So I'm finally done with my retrofit. Let me know what you think... A few pics of the lights, progress, and light output below (sorry for the crappy phone camera quality):

lightly used OEM headlights off of 09 SS/TC from eBay
Morimoto Mini H1 projectors
E-55 shrouds
V-LEDs.com type 2 switchbacks
Autozone amber LED was used in the marker since V-LED 194 bulb wouldn't fit our socket

EDIT: Now with plasti dip eyelids. Light output is not affected:









Installed:


Baking them apart was probably the hardest part of the whole thing, since the OEM headlights suck to pull apart, but finally got it done:


Took apart the projectors to clean it, they were previously installed in my Neon for a short time..


Painted the stock reflector flat black (trim black if I remember correctly) with adhesion promoter first of course



The rest of the reflector got painted the same color, but it also got the two-part 2K clear... Here's an approximate fit up with V-LED type 2 switchback:

I decided to keep the side markers orange (after long consideration to black them out with Rust-Oleum lens tint I have sitting in the garage) but decided to stay legal to save the trouble with Oregon and Washington cops... Plus I kinda like the look.

Finally baked them shut...



After reading a few suggestions on here, this is where I ended up mounting the ballasts for the fogs and projectors:


Also, I used the headlight front bracket bolts to install some resistors for the turn signals:



While I had the headlights out, it was really easy to replace the fogs with some HIDs, here's a comparison shot of halogen and HID:


Here's the light output of the fogs against a garage/house wall:


And here's a shot of only fogs from behind the car on the street. I took the picture to see the SMDLED strip that I used for the license plate light, and V-LED platinum bulbs for the tails (separate resistors were required to prevent hyper flash) I also needed a separate resistor to prevent glowing third brake light (the light would glow because there was not enough load from the two strips alone, not pictured)... Sorry for over-exposed phone picture



And the lights finally installed and the car put together:



Here's a shot of just Switchback parking lights and fog lights on:


And here's a shot with parking lights, low beams, and fog lights on:


Close up shot of the light at night:


And the light output of both low beams and fogs:



I'm very happy with them. Let me know what you guys think.

 

Shoulda tinted the reflector

 

Looks good! What kind of sealant did you go with? I reused the stock to only have moisture get in and stain my lens. I have to pull them apart and redo everything again lol

 

That's hot...

 

Looks really good man.

 

i want some

 

looks dope as hel!

 

Considered it, but decided against it to keep legal. Once the lens is on it's not as visible as I thought it would be. Who knows, might do it on the next time I open them up.

 

You should black out your chevy emblem to complete the look. Overall, looks killer man. Great work!!

 

I got some butyl sealant from theretrofitsource.com Hopefully it will hold up.

 

Thank you.

 

Planning on using plasti-dip on all of my emblems. And thank you!

 

Ive had tinted turn signal covers ( clear plexiglas tinted black with vht) and painted reflectors for 3 years not a single issue.

 

Damn.. Looks great

 

Have you had any trouble with the switchbacks? On vleds website it says not for vehicles with DRLs

 

That's great man. Cops in your area must be nicer than here... plus with the way I drive, I don't want to give them any more reason to pull me over. And my turn signal reflectors are painted black, no plexi glass at all...

I figured if I painted them and was required to fix it (they're dicks like that sometimes around here), I'd have to either pull apart the lights, or go stock, neither of which I want to do.

Your ride looks pretty nice by the way. Are the green halos on all the time or do you have a switch to kill them as needed?

 

Thanks, man!

DannyG, it says "Not to be used on vehicles that use turn/parking lights as DRL"... Mine's 08 SS so that bulb is ONLY used for parking light/turn signal, 06-07 use turn signal bulbs as DRL, 08+ use lower wattage high beams as DRL.

Either way, I have the DRLs disabled for the HID setup.

 

Gah..my cutoff line isnt that sharp..I gotta redo my retros..>< What HID kit did you use?

 

Damn lol I'm 06 how do you disable them? I couldn't find a fuse last time I looked

 

how you end up mounting ur projector? just lots of shaving or truely plug and play like they state?

 

Theres some dremeling...but it really is plug and play for the main part..

 

I pieced my stuff together. The HID kit I got locally from a tuner shop Speed Concept or something.... Didn't want to wait for shipping. They use DDM ballasts, and not sure on the bulbs, they order them in somewhere in Cali according to them. Different bulbs do make a difference. I had a no name cheap hid kit in the last set up, and and the cut off was a bit worse. So was light output in general.

 

If the set up is the same on both 07 and below, it's right above the fuel pump relay iirc when looking from the front of the car. Just search for DRL disable on here, but that's how I found it.

 

^^^what he said. You pretty much have to cut off the whole portion that holds the original bulb to get the retaining nut on properly. Also this thread is very helpful: https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/elec...-retro-223895/ it shows you before and after dremeling pictures. It uses D2S projectors, while I went with H1s, since Matt at TRS suggested they have slightly better light output.

 

my Pass Cutoff is perfect but my Driverside sucks..and I bought them off a guy on cragislist..while the Ballasts are DDM I dont beleive the bulbs are..Now did you use the 9007 Adaptor plates or soemthing else?