Civic Type-R Owners Club & Forum

And xenons

First off, there are no 'before pics' because every camera I picked up had flat batterys and I was getting pissed off, so I just went ahead and started, but i'm sure we all know what the front of a Pre-facelift NHB CTR looks like by now.

After searching for many months on ebay and the For Sale sections of various forums for a set of facelifted headlights it seemed like the chances of picking a pair up 2nd hand for decent money were slim, so I took my heart in my mouth and phoned Honda for a quote -

"Err, yeah, they're about 90 quid each I think mate..."
"You think?"
"yeah, they're about that..."
"Umm..can you give me a definite price (figuring there must be some mistake because they're way too cheap) because if they're that price I want to order some"
"Yep, thats £188 for the pair including VAT"
"BARGAIN! I'll take some of those please..."

So the lights arrived two days later and I picked them up, a quick comparison to mine shows straight away that the sidelight and indicator bulb holders are different, and i'll need the seals which didn't come with the lights, so I make a shopping list and go back to Honda to order the necessary parts. These arrive at the weekend and I pick them up - Another £65 worth but as the lights were way cheaper than I imagined i'm still happy.

In between all this I have ordered a 6000K HID H1 Kit from a guy on ebay for the bargain price of £95 inc delivery - Now I know what you're going to say, cheapest isn't always best, what about after sales service, guarantee etc etc. Well, he got recommended to me by a friend at work who has had 5 kits off him for various different cars, and the only problem he's ever had was a ballast which didn't work - and it was replaced the next day without question. They have 12 months warranty on bulbs and ballasts so for that price i'll take a chance.

I order some HB3 bulbs for the mainbeam from another guy on ebay £7 the pair (Halfords had these in at £20 each! ) and some LED sidelights from another guy for £2 Everything arrives by the weekend and i'm almost ready to get cracking.

So I strip the car down :-



The wiring plugs on the original loom do not fit the new style indicator bulb holders and as far as I know you can't buy the new plugs seperately - ie they're part of the loom so you'd have to buy the loom..So I went to a scrapyard and found some suitable plugs for the indicators from a Spacewagon People carrier side-repeater, of all things, and you will also need some plugs to plug into the HB3 bulbs, I sourced these from a Lexus, but they were tricky to find as not many cars in my local scrappy used these bulbs.

The height adjustment motor plugs plug straight in, but I found that because they're in a different place to the old lights, once you've plugged the motors in the sidelights won't reach to plug those in - so I had to extend the sidelight wiring by about 6 inches. I cut off the old indicator plugs and spliced the spacewagon plugs onto the loom - Then I put in a 30amp fused 4 pin switching relay and wired it up so that the headlights stay on when you switch to main beam. Mr Bilko has already done a wiring diagram (I will come back and link to it but the forum is being sh-t at the minute and taking ages to search)

So with the wiring all done and taped up so its nice and neat, I put the headlights in for a test fit :-





As you can see, I mostly work in the dark, this is because i'm so impatient and cannot possibly wait until the weekend to finish it...

Let there be light.



Everything worked, so I put it back together, I fitted the xenon bulbs to the headlights before I put them in the car for ease of fitment, I didn't modify the original bulb holders I just bent the pins so they would hold the xenon bulbs - and it seems to be working fine. The Ballasts are mounted on top of the inner wings and the wiring is very straightforward.



Bumper back on



The photo's really don't do the xenons any justice, they are awesome and anyone in any doubt about which ones to go for, 6000K is perfect.




And that was my little adventure for this week....Well chuffed with the results, not a straightforward Mod, well, not as straightforward as you might think, but not too difficult once you've sourced all the parts.

For anyone who's interested in doing the same I can supply you with a list of part numbers to take to Honda, just a couple of bits you need to be imaginative with and get down the scrappy

For anyone who's interested in doing the same I can supply you with a list of part numbers to take to Honda, just a couple of bits you need to be imaginative with and get down the scrappy
Drop me a pm please mate.
AC

Well done mate....good job and I'm really impressed!

Love to do this to mine!!

looks spot on mate, job well done!

any pics in day light mate i want to see what facelift lights look like on a pre-face

Nice job looks A1

the best looking mod you can do to a pre-facelift imo 8)

civic_type_r wrote:any pics in day light mate i want to see what facelift lights look like on a pre-face

Not yet, but i'm off out to wash it in a minute so when its nice and clean i'll take a few and post them up. To be honest, I've barely seen it properly in the daylight myself!

Daylight Pics complete with massive sun glare! Sorry, i'm no photographer!

Looking very shinny mate and a nice job all round IMO


Carl

do you have to remove the bumper to fit the new lights or did you just remove it to make life easier?

Omnipresent wrote: As you can see, I mostly work in the dark, this is because i'm so impatient and cannot possibly wait until the weekend to finish it...

lmao sounds very familiar, I spent 2 evenings last week in the pitch black and rain fitting a Racelogic traction control system because I just couldn't wait for the weekend. I'm still amazed that it actually works

Love what you've done there 8) I tried to fit H4 Xenons to my pre-facelift lights today but the kit needs a relay which it didn't come with, so after slicing my hands to bits fitting it, I've had to take it all off.

How hard is it to remove the front bumper? I think I might go the same route when I refit my xenon bulbs.

markyboy wrote:do you have to remove the bumper to fit the new lights or did you just remove it to make life easier?

You have to remove it to get to the bottom bolts which hold the headlight in.

rturner wrote:lmao sounds very familiar, I spent 2 evenings last week in the pitch black and rain fitting a Racelogic traction control system because I just couldn't wait for the weekend. I'm still amazed that it actually works

Its not just me then, I hate a job that I can't finish in one sitting, it drills me knowing that its not all done and I may still run into problems! The lights took three nights, because I had to keep leaving it so I could get bits I needed - it was a killer! Well happy with them now though, and its left my weekend free for cruising around in it

Hows the traction control? Wednesday night, the night I finished installing the lights I went out in the rain to test the xenons, there I am at a set of traffic lights and some [tasty] bird in a Fiesta Zetec S decides to simultaneously (but totally independantly) test her 0-60 time - I nearly lost because I couldn't put any power down, everytime it hit VTEC it just span up.

rturner wrote:How hard is it to remove the front bumper? I think I might go the same route when I refit my xenon bulbs.

Its not difficult, two screws underneath, two screws in the corner inside the wheel arches and a load of clips which you just prize out with a screwdriver, there is a how-to guide somewhere, i'll dig it out for you if you need it.

Omnipresent wrote: Hows the traction control? Wednesday night, the night I finished installing the lights I went out in the rain to test the xenons, there I am at a set of traffic lights and some [tasty] bird in a Fiesta Zetec S decides to simultaneously (but totally independantly) test her 0-60 time - I nearly lost because I couldn't put any power down, everytime it hit VTEC it just span up.

Pretty unbelievable actually, from the data logging I've looked at it doesn't really do anything when it's dry (unless you severely provoke the car) but when it's wet it totally transforms what the car is capable of. You have to keep reminding yourself that it is actually wet and a FWD car should not be able to grip/corner in such a manner! Pretty easy to install too, once I've done a bit more data logging to demonstrate the difference I'll post up a 'How To' thread for anyone who might be interested. It is excellent for those independent but simultaneous 0-60 tests that you mentioned, but even more so it's for launching yourself out of tight corners in the wet with maximum possible grip and zero wheelspin 8)

Omnipresent wrote: Its not difficult, two screws underneath, two screws in the corner inside the wheel arches and a load of clips which you just prize out with a screwdriver, there is a how-to guide somewhere, i'll dig it out for you if you need it.

Yeah, if you can find it that would be great. I also managed to drop a piece of the HID packaging down the side of the front wheel arch so could do with the bumper off to fish that out as well as to make installing the bulbs easier

Good thread!

By the looks of it, your garage is too small to park your ctr in!

Would be good to know if the Racelogic Traction System compliment CTR with LSD's.

just that lip and wing mirrors to fix now.

Awesam wrote:Good thread!

By the looks of it, your garage is too small to park your ctr in!

Nah, its a snug fit, but it goes in. Just no room to move around it once its in there.

pearly wrote:just that lip and wing mirrors to fix now.

Nah, not long ago I spent £180 on a brand new front bumper and £50 on getting the splitter resprayed because my old one was stone-chipped to death, i'm not changing it again! My plan never was to try and make it look like a facelift, I wanted the headlights mainly because they're projector and work better with the xenons. But I must admit the look of them over the pre-facelift lights is a huge bonus!

That looks very 8)

rturner wrote:Yeah, if you can find it that would be great. I also managed to drop a piece of the HID packaging down the side of the front wheel arch so could do with the bumper off to fish that out as well as to make installing the bulbs easier

http://www.twiglet.fotopic.net/show_col ... p?id=18183

This is the guide I used the first time, i've had the bumper off about 4 times since though so I can do it with my eyes closed now.

Looks a treat mate! Good work 8)