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How To: Install JDM cornering lamps and sidemarkers on a USDM bumper and fenders.

26K views 36 replies 17 participants last post by  Shimee 
#1 · (Edited)
Most of you know my write-ups. No parts or cost list, just straight to the good shit. :cheesy:

Cornering Lamp Install

First you need the template. Which I so kindly created and am providing for free. :inlove:


You then want to cut out everything INSIDE the black line and tape it to the bumper like so:


One edge lines up with the back edge of the stock sidemarker hole. You want the cornering lamp hole AS FAR AS POSSIBLE.


Then drill some pilot holes.


Use a routing bit with a DREMEL to cut out the general shape.


As such:


Then use a sanding drum to remove any burs.


Followed by a smoothing drum.


To finish the hole and finalize it's size.


REMEMBER! It's better to cut too little than to much! The mounting bezels sort of "snap" into place in addition to being screwed down to brackets.


Here's the light mounted.


And why you think you're turning into a smurf:


Now we lay down the harness and make it look stock. Problem with USDM Preludes is they dont have the proper mounting points, since on JDM preludes the harness is mounted to the JDM bumper support. We have a giant metal bar, they have a thin metal strip.

Start at the passengers side.


Move along and secure it to the existing harness(es).


Run it near the middle beam; thats the plug to the control unit.


I mounted the control unit here:


Using a small square clip-nut thing and a screw.

The stock bracket for the control unit CANNOT be mounted anywhere as there is no spot for it on USDM Preludes. So I got creative.

Continue along.


Those white zipties are from Honda:

I got five of them which was plenty.

This is the drivers side now.


Then run the power lead up this gap:


And plug it into the parking light plug.

(If you're wondering WTF that metal plate is between the rad frame and bumper support, its necessary to stand-off the bumper support so that it extends out the same length as the passenger side. Two years ago I was in a crash where I went off the road and hit a tree. Yes, my Prelude hit a tree head on [seriously, here's proof:] and suffered no extreme damage. Somehow I hit it dead center of the head light and suffered no frame damage. I replaced the bumper cover, support, fender, and right side of the rad frame. But me and my cousin didn't measure properly when welding it back into place.)

Some of my contacts were oxidized so I used some dielectric grease.


Permatex makes good shit.






Fender side-markers.

Again, since I'm such a sweetheart, here's the template:


The red dots are where you should drill pilot holes.


MAKE SURE THE MEASUREMENTS ARE EXACTLY AS BELOW!!


We'll start on the driver side, taping down the template:


Give the little guy something to smile about:


Since he's not going to be part of the car anymore.


Drill the pilot holes and cut to the marked spots.


Then cut the piece out.


If you look close at the template you'll see there are green arches. These are to make your life simpler. Since I'm not a JDM fender-cutting machine, I opted for the easy way out.


I hope ASIMO wont be angry.


Finally seal off the bare-metal edges with your dressing of choice: primer, rust converter, paint, thousand island, or - my personal favorite - rust. Though I chose rust converter since it dries to an epoxy-hard shell. It can also be catalyzed with a heat-gun.

You can also wait 24 hours for it to cure.

Ok it's been 24 hours. Lets do the passenger side.


To prevent the metal spring clip from damaging the seal and causing it to rust, I covered it with shrink wrap.


Time to extend the stock sidemarker harnesses:


Unravel the vinyl loom and snip off the plug. Then attach some 20-22 gauge wire to the exposed harness-side ends.


Do this properly with either butt-crimps or solder. I'm awesome and more better than you so I used solder AND heat shrink tubing. ;-)


Get about 8ft of 1/2in wire loom from somebody on eBay and cut it in half for each side. Stuff the wires in the loom.


Begin feeding the wire loom in the fender-well and securing it in a few places (I followed the stock harnesses already there). Here's the drivers side:






Here's the passenger side:










You can sort of see the plugs dangling somewhere in the well. But that's it! You're all done. Just pull the wire looms through the holes and plug them into the side markers then snap them into place. Do the same for the bumper and attach it back to the car.




Money shots.













And this is my personal favorite. They look so sleek with the natural curves of the car.












** I'm working on a thread about the story behind the last picture. But for now, it isn't recent. It happened exactly one month ago on April 6th. I just didn't have time until today. More details in the new thread. **

Heres the thread: http://www.preludepower.com/forums/showthread.php?t=331241

 
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#3 ·
I salvaged them and the EDM rear fogs. Sidemarkers were crappy Taiwan knockoffs and I let them go with the car. Paid a good amount for the cornering lights and I may install them on my new lude. Not sure yet.
 
#12 ·
Hehehe thanks for all the comments. This car has been a fucking joyride through a corn field, thats for sure. I've had shit happen that I still dont know if I should consider them benefits in disguise or complete assfucks. And I do try my best to be informative with these things.



Yeah don't I'll be doing that with the new I'm driving now.

damn, the last pic is really a joy kill :( get a manual lude though :lol:

as always though. most detailed write ups are always from you
Already ahead of you. :-D




Anywho, everyone refer to this thread for the entire story and then some: http://www.preludepower.com/forums/showthread.php?t=331241
Warning: It is definitely not a light read. But I'd appreciate if people read it all.
 
#9 ·
Please keep this thread on topic. Use the PM function if needed.

The thread is about a write up, not a thread about what happened to the car and how much will you sell this or that for.

Nice job on the write up.


Thanks,
Mike (H4L)
 
#13 · (Edited)
I'm guessing that your cornering light didn't light up, you couldn't see where you were going, and side-swiped a jersey wall.

Haha. Sorry, man. I couldn't help it.

And I'm not tryin to hate on you personally, but I think those cornering lights are ugly. IMO that is one of the few JDM mods that makes a car look worse than it was.

To each his own, I guess. You buying another Prelude, or are you gonna be like most people who wreck theirs, and "upgrade"?

*edit. Glad to see you got another Prelude. THat's crazy that your last one seemed cursed. I was gonna say, normally you can buy it back off of the insurance company for like a thousand bucks, then strip it and part it out, but with all the bad-happenings and crashes, it is probably better that you let her go.

And the rest of us will know to steer clear of the red 5th gen with 44450 miles on the clock that is priced too good to be true when it is for sale in a few months. LOL
 
#14 ·
Oh I know the cornering lights are ugly. Even MommysLittleMonster said it once, form over function, in regards to some mod I did. Describes me perfectly. :laugh:

To be honest though they actually work (well, worked) really well. The Lexus projector retrofit I had didn't put out a wide beam. For example, TSX projectors put out an almost 160 degree beam, Lexus ones put out maybe 130. So when going into turns the cornering lights really helped lighting up the dark spots.
 
#17 ·
That connector is a pass through. Plug it in and it provides power to the cornering lights and the drivers parking light.

you do some very awesome work. the heat shrinking + solder is top notch. and the fact that you use wire looms on all that wiring. your use of conductive grease is a good tip for noobs, too.

i hate those fucking bumper markers. trying to illuminate the sidewalks??
They light up continuously, yes. I wanted JDM sidemarkers but wasn't going to patch up my bumper nor pay someone to do it. So I did the next best thing. :p

But that control unit thing is interesting. Its not a magnetic relay but a thermal one. When a turn signal turns on the power heats up a coil and engages the respective relay which remains hot enough to remain engaged in between blinks.
 
#16 ·
you do some very awesome work. the heat shrinking + solder is top notch. and the fact that you use wire looms on all that wiring. your use of conductive grease is a good tip for noobs, too.

i hate those fucking bumper markers. trying to illuminate the sidewalks??
 
#23 ·
I have a few questions regarding both mods. First, after installing both the cornering lamps and fender side markers were you able to wire them up to have your fender markers turn on as parking lights and blink with turn signals along with the appropriate cornering lamp on solid? Second, do you have a link of the exact harness you used because Ive done both these mods on a 92 accord but never a prelude. I got the same harness that I used for my accord but you said you used the prelude specific?
 
#24 ·
I have a few questions regarding both mods.

First, after installing both the cornering lamps and fender side markers were you able to wire them up to have your fender markers turn on as parking lights and blink with turn signals along with the appropriate cornering lamp on solid?

Second, do you have a link of the exact harness you used because Ive done both these mods on a 92 accord but never a prelude. I got the same harness that I used for my accord but you said you used the prelude specific?


  1. I extended the wires that went to my USDM side markers to reach the fender side markers. They operated as regular side markers and came on with the parking lights. They do not connect to the cornering light harness in any way whatsoever.
    1. a) My side markers do blink, but because I modified the wiring not the cornering lights. I added a relay to each side marker, which shuts on/off when each respective turn signal blinks, thus blinking the side marker.
  2. I don't have a link because it's an overseas item which is no longer stocked. All Honda's of those years pretty much used the same plugs for the parking lights, side markers, turn signals, etc. I used a Prelude specific harness but the Accord harness is essentially the same with a different shaped control module.

Do any of the plugs on the harness you have match the plugs that I have pictured? The functions of the Accord sidemarker will be the same:

  • There will be a female plug which accepts either parking light's male plug, this supplies power
  • There will be a male plug which replaces the used parking light plug
  • There will be two female plugs which accept each turn signal's male plug, this supplies blinking
  • There will be two male plugs to replace the used turn signal plugs
Each male/female will be unique so they will accept only the turn signal or parking light, this should be obvious enough since the plugs on the Accord are pretty much all the same as the Prelude.


Take pictures of each plug/socket on the harness if you still can't figure it out, and post here.
 
#26 ·
I wired my fender side markers like that too With a relay so they work as parking lights and blinkers. So after plugging in the cornering lamp harness shouldn't interfere with my side markers?!? Where exactly do the cornering lamps harness plugs each go because there's a bunch of plugs in my harness and I'm not sure were each plug goes
 
#28 ·
Ok I will take pics of the harness. It's an oem harness of a Jdm fourth gen accord. Like I said, I used this exact same harness for my old 92 accord. The only piece I used was basically the relay and the power lead that plug into the back of your fuse box. The rest of the Wirring was done with extended wires following this exact diagram of cb7tuner http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=118370&highlight=Intersection. I would like to stay away from doing that again and actually use the harness to keep an oem look on the prelude but don't know where the plugs go and if it's even possible with this harness, with it not being the prelude specific.
 
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