P51's HID Headlight (Projector) and Fog Conversion (PICS) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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P51's HID Headlight (Projector) and Fog Conversion (PICS)

Here is my writeup for doing a Bi-Xenon HID Projector Retrofit for 96-01 Explorers, and HID Fog Light conversion for 99-01 Explorers.

Parts:

Clear Housings
E46 Bi-Xenon Projectors
3" Projector Shrouds
D2S HID Kit @ 5000k (Now 4300k)
H1 HID Kit @ 5000k (Now 4300k)
High Beam Controllers
3 Relays (30amp)
2 Diodes (3amp)
Fuse block (or inline)

To start you need to open up the headlight housings
First remove all the mounts from the housing
IMG_0042.jpg


Then put the light on a baking tray with tinfoil in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. put the headlight in the oven and wait about 5-10 min, CONSTANTLY MONITOR IT and make sure it doesn't get soft.
IMG_0045.jpg


Now its time to modify the housing to fit the protector
IMG_0050.jpg


Cut out all the plastic from the inside of the circle. I found that the barrel sander Dremel attachment worked the best.
IMG_0051.jpg


Now cut along the bottom to make room for the projector solenoid
IMG_0054.jpg


The Projectors (Note: They are upside down)
IMG_0048-1.jpg


Fit the projector into the housing
IMG_0056.jpg

IMG_0057-1.jpg

IMG_0058.jpg


Now onto the High Beams, I didn't have the actual wires, so I desoldered the connection off the board and soldered on my own leads.
IMG_0059.jpg


Mark and Drill the holes to mount the Projectors
IMG_0062.jpg


I used some of my old LEGOS as spacers, and used Plexiglase to seal the light back up. (NOTE: Cut the excess screw off it will interfere with installation later.
IMG_0089-1.jpg


Done (No shrouds at the moment)
IMG_0068.jpg


Now This isnt necessary but its a nice touch. I put 3 LEDs in to come on when the mirror lights come on. When you click unlock on the key fob these come on and do give off quite a bit of light. Cover with silicone.
IMG_0113.jpg


These are the LEDs not the HIDs
IMG_0116.jpg


Pax side Ballast locations
IMG_0084copy.jpg


Driver side Ballast locations
IMG_0085copy.jpg


HIDs vs Friends Subaruaruaru Stock Halogen
Lights-1.jpg


Fogs

The only major modification needed to do the fog conversion is to modify the bulb socket. Cut out the center of the ring and thats all. Sorry about the piss poor pic but all I had was my cell phone camera.
0229081730a.jpg


Seal up the socket with some silicone and splice into the pigtail wire that goes from the chassis to the bulb, and connect that with the power in lead of the HID ballast.
IMG_0088dcopy.jpg


Close up of Pax side Fog Ballast
IMG_0083.jpg


Done, Getting ready to go Skiing behind the Explorer :)
IMG_0075s.jpg

NOTE: The all Ford fleet.:thumbsup:

Wiringdaigram.jpg


Good Luck

EDIT: Daytime Pictures and Pics with shrouds installed on post 27
EDIT: Cutoff Pictures added on post 109
 
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dude thats freaking AWSOME!!!! i like the led idea also (turn on with door ajar)
 






Ryan, thanks so much for posting that nice writeup.
 












did you wire the ballast with a wiring harness/ relay or off the 2 wires from the stock bulb harness? i did a retro into my 3rd gen explorer and threads i read stated that the ballast itself draws a lot of power at start up and needs to have its own wiring harness...positive, negative connecting to the battery and then the relay would make it work when you turn your lights on...
 






Yes I ran power directly off the battery. If you look at the diagram you see that I used 2 relays that are switched on and off by the stock headlight harness.
 






nice...i have projs in my fogs and normal HIDs in the heads :)
 






Excellent write-up. If I were planning on keeping my Explorer for much longer I would invest in this.
 






Very nice writeup, i like the pics of the 5000k lighting. I will be switching my 8000k to the 5000k very soon. Great job.
 






can you post pics of the cut off pattern, with hi and low
 






Sure Ill get one this week.
 












Wow, really nice job ! I did the e46 into diamond cut thing about a year ago, but 2 things I have different

I cut off the highbeam solenoid as I didnt think about cutting out the bottom. Wish I wouldnt have. Oh well!

I painted the housing black. This GREATLY reduces glare!!! I am also running 8k bulbs and am using ballasts and ignitors off a wrecked BMW

One thing to think about- your fog ballasts might get wet there during rain. Might want to put plastic over it or something
 






Thank you
I'm sure the fog ballasts will get a little wet, They are fairly well protected by the front fascia, but I don't really think that the ballasts getting a little wet will be a problem since I mounted them with the vent facing down. Time will tell.
 






Thank you
I'm sure the fog ballasts will get a little wet, They are fairly well protected by the front fascia, but I don't really think that the ballasts getting a little wet will be a problem since I mounted them with the vent facing down. Time will tell.

Yeah, other than that, great setup and very nice write up! I wish I had a write up when I did mine! Boy it was fun! The only thing I would do now is tape up the projectors and paint the diamont cut background flat black. Youll thank me later because right now I bet you're giving off some glare :cool:
 






Low Beam
IMG_0186.jpg


High Beam
IMG_0187.jpg


Head On
IMG_0207s.jpg


400,000 candle power halogen spot light on top
 
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Wow very nice. Either 8000k is that dim or something is wrong with my kit lol.
 






Wow very nice. Either 8000k is that dim or something is wrong with my kit lol.

I have seen the output of 8000k and it is much dimmer then 5000k.
 






with 8k, you sacrifice color for output
 



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