HID projector retrofit into a non-RS halogen housing

[caverman]

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

[caverman]

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.

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

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

[caverman]

Originally Posted by 2SSRS

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.

[Tx1Lt]

Nice.

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

Originally Posted by caverman

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.

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.

[caverman]

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. ****

[caverman]

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.

[caverman]

E46 extended

[caverman]

E55

[caverman]

Gatling Gun (gen 2)

[caverman]

Mini Gatling Gun

[caverman]

Ocular

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

Thanks i want to see yours on your car. LOL