DIY: '04 Front End Conversion
03-12-2005, 08:56 PM
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DIY: '04 Front End Conversion
OK guys, I've been meaning to post this for awhile.. well here it goes. I did the '04 front end conversion on my '01 about 4-5 months ago, but then the dealer had to buy the car back for legal reasons. (long story - https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...T&f=1&t=258954 ) I got my '02 S2K two months ago and I did the conversion again. One of the main problems I found when doing the conversion is that most of the DIY's on the forum are for the front bumper.. not the headlights. So I was getting pretty frustrated while doing it since I really had no kind of guide to go by. Hopefully this will help some people in the future who decide to do the conversion.
Here's the difference (externally) in the 00-03 and 04+ bumper and headlights: (00-03 on top, 04 on bottom)
The first thing do to of course it to take off the bumper and headlights, you can get the instructions on how to do that off of Rick's site.. www.ricks2k.com
http://www.ricks2k.com/info/instructions/diffuser.pdf
First, here is the 2 main problems I encountered when doing the headlight conversion.
1. The hole on the 04 headlights is too small for the 00-03 HID ballast wiring to fit through.
2. You have to figure a way to bolt the HID ballast onto the 04 headlights since the bolt pattern does not match up.
To solve the first problem I cut the hole on the bottom of the 04 headlight housing so that the old ballast wires could fit through. Since I actually did all the cutting the first time I did the conversion.. I don't have any before pictures of what the bottom of the housing looks like, but you get the idea Here's some pics..
The 00-03 housing with the bigger hole:
Here's the 04 housing after I cut it. I used a razor blade and a dremmel tool:
Here's what happens when you try fit the ballast into the housing.. it's just too small. After you shave the inside down you should be able to squeeze the HID ballast wiring through. It just takes a little bit of maneuvering.
To solve the second problem I used some aluminum and metal strips from Home Depot to hold the old ballast to the new housing:
Here's what it looked like afterwards. It doesn't look very pretty but it was very sturdy and worked really well:
+
Afterwards I wrapped the parts where the housing and ballast come together with some electrical tape. Just to make sure no water or moisture would get into the housing.
It takes some time to get the new headlights onto the car just like you want them. I had an issue with the old ballast rubbing against the frame of the car since I had to "rig" them up to get them onto the new headlights.
Here's some pics on the car before I tighetened everything up:
That's about it with the headlights. Just tighten all the screws up and you should be done with that part.
I'm not going to go into too much detail on putting the 04 bumper on since there are already a few topics about it. But I'll touch on a few things:
1. You will need to purchase the bumper, 04 grill and front tow hook cover. The best place to do that is www.hardtopguy.com. The are also some clips that are used to attach the grill to the bumper that do not come with the bumper or grill when you order them. I looked around at Home Depot but couldn't find them, so I just used the ones off of the old bumper.
2.I did not purchase the 04 splash shield retro kit from hardtopguy.com because I never felt like I needed it when I did the conversion on my '01 5 months ago. My car was also stock, so if/when I put a front lip on my car I will probably buy the retro kit for that extra support. With the 02 splash shields and the 04 bumper, I was able to get 4 of the 10 bolts back on. I guess it's just a personal preference if you want to spend the extra $175.
3. Some people have talked about having to shave down the corner of the front support beam:
Other members have said that if you don't , you will get "nipples" poking through on the front of the bumper and it will crack the paint. I never shaved down the support beam on my '01 and after 5 months I never saw any kind of nipples on my bumper. So I didn't do it on my '02 either. But the majority of people have said you should do this.. so I would recommend it just to be safe.
Here's the before and after pics:
Here's the difference (externally) in the 00-03 and 04+ bumper and headlights: (00-03 on top, 04 on bottom)
The first thing do to of course it to take off the bumper and headlights, you can get the instructions on how to do that off of Rick's site.. www.ricks2k.com
http://www.ricks2k.com/info/instructions/diffuser.pdf
First, here is the 2 main problems I encountered when doing the headlight conversion.
1. The hole on the 04 headlights is too small for the 00-03 HID ballast wiring to fit through.
2. You have to figure a way to bolt the HID ballast onto the 04 headlights since the bolt pattern does not match up.
To solve the first problem I cut the hole on the bottom of the 04 headlight housing so that the old ballast wires could fit through. Since I actually did all the cutting the first time I did the conversion.. I don't have any before pictures of what the bottom of the housing looks like, but you get the idea Here's some pics..
The 00-03 housing with the bigger hole:
Here's the 04 housing after I cut it. I used a razor blade and a dremmel tool:
Here's what happens when you try fit the ballast into the housing.. it's just too small. After you shave the inside down you should be able to squeeze the HID ballast wiring through. It just takes a little bit of maneuvering.
To solve the second problem I used some aluminum and metal strips from Home Depot to hold the old ballast to the new housing:
Here's what it looked like afterwards. It doesn't look very pretty but it was very sturdy and worked really well:
Afterwards I wrapped the parts where the housing and ballast come together with some electrical tape. Just to make sure no water or moisture would get into the housing.
It takes some time to get the new headlights onto the car just like you want them. I had an issue with the old ballast rubbing against the frame of the car since I had to "rig" them up to get them onto the new headlights.
Here's some pics on the car before I tighetened everything up:
That's about it with the headlights. Just tighten all the screws up and you should be done with that part.
I'm not going to go into too much detail on putting the 04 bumper on since there are already a few topics about it. But I'll touch on a few things:
1. You will need to purchase the bumper, 04 grill and front tow hook cover. The best place to do that is www.hardtopguy.com. The are also some clips that are used to attach the grill to the bumper that do not come with the bumper or grill when you order them. I looked around at Home Depot but couldn't find them, so I just used the ones off of the old bumper.
2.I did not purchase the 04 splash shield retro kit from hardtopguy.com because I never felt like I needed it when I did the conversion on my '01 5 months ago. My car was also stock, so if/when I put a front lip on my car I will probably buy the retro kit for that extra support. With the 02 splash shields and the 04 bumper, I was able to get 4 of the 10 bolts back on. I guess it's just a personal preference if you want to spend the extra $175.
3. Some people have talked about having to shave down the corner of the front support beam:
Other members have said that if you don't , you will get "nipples" poking through on the front of the bumper and it will crack the paint. I never shaved down the support beam on my '01 and after 5 months I never saw any kind of nipples on my bumper. So I didn't do it on my '02 either. But the majority of people have said you should do this.. so I would recommend it just to be safe.
Here's the before and after pics:
03-12-2005, 08:57 PM
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I think that's about it.. I may have forgotten something so if you need any help or have any questions just shoot me a PM. Xviper, feel free to add this to the DIY section in UTH forum.
Josh
PS - please only take this as a guide. To be extra safe, you should probably go ahead and purchase the 04 splash shield retro kit and shave down the support beam. But hey, I
03-13-2005, 06:19 AM
#4
Nice write up, thanks for all the info. A few questions:
1) What was the total cost of the coversion (parts, paint, shipping)?
2) I assume you had to have the new bumper cover painted, how well does the paint match?
3) How well does the headlight and bumper gaps match? Are the gaps larger, smaller or the same as with the original parts?
4) When are you going to do the rear conversion?
1) What was the total cost of the coversion (parts, paint, shipping)?
2) I assume you had to have the new bumper cover painted, how well does the paint match?
3) How well does the headlight and bumper gaps match? Are the gaps larger, smaller or the same as with the original parts?
4) When are you going to do the rear conversion?
03-13-2005, 06:43 AM
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Originally Posted by S2k Dude,Mar 13 2005, 09:19 AM
Nice write up, thanks for all the info. A few questions:
1) What was the total cost of the coversion (parts, paint, shipping)?
2) I assume you had to have the new bumper cover painted, how well does the paint match?
3) How well does the headlight and bumper gaps match? Are the gaps larger, smaller or the same as with the original parts?
4) When are you going to do the rear conversion?
1) What was the total cost of the coversion (parts, paint, shipping)?
2) I assume you had to have the new bumper cover painted, how well does the paint match?
3) How well does the headlight and bumper gaps match? Are the gaps larger, smaller or the same as with the original parts?
4) When are you going to do the rear conversion?
2. The paint matches very well. Be sure to take it to a good paint shop.. remember the saying, you get what you pay for.
3. They match very well. Since the headlights are the exact same size it's just a matter of adjusting the headlights when you are putting the bolts back in. Sometimes the headlights will try to move on you when you try to screw them in.. so I would suggest having a 2nd person there to hold the lights while you screw the bolts back in.
4. I don't think I'm going to do the rear conversion.
Josh
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04-25-2005, 05:05 PM
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Since it looks like a few of you have been into the front ends, is there any way to pull the clear piece off of the headlights and put it back on without ruining the assembly and getting moisture buildup? I'd like to paint the inside howsing Sebring to match the car.
