H.I.D Fitting guide - R33 GTR

[Mookistar]

HID FITTING GUIDE

Ok, this is really simple, but to aid you, I’ve thrown together a fitting guide. This is for the H1 headlights on an R33 GTR. This guide is based on the kit supplied by Car Accessory UK - Thule, Momo & more
Contact the user S2GTR for price and availability.

Ok, first up, the contents of the kit


2 x Ballast, 2 x Lamps, 2 x Power looms (attached to lamps in this pic)

OK

Stage 1
Find your headlights. They are the big glass things on the front of the car. Now, pop the bonnet and look at the back of them. In this guide I will explain how I converted the dipped beam on the passenger side. Obviously repeat for the driver’s side accordingly.


The green and black wires in the pic above enter the lamp housing via a plastic cap. Turn this 90 degrees anti clockwise to reveal the lamp and its connections.



Remove the spade connector from the back of the bulb, and use a flat headed screwdriver to prise the brass tag off the lamp housing. Then, unhook the small spring holding the lamp in place, and remove the lamp from the housing.



You need to pull these two connectors through the hole in the plastic cap, so, ease out the grommet.


Now, using bull nose pliers, crush the back of the plastic cap, where it surrounds the wires. Do this enough to break the plastic, making the hole big enough to pass the wire through.





Ok, now you will need a 21mm drill bit or wood bit and a drill. I used a wood bit stolen from my father in laws shed, so I don’t mind if I ruined it 

Ok, now drill out the back of the plastic cover





Don’t worry if the edges are rough, the kit comes with a grommet to cover them.

You now need to take the lamp, its 2 black wires, with the grommet and red and black wires with spade connection, and gently pull the spaded red and black wires through the grommet

So you end up with this section left over,


NO I wasn’t pissed when I took this shot



Right, take the lamp, and being careful not to touch it with your hands, with the grommet attached, feed it through the plastic cap. Push the grommet into the hole you’ve cut and make sure its seated correctly. Assuming you’ve done it right, you’ll now only have 2 black wires passing through the grommet, with the whole item looking like this…




Ok, now the fiddly bit , you need to insert this new lamp into the headlight. This lamp is longer then the original and can be a bit fiddly to manoeuvre into place. Be sure not to force it, take your time, making note of the flattened section on the lamp, and the corresponding indented position on the lamp housing.
Once you have the lamp correctly seated, pull the spring clip back into position, and refit the plastic cover.

You should now have the original spade connectors loose in the engine bay, and the new lamp connectors. In this picture below you can also the see the spade connectors on the loom section in the second picture up (the pissed one, remember)


Ok, nearly there. For the minute, lay the ballast in the engine bay, and connect the new spade plugs to the factory connectors. I plugged RED into GREEN and black to black



Then, connect the remaining plugs and sockets together. They only go one way round, so you can’t get it wrong



Scary huh. That’s it. Done! For the minute keep the exposed spade connectors clear of bodywork and each other, and get ready to finish up.



Firstly, test that it works. The ballast will make a sort of whining noise when you turn the lights on, and you’ll get a green flash, followed by an increasingly bright light. If this does not happen, check your connections.


Here’s what you should see, obviously daylight doesn’t help, but you can see the left light is brighter than the right. All working? ok, now finish up.



First thing, cover the spade connections with masking tape, to make them insulated.

And finally, find a suitable location for the ballast. As I run aftermarket air filters, I had a few places I could use, but the best choice used a hole in the wing, which I used the supplied nut and bolt to secure the ballast beneath the filters


Tidy up your wires accordingly and you are half way there

Driver’s side is EXACTLY the same, only refitting the lamp is bastard fiddly, so please take your time.
Finding a home for the ballast is tricky, and I finally, after much head scratching settled on this position.

To do this I had to bend the fixing bracket, and use the washer bottle fixing screws, but it’s secure and tidy. The ballast is mounted upside down, but this is fine.


Now, clean your headlights, wash the blood off your hands and wait for nightfall.

I used the 5000k kit, and have had no problems with oncoming drivers flashing or anything, so they can’t be too glary, but if you do have problems, try adjusting your beam.

Right, that’s it, hope that helps some of you, and thanks again to Dave at Car Accessory UK - Thule, Momo & more for supplying the kit.

Mookistar

p.s. yes, I know it’s not grammatically correct, but I don’t care.

[s2gtr]

Superb write up Mook

Want a job

Dave.

[Alan]

I was alright until I got to the Blood bit
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Looks good Mook

[Mookistar]

Originally Posted by Alan

I was alright until I got to the Blood bit
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Looks good Mook

yeah, it's a bit sharp in places

lol

mook

[tigger]

guys, that looks really good, but what about converting the main beam to HID as my dip beam is already HID? same principle? and what kit to go for? been looking for a while but never really came to a conclusion!

[Mookistar]

do you know what type of bulb your main beam is?

biggest problem i can forsee is HID takes a few seconds to warm up.

so, when you flick on full beam, it'll be dark/dim for a few seconds.

and again when you flick back.

on the halogen type you cannot have dipped and main on at the same time, even if you pulll back on the flasher, so its best to keep the full beam as halogen IMHO. maybe whack some monster bright lamps in there, as you'll use it infrequently

mook

[r33 v-spec]

Most of the new cars are Bi-Xenon, meaning both the main and dipped beam is of Xenon type

Have a look into how they overcome this problem, as i don't recall a delay on them...

[Mookistar]

a lot of them use motorised lamp holders which move in the reflectors AFAIK

mook

[Bandit]

Good 'How too' guide there Mook. Make it a Sticky.

[gaaables]

good guide there mate, cheers for taking the time to do it

[Alan]

Originally Posted by r33 v-spec

Most of the new cars are Bi-Xenon, meaning both the main and dipped beam is of Xenon type

Have a look into how they overcome this problem, as i don't recall a delay on them...

Apparantly they use they same ballast with relay switching inside for the high and low selections hence the ballast does not need time to warm up.

Best regards Alan

[hyrev]

Thanks for the tips, I just got a set of PIAA 6200k. Will try to fit them over
the weekend. Would it have made any difference/easier if you took off the
bumper and the head lights? I am sure it would take even longer just to remove
the bumper.

[Alan]

Mine have got lost at heathrow Sorry NICKED AT HEATHROW

[Mookistar]

Originally Posted by hyrev

Thanks for the tips, I just got a set of PIAA 6200k. Will try to fit them over
the weekend. Would it have made any difference/easier if you took off the
bumper and the head lights? I am sure it would take even longer just to remove
the bumper.

don't bother removing the bumper/headlights, it'll take longer than doing it in situ

mook

[hyrev]

i did the pass. side, pretty easy. I just had to change the spade connector
to a different type. Looks nice, will take a few comparisson pics tonight. I
just had a bit of a time trying to mount the ballast and hide all exposed wires.
I am very particular to details That is why I wondered if it would be easier or
better that I do it like so.

Just found out, I have to drive my car tonight......doh. I usually drive the
wife's car on school nights. Gonna look odd with one HID and one non HID
light. I should have done both today.