Month: March 2012

HouseOfHID.com Conversion Kit Guide

Published by Chazz

HouseOfHID.com HID conversion for Lotus Elise/Exige

Step 1:

Park the car, IN gear, Parking brake engaged with wheels straight on a flat surface. Start by breaking all of the front wheel lugs loose.
Do one side at a time, this will be faster and prevent lost/mixed parts. Use a floor jack and rubber puck or old phonebook to lift one of the front wheels from the ground. ENSURE YOU ARE USING THE PROPER JACK POINT!

Remove the first wheel to provide access to the headlight access panel. Remove this panel by removing the 2 phillips head bolts on the bottom of the cover and the single phillips head screw on the top. Pop the bottom of the panel free and then simply slide it down and out.
Step 2:

Now with the panel removed you have access to the rear of the headlight. First, Remove the 3 Allen-head bolts (ONLY) to remove the Healdight cover.
With the 3 bolts removed simply lift the headlight Lens free of the clam and slide it towards the front of the car to remove. If it has never been removed before It may take some fiddling to work free.

Step 3:

With the headlight lens and shroud free you now have access to the headlight bulbs. First squeeze and pull back the headlight bulb clips to free the OEM bulb from the housing. Note the alignment of the bulb.
Now install the HID bulb, the bulb should align with the wire filament facing straight up, Slide the bulb into the housing carefully as not to damage it or the filament. Then re-place the wire clip.


(PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE GETTING ACCESS TO THE REAR OF THE HEADLIGHT SIMPLY REMOVE THE 3 10MM NUTS FROM THE BACK OF THE HEADLIGHT CASING AND REMOVE THE HEADLIGHT HOUSINGS FROM THE CLAM.)

Step 4:

Wiring time. Your Ballast will come with the plugs and retaining pins seperate, this is so that the harness can be routed through the OEM grommet keeping this kit 100% cut and drill free.

To start you will want to pull the grommet free toward the top of the car. Now you need to pull the OEM lowbeam connections out of the grommet so that they will be available inside the fender-well.
Once you have the OEM low-beam harness removed, you can route the ballast harness through the fender well into the headlight housing and through the grommet. This will take some wiggle work and patience, but the final result has an OEM seal.

Now you may simply re-pin the plugs to the HID harness. The male connector to the White wire and the Female to the Blue. Simply align them and slide them together to “click” into place. The securing pins install as pictured.

A pick tool may be used to help in re-installing the female safety clip as pictured.
Now, you may re-install the headlight grommet and connect the bulb connections to your new harness.
Step 5:

Almost done! Now it is time to mount and wire the ballast. I chose the side of the headlight bucket using the provided double sided pad. Clean the are to be stuck with rubbing alcohol to ensure a permanent bond.

You may need to rotate the ballast so that the harness faces the back of the headlight in order to reach.
Now with the ballst mounted its time to connect the ballast power supply to the OEM bulb connectors. Simply route the harness to the  back of the grommet where the old bulb connections are now located. Install the Large blade connector(Red wire) into the Black plastic bulb connector. Then the Smaller blade into the smaller bare connector. To seal this connection, apply liquid tape to the connections as well as a layer of QUALITY  electrical tape.

Step 6:

Before continuing any further, double check all connections, be sure you re-connected the high-beam and marker lights. Then turn them on to ensure function!
With everything functioning, Clean up the wiring by using zipties to ensure everything is clear and snug!

You may also want to adjust headlight alignment while you have your headlight covers off. Please refer to another guide for this procedure (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, Alignment provides better vision and anybulb)

Step 7:

That’s it! Time to button up. First re-install the headlight lens and shroud. It helps to wet the body with windex where the rubber seal contacts in order to help slide the cover into place. Carefull not to over-tighten the headlight cover fasteners!
Next re-install the access panel, all 3 phillips heads (Srew in top, 2 bolts in bottom).
Re-install the wheel, torque lugs to 77ft/lbs.
(Repeat procedure on opposite side)

Congratulations! Your headlights now look like they SHOULD have from the factory! Enjoy your new night vision!

 

Storm Titanium

Published by Chazz

Lotus Elise/Exige Cleared Side turn-signals

Published by Chazz

This is a basic guide I wrote to detail the removal of the amber filter from the Lotus Elise and Exige Side-Turn-signals. This both allows for a color change (White in my case) and the use of an LED Bulb ((longer than stock and will not fit with Amber Filter in place)

I forgot to take a picture of the OEM marker illuminated Amber. To see simply activate a turn signal and take a look at the Amber color emitted from the UN-modified lens.

Tools needed:
Plastic Card or Credit card covered in masking tape (to prevent scratching paint)
Small Flat-Head screwdriver
Can of Keyboard Duster
Masking Tape
CLEAR 2-part fast cure Epoxy
LED 168 bulbs (color of your choice, Amber or White recommended)

Step 1:

Remove Marker lights by pressing the plastic card against the FRONT of the marker lenses firmly but not to hard. Pry out carefully simultaneously and the marker will “pop” free.

Step 2:

After UN-clipping bulb from harness (Just pry tab away and pull) twist bulb fixture counter clockwise and side bulb out. This will reveal the orange “cap” filter fixed inside the lens.

Using the Flathead screwdriver, from the rear opening of the lens “pry” the amber cap away from the inside of the lens housing carefully causing the cap to “twist” inside the fixture. This will take some fiddling, a dental pick/seal pick may also work.

Step 3:

Now that you have access to the inside of the housing you need the can of duster. With the can UPSIDE-DOWN insert the straw into the lens housing to the side of the amber cap. Spray for 2-3 seconds until the housing is about half full of the liquid nitrogen. Swish the liquid around so that it contacts all of the adhesive holding the clear lens to the black housing. You may hear a POP as the lens breaks free. If not then use the screwdriver to carefully pry the lens away… it should take VERY LITTLE EFFORT. If needed repeat the spray.
Step 4:

Now that you have it apart the Amber cap should fall free, toss it in the garbage. Almost done! Now clean the housing and lens with rubbing alcohol to prep it for re-assembly.

— DO ONE LENS AT A TIME AS YOU HAVE LIMITED TIME TO MIX and APPLY THE ADHESIVE — Now mix a SMALL amount of Epoxy and use Q-Tips to apply it quickly to the very edge of the clear lens. Use a SMALL amount so that it does not run on the sides of the lens! Work quickly as the epoxy can dry in just a few minutes.
Re-install the lens onto the housing, and once in place wipe away any excessive adhesive before it drys as its not removable once dry! Then wrap a pice of tape around the lens to hold it in place fore a few minutes while the Epoxy cures.

Step 5:

After 5-10 minutes remove the tape and the lenses should be cured. Blow into the back of the housing where the bulbs go to ensure there are no leaks.
Below is an image of the OEM bulb next to the 5 SMD LEDs I used. You can see how the caps inhibit use of the LEDs because of there additional length.

At this point Install the bulbs into the sockets and test-fit them into your clear lenses!

At this point Plug the sockets back into the harness on the car BUT DO NOT RE-INSTALL THE FIXTURES! TEST THE BULBS FIRST! If they do not Function, flip the bulbs in the sockets as they ARE polarity sensitive! If they still don’t work be sure the bulb contacts are not bent out of contact.

Step 6: (Final)

As long as everything functions correctly, Clean the body panel where the lens mates with the car with some quick detail, and simply snap the fixtures back into place! Double test them to ensure function. Enjoy!