Red_Calibra
05-11-2005, 11:35 AM
Thought I would compile a basic guide to fitting HID light kits to a Cally, I already posted this on the ClubCalibra forums, although the guide could be applied to other Vauxhalls.
Theres quite a bit of info on the forums here, but its scattered all over the place, so I thought it was about time someone condensed it down into one thread. It's a start at least, feel free to add your own input/hints or ask any questions you may have.
These kits are available in various "flavours", or "colour temperatures" to be precise.
I went for the 6000k one. As you can see from the pictures, its a crisp white xenon light with a very slight tint of ice-blue. Its almost identical to those you see factory fitted to Mercs, Audi's, BMW's and Porsches.
The next kit up is an 8000k one. It's bluer still, but it doesn't produce as much light as the 6000k one. Still very good, but the downside to me at least, is it looks far too "boy-racerish" and could possibly attract unwanted attention from the powers that be.
Up from that, there is a 12000k version which, to be honest, isn't even worth thinking about fitting. It produces even less light and has a "purple" tint to it which is very noticeable. Not good if your fitting these to improve your light power on the Cally.
I wouldn't go any higher than 8000k, trust me. The best kit for light output and visibility is the 6000k one in my opinion. That was after all, the sole reason I bought and fitted one, to vastly improve the famously rubbish lights on the Calibra.
These kits are available from various places online. I purchased mine from a seller on eBay after doing a great deal of research on retro-fit HID's. Be careful what and from whom you buy. Some are inferior to others. I can highly recommend the one I got from THIS (http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZgenuineQ5fbiz) fella.
Ok, to recap, here's the kit before fitting:-
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/7531/wiring14ug4be.jpg
You can see the various wires arrowed above.
The RED wire from the HID kit bulb goes to the Calibra's H1 bulb connector on the cars original wiring harness.
The BLACK wire from the HID kit goes to the small "prong" or even "knob" on the rear of the headlight on the bulb holder, next to where the bulb goes in. The cars original wiring harness will be connected to this by a BROWN wire that is kinda split in two and finishes in a gold coloured female round "bullet" connector. Details of how to attach it are described below.
The rest of the wiring harness on the HID kit is pretty much self explanatory. You cant really go wrong with the other connections, theres no way to fit them the wrong way round between the HID bulbs wiring harness and the ballasts/igniters.
Remove standard bulb wiring connectors, then remove standard H1 dipped beam bulbs
Take HID bulb from kit, being careful not to touch the glass part or get it wet or even breathe on it!!
Fit HID bulb carefully into headlight. This can be a bit fiddly, especially on the battery side of the car
Leave the ballast/igniters disconnected from the HID bulb wiring harness for now, makes it easier to handle and connect up
Find the cars original H1 headlight connector that you have just taken off
Take the RED wire with small spade connector coming from the HID bulb and press fit it into the cars bulb connector
This is where it started getting a bit fiddly again.
Take the BLACK wire with small spade connector coming from the HID bulb. This needs to fit onto the same "prong" that is on the cars bulb mount on the headlight, the one that the BROWN wire currently is connected to from the cars wiring loom
There are several ways to achieve this. You could snip off the flat spade connector that is fitted to the BLACK wire and replace it with a round type female "bullet" connector that fits snuggly over the prong and then slightly spread the round part of the original wiring harness female connector at the end of the BROWN wire so that it slides over the top. Once its on, it might need squeezed gently with a pair of longnosed pliers just to tighten it safely.
You could also simply snip the flat spade connector from the end of the BLACK wire and strip a piece of insulation off the end of it, twist the wires and slide it in next to the round female connector on the end of the cars brown ground wire so that its jammed in there tightly.
If your handy with a soldering iron, the best and most secure way would probably be to just snip the BLACK wire from the kits HID bulb, snip the BROWN and then take a new female "bullet" connector of the correct size and solder BOTH wires to it, then slide that onto the ground "prong" on the rear of the headlight bulb holder on the car.
A further method that could be used, is Scotchblok wire connectors/splicers. I thought about them, but to be honest I wasn't keen on the idea of splicing directly into the Calibra's BROWN wire. Just me perhaps, but it probably would work fine and it would be far and away the quickest method.
Close up of wiring around headlight bulb holder:Airbox side
Click thumbnail for larger image.
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9190/wiringcloseup2eu.th.jpg (http://img371.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wiringcloseup2eu.jpg)
Close up of wiring around headlight bulb holder:Battery side
Click thumbnail for larger image.
http://img497.imageshack.us/img497/157/wiringbatteryside5lo.th.jpg (http://img497.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wiringbatteryside5lo.jpg)
Secure Ballasts/Igniters somewhere safe in the engine compartment
Again, fiddly bit ahead!!!
The battery side has a lot more room than the airbox side. You can see I tucked my battery side ballast down between the battery and the headlamp washer resevoir bottle, secured above and below around the body of the ballast and the washer resevoir with cable ties. Its pretty secure in there, I suppose you would just need to be careful when filling up the resevoir, use a funnel and take your time.
Ballast on Airbox side of car attached to chassis rail
Click thumbnails for larger picture.
http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/2609/dscf00025ym.th.jpg (http://img491.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00025ym.jpg)http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/9840/dscf00055rq.th.jpg (http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00055rq.jpg)
It should be noted that this kit I fitted came with waterproof Ballast units.
**NOT ALL KITS DO!!!**
You should check the advert for the kit you intend to purchase to verify this. Indeed, if you are not sure, contact the seller and confirm his ballasts are waterproof. They cost no extra over and above the old ones which were not waterproof, so theres no reason to buy an old type kit. Be wary of kits that are advertised that appear to have seperate ballasts and igniters. There's a good chance these will NOT be waterproof types. Most "second generation" retrofit HID kits nowadays come with combined ballast/igniter units, like my one.
Anyway, moving on to the other side of the car, the airbox side. I'm still not convinced I have my ballast unit in the best place. Its cable tied through some holes in the cars engine compartment and its secure enough, but I cant help thinking it could be better placed somewhere else. Both locations seem to be well out of the way of any water or road spray, just to be on the safe side.
Once you have got to this stage, the last thing you need to do is take the original headlight plastic rear covers and drill a hole around 25mm in size in order for the wiring loom to be passed through. This secures and is sealed by a large rubber grommet supplied and fitted to the HID bulb harness.
You can see I haven't done that yet, job to do in the next few days, although it looks to me like the HID bulbs now fitted actually protrude further back into the engine compartment than the original standard H1 bulbs did. Maybe it just looks like that, but whatever, the hole and rubber grommet will allow for some flexibility in fitting and lining things up I'm sure ( or hope!! ).
And thats about it!!
Fire 'em up and stand back and admire your Cally's new headlights. You can actually see in the dark now!!!
I cant emphasise what a HUGE difference these made to my car. I honestly dont know why I waited so long to fit them. Sure, they can be classed as an expensive modification, but they are completely "retro-fittable" so if you want to sell the car, the kit can be removed in about 20 minutes reversing the above and refitting the standard bulbs.
Theres quite a bit of info on the forums here, but its scattered all over the place, so I thought it was about time someone condensed it down into one thread. It's a start at least, feel free to add your own input/hints or ask any questions you may have.
These kits are available in various "flavours", or "colour temperatures" to be precise.
I went for the 6000k one. As you can see from the pictures, its a crisp white xenon light with a very slight tint of ice-blue. Its almost identical to those you see factory fitted to Mercs, Audi's, BMW's and Porsches.
The next kit up is an 8000k one. It's bluer still, but it doesn't produce as much light as the 6000k one. Still very good, but the downside to me at least, is it looks far too "boy-racerish" and could possibly attract unwanted attention from the powers that be.
Up from that, there is a 12000k version which, to be honest, isn't even worth thinking about fitting. It produces even less light and has a "purple" tint to it which is very noticeable. Not good if your fitting these to improve your light power on the Cally.
I wouldn't go any higher than 8000k, trust me. The best kit for light output and visibility is the 6000k one in my opinion. That was after all, the sole reason I bought and fitted one, to vastly improve the famously rubbish lights on the Calibra.
These kits are available from various places online. I purchased mine from a seller on eBay after doing a great deal of research on retro-fit HID's. Be careful what and from whom you buy. Some are inferior to others. I can highly recommend the one I got from THIS (http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZgenuineQ5fbiz) fella.
Ok, to recap, here's the kit before fitting:-
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/7531/wiring14ug4be.jpg
You can see the various wires arrowed above.
The RED wire from the HID kit bulb goes to the Calibra's H1 bulb connector on the cars original wiring harness.
The BLACK wire from the HID kit goes to the small "prong" or even "knob" on the rear of the headlight on the bulb holder, next to where the bulb goes in. The cars original wiring harness will be connected to this by a BROWN wire that is kinda split in two and finishes in a gold coloured female round "bullet" connector. Details of how to attach it are described below.
The rest of the wiring harness on the HID kit is pretty much self explanatory. You cant really go wrong with the other connections, theres no way to fit them the wrong way round between the HID bulbs wiring harness and the ballasts/igniters.
Remove standard bulb wiring connectors, then remove standard H1 dipped beam bulbs
Take HID bulb from kit, being careful not to touch the glass part or get it wet or even breathe on it!!
Fit HID bulb carefully into headlight. This can be a bit fiddly, especially on the battery side of the car
Leave the ballast/igniters disconnected from the HID bulb wiring harness for now, makes it easier to handle and connect up
Find the cars original H1 headlight connector that you have just taken off
Take the RED wire with small spade connector coming from the HID bulb and press fit it into the cars bulb connector
This is where it started getting a bit fiddly again.
Take the BLACK wire with small spade connector coming from the HID bulb. This needs to fit onto the same "prong" that is on the cars bulb mount on the headlight, the one that the BROWN wire currently is connected to from the cars wiring loom
There are several ways to achieve this. You could snip off the flat spade connector that is fitted to the BLACK wire and replace it with a round type female "bullet" connector that fits snuggly over the prong and then slightly spread the round part of the original wiring harness female connector at the end of the BROWN wire so that it slides over the top. Once its on, it might need squeezed gently with a pair of longnosed pliers just to tighten it safely.
You could also simply snip the flat spade connector from the end of the BLACK wire and strip a piece of insulation off the end of it, twist the wires and slide it in next to the round female connector on the end of the cars brown ground wire so that its jammed in there tightly.
If your handy with a soldering iron, the best and most secure way would probably be to just snip the BLACK wire from the kits HID bulb, snip the BROWN and then take a new female "bullet" connector of the correct size and solder BOTH wires to it, then slide that onto the ground "prong" on the rear of the headlight bulb holder on the car.
A further method that could be used, is Scotchblok wire connectors/splicers. I thought about them, but to be honest I wasn't keen on the idea of splicing directly into the Calibra's BROWN wire. Just me perhaps, but it probably would work fine and it would be far and away the quickest method.
Close up of wiring around headlight bulb holder:Airbox side
Click thumbnail for larger image.
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9190/wiringcloseup2eu.th.jpg (http://img371.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wiringcloseup2eu.jpg)
Close up of wiring around headlight bulb holder:Battery side
Click thumbnail for larger image.
http://img497.imageshack.us/img497/157/wiringbatteryside5lo.th.jpg (http://img497.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wiringbatteryside5lo.jpg)
Secure Ballasts/Igniters somewhere safe in the engine compartment
Again, fiddly bit ahead!!!
The battery side has a lot more room than the airbox side. You can see I tucked my battery side ballast down between the battery and the headlamp washer resevoir bottle, secured above and below around the body of the ballast and the washer resevoir with cable ties. Its pretty secure in there, I suppose you would just need to be careful when filling up the resevoir, use a funnel and take your time.
Ballast on Airbox side of car attached to chassis rail
Click thumbnails for larger picture.
http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/2609/dscf00025ym.th.jpg (http://img491.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00025ym.jpg)http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/9840/dscf00055rq.th.jpg (http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00055rq.jpg)
It should be noted that this kit I fitted came with waterproof Ballast units.
**NOT ALL KITS DO!!!**
You should check the advert for the kit you intend to purchase to verify this. Indeed, if you are not sure, contact the seller and confirm his ballasts are waterproof. They cost no extra over and above the old ones which were not waterproof, so theres no reason to buy an old type kit. Be wary of kits that are advertised that appear to have seperate ballasts and igniters. There's a good chance these will NOT be waterproof types. Most "second generation" retrofit HID kits nowadays come with combined ballast/igniter units, like my one.
Anyway, moving on to the other side of the car, the airbox side. I'm still not convinced I have my ballast unit in the best place. Its cable tied through some holes in the cars engine compartment and its secure enough, but I cant help thinking it could be better placed somewhere else. Both locations seem to be well out of the way of any water or road spray, just to be on the safe side.
Once you have got to this stage, the last thing you need to do is take the original headlight plastic rear covers and drill a hole around 25mm in size in order for the wiring loom to be passed through. This secures and is sealed by a large rubber grommet supplied and fitted to the HID bulb harness.
You can see I haven't done that yet, job to do in the next few days, although it looks to me like the HID bulbs now fitted actually protrude further back into the engine compartment than the original standard H1 bulbs did. Maybe it just looks like that, but whatever, the hole and rubber grommet will allow for some flexibility in fitting and lining things up I'm sure ( or hope!! ).
And thats about it!!
Fire 'em up and stand back and admire your Cally's new headlights. You can actually see in the dark now!!!
I cant emphasise what a HUGE difference these made to my car. I honestly dont know why I waited so long to fit them. Sure, they can be classed as an expensive modification, but they are completely "retro-fittable" so if you want to sell the car, the kit can be removed in about 20 minutes reversing the above and refitting the standard bulbs.