How To Install Projectors In Mitsubishi Lancer 2008+ Halogen Headlights This is a small manual of what you should do and

notice to retrofit Mitsubishi Lancer 2008+ halogen headlights. I must say that this was a quite difficult and tiring job, for someone who hasn't done it before. So, if you believe you can do it, it's very important to take your time and have someone else's help during some steps of the procedure. I spent a whole week, while I was working for a few hours every day, with help from a friend. Hardware and glues: Flat and Phillips screwdrivers Work gloves Professional heatgun or a large oven Air duster spray Dremel with cutting disks and sanding and metallic drums High tension hand clamps Epoxy in putty, plasticine and instant transparent glue form

The complete retrofit kit from The Retrofit Source: Denso 35W Slim Ballasts* Philips 85122+ (4300K) Bulbs OEM TSX Clear Lenses Acura TSX Projectors E46R (Extended) Shrouds 9006 Relay (didn't used, ballasts pluged directly on the factory low beam's wiring)

* Densos might be better, quicker and last longer, but these and their wiring aren't waterproof, they are quite large and difficult to mount in Lancer's engine bay. On the other hand, Morimotos are waterproof and there is a socket at their exact shape, at the bottom of the headlight's housing, where they can be mounted with 3 screws. So, choose Morimotos! The steps I had to follow were these: Adjusting the beam height at lowest point Removing radiator plate & intake's hose (6 clips) Removing front bumper (24 clips & screws) Removing headlights (4 screws each) Removing 1 clip & 4 screws, bulbs from each headlight Baking or heating* with heatgun each headlight to unseal it(leave the grey sealant on the parts of the headlight to re-heat and seal again) Removing 4 screws from the inner of the headlight to remove the black plate under the reflectors and the orange side reflector Mark where the reflectors with their base are installed** to place them again at the same position Removing the low beam's gasket from the rear housing of the headlight and unscrew (2 screws) the metallic base for the halogen buld from the back of the low beam's reflector*** Unscrewind the 2 screws, which hold the reflectors on the housings and pulling the reflectors up and forward to remove them from the beam's height adjustable arm (a metallic arm behind the lower back of reflectors) Retrofitting Follow the opposite direction of steps to complete the procedure. * Much easier to bake it at ~80C for 5-7min, I suppose, since I used a hairdryer, not even a pro heatgun, so I spent with my friend about 1 hour to open both. He was heating every inch of sealant to make it soft and behing him I was using a flat screwdriver to open. The sealant was that

much and the headlight that big, so we had to make the round of headlight with hairdryerscrewdriver almost 3 times, until we open it. At least, I didn't have to remove the wiring harness from the housing or risk the durability of the headlight. ** You can mark the depth of the reflectors in the housing by making marks or drawing lines at points or surfaces of the reflectors, which aren't visible from the front of the headlight. In that way, you will be able to screw the reflectors in the housings at the same depth. *** The gasket with the metallic base for the halogen bulb...

Very important note: I risked to skip a very important step, due to the way that our reflectors are constructed. This is the marking of the halogen beam to a wall from a distance of ~10ft from the wall. This step must take place from the moment the reflector has been removed from the housing and before start cutting the reflector. In brief, you fix the reflector in a steady point 10ft. away from a wall, turn the halogen buld on, mark the beam's height and cutoff with tape on the wall. The same is repeated from the same steady point with the xenon buld in the projector, after you have cut the reflector, mounted the projector and before fix it in the reflector for good. This must be done to adjust the projector's beam height and cutoff at the same level with the original. I skipped this step, because I had not the space to do it. So, I used an alternative option to mount the projectors properly (referred later here), plus our reflectors have 3 screws from where I can adjust the beam inside the headlight. RETROFIT Before you read, be aware that every step of the process must be done for both headlights together and then proceed to next step. Working that way, you save time!!! Also, see the Alignment and cutoff paragraph to realise from the beginning that a clean and straight cut is not enough to do the job, but a symmetric and centered cut for both reflectors will get you out of the trouble to reopen the headlight!!! Cut the reflector with caution, starting with a circle smaller than the projector's diameter, mount the projector and if needed then cut a bigger circle and a bigger one, until you fix the projector exactly in the whole and the shroud sits normally in/on the reflector/projector. Test the reflector-projectorshroud fitment after every cut.

The picture shows the circle I cut and a good point of reference for the projector's appropriate height/center in the reflector is the line I didn't cut (red arrow). As you can see, the uncut reflector is almost symmetric. After that, you ensure that everything sits normal, and straight, the projector in the reflector and the shroud on both. You can do that by looking the reflector-projector from the side, below and above. If they are leveled at all angles, you are ok. Also, you ensure that the cutoff shield* in the projector is totally parallel with the horizontal lines of the square opening shown in the picture above. Then, the beam will be totally parallel to the ground! In order to make everything sits normally, I had to trim or cut the corners of the projector's shell, the hole of the shroud for projector and a couple of points, shown in the pictures below..

* The cutoff shield must be shown at the bottom of the projector, when the projector is mounted. Then, you fix the projector in the reflector with the plasticine epoxy (green stuff), make for last time the vertical levels of projector and reflector parallel and apply the plasticine with strenght along the rear line reflector-projector.

The plasticine needs 20 minutes to become hard at 25C. Apply it on both headlights and then start applying the putty epoxy at the inner line of reflector-projector and everywhere the projector touches the reflector. The putty epoxy (grey stuff) I used is being produced by mixing the two components of the product in 1:1 ratio.

I fixed the shroud by applying putty epoxy around the rind of projector and shroud, as shown below..

The putty epoxy needed 24h to dry at all at 25C, so after I fixed the shrouds, I left both sets without touch in home environment and temperature to dry. Next day I applied instant transparent epoxy glue (syringe) in the gap between reflector-projector (red arrows in picture below), to ensure that the shroud won't fall from vibrations..

That gap is ideal for installing Angel-eye ring!!! That glue is instant, so I didn't have to wait too long to put the reflectors back in their housings.

After I removed the dust from housings and reflectors with the air duster spray, I joined them, cleaned the lenses and closed the headlights, by re-heating the sealant. The sealant needs to be quite warm to seal the headlight properly. You need to force the lenses on the housings along their join and leave, if no gap at all, the smaller it is possible, 1-2mm max. The high tension hand clamps are useful here. I also applied hot melt silicone glue at the 1-2mm gap around the join of the lens with the housings, to ensure that water won't pass through any pore of the sealant in the headlight. For the end, I cut a little on the top and put back the low beam's rear gasket...

This is the final result...

ALI GN ME NT & CUTOFF There are 3 screws and a couple of tricks to help you make the alignment of the beams. The 3 screws are shown in the picture below with the red arrows and you can adjust them, while the headlight is on the car.

The one trick, as referred in the beginning, is to mark the position of the reflectors, before you remove them from the housing. After retrofit, you screw the reflectors back, until the marked points/lines. But, the way the projector must be mounted in the reflector as described previously is the most important trick. If the vertical level of reflector-projector aren't parallel, if the one headlight's hole is cut in different position from the other's, if both holes aren't properly centered in both reflectors and if the cutoff shield in the projector isn't parallel to the horizontal lines of the square opening in the reflector, there is no way to align the beams with the screws and the only way is to re-open the headlights and align/center the projectors!!! Important note: The safest way to ensure the beams' proper projection is the step I decided to skip! Finally, it looks like I have good perception of space and quite sharp vision. In the picture below, you may see the initial cutoff, after installation and a week driving on all kinds of roads. You realise that both beams are totally parallel to the ground and the only adjustment I need is centering and leveling both beams a little, which can be made from the 3 screws shown above.

In conclusion, the difficulty percentage of its step for a rookie.... Removing bumper: 75% Removing headlights: 10% Opening headlights with hairdryer-screwdriver: 100% Marking the depth of reflectors in the housing: 0% Cutting reflector and mounting projector and shroud as described: 65% Re-sealing headlights with hairdryer and silicone: 30% Thank you all for reading this How to and I hope I helped a little..