# DIY: TL Projectors + Blazer Projector Foglights into a MK4 Jetta



## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

So I thought i would start off with my TL projector headlight Retrofit into my MK4 VW Jetta. Then i will go over the Blazer Projector foglights after and finally all of the comparison and output shots. This will keep everything neat and organized
*TL PROJECTOR RETROFIT*
SPECS:
Acura TL Projectors
Custom E-55 shroud
Morimoto 5five ballasts
4300K Phillips 85122+ bulbs/4300K Morimoto 5five HID bulbs/6000K Morimoto 5five HID bulbs
To start off with the TL projectors are HUGE for anyone who is wanting to use them in a Jetta. They will NOT fit into a golf, many have tried and zero have succeeded. So use extreme caution when trying to attempt to put them into a mk4 jetta, i have 2mm clearance between the shrouds and the lense and i had to custom fit them into my engine bay with only a few mm again between them and the battery on the drivers side and the windshield washer fluid on the passengers side.
To start off with i dremeled out the existing reflector housing in the exact shape of the TL projector so that i could press the projector as far forward as possible while keeping it aimed straight. This took a long time to get the fitment right, it fits very snugly. I also sank the Solenoid down as far as i dared so that the projectors would fit height wise. 
















Then i drilled holes so that i could bolt the projector to the reflector housing using the TL mounting holes. I used 3 nuts for each bolt so that i could make it adjustable. So basically i bolted the bolt to the housing and then i had one nut on each side of the TL mounting holes so that they could be moved in and out without having to rip the projector apart. This came in handy when i had to aim the projectors.
[Sorry for no picture]
At this point i mounted and aimed the projectors.
With the projectors mounted and aimed it was time for the shroud to hide the bolt heads and solenoid. I chose an E-55 bezel because of the looks and also the fact that it was wide and took up a lot of the reflector so i could use it to hide the mounting and solenoid without too much trouble. When i got them i had to dremel out the bottoms quite a bit to be able to fit the solenoid and then i test fitted them.
































As you can see i had to push the projector so far forward there was still a pretty major gap between the shroud and the reflector housing. I wanted this filled so again a custom solution was in order. I used very thin aluminum sheet and after a cardboard mock-up and much trimming i was able to find the correct shape for a shroud extension which went back and almost touched the reflector housing. I also included a bottom lip so to say to hide the bit of the solenoid that you could see. This can be done with aluminum sheet like me or carefully with silicone later on in the process when you are siliconing the shroud into place.
































I then JB welded the extension to the back edge of the shroud making sure to keep the outside face flush with the shroud








































I made sure to leave a 1mm gap between the housing and the shroud extension so that when i silicone it in place i can easily cut just the silicone off if i need to make any modifications or changes. I just test fitted at this point and did NOT silicone it.
At this point change out your lenses to clear lenses if you got them, i found a huge difference in cutoff sharpness.
Paint the shroud and you may need to respray the housing a bit if you scratched it up, but this will be the final paint coat so make it good.
I then took the turn signals out of the top circle and custom fitted them into the bottom and JB welded them in place. Simple dual turn signal mod that you can look up elsewhere but it has a great effect on the visibility of it with HIDs so i highly recommend it. 
With everything done i test fitted yet again to make sure everything was A-okay and it turns out it was (thank god).
This is where i siliconed the shroud onto the reflector housing. Everything looking pretty good








Then i mounted the reflector/projector inside the headlight housing








I then had the task of custom building a housing extension because the projectors were so god damn long. I used a 3” by 2” rubber reducer from Canadian tire and shortened it so that it fit just around the round of the projector. The fact that it is rubber and easy to move around lets you change the bulbs with ease and it also provides good weather protection. I used cut up and modified ABS threaded end caps to finish sealing off the end of the reducers. I cut the rubber reducers so that the end of the D2S bulbs were lined up with the end of the ABS caps so that way i could plug in the D2S cable from the ballasts directly into the back of the ABS caps. Therefore i also had to cut a round hole in the back of the caps in the right spot so it would fit tightly. 
You can also see that i used part of the original factory backing siliconed into place and also an aluminum section because the solenoid was sunk so far down into the housing. This housing took forever to make just right (approx. 8 hours for the first one) but it has worked like a charm and i can replace the bulbs easily, i can fully take apart the headlight to adjust anything and it is also waterproof from the back end. 
Also at this stage make sure that you have wired in your solenoid wiring or it may be a bitch to get to and attach further on. I siliconed it out the back beside the aluminum solenoid plates.








This is the time where i ripped my old headlights out of my car and stole the upper turn signal from them and wired it into my new projector headlights so that i could have the dual turn signals 
















I then attached the HID ballasts to the turn signal access hatch on the back of the lights for ease of installation and the fact that it keeps everything together.
















Then just seal it up with your favourite type of sealant and your headlights are ready to go.....almost.
















You will need to modify your air intake snorkel (if you still have it) by getting rid of that bitch and dremeling the front holder out. You will see what i mean when you try to fit them. Also you will need to trim your headlight separator (the black piece of plastic that covers your headlights and seperates them from the rest of the engine bay) quite a bit and also your battery cover haha. Quite a bit of trimming to get it to even fit in the car but worth every cut.
















Then just wire it in like any ordinary wiring harness but switch the low beam and ground wires in the 9007 socket and you should be golden. Make sure it works and then its time to adjust your new headlights! Adjust them! Comparison shots at the end of the writeup


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

*BLAZER PROJECTOR FOGLIGHT RETROFIT*
SPECS:
Blazer Projectors
Morimoto 3five ballasts
Morimoto 3000K 880 HID bulbs
So to start off I had a Dubstop fog light kit from a few years ago which kept breaking, the lenses were crap and kept on breaking because of thin glass and the whole fog lights were rusting out. So this was my inspiration for doing this retrofit. If you currently don’t have a set of fog lights you can rip into you may be in for a world of hurt with this retrofit. Either hurt or you are going to have to spend countless hours custom making lower front grills which would be......fun let’s just say.
So i started by dremeling around the current hole so that the blazer projectors would fit nice and flush against the face. Since the lower grills already had bolt mounting points i decided to just make a fully adjustable solution from those starting points.
Using the two old mounting brackets i came up with a configuration which would give me full adjustability and would line up with the mounting points on the projectors.








For the other side of the projector i had to make a custom bracket from angle aluminum and JB welded it together. Then i cut channels for the bolts to give it adjustability.
























Then i bolted the whole unit together trying to line up the shield with the grill lines but they are apparently not exactly straight along the ground as i later found out. 
















Then mirror this for the other side and you get two sets of lower grill fog lights

__
Image uploading. Refresh page to view









Then comes the fun part of mounting these bad boys. There is almost no room when you look at the front end from the perspective of the grills so i took off my bumper to have a peek around and found two perfect mounting spots for the ballasts. The leads on the ballasts were super long so i could mount them here no problem and also be able to remove the bumper with having the fogs still wired in so that i could get around to unclip them.
(notice the larger hole on top, you have to drill that out)
































Then again just wire everything in according to a logical order, the red fused wire is power, the black is ground, the two H1 wires are power and ground in their respective colors and the ballast clips go to either ballast. I ran the wire for the passenger side along the top front of the bumper and zip tied it into place, doesn’t interfere with anything and you can’t see it without looking really hard.








This is how it all looks when it is put back together


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

*COMPARISON SHOTS*
Initial output of stock reflectors with upgraded halogen bulbs








TL Low beam with Morimoto 4300K bulbs
















TL Low beam with 4300K Phillips 85122+ bulbs








Blazer projector fog lights with 3000K bulbs








TL Low beam with 4300K Phillips 85122+ bulbs & Blazer projector fog lights with 3000K bulbs

















*OUTPUT SHOTS*
TL Low beam with 4300K Phillips 85122+ bulbs








TL High beam with 4300K Phillips 85122+ bulbs








TL Low beam with 4300K Phillips 85122+ bulbs & Blazer projector fog lights with 3000K bulbs (sorry for not letting the fogs warm up, it was cold outside)








TL High beam with 4300K Phillips 85122+ bulbs & Blazer projector fog lights with 3000K bulbs










Well thanks for taking a look, hopefully people learned something from this or just enjoyed looking at the pictures! 
Let me know if you have any comments or criticisms 
Sean


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## GolfCL Smooth (Jul 9, 2006)

I'm glad I'm the first one to comment on this, because I have to admit you did some really nice work all around. Fitment and attention to detail are both great, as is the planning and design to make sure you'll be trouble free in the future. I've actually been waiting to finally get started on an eerily similar setup, I have all the parts ready to go I'm just waiting for the first hint of spring before I get to work in the garage. 
Big props for a fellow canadian mech eng :thumbup: :thumbup: :beer:


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

Well congrats on purchasing stuff for a retrofit, i love mine and it was well worth the money. What are the specs on your setup?


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## GolfCL Smooth (Jul 9, 2006)

Well worth the money and the priceless satisfaction 
I have a golf, and decided to go for a clean but affordable setup. I found some E55 low beam projectors for a great price, and will be pairing them with E46R extended shrouds, clear lenses, dual turns and 35W 4300K morimoto bulbs and ballasts. I might regret not going with OEM but bang for buck was really my aim.
For the fogs, I have ford fusion projectors waiting to be mounted in my R bumper grilles using 3" speaker ports. I'm sticking with halogen bulbs for now (Hoen endurance H11) and might go HID down the road just for fun.


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

A very respectable setup indeed. I was debating between the blazers and the fusions but i could source the blazers for $35 for a pair shipped to me so i went that way. I figure with Calgary streets the foglights are going to get beat up every 4-6 months and need replacing so it will be a cheap replacement.


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## ives (Feb 9, 2009)

Very Awesome, just ordered by setup from rodgertherabit today. :thumbup:
Very much looking forward to lighting up the snow a bit more...

LOVE the fogs. Def my next project, maybe something I'll be more willing to take on as a first retrofit. Don't have the tools, time, or expertise for headlight retro fit right now...
:beer:


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## kt883 (Nov 23, 2007)

Great work man!! Looks awesome! 

it would probably reduce sharpness and output but have you ever thought of putting either clear or yellow laminex on the lens glass? If you use a heat gun to wrap it it would protect them and when it gets mangled by rocks you can just swap it out.


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

kt883 said:


> Great work man!! Looks awesome!
> 
> it would probably reduce sharpness and output but have you ever thought of putting either clear or yellow laminex on the lens glass? If you use a heat gun to wrap it it would protect them and when it gets mangled by rocks you can just swap it out.


 Well the yellow lanimex would be pointless seeing as the light output is yellow already. I figure that since i can get the foglights for $30 shipped to me i can just swap them out every once in a while instead of protecting them


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## kt883 (Nov 23, 2007)

where do you find these blazer fogs


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## MechEngg (Jan 13, 2009)

By themselves: 
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pr...d=249&osCsid=oco3m38p5dpma03h1eh9eupn9hnbcc7p 

With HID kit: 
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=243


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## ornithology (May 6, 2009)

Hey Mechengg, 

All the pics are down, wondering if you can rehost them? Thank you!


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