First HID projector retrofit - Morimoto H1

nos4you

Well-Known Member
6
7
Hello guys & gals. Let me give you a brief intro. New here on 9th so let me tell you a little about myself and the car. We have had our 2012 civic sedan ex-l since new but just recently started modifying it.

Lowered it on h&r sport springs and added some xxr 527 wheels. Then I added 9006 DDM 5000k hids into the stock lamps.
Here is how she looked.
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What a big mistake ordering from DDM. Price was right and on the lower end but they did not specify that their supply ships from China. So it took about two weeks to arrive. Will not order again from them. Another mistake was just dropping in Hid's into the stock housing. It just had plenty of uncontrolled light all over the place.

Owning other cars with factory Hid's I knew this setup would not stay. So after weeks of researching and reading I came to the conclusion that a projector retrofit is called for. I went ahead and went with Morimoto H1 projectors from The Retrofit Source. I also purchased their H1 3Five bulbs in 4300k to keep Oem look. Parts shipped to my doorstep from east coast to the west in about a week with ground shipping.

This is not a diy but purely a helper guide as I couldn't find some of this information upon searching.
Please do any of these modifications at your own risk. Not for the amateur person.
I would rate it as 7 out of 10 in difficulty

Parts list
All parts purchased from www.theretrofitsource.com
1) Morimoto H1 6.0
2) Morimoto 3Five 4300k H1 bulbs

Tools needed
1) 10mm socket / wrench with extension
2) phillips screw driver
3) flat screw driver
4) clip remover(optional - can use flat screwdriver)
5) dremel
6) conventional oven
7) heat gun (optional)

A) remove front bumper - about 12 clips underneath , 2 screws at wheel wells, 2 clips and two Allen/torx bolts on grill to radiator support.

B) remove headlamps - three 10mm bolts. The bracket comes off with the headlamps.
After headlamp removal, you will have to remove the bracket(10mm bolt) , seals, screws, bulb holders, bulbs. You can leave the adjuster screw on there so the reflector doesn't fall off. You pretty much want to make sure its only the plastic housing left as the next step is placing the headlamps in the oven.
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C) next is baking the headlamps open. Place headlamps on a cookie sheet with foil. Pre heat the oven first to 265 degrees F. Baking the headlamps at 265F for 7-8 minutes seem to be a good number. I used gloves and a flat screwdriver to slowly pry the lens open while releasing the clips at the same time. Repeat for both headlamps.

D) remove the low beam reflector shield being held by one phillips screw in the back.

E) install the projector. I used the big rubber washer between the projector and housing. The 9thgen civic reflector back is too thick for the MH1 projector. TRS recommends either cutting/sanding down the housing or notching the securing nut. I did not want to do any irreversible mods so I opted with option two. So I went ahead and screwed the nut down until it was flush with the projector threads. At this point if you do not notch the nut you will not be able to seat bulb holder in properly and the bulb will not seat properly also.
*before you tighten the nut place the headlamps back on the car so you can rotate the projector so the cutoff is straight.
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Here is a shot of the notches I made to the nut. Top & bottom left done already. Bottom right was next.
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Just be careful and don't grind all the way through the nut. I used a dremel for this work but be sure to tape up the bulb hike so you don't get shavings into your housing.
The bulb holder and bulb can now go on.
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F) i used a heat gun to re install the headlamp lens back on. I applied pressure as I applied heat to the glue until I was able to snap all the clips back on. Then reinstall all the screws , seals, bulbs.

G) reinstall headlamps on car & bumper.

Congratulations. If you got this far you should have a complete set of projector retros.

Final product,

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I'm pretty happy with the final product. I wanted it to look like it was factory which I think it does. Light output is really good now with a sharp and clean cutout. No more stray light shining up. Took me about 7 hours but keep in mind this is the first time removing the front bumper, lamps and first time baking open headlamps.

If I missed anything please let me know so I can edit my post.

Hope this was useful. I couldn't find any diy explaining and showing how to properly mount the bulb holder on our cars.
 
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Tnx Webby.

Most reviews i run into do not have details on the locking nut issue on MH1 6.0's. Maybe its because the older versions had longer threads so that that wasn't an issue. I'm surprised i didn't see AP's diy before. Would have definitely come in handy. Thanks for linking it here Webby so makes it easier for people who are going to do this mod. Definitely so worth it. I can actually see at night now. :thumb:
 
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