2014 Ford Focus MD2S 3.0 (TLF Redux)

[HK45]

So a year ago this month, some of you remember the infamous retro done for a member brought to us by The Lighting Firm(TLF). Or should I say The No Longer In Business Lighting Firm. In case you wonder why TLF is no longer in business or missed the thread, let me remind you of their work:

Before


Before


Before






It was unfortunate the member had this kind of work done for a hefty price tag on a new car. He was able to live with it until one of his LED DRLs stopped working. Fortunately for him, TLF accepted the fact their work was crap and refunded his money. Our member deserved better and get what he paid good money for. Let's see what we can do for him.

After


After


After

So On To The Retro

Morimoto MD2S 3.0 Projectors
Iris Shrouds
HD Relay Harness
Morimoto XB55 Ballasts
Morimoto XB 6500K Bulbs


Before


After

The Work

Opened up and reflector removed



Bummer, doesn't fit


Let's make the hole bigger


And need to cut off this corner mount


Fits now after a little trimming



Since there was no room behind the headlights on the car, I wanted to put the ballasts inside the headlight so it was all one unit. And it all fit with just a tiny amount of trimming!



The shrouds needed a lot of trimming so I wanted to try something new. Traced out the shroud onto a piece of construction paper



Taped it onto the projector and cut out the pattern with a razor blade



See where adjustments needed to be made and transferred it to another paper shroud


Repeated until I got the right shape


Attached paper to actual shroud and scored it with a razor blade following the line of the paper shroud. Then traced the score with a marker to see where I needed to cut




Success!


Repeat for the other headlight and seal them up!



Fin






Thanks for takin a looksie!

[MRauties]

Clean AF!!

[mengmlo]

looks good.

[rebelx]

The cooler color bulbs just don't do well on dark wet Tarmac.

I think I'll be stepping down to 4500k when these 55k bulbs wear out.

[rebelx]

Haha the untold truths of a HID retro. It took me a little bit to get used to the cutoff on my FX-Rs. I still watch the cutoff bouncing when I drive lol. As for HID in the rain, I can't say I have an issue with that because quads shine(literally) in this department. teheeheehohohohohahahaha

I think I should have had you do quads

[HK45]

Finally he has decent lighting! I love the paper cutout for the shroud trimming, but would be wary of using it for more open applications, as there is potential for light bleed. I think. I'd love to be proven wrong, however, and shown that this method works for all applications.

Since the shroud was already not covering the entire projector opening, light bleed was to too much of a concern since it would be inevitable in this application. Could it work on other applications? With adjustments to the process, I could see it possibly working. Guess I'll have to give it a try on my next retro :-)

[Haloruler64]

I drove a car with 6000K, maybe 6500K bulbs before, visibility was pretty poor at night on dark tarmac. Even 5000K, which is still pretty cool, is far far better on the same roads.

[Nuvolari]

The cooler color bulbs just don't do well on dark wet Tarmac.

[dreamer1213]

rebelx - the shroud choice comment was directed to you, lol. And yup, if you do not want razor sharp, you will need to go to a fresnel lens option - for now, you could possibly aim your headlights up just a tad to get some more distance lighting.

[csjoh]

Finally he has decent lighting!

I love the paper cutout for the shroud trimming, but would be wary of using it for more open applications, as there is potential for light bleed. I think.

I'd love to be proven wrong, however, and shown that this method works for all applications.

[Drewski32]

Yeah I'm not sure if my hids are worse than halogen in the rain or i just expect them to be better than they are now. I want fogs bad but the brackets are so damn expensive.

And my old h11 projectors had a fairly sharp cutoff so my visibility has only improved with my mh1's.... which i am starting to realize aren't that sharp towards the sides kf the output despite the curved shield

[edouble]

Good job! Output looks perfect.

[HK45]

Haha the untold truths of a HID retro. It took me a little bit to get used to the cutoff on my FX-Rs. I still watch the cutoff bouncing when I drive lol. As for HID in the rain, I can't say I have an issue with that because quads shine(literally) in this department.



teheeheehohohohohahahaha

[rebelx]

rebelx what don't you like about it? I'm just curious because i came off of halogen projectors so i was already used to the cutoff and i don't have any problems

The biggest weakness I found was the crisp cutoff from the clear lens. I talked to HK about it, and for when I do my next retro/car, I'll look into getting a fresnel lens. For example, if I'm stopped at a generously sized intersection, the cutoff will only light up the feet of pedestrians. In my old halogen reflector, I wouldn't say it would light up the entire pedestrian, but there was enough light bleed to make a pedestrian more obvious. I've only come across this scenario at two intersections (both large, both late at night, both with pedestrians), and this issue does not exist at smaller intersections as the aim is naturally higher, but it's still a cause for concern.

Another thing I don't like is dark on-ramps/exits. Because my car does not have auto turn headlights, the lights point only straight. Since the halogen reflectors would scatter some light around, it made for safer on-ramps navigation because I could see "further" ahead on the curve. With HIDs, the projectors keep the light fixed in place ahead of me and prevent me from seeing past the turn angle. In other words, I am essentially blind to what's on the curve until my car is in front of it.

We had a bunch of rain yesterday and I can confirm that the HIDs performed worse in the rain than the halogen projectors. I suspect this has to do with color more than anything else. I'm running 55k bulbs, but on a 50w ballast. I'm hoping the lights yellow out slightly more. If they don't, I'd consider using amber Laminx on my fogs to obtain a similar result and to create more contrast on the road. I was primarily using my fogs with the halogen reflectors to add more visible light when driving and now that I don't absolutely need to (but I still do), the fogs can still serve a functional purpose with adding contrast. I'm just worried about burning out the Laminx (as some people have complained) and greatly diminishing light output.

FINALLY! Great choice for a shroud and TOP NOTCH work, as always HK! Looks awesome!

I'm going to take credit for the shroud choice, but all the fitment credit goes to HK

[dreamer1213]

FINALLY! Great choice for a shroud and TOP NOTCH work, as always HK! Looks awesome!