the risk is up to you..


as far as getting a kit that won't flicker I would suggest calling the boys down at www.theretrofitsource.com and pick yourself up a morimoto stage II kits with the H11's and go with 4300k unless you like running the annoying blue crap.. its your choice.. Their kits are solid and I run them on all my vehicles.
So you mean one of these ?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/9006-...710#vi-content

Damn! That's kinda expensive, but sounds good.
But anyways, I'm not spending $500 on a stupid retrofit kit. I just would like to have the very basics and do everything myself.

Do you know a size of shroud that fits around the oem projector by any chance?
Also, what is does the relay look like and/ or cost?
Old Aug 28, 2011 | 09:53 PM
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Originally Posted by aksc
Halogen Projectors? The main point being that there projectors. I'm not putting HID's in my reflector housing like all the idiots out there. And Plus, I got a pair of the OEM projectors for $35 bucks, so I don't get why not?

I'm on a budget
i guess it is better then just sticking hid bulbs in there, but i suggest you play around with the cutoff shield and completely cover the squirrel spotter, maybe even make a custom cutoff shield, could have yourself some decent results!

any pics of the projectors? just curious
Old Aug 28, 2011 | 10:06 PM
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Originally Posted by chicotunner07
i guess it is better then just sticking hid bulbs in there, but i suggest you play around with the cutoff shield and completely cover the squirrel spotter, maybe even make a custom cutoff shield, could have yourself some decent results!

any pics of the projectors? just curious
Yep, i bought em from Pwee08 on this fourm. He has pictures of the offset and the projectors. Just scroll down. And I will definitely look into improving that cutoff. Any more advice? lol

Heres the link:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=200187
Old Aug 29, 2011 | 04:02 AM
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Yeah something like that to convert over to a d11 bulb.. a lot of guys around here like to run a d9 bulb which is just a high beam which gives you more lumens at 65 watts vs the 55 watts the d11 runs.. I thought you were going HID, thats why I mentioned the morimoto kit
Old Aug 29, 2011 | 11:12 AM
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Originally Posted by kingofthecrate
Yeah something like that to convert over to a d11 bulb.. a lot of guys around here like to run a d9 bulb which is just a high beam which gives you more lumens at 65 watts vs the 55 watts the d11 runs.. I thought you were going HID, thats why I mentioned the morimoto kit
Yeah, I'm just looking to do a quick little retrofit, through on some HID's, Possibly some angle eyes, and some eyebrow LED's, and be done w/ it.
Old Aug 29, 2011 | 02:14 PM
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Putting the OEM halogen projectors in 05-07 lights is a waste of time and effort. Your light output will remain the same or maybe even decrease depending on color temp with HIDs.
Old Aug 29, 2011 | 08:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Jon
Putting the OEM halogen projectors in 05-07 lights is a waste of time and effort. Your light output will remain the same or maybe even decrease depending on color temp with HIDs.
You think so? From all the people that have OEM projectors on this forum, a bunch have HID's in their stock projector headlights. I don't get why not?

I'm just trying to save some money here. And Plus, once I get the bracket made and all, it should be VERY easy to swap out into another projector very easily.


Let me know your Input guys! All and any suggestions are appreciated.
Old Aug 30, 2011 | 03:51 AM
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Doesn't look too bad. And I'm not looking to get a PERFECT, POINT, LEVELED PROJECTOR. Yes, that would be nice, and I'll try my best to get these as leveled and clear as possible, but it's not a big deal for me. I'll have a complete set of retrofit headlights, w/ Angle Eyes, LED Eyebrows, and 6k HID's for Under $200...

I don't consider that a bad deal, since the 08-10 are approximately $200 a piece, for just the headlight.
Old Aug 30, 2011 | 04:51 AM
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For $300, you could have Morimoto HID projectors, brackets, and a complete, quality HID kit. I know these are for the 08-10 projectors, but if you're going to do a retro on the 05-07s you'll be doing custom stuff anyway.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...kr0l5ojhg096nj

The difference between a halogen and a HID projector is so amazing that I would do it right the first time. Light dispersion is totally different between the two. If you know someone with a car that has OEM HIDs, go take a ride in it at night and compare.
Old Aug 30, 2011 | 03:19 PM
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the tc projectors dont look hald bad, they look very similar to non-afs rx330 projectors, which ive used before.

some modding will go a long way, definitely a custom shield, and also clear lenses if you can swing them, it will make a night and day difference.
Old Aug 30, 2011 | 03:31 PM
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to the OP, I JUST finished re-doing my QUAD xenon retro using e46 projectors and stock OEM Scion projectors for low beams. however I did mod the shields to remove the squirrel spotter and add a blue line to the cutoff. check it out on this thread.....

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...=198519&page=5

and to answer your questions about relay harnesses... (Quoting myself from another thread)...

EACH stock LOW beam socket has a 10 amp fuse, then the relay, THEN to a 40amp MAIN fuse, THEN the battery.

If you look at other forums for older cars, etc... you will see home-made relay harnesses (for maximum electrical safety) designed as follow (using generic 4-pin 30amp relay):

EACH bulb (+) will run a 15amp fuse, then splice to the 87 pin on the relay, THEN the relay unloads at 30 pin to a 30amp fuse THEN to battery. Each bulb (-) will ground to a point / chassis.

That is the wiring diagram for those who worry about burning wires etc...

Summary, our TCs have 10 amps after each headlight (+) wire, THEN to relay, then to 40amp fuse, then to battery. 10x4(1 fuse per hi/low beam) = 40amp, 15x2 = 30amp. Your call if you want redundant extra relay harnesses next to our stock wirings.
Old Aug 30, 2011 | 03:37 PM
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forgot to mention, that pic on the other thread was BEFORE i modded the shield to remove squirrel spotter lol.
Old Sep 1, 2011 | 02:19 AM
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Originally Posted by chicotunner07
the tc projectors dont look hald bad, they look very similar to non-afs rx330 projectors, which ive used before.

some modding will go a long way, definitely a custom shield, and also clear lenses if you can swing them, it will make a night and day difference.
ahh... I think I will go w/ some better lenses. Do you know the size of the lenses? Will the FX-R ones work? Also, how big of a difference will switching em out make?

And about the custom shield, how hard is that? I've heard if you screw up your measurements, you can really make them a lot worse? Sorry for the Nubbie A$$ questions. First retrofit. Hopefully more to come after this.

Found a pair of the FX-R lenses for $10 shipped
Old Sep 1, 2011 | 02:22 AM
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Originally Posted by fongyz
to the OP, I JUST finished re-doing my QUAD xenon retro using e46 projectors and stock OEM Scion projectors for low beams. however I did mod the shields to remove the squirrel spotter and add a blue line to the cutoff. check it out on this thread.....

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...=198519&page=5

and to answer your questions about relay harnesses... (Quoting myself from another thread)...

EACH stock LOW beam socket has a 10 amp fuse, then the relay, THEN to a 40amp MAIN fuse, THEN the battery.

If you look at other forums for older cars, etc... you will see home-made relay harnesses (for maximum electrical safety) designed as follow (using generic 4-pin 30amp relay):

EACH bulb (+) will run a 15amp fuse, then splice to the 87 pin on the relay, THEN the relay unloads at 30 pin to a 30amp fuse THEN to battery. Each bulb (-) will ground to a point / chassis.

That is the wiring diagram for those who worry about burning wires etc...

Summary, our TCs have 10 amps after each headlight (+) wire, THEN to relay, then to 40amp fuse, then to battery. 10x4(1 fuse per hi/low beam) = 40amp, 15x2 = 30amp. Your call if you want redundant extra relay harnesses next to our stock wirings.

Yeah I suck with wiring and electrical stuff, so umm I kinda have little to no idea how I'm gonna wire them from the Headlights to the battery. This is not my main concern though. Thats the easy ____tt. I just need to find out how to make these some decent projectors.
Old Sep 1, 2011 | 02:37 PM
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@ AKSC - I haven't measured the TC lenses but from a quick google, Low Beam Projector=2 5/8" i.d. - the shield is a fully integrated with the mounting bracket, so unless u wanna cut and stuff.. modding it i just put a few small washers to space the shield further away from the bowl to get that blue cut-off (and also a slight curvy bend of the shield INWARD towards the bowl..)

TC projectors are designed well, u can literally "pop" the lenses off and swap em out! You may want to change the bowl too since it does have a foreground scatter / limiter.

In regards to wiring, PNP HID kits for ~ $50 work fine WITHOUT connecting to battery, u just connect it to the stock harnesses to get power. The wires are thick enough plus u get stock fuses and relays to do the work for you. Never have I connected it directly to battery for power, only my halogen fogs are wired that way. ;)
Old Sep 1, 2011 | 02:51 PM
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I retrofitted bmw e46 projectors with 3" lenses into my high beam area, keeping the 08 oems in the low-beams. they aren't too bad, but stick with FX-R or TSX projectors and you'd get a more sharper cutoff and more width.



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