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Projector retrofit- headlights with horizontal adjustment?

12K views 89 replies 6 participants last post by  harbnger 
#1 ·
I'm about to undergo a projector retrofit but I need headlight housings. Does anyone know headlights that have horizontal adjustors besides what AM sells? LMR and everything on ebay I saw doesnt. AM is just so expensive.

I have so far

Morimoto mini 7.0 H1 projectors
Mini gatling gun shrouds
Bought dremmel and accessories
Bought 3m reseal glue
Head gun
Opt7 6000k H1 bulbs
Sandpaper
Threadlocker for locker nut on projector
High temp black paint to paint inside housing chrome and chrome shroud (grill paint, flat black)
Pry tools
Will need to get plastic caps for the rear to water tight everything

I'll be using my existing ballasts

I've done a retrofit before but I just need the right housing and AM overcharges compared to ebay by 50%. If I must go AM I will, but looking for a lighter on the pocket solution. Thoughts?

Once I do it all I'll make a build thread and comparison pics to ebay bought projector set ups, which LMR now sells for 200$ bucks
 
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#2 ·
Depo brand headlights have a horizontal adjustment.

This guy compared a couple aftermarket brands to OEM and mentioned Depo having that adjustment. Pics included.
headlights: Not all built the same way review with picture.

I personally like Depo, they are about as close as you can get to OEM quality but aren't that much more than the sh*tty eBay brands. I am re-doing my retrofit because I walked out one day and found a 1/4" of standing water in one of the headlights... sh*tty eBay headlights... I'll be using Depo housings this time.
 
#5 ·
Yeah go with depot for that.
I'm not sure if you can get clear corner depot lights, but if you need a set of clear corners i can sell you one. I have a pair.
That's if you even want clear reflectors instead of amber
 
#7 ·
I have both full assemblies, but they are ****. Old, and the clear coat on tye lenses peeled off lol. If you want them you can have them, if not i'll just pull the clear reflectors.
 
#9 ·
Am I missing something here? Before I return them I just want to make sure I'm not nuts. These are Depo headlights that I ordered from Amazon. The box clearly says DEPO on it in big letter but I see no horizontal adjustment. From what I understand, it's supposed to be where the blue dot is on the back near the center mounting point, correct?





---------- Post added at 04:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:08 PM ----------

I just answered my own question - plus AM has them cheaper now under the brand name AXIAL. Depo NO LONGER has horizontal adjustments!!

 
#11 ·
AM no longer sells Depo headlights. Maybe this is why? The Axial brand AM now sells is 48 bucks a pop with horizontal adjustment and free shipping and no tax. Oh well, live and you learn. The older style Depo lights had this adjustment but I can confirm I got it straight from depot on amazon and it does not. Good thing amazon is fantastic when it comes to returns but still ugh Oh well. The retrofit will have to be put on hold longer til AM axial lights arrive
 
#14 ·
You'll want axial after market headlights for both. There are two reasons for this. First is you need horizontal adjustment for later down the road fine tune adjusting. Ford OEM does not have this as well as 99% of the after market headlights out there. This is huge for retrofitting.

Second is OEM is sealed with some sort of magical super glue. Guys who have tried to open them via oven or heat gun failed. They ended up literally cutting them open at the seems.

I retrofitted a set in a 99 ford Explorer and went aftermarket for the same two reasons stated ahove
 
#17 ·
I ordered the headlights today with 2 day shipping and still came out $7 bucks cheaper then Amazon. They arrive Friday. This weekend I'll be doing the retrofit. I'll make a thread. It's going to be a pretty nice build. I went with Morimoto Projectors V7. It won't be hard, but time consuming. The whole project is going to cost in the neighborhood of $350 if I were to buy everything myself. I already had the HID kit, got the projectors for christmas. I just had to buy pry tools, headlight resealant, the headlights, h1 bulbs, and a dremel. Already had a heat gun. The oven will be used as well. We shall see what happens.
 
#18 ·
Looking forward to the process. I live in canada so it costs me an arm and a leg in shipping taxes and currency conversion. Ill have to wait a bit before tackling the project.

Let me know if there is any grinding or extensive cutting that is needed for the morimoto h1 mini v7.0 install.
 
#20 ·
So the HID gods hate me. Got the AM shipment today, with rush delivery, so I could knock out this project this weekend AND they are DEPOT headlights WITH NO HORIZONTAL ADJUSTMENT! WTF AM???

Back to AM they go. I should probably just give up on my retrofit mission. Its almost like fate doesn't want me to have them.
 

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#22 ·
Axial brand my ass. Im gonna order the hid retrofitted headlights from lmr and see how they are.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 06:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:53 PM ----------

Just got off a chat with AM. Axial is actually made by DEPOT. Confusing, but whatever. The only alternative they could offer is ordering a rice set of projectors and swapping out the projector myself as they have the adjustment on them.

Raxiom Black Projector Headlights - Dual LED Halo 101684 (99-04 All) - Free Shipping

I declined and demanded a full refund because they were telling me they weren't going to refund my rush shipping costs and I'd have to pay to return the item even though their website is wrong.

So to anyone wanting to do this, do NOT order the Axial headlights off AM. The picture on their website is WRONG.

Now I don't know what to do..............


As you can see from the AD below, and picture I posted above, it clearly shows a horizontal adjustment knob.
http://www.americanmuscle.com/headlight-9904-lh.html
I dont get it I called AM 2 days ago and asked them if their headlights have both adjustments and they said yes

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
#21 ·
Just got off a chat with AM. Axial is actually made by DEPOT. Confusing, but whatever. The only alternative they could offer is ordering a rice set of projectors and swapping out the projector myself as they have the adjustment on them.

Raxiom Black Projector Headlights - Dual LED Halo 101684 (99-04 All) - Free Shipping

I declined and demanded a full refund because they were telling me they weren't going to refund my rush shipping costs and I'd have to pay to return the item even though their website is wrong.

So to anyone wanting to do this, do NOT order the Axial headlights off AM. The picture on their website is WRONG.

Now I don't know what to do..............


As you can see from the AD below, and picture I posted above, it clearly shows a horizontal adjustment knob.
http://www.americanmuscle.com/headlight-9904-lh.html
 

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#23 ·
Just got off a chat with AM. Axial is actually made by DEPOT. Confusing, but whatever. The only alternative they could offer is ordering a rice set of projectors and swapping out the projector myself as they have the adjustment on them.

Raxiom Black Projector Headlights - Dual LED Halo 101684 (99-04 All) - Free Shipping

I declined and demanded a full refund because they were telling me they weren't going to refund my rush shipping costs and I'd have to pay to return the item even though their website is wrong.

So to anyone wanting to do this, do NOT order the Axial headlights off AM. The picture on their website is WRONG.

Now I don't know what to do..............


As you can see from the AD below, and picture I posted above, it clearly shows a horizontal adjustment knob.
Axial Black Mustang Replacement Headlight - Left Side 49306 (99-04 All) - Free Shipping
Well sh*t... I don't know what to tell you. Horizontal adjustment is not an advertised detail. You might get lucky and find an ebay headlight that offers horizontal adjustment, but ebay headlight quality is all over the place. Who knows how good they actually are.

Good luck

Axial brand my ass. Im gonna order the hid retrofitted headlights from lmr and see how they are.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
Hopefully they aren't these:http://www.moddedmustangs.com/forums/99-04/599737-finally-affordable-projector-retrofit.html. I'll save you some time - don't by these ebay projectors.

Normally retrofitted projector kits like what LMR carries are designed for halogens and don't respond well to HIDs, but maybe someone is doing it right finally, I'd love to see pictures of the output and your opinion on the quality.
 
#34 ·
Finally after an hour of researching, I think I found what I am looking for. The brand is Eagle Eyes. They sell cheap on ebay AND amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/Eagle-FR264-...1489361548&sr=8-1&keywords=eagle+eyes+mustang

https://www.amazon.com/Eagle-FR264-...1489361548&sr=8-2&keywords=eagle+eyes+mustang


And look at this review to confirm:

"Verified Purchase
I'm going to share a secret with the general public. This headlight has been my secret source for a while. "Why?" you may ask... Well - the answer is simple. The Eagle Eyes headlights are the only ones that I'm aware of that have both the Horizontal and Vertical adjustment screws while still being an economical option.

The packaging these headlights come in is fantastic. The headlights are nestled safely within form fitting foam. It is the best packed headlight I have seen - and the packaging is perfect if you want to keep your old headlights for whatever reason.

This is also one of the few headlights that is actually properly sealed from the factory. It has a nice (tacky to the touch at room temperature) seal in the groove of the housing. It works great - no issues at all with the seal of these. They also come with the 9007 light bulb - but no corner light bulb (you will need to transpose the corner park/blinker light from the old headlight into your new one).

So onto the secret weapon part - I absolutely love these headlights because of the few details mentioned above, but also because they come apart easily once they have been cooked (literally - in the oven at 230 degrees for 8 minutes). These are by far my favorite headlight to retrofit projectors into them. Keep in mind cooking the headlights is using them in this way will more than likely void the warranty (but it's worth the risk)."

These are pictures of ads from a seller on ebay



Ebay listing
1999-2004 FORD MUSTANG HEADLIGHTS BLACK HOUSING PAIR HI/LOW BEAM BULBS INCLUDED | eBay

Ad clearly states made by EAGLE EYES:

"You are bidding on one set (2 PIECES) of 99-04 FORD MUSTANG BLACK HOUSING HEADLIGHTS

BLACK HOUSING
BOLT-ON STYLE , NO MODIFICATION TO INSTALL
THESE HEADLIGHT USE STOCK BULBS AND SOCKET, NO RE-WIRE NEED
COMPATIBLE WITH H.I.D KIT
SAE/DOT APPROVED, STREET LEGAL
100% BRAND NEW AND COME IN A PAIR(LEFT & RIGHT)
MADE BY EAGLE EYES"

SO, let's try this again for the 4th time. Update to come.
 
#39 ·
They are very well built as well.

---------- Post added at 07:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:41 PM ----------


Is there a model number you can read off the back and post so we know exactly which model you have? I see that TYC makes them and they are to NSF standards but need more info if you could...
 
#42 ·
I called LMR. The SVE headlights do not have horizontal adjustment. They also checked the oem ford headlights per my request... which also do not have horizontal adjustment.

They also believe the provisions for the adjustment were sealed where it was an option before . Ive been studying the oem headlight. I think there might be a way of creating a horizontal adjuster but this is speculation.

I ordered these:



Im going to take them apart and study the reflector bowl see if there is a way in drilling a hole where the provision for the horizontal adjusteris supposed to be located.
 
#48 ·
225 usd for a pair of aftermarket headlights is kinda expensive. I paid 120 bucks CAN (90 usd) for those clear corner headlights. Most vendors around my area charge around 71 usd per headlight. Plus tax.

---------- Post added at 05:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:35 PM ----------

Sorry I missed how you said they were a pain to take apart...can you link me to the thread ?

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
#49 ·
I'm curios to see what the hell is going to happen one you all get a hold of a set of light to start working.
 
#50 ·
Also I'm guessing you guys are running a mini h1 7.0? I wouldn't think horizontal adjustment would be a deal breaker since the shaft pretty much centers the projector. I personally wouldn't worry about that much. It would be a bonus I guess but not a deal breaker. My f150 headlights only have a vertical adjustment and the mini H1's were easy to install and turned out great.

---------- Post added at 10:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:27 PM ----------

Here's pics. Vertical only.

 
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#54 ·
When I had projectors in my mustang I didn't have a horizontal adjustment and it was still really nice. You would get a wider patter/beam if you could adjust them horizontally, but it's certainly not a deal breaker. You'll still get an amazing beam width way better than stock. I bought the Eagle headlights Odessa suggested, but if these don't have a horizontal adjustment I'm going to get Depo and call it good. It would be nice to have horizontal adjustment, but not enough to stop me from putting projectors back in.

The headlights are being delivered today so I'll update once I get them if Odessa hasn't.
 
#68 ·
You want it to rigid and permanent
Buy good parts. Test your selonoids with a 9 volt 50 times or so. I think your gonna regret using silicone. I'd be worried for 1 that the projector would shake when hitting bumps and after a while the silicone fails and you have to tear apart your lights because of it. Up to you though. Hope it works out.
 
#73 ·
Im painting everything a semi gloss black, including the shroud, with high temp grill paint. In the past I used matte grill paint. Makes it a cleaner looking finish.

What shroud did you use? Mini gatling? Any pointers? Mine are arriving soon and this weekend I'm tackling

I got mini gatling for mine. Looks like it'll need dremel work
 
#77 ·
Well I bought a set of raxium projector style headlights for 200$ at American muscle to knock out this project with... from what I can tell diode dynamics has what I need to get the job done for 70$ with a remote.. so I should be into it for 270$ and some labor... All I need to do now is find some good instructions on taking off the lenses and installing thess things.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/store...23290/s/demon-eye/category/1481/#!prettyPhoto
 
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