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Thread: Morimoto-Mini Projector Retrofit - X-rated edition =P

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    JDreamR/T's Avatar
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    Default Morimoto-Mini Projector Retrofit - X-rated edition =P

    Hey guys,

    so thought I’d share my latest project on the R/T, upgrading those lackluster headlights. I had been eying other retrofit projects out there and had my eyes set on a complete kit from TRS (www.theretrofitsource.com). When I saw the kit discounted 25% from a Black Friday sale last year, I pulled the trigger. I decided I’d go with their new line of Bi-Xenon Morimoto Mini D2S 3.0 projectors, with square lenses (aka X-lens). The new X-lens style I thought would blend much better into the boxy headlight housings on our trucks.

    Here is a link to the complete kit:
    http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...3-kit-d2s.html
    And the shrouds I chose to go with it:
    http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...r-shrouds.html

    Options I chose for this kit were:
    -XB35 Ballasts (35watt)
    -XB D2S bulbs 4500K
    -MotoControl BiXenon 9007/9004 Harness
    1999 R/T CC Flame Red (what's left of the paint)
    //SHAKER// 408 Forged // TKO600 5spd // Spintech-Mids // HiPoTek 106 LOPEYCAM // FRP Tuned //

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    So to start, I chose brand new DEPO 2pc style clear headlights to put these projectors into. I am already running the ANZO clears on my truck, however I disliked that the ANZO headlights have poor lens clarity; the plastic has noticeable waviness that I thought could cause distortion. For this reason I chose to cut up the DEPO brand clears instead.
    Taking them apart was easy, just as everyone most likely already knows you need to heat up the headlight to soften the glue holding the front lens on. A few warm up cycles in the oven, and prying with my plastic prying tools, I had them both apart in no longer than an 1hr.
    Once apart, I could start sizing out the cuts I would need in order to make to make parts fit. Right off the bat I could see the original halogen bulb socket needed to go. The socket bore dia. was too small to fit the threads of the projector body, as well as being off-center (too low) in the housing. The fact the socket was off-center made matters more difficult than I had originally anticipated, but no matter, I’ll just deal with that at a later stage.





    1999 R/T CC Flame Red (what's left of the paint)
    //SHAKER// 408 Forged // TKO600 5spd // Spintech-Mids // HiPoTek 106 LOPEYCAM // FRP Tuned //

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    With the bulb socket cut off and the opening enlarged, I now was able to have the projector sitting level. Now it was time to measure and cut the shrouds to fit. Because our headlights are so small, even these tiny shrouds needed a little trimming off the bottom and top. I used some card stock as a template, trimmed it to fit inside the headlight, and then used it as a guide to figure out approx. how much material to remove from the shroud. I taped up the shroud completely with masking tape before making any cuts to protect the finish. With some trial and error I managed to get enough material cut out using the Dremel drywall style cutting bit (bit#560) for a rough fit into the housing.







    To perfect the fit, I used my 5” orbital sander w/80 grit to get the surfaces completely flat and smooth. This left me with a tight seamless fit into the housing with almost no visible gaps.



    1999 R/T CC Flame Red (what's left of the paint)
    //SHAKER// 408 Forged // TKO600 5spd // Spintech-Mids // HiPoTek 106 LOPEYCAM // FRP Tuned //

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    Now that I had the projector and shroud fitting nicely inside my headlight bowl, I took some time to test fire it to see where the beam pattern lined up on the wall and to see if I was going to need any further tweaking here and there. Once I verified the pattern was indeed level and straight, I could move on to the next step. Below is a video of me performing this test on a nice blank wall at work:

    1999 R/T CC Flame Red (what's left of the paint)
    //SHAKER// 408 Forged // TKO600 5spd // Spintech-Mids // HiPoTek 106 LOPEYCAM // FRP Tuned //

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    The next step:
    Remember how I said that the halogen socket was off center? Well this posed a problem in that I needed to egg-out the hole to get the projector to sit level. This means that I had a large gap to fill. To fill the gap, I decided on one of those gray epoxy sticks. I kneaded an entire stick and pressed it inside the bottom of the housing. To be honest I goofed my plan a bit and it hardened up before I could form fit it with the projector body. So instead I waited ‘till it set and used the Dremel to carve out the epoxy material until I had a good fit (bit#117).

    The Gap:


    Epoxy Putty Shaped to fit:



    But I still had another issue, and that was the backside of the reflector bowl is curved and not perpendicular or straight.



    So to fix this, I sanded down the rear of the bowl until it was at the correct angle and flatness.









    I still needed a little more material for strength and give the projector securing nut a nice flat surface to mate to. So I mixed up this permatex plastic epoxy stuff (liquid) and used it to fill in the hole completely. I covered the projector securing nut with foil tape, and used it sort of like a mold. Once all the epoxy cured, I removed the nut and drilled out the hole to correct size using a 1-3/8” hole saw. A little more finish sanding and I finally had a perfect hole and mating surface on the rear of the headlight. Good.

















    1999 R/T CC Flame Red (what's left of the paint)
    //SHAKER// 408 Forged // TKO600 5spd // Spintech-Mids // HiPoTek 106 LOPEYCAM // FRP Tuned //

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    Now is a good time to start talking about going the extra mile on this retrofit. While shopping on TRS, I saw an option on there to custom etch logos/images into the projector lens itself! What a neat idea I thought to myself! Just that extra little feature that could set me apart from other retrofits out there. But rather than pony up the extra $$ for TRS to perform this service, I set out on attempting the etching on my own.
    To etch the lens, I did a little research and came upon a tool called an air eraser. It is very similar to an airbrush and uses a pen stylus with hopper for very fine blast media. I picked it up at the HF by me for $25! I was little leery of how it would work so I tested it out first on a glass beer mug. I masked it out and taped a paper stencil I printed out on standard paper. Using an xacto knife with brand new blades, I cut out the logo and removed the portions of tape. All that was left was to blast away. The results were awesome and gave me the confidence to move onto my projector lens.

    Practice mug:




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    Just like the beer mug, I used the same principle. Etching done to projector lenses are actually done on the inside surface, so I would first need to remove the lens from the frame of the projector. This was easy enough by prying up a few metal tabs and removing the lock ring. With the lens out of the projector, I then measured its overall dimensions and using CAD software created a stencil template. I sized the R/T script logo to my liking, flipped it & centered it onto the lens (the image needs to be flipped since it’s to be etched on the inside of the lens). I printed the 1:1 template I made and taped it onto the lens and went to work.
    It only took maybe 15mins to do the one lens. I was a bit nervous to peel back the masking tape, hoping I didn’t screw up the lens, but after seeing it fitted back into the projector I was ecstatic with the new look!


















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    Below is a video I took of the etching process:


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    A few more progress shots...











    Testing how the logo would look illuminated:



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    Not willing to stop there just yet... I had a plan to use LEDs to illuminate the backside of the projector, also known as demon eye effect. For this I cut 4 separate strips of RGB LED strips and began playing with fitting them into the headlight housing. The RGB LEDs allow you to fully customize the color, so to keep it street legal I plan on only running white or amber as a DRL.

    I wired them up using 22/4 conductor alarm wire. I routed the wire through a 5/16" hole I drilled in the back of the housing along with a rubber grommet and the wiring for the high beam solenoid. I knotted the wire inside the housing for strain relief and sealed it up with white silicone sealant.





    Next, I pre-wired all the LED strips, cleaned off the adhesive backing, and epoxied them in place along the top & bottom of the housing, and the left & right sides of the shroud. I used epoxy again to route and secure the wiring in key spots. I then spliced the connections and tested funtionality. After everything looked good, and a very thorough cleaning of all parts, I reinstalled the projector into the housing silicone sealing it from the inside around the perimeter of the threaded shaft.





    1999 R/T CC Flame Red (what's left of the paint)
    //SHAKER// 408 Forged // TKO600 5spd // Spintech-Mids // HiPoTek 106 LOPEYCAM // FRP Tuned //

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    Wallah!! ONE headlight complete!! (mostly)... I still need to seal the acrylic lens back in place.









    1999 R/T CC Flame Red (what's left of the paint)
    //SHAKER// 408 Forged // TKO600 5spd // Spintech-Mids // HiPoTek 106 LOPEYCAM // FRP Tuned //

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    Wow ! That is a labor of Love right there! I normally don't like the retro lights in our trucks but that's one badass headlight you've built yourself! The itch R/T is crown jewel in the whole thing !


    Nice work! Keep it up your custom builds are always very detailed and full of good info


    00 FR RC Dakota R/T Turbo 11.56@118

    99 Amethyst RC Dakota R/T 1-170 13.84@98

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    The R/T put it over the top for sure. Nice work! Take some pictures of them on the truck when there done.

  14. #14

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    I LOVE this!!!

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    Have these on my Jeep 5.9, love them!



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    Quote Originally Posted by RTchas View Post
    Wow ! That is a labor of Love right there! I normally don't like the retro lights in our trucks but that's one badass headlight you've built yourself! The itch R/T is crown jewel in the whole thing !
    Nice work! Keep it up your custom builds are always very detailed and full of good info
    Thank you Chas! Yeah I get a little carried away sometimes, and when I do, I make sure to post about it! lol. If my write-ups help to inspire creativity and provide useful information to others, then I've hopefully done my part. I try to be as detailed as I can... I actually write tech. production guides regularly at my current occupation, sooo y'all are lucky this is for free!

    Quote Originally Posted by moneypit View Post
    The R/T put it over the top for sure. Nice work! Take some pictures of them on the truck when there done.
    Thanks! Can't wait to get these on the truck, and when I do I'll surely take some more photos.

    Quote Originally Posted by 02daksxt View Post
    I LOVE this!!!
    Thanks!

    Quote Originally Posted by BoostinChick View Post
    Have these on my Jeep 5.9, love them!


    NOICE!
    1999 R/T CC Flame Red (what's left of the paint)
    //SHAKER// 408 Forged // TKO600 5spd // Spintech-Mids // HiPoTek 106 LOPEYCAM // FRP Tuned //

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    Kingst3r's Avatar
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    Thats badass. You have a little knob in the cab to switch the color of the LED's?

    My R/T build (rebuild) thread

    http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/...d.php?t=133167
    Quote Originally Posted by 70Cuda383 View Post
    It's an emissions thing. someone, somewhere said that the millions of gallons of gas that evaporate to the atmosphere every year was killing tree frogs on some south african isalnd or some shit, those endangered tree frogs can suck my left nut.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kingst3r View Post
    Thats badass. You have a little knob in the cab to switch the color of the LED's?
    Thanks brutha. Yeah, I actually have a separate remote control for it that came with the RF controller I bought. This is the one I got on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Music-2-RGB-...item3f37f6fc33 I got it from a US based seller though, "Sinollc".
    1999 R/T CC Flame Red (what's left of the paint)
    //SHAKER// 408 Forged // TKO600 5spd // Spintech-Mids // HiPoTek 106 LOPEYCAM // FRP Tuned //

  19. #19


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    Nicely done! The man haz skillz!
    99 DA CC R/T
    13.97@100 w/modded kegger & ported TB
    12.96 @103
    10:8-1 .30 over forged bottom end
    R/T ported heads
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    http://imgur.com/a/lOVuZ

  20. #20

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    Very Nice work Now get to work selling these
    2000 CC
    11.37@122


  21. #21

    DRTC #311

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    Wow that's really nice!!! great work! Wish I had your patience because it pays off

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    Talk about attention to detail. Great job

    Mostly stock:
    Open air Cleaner
    52mm TB
    No cat, flowmaster
    Way more mods to come

  23. #23

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    Cleannn! Great work dude!
    - 99' Dodge Dakota R/T CC -
    - 1 of 4 R/T Moon roof trucks; that I've seen anyway. -
    - Stock Bed, Stock Tailgate. Coming soon...

    - #1253 -

  24. #24

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    great work. i just got my morimoto mini h-1 with Gatling gun shrouds. cut off on the projector is very clean, not as clean as your install however

  25. #25

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    Very nice install! The new projectors are a pretty nice fit. Just be glad you didn't get the FXR projectors. I only know of one Durango where he made it work and it seemed like a shit ton of work to get them in.

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