How To: city lights into usdm 6th gen headlights

[dyce590]

Just had a half day at school and decided that instead of going to sleep i would finally test this DIY on making citylight socket holes in the OEM USDM honda headlight assembly.

Applicable Years: 96-00 civic (ALL)

Difficulty: 4 out of 5

Estimated time: 3hours

Required Parts:
-99-00 oem headlights (not sure if aftermarket have back template)
-2x 194 bulbs
-2x city light sockets

Required Tools:
-Dremel with SMALL drill bits
-usable oven
-prying tool
-windex
-rags


STEP 1:The beginning of this is the same as doing DIY CTR headlights. I am not going to do another step by step for it when you can just search.

NOTE: Don't try getting around try getting around the first step because you WILL get drill dust inside your headlights and you will have to open them up to clean them anyway

STEP 2: Use a marker and mark a dot in the middle of the citylight spot. Drill it out and move outwards until you reach the border.

NOTE: Don't drill too close to the border or the socket may fall right in when you install it

STEP 3: Drill the BACK of the reflective part of the lense CAREFULLY. Use the border of the citylight spot as your guide. Don't go fast or you will mess up.

NOTE: Do NOT drill from the front of the reflective part because you will not know where the citylight hole is and mess up

STEP 4: After you shaped the reflective part of the light from the back, drill the front of the reflective part of the lens to round it off. Sorry, this was the best pic i could take

NOTE: Take your time doing step 4 because if the dremel slips and drills the surface of the reflective part, their is NO way to correct it.

STEP 5: Use a rag, windex, or a cleaner of your choice and clean the drill dust off the lens.

STEP 6: All the hard word is done. Just slip the citylight socket into the slot and glue/tape/silicone the socket in.

NOTE: If you can, make sure the light in the socket works so u wont have to take it back out.

STEP 7: Put the headlight back together and you are done.

edit: pics added

 

[knightxrider1]

this is just wat i needed. thanks bro. your a big help. and that s**t looks tight! the only thing im worried about is gluing that socket in. wat happened if i needed to get to taht bulb? like if it went out or wanted to change color? but besides that. its solid and a great DIY. sticky status bro. wat sucks about this is that everyone will do it now and it wont be cool anymore.

 

[BillKisme]

If you use glue you can easily take them back out, then you would just need to glue them back in.
Looks really good, good write up.

 

[dyce590]

lol that was my fear too. but if u see in the earlier pics, i tried to cut the hole the same as the groove of the city light socket. once i realized i drilled the hole too big, i just gave up and drilled out the hole thing. i actually got the sockets to click in at one point

 

[biglou954]

ohhh very nice! i like!!!

 

[Genuine Rolla]

Nice write up. Pics are lil blurry but we can still get what you're sayin'

 

[matt96ex]

i think i may try this with the extra set of headlights i have.
nice write up man!

 

[97GreenEX]

On the to do list. So easy. Trying to think what other color I could put in there without gettin in much trouble...Red and blue are out of the question.

 

[matt96ex]

im in the middle of doing mine. i gotta find a friend with a dremel or a drill cause i dont have either.
i got the sockets at work, the bulbs and all the misc wiring s**t. i hope it comes out good..
but the whole oven/headlights thing was pretty easy. i was always SUPER hesitant to put em in there...but its soo easy. about 3-5 mins on 320F and just pry em apart with a screwdriver or something.
ill put up some pics of the OP is cool with it.

 

["V"]

very nice write-up, might give this a try soon

 

[coricivic]

that kicks so much ass.

 

[mylovehx]

how did you wire the lights? just curious

 

[mylovehx]

btw pretty damn sweet

 

[dyce590]

how did you wire the lights? just curious

the sockets have 2 flat poles so i used 2 flat connectors. positive and negative done matter u pick what plugs where. i got the power from the RED wire on the headlight harness. RED is power, BLACK is ground, GREEN is turn signals. i didnt use the black wire for ground though. i just grounded it to the chassis by sanding the paint off the chassis and using a 10mm bolt to hold down the wire so just in case i dont want them to work i just need to unbolt the ground

p.s. yay my first sticky

 

[mylovehx]

sweet thanks

 

[97GreenEX]

Sorry, but I have a hard time imagining drilling through the reflective part from the rear. It's angled. COuld you explain how you got such a perfect looking hole?

 

[dyce590]

Sorry, but I have a hard time imagining drilling through the reflective part from the rear. It's angled. COuld you explain how you got such a perfect looking hole?

just think of it this way. if you drill thru the reflective part from the front, u are completely guessing where the bulb comes thru and could possible mess up the whole project. by drilling out the back of the headlight and then drilling the reflective part from the back. u are using the back template on the casing as a guide for the reflective piece. u wont get the perfect hole, just dremel enough so u can see where the bulb comes thru and then drill out the front of the reflective piece to shape it out. even if its angled, just drill on the angle from the back first so u can get an idea of how much u are limited to drilling.

if ppl lived close to me i would do the whole ctr and citylight diy for them. but i would not supply parts

EDIT: if u look at pic #2, u can see where i drilled the casing. in pic #5 , u can see where i used that same hole to guide me to drill the reflective piece. in pic #6 u can see where i shaped out the hole and that the reflective hole is larger than the casing hole (the citylight socket will hide the spacing)

 

[xxsenceo89x]

still want me to do thoses sidemarkers? lol

i might try this one days when its not cold

 

[97GreenEX]

Alright. So I should just use a smaller drill bit and move up from there. I was just confused. Thanks man

 

[dyce590]

yea, use the smallest drill bit possible.if u read my diy as ur doing it...or jus study my diy, ull see what im tlkin about

sence - lol im still scared 2 do my sidemarkers. nd i still need to replace 1 of my fenders so ill wait til the weather gets better as well