HID projector retrofit into a non-RS halogen housing
 

First off I want to say THANKS to TurboGuy327 for showing me the light (literally). He showed me how a true HID projector retrofit works and how much better it is even over the HID kits that go in the Halogen housing. He also turned me onto a place called www.TheRetrofitSource.com. They were awesome to work with and have cheap prices on quality HID parts.

When I contacted TRS about the parts we started talking and they said that they could do the retrofit for me for about $150…..possibly a little more since they had never done a Camaro headlight. Also, by having TRS doing the retrofit he was able to put on the different shrouds, send me the pics, and let me choose what I wanted. That was a big thing because looking back I would’ve never picked the shroud that I did had I not seen it in the housing.

I want to also give some background on why I went this route. When ordering my Camaro I could’ve easily ordered the RS like 95% of everyone else does. However, I’m not big on Halos and I liked the look of the chrome halogen housing. To me it made the Camaro look more like a First Gen. For that reason alone I decided not to buy the RS. The colored roof ditch and tinted tail lights didn’t matter to me.

I did however want HID lights so I ended up with a Bi-Xenon kit from AAC to replace the Halogen bulbs. I spent about $270 for that and it was a decent option. Then I found out about projectors and the Morimoto products. I then decided that I would go that route.

I found a set of used Halogens and sent them off to TRS to have them do the retrofit. I plan on keeping my original Halogens for now in case I ever need to go back. I ended up having to buy one aftermarket light because UPS damaged one of the housings but that’s a whole other story I won’t get into right now.

Anyway, I’m pumped to get these installed and be able to see how they look and perform. I’ll be taking pictures and posting all that in a couple weeks. I’m going to try to get someone with an RS to go side by side with me so we can see the difference in the factory HID vs aftermarket.

The headlights are being shipped back to me and with the holidays it will probably be the beginning of the year before I can get it all wrapped up.

For those that want to know a price in case you want to do something similar here are the basics. Remember these are not cheap eBay products. This is quality stuff. Do a search on Morimoto and you'll see.

-Projectors, Ballasts, Shrouds, Bulbs, Relay harness: $300 shipped
-2 x Aftermarket lights: $200 shipped
-2 x OEM take offs: usually $150
-Labor for install: $150 - $200

If you want the RS look you can paint the halogen reflectors and the shrouds a flat black. You can then add some aftermarket Halos (AAC or even some from TRS). If you’re willing to do the install yourself then you are looking at about $450 - $500 and that doesn’t include selling your original Halogens. Otherwise you are looking at about $650 to have them done by someone else. They said the OEM lights were a little difficult to open up.....the aftermarket ones were a breeze. So if you are a first time retrofit you might consider the exra $ for aftermarket to make it easy to do (I bet you can't pick the aftermarket one from the OEM on in the pic)

Here is the finished Housing and what I used:
-Morimoto Mini H1 projector
-GTI-R shrouds
-Morimoto 5000k bulbs

Here is a pic of a my 2010 next to a 1968 Camaro. You can see that the chrome halogen housing matches much better than the backed out one of the RS.

Man that looks good nice to see the old and the new cars, And your right it dos look good.

Thanks.....I just put the headlights in yesterday but the car is still on the lift. I'm having my brake calipers powdercoated right now and I won't have them back an on until next weekend.

Once it's back on the road I plan to post a bunch of pics of the new lights both on and off. I'm also going to try to catch up with a friend that has an RS so we can compare the retrofit to the factory OEM.

So far I really like the looks but I know most people are going to prefer the black background with Halo rings like the RS.

Nice. :thumbsup:

Not all, I have a set of head light on the way, and am looking for pics to see which way to do my light.

If I were going to do the RS look I would do the same retrofit with maybe the Appollo shroud. I would paint the reflector and shroud flat black with a can of spray paint. Then either use the smaller halo ring like Turboguy did or if you want the big Halo ring you could buy AAC's halo and install it.

Here is an example: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116808

I think the performance of the light is going to be as good or better than OEM. This will also be an option for those looking at the Eagle Eyes. The Eagle Eye is more of a stratight forward install and will probably be $150-$200 cheaper but the performance of the Morimoto projector is going to be much better. The Eagle Eye is designed for a Halogen bulb....not a HID. The Morimoto is all HID.


*** I'm not bashing the Eagle Eye. It's a decent option. It's just that IMO a true retrofit is going to be way better. ****

I've got more pics of most of these shrouds but I mostly wanted everyone to see the different type of shrouds.

Appollo shroud. This was my 2nd choice and would be good if you are going for a Halo ring.

E46 extended

E55

Gatling Gun (gen 2)

Mini Gatling Gun

Ocular

Thanks i want to see yours on your car. LOL

By the end of next week I should have some pics and maybe some video. The car is on the lift without any brakes at the moment.

Stay tuned.....

Looks great. I still want to go with projectors. Still up in the air in what direction I want to take. I was hoping to also see more info on the Flashtech projectors. Getting install info out of them seems to be like pulling teeth haha.

I'll still get some more pics when I can pull it out about 25' from a wall to show the cut-off line but here are some picks I took tonight just to get a basic idea on how mine came out.

Remember the car is on a lift and is probably not sitting level which is why the line is not a straight. Plus I just found some butcher paper my kids use to draw on and taped it up to get something to reflect the light off of. Again...not level at all.

Projectors are the way to go. Even with the way it's unlevel you can still see the nice cut-off line of the Morimoto. I think it's going be a better line and throw than the OEM can do. Should be at least as good.

I tried to squeeze a little info out of Flashtech about the projectors they were using but got no response either. I didn't like the shrouds they used though. Made it look kinda of cheap. I definately didn't like the looks of their Halo ring either. Too much space in between the LEDs. I attached a close up of the one they posted. Compare the looks of the overall housing with the ones TRS did. TRS did a much better job IMO.

I would say don't waste your time and call TRS. Their website is in my first post. The customer service is fantastic. They answer their phone when you call and also answer their email. They have great prices on quality parts. Do a search on YouTube and Google for TheRetrofitSource and Mormimoto.

TRS will do basic retrofits like I did but they really aren't setup to do a bunch of retrofits. I'm sure if you wanted to go with a black background and a halo ring they could do that as well. Much more than that (which you probably wouldn't do) and you'll probably have to go to a custom retrofit person which is much more expensive. If for some reason those guys don't work out PM me and I'll get you a contact of someone else to talk to.

These are from FlashTech:

I'm not really worried about the halos. If I had a choice I would go with projectors and no halos. In a strange way I do like the little halo flashtech has on the projectors. The big outer halo I wouldn't do. I run h13 hids now. I was able to lower the beam and get a lot better cut off. I don't get anybody flashing hi beams at me lol. With dropping the beam I am also able to keep my hid fogs one without blinding people :).
I have read a lot of info in the past on TRS. I found info on them when I was looking at projector fogs (still didn't find what I want :( ). Buying a set of headlight housings kind of pushes my towards eagle eyes for the price. I already have hid setup. I would just have to swap bulbs. I'm going to have to start comparing setups and prices. A place a do computer work for just gave me a $500 gift for getting all their info off 2 dead hard drives. So trying to figure out what I want to spend it on haha. Thanks for all the info.

BTW: TRS sells the little halos like what you see in the Flashtech lights. I think they were like $25 for the pair. If you wanted something like that then use the Appollo shroud and it has a perfect little indention for them.

Also, not sure if you've seen this (and again I'm not bashing Eagle Eyes) but IMO the cut-off and throw doesn't compare to the Morimoto projectors.

Eagle Eyes are a decent option if you don't want to deal with the retrofit and you are looking for the RS look....but for a little more effort and money I think you'll get better performance out of the Morimoto.

I would tell you to call TRS and just talk with them about some options. Since you already have your HID kit you could probably get a set of lights, have them do the retrofit, add the little halos and you would probably have just about the same money in it as the Eagle Eyes would cost.

The good thing is you have options. Keep researching and I'm sure you'll pick the right ones for you.

Here is the cut-off that someone posted of the Eagle Eye.

Here are some pics that TurboGuy did using the smaller halo and painting the reflector/shroud flat black. These are the Apollo shrouds. If you want the bigger halos then get the ones from AAC and add them while the housing is open. I'm not sure if TRS sells the big halos or not.

I do understand that projectors will vary on cutoff. Some halos I like but as I said it's not a selling point for me. I could live with them or without them. After reading some of the problems with products and support from the person selling them halos you talk about. I wouldn't buy from them. I'll limit my thoughts on it to myself. I really don't want to open the lights myself. I would rather buy them made or pay somebody to do it lol. I just don't have the time and place to be opening them up.

Looks good. Nice install. Looks factory

Agreed....I didn't want to open my lights either which is why I had TRS do mine.

I spent $315 on parts, labor, and shipping. I spent about $150 on a set of OEM lights....which I could technically offset that by selling my OEM lights. For now I'm going to keep my OEM lights though.

I already have an HID setup as well so I was able to resuse some things and save a little money.

$315 isn't bad at all. No Halos correct? I'm sure you can get the $150 back if you sell them. What size HID bulb did you go with? Thanks for all the pics and info.
I'll give Flashtech a few days to get back to me. If they don't it will help me make up my mind about theirs lol.
Now we have to get you some hids in them fogs haha.

That price is with no Halos. Even if you wanted the small Halos they were only $25 from TRS.

Good question about the bulbs. I'm actually not sure which ones they are. I just ordered the Morimoto projectors with 5000k lights. I'm sure they are single element bulbs because you can hear the shield go up an down for the high beams. I'll have to ask Nate that question. Even if you have to order new bulbs they are only $35 (which was included in my price).

For the fogs....mine are 6000k HID bulbs. They even have a mini ballast I had to wire in. If you look closely at one of the pics that I posted with them on you can barely see the fog is slightly more blue than the headlight. I even have Fieldgoal00's harness to make them auto come on with the headlights. I'm going to have to see how they look. On the lift they seem to be close enough in color I'll probably leave them but if I get it on the road and I can really see the differnce those fogs might be coming off and being switched out with different ones.

Nice. I run hid fogs. Have the ballasts and all. I'm running a 25wat setup for the fogs. Yeah it's rough matching up the color 100%. If you get bulbs from 2 different people the odds are the color will be off.

Thanks for all the info. I'm trying to navigate around the retrofitsource site to see what all is needed. As I understand it, in addition to whats listed above, you also needed a relay harness and ballasts, right? Anything else (other than the light housings)?

Which ballasts and relay harness did you select?


Too many options means too many decisions... :iono:
Someone should sell these as a kit, with detailed installation instructions (for people like me)


btw, where did you mount the ballasts?

First thing I would say is call or email Nate@theretrofitsouce.com and he'll help you with everything you need. Matt and Nate were extremely helpful, answered the phone everytime (during business hours), and really took the time to talk out all my concerns.

One of the reasons I wanted him to take pics of the different shrouds is so that others could look at them and decide which one to buy.

Here is what I was quoted for parts from TRS:
Morimoto Mini Bi-xenon projectors (H1)
Morimoto 3Five Digital ballasts w/ brackets
Morimoto 3Five 4300K/5000K/6000K H1 bulbs
Your choice of shrouds/bezels
H13/9008 Bi-xenon relay wire harness
$300 shipped UPS with tracking and insurance

As for mounting the ballasts....the driver's side one I used a small self-tapping screw and mounted it to the radiator support. Because of my CAI I couldn't really find a good place to zip tie it to. On the passenger side I zip tied it to some of the wire looms on that side.

I don't have a pic of the ballast on the driver side but I'll get you one by the weekend if you still need it. The car isn't at my house right now.

Here is a pic of the passenger side. Again, just zip tied to some wiring loom.

On the driver side it's just in front of my CAI, mounted with a single screw just under the lip that has the rubber to seal the hood.

You can follow this thread I did to install the AAC lights. Installing the relay, power, and negative is all the same. Actually the TRS relay is exactly the same as the one AAC uses.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69917

If you have any questions just ask.

Hey, thanks for all the info... I'm seriously considering these. I currently have the AAC 'HOD' Xenon bulbs which are an improvement over the lame halogens, but these seem like a couple steps up. I also don't really care about the halos...

Don't worry about the additional pics, I think I have what I needed.

No problem.

Even the AAC HID kit is not to bad but these are going to out perform those by a long shot. I occasionally get the on coming people to flash their brights at me (of course I then flash my brights back). Going with these projectors should fix all that. It puts nice clean cut-off line that dips down for on coming traffic.

If you don't plan on doing another retrofit or if you don't want to mess with opening up your headlights then I would tell you to spend the $150 and let TRS do the lights for you. It's worth letting someone that knows what they are doing setup the lights and make sure it's all aligned correctly. Although you can DIY fairly easy. Nate or Matt can walk you through any questions if you DIY.

Parts and labor will cost you $450 plus about $10 shipping. You just need to supply the headlight housing. They did a great job of adjusting and re-sealing the lights. I should've taken some pics of the lights once I got them but I was too anxious to get them on. If you end up shipping some just make sure the packing is done right so you get them damaged like what happened to my first set.

Call Nate and tell him you saw the ones he just did and want some similar to it. He'll tell you what you need to do.

Stay tuned and I'll have more pics and hopefully some video by this weekend.

I'll shoot him an email this week. As I said I have the hid parts now so I don't need them. I guess it also comes down to how much I could find the housings for. I can't send mine out because my car is my DD.

Got my brakes done tonight (another awesome mod) which means I was able to get the car off the lift. Great night for working tonight since it was an unseaonably 72 degrees today.

A quick adjustment to level out the passenger side light with the driver side and it is awesome. :happyanim: They look great and the cut-off line is nice and crisp. LOVE IT! I got exactly what I wanted...projector HID with the chrome look of the Halogen housing. The 5000k bulbs are a perfect color for me.

Only bad thing is it looks like i might have to buy a different set of fog lights now. They are a little too blue for the 5000k headlights.

I took some video as well but it will be tomorrow before I can get that edited and posted.

Here is a comparison of the factory Halogen, then AAC's HID kit with 8000k bulbs, then the retrofit with 5000k bulbs. You can see how much better the lighting is and how much wider of a throw the projectors give off.

Looks real nice, good to see your all done.

I adjusted the passenger side down some to get a straight line.

Cut off looks great. Real nice job :).

Just took a look at the video I have. Can't really see much because the camera didn't really pick up on the blusish/purple look you get from the projectors. You can see how wide the throw is going down the road but you can see that in the picture I posted as well.

Sucky thing is that is did show me how much of a difference you can see in the 5000k lights and the 6000k fogs. Guess I'm going to have to pull off Fieldgoal00's harness until I can figure out something else for my foglights.

Washed the car yesterday before it starts getting cold around here. I also took out the 6k fog lights and went back to my AAC 5202 bulbs. Still not a match but not that far away either.