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WRITE-UP: Stuff bigger, brighter bulbs into sidemarkers/parking lights

12K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  Shimee 
#1 · (Edited)
First off, the process described here is for the sidemarkers. However, it can be applied to the parking light sockets as well. It was too tight of a fit to get a camera in there anyway.



Tools:

That's pretty much all you need to get the sidemarker out and manipulate the hole.

The bulbs I used were of the brand eXtremeLightz found at autozone. The bulb was of size 921-NA. (they didn't have the turbocharged ones unfortunately. :huh2:)




You're dealing with that. You want to take your file and start stretching the hole. You're looking at about a 2 to 3mm increase in opening diameter so it'll take some time. You can use a utility knife and peel away thin layers, but you have to be careful.


Basically, you go from this:


To this:



Before:


After:



One thing to note is that the 921-NA is of higher amperage draw. So as a result it burns hotter. The socket on the sidemarker is at an angle so putting this size bulb in will make it touch the plastic inside the lens. I ended up melting a little spot because of this. Either you have to get a lower amperage bulb (916-NA) or let the bulb heat up the spot and simply cut it out.


THis is how it looks in the parking lights:











If you noticed, the bulb is also touching the reflector of the headlight. This you do not have to worry about since the plastic of the reflector is a ceramic type plastic and not the typical polymer chain plastic. Thus, it withstands heat much more readily and doesn't melt like a goober.







The only issues I had was getting a file into the sockets for the headlights. I had to remove the intake and battery for the passenger side and move the PS reservoir out of the way on the drivers side. I ultimately ended up using a utility knife to make my life easier.


I realized I sound absolutely bored out of my mind. I think I was sick that day.
 
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#6 ·
Nope, the headlight reflector is perfectly fine. The only issue with melting was the one I pointed out earlier. My solution was to just get the lower amperage bulbs (which I actually jacked off a lincoln at a junkyard).

I just recieved a pair of headlights that I'm retrofitting with these bulbs in them. I was wondering what the deal was, cause I noticed they were larger than normal
Damn, someone beat me to it. Oh well!

another shimee quality write up. may i suggest you invest in a dremel of some sort? that file is so old school lol
I actually have one. I was an idiot and never thought about using it though. 8)

And I actually have two more write-up's lined up. One involves replica fogs and something yellow, and the other involves a PSP and a certain pocket; well three if I ever get around to getting that glovebox light wired up. And I could've sworn there was one more .....

Best $30 you will EVER spend.
The headlights look sick with those bulbs. Way brighter than my little baby LED bulb :huh2:
Correction. Best $0.00 I ever didn't spend.
Because somebody tossed out a dremel at my dads work thinking it was broken. When all that broke were the brushes to the motor.

The company eXtreme Lightz also makes red, green, and blue colored 921-NA bulbs. You could give the blue a go. :D
 
#3 ·
I just recieved a pair of headlights that I'm retrofitting with these bulbs in them. I was wondering what the deal was, cause I noticed they were larger than normal
 
#10 ·
They are so bright I could get away with driving around at night with just the parking lights and JDM running lights on.

In fact, they are so bright they visibly reflect amber light onto the road with all the other lights turned off.
 
#12 ·


i still like my led's more
Gee, well ain't that swell. You just made my day! Last time I was that excited was when 'ma said I could watch me the bread rise.












:hehe:

Anyway, I've had LED's in my parking lights as well. This is just something sprouted from boredom. Plus it's a cheaper alternative if a bulb breaks. Most LED's are forward directional though. And even if you get those multi-LED bulbs, you'll have half the LED's lighting up the inside of the headlight. That's the benefit I like of filament bulbs, in that they light up the entire headlight and not just the bottom portion.
 
#18 ·
Awesome! I'm glad someone actually found this useful. :-D


I wish I had my headlights out so I could show what to do step by step, but even then it would just be like the first couple of pics which have the same socket sort of.

Did you do it old school and use a file or did you take a "stab" with a utility knife? (or maybe a dremel?)

And I'm curious how yours look like. Could you take a pic or two? Maybe one at dusk and one and full night?
 
#20 ·
They're alot brighter at night, I'm just curious to see if if lights up the entire headlight like mine do.

Be careful with the side markers though. If you got the brand I did, they're really hot and the bigger bulbs actually touch the sidemarker housing. It only melts a little spot and bulges it out but thats about it.

That said, what brand or what type of bulb did you get exactly?
 
#22 ·
so, did you just hook your sidemarkers up to the normally closed contacts on the blinker relay? if so, that's what i was gonna do, but i dunno if i really like the look. but it's cool you actually did it. thanks, shimee!
 
#23 ·
No, I put an additional relay in-line on the sidemarker circuit. This way its not halfassed and there's no criss-crossed circuits, so I expect no wiring issues.

Basically, I cut the positive lead to the sidemarker and put it through a five position relay:

  • terminal 30: 12v+ from circuit
  • terminal 87: left unused (this is the "open" terminal)
  • terminal 87a: to the sidemarker (this is the "closed" terminal)
  • terminal 85: 12v+ from turn signal
  • terminal 86: spliced into the sidemarker ground
The reason I left terminal 87 open is because when I first tried grounding it by splicing 87 into the side marker ground, it kept blowing my fuse. I guess it didn't see a resistance of the bulb which didn't knock down the current. Same thing happened when I used a chassis ground. So I couldn't really do much besides leave it open.
 
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