As I have mentioned in Uh-ho... it starts, I have ordered a short antenna, SRT front grill emblem and new black + halo headlamp units for my SRT4, from Modern Performance. Delivery was very quick: within 4 days from across the states up to Montreal. Kudos. it actually caught me off-guard, requiring me to go pick up the package at the post office; when I got around to it.
Because the photos are big, it was much easier to put them on my MobileMe account and link here. Instead of inlining the photos (they're high-res), I've only linked their caption here. Click on them to view the photos individually. The complete photo album with photo captions is available here. Photos are otherwise linked in the following text using their caption as link.
Following the Front emblem glue solution discussion, I went ahead and bought ProFoam red double-sided automotive adhesive tape for ABS fixtures and other body trim parts. It's equivalent to the same function tape from 3M. It worked well and was easy to deal with:
ProFoam double-sided tape for SRT emblem
Once affixed, it didn't move anymore and felt quite secure on there:
SRT emblem
The short antenna was easy. Unscrew the factory one, screw the new one in. Since the new antenna has a round base rather than a bolt hexagonal one, you have to use a fair amount of hand grip to torque it in place to a sturdy fit. Still, it felt like an easy thing to remove so I used blue LockTite bolt adhesive (not pictured). A couple of drops evenly spread on the thread and voilà. Dont get any of that on you, or your car paint :-/
Short antena (use blue LockTite on the thread)
Now the more elaborate job: the headlamp unit replacement. If you didn't follow the previous threads, I used this nice headlamps set.
So that you have a complete toolset ready when you begin, have the following stuff handy:
And the pièce de résistance, a 6 page excerpt of the user service manual that I yanked out just for this purpose and your benefit. See attachment for access to the PDF. These instructions should not differ weither you have a SRT4 or not. The non-SRT service manual instructions for removing facia didn't have any difference with my facia layout. See attached document at the bottom of this post.
In the first part of this booklet, about removing the inner liner of the wheel well, it talks about jacking up the car and removing the front wheels. If you wiggle your way through, turning the wheels to the opposite side you're working on, you wont have to remove the wheels or jack up the car. You'll save some time. Also, only remove the top-to-front clips and screws. You dont need to take it all off. This is only to gain access to some of the facia hidden screws.
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
dis I say WARNING ??
READ ALL of this tutorial BEFORE you proceed, to avoid surprise. Particularly the garage door tape markers I mention at the end.
There is one phillips screw and two 1/4 bolt screws to from the front of the wheel well:
Front right: bolt and screw holes holding front facia
Plus a number of plastic push rivets: follow the booklet for their exact emplacements:
Front right: push rivets holding fender lining
Above the wheel, between the exterior of the car and the suspension strut is a rather hidden one:
Front right: shot looking up strut tower for push rivet
Notice by strut tower: missing 1 rivet from factory! Both sides! Duh! I'll go buy a pair tomorrow to plug that it. I have a feeling that might become a rattler with time.
There are two size for push rivets. The front facia (under the hood) and under the facia (facing ground) use smaller push rivets while in the wheel well and under the facia by the wheel well, they used larger plastic push rivets:
Push Rivets (two sizes)
What you'll end up removing:
Once the wheel well rivets are out, you can gently rank it out from inside the well to make room:
Front right: lossening inner fender liner
When the liner is detatch from top-to-front, you can simply let it rest on the tire:
Front Left wheel liner loose on wheel
Looking up the wheel well under the corner of the front facia is a hidden 1/4 bolt screw (so, 3 bolt screws + 1 phillips screw per side).
Front right: one last screw olding fender to top metal sheeting
When you remove stuff from your car, make sure you secure the parts in an orderly fashion:
Collection of push rivets and screws
The front facia is also held up by a large flat mushroom-like upside-down stud (about 2" diameter). The front facia as a horizontal-plane flat surface with a V-shaped groove that slides on top of that stud. Gently pull the front facia forward to slide it out of it's snug fit:
Front fachia has a V-shape notch that nudges in this big round stud (see side photo)
Pull the facia forward by a few inches but mind the fog light wiring. looking down the facia (front left) between the fender and the facia:
Disconnecting the fog light before pulling facia off
Unlock the red tab of the fog light connector and press the tab to release the connector from the light assembly. Proceed likewise for other light connectors. Then you can remove the facia:
Pulling facia forward, delodging it from the stud (notice V shape on facia)
More front facia detail:
Front right detail of V notch in facia
My garage door has an overhead mercury lamp which I almost never use. I flipped it on for the first time in months:
Meanwhile, wasps are pissed that I lit up their new home!
Seems like that light had become the new home of the wasp nest I destroyed from my front porch last winter :-/
Side view of the mushroom facia stud:
V-shape facia notch holding big round stud (side view). It fits by sliding the facia V notch in, to a snug fit
Note that I had purposely left two push rivets from under the car. It didn't look like it was necessary to remove the whole thing. We kept the inner-most rivet pair (brake air duct outside, push rivet inside):
Front left, peering up from under the body, looking at brake air duct and last holding push rivets
Not sure if there was a reason (lazyness) but given the facia was resting comfortably on a blanket, we decided to leave it there:
Looking like a car wreck
It was less freaky to look at my car that way anyway!
Moment of panic!
Facia secured on the ground (showing you my trash bins wich I had kicked down earlier...):
Front facia lying down on cushy covers
There are 3 bolts (same size as the top facia bolts) that hold the headlamp units: 1 engine side and 2 fender side, with a hip-joint -like ball screw that fits in a plastic joint as fourth mounting corner:
Front left, facing headlight and V-shape notch in facia, notice one headlight bold under the park light
Front left: facing headlight and it's two other bolts (one obscured)
This is what it will look like with a headlight unit removed:
Front left headlight unit removed. Lots of AC piping under there!
The new headlamp units come with bulbs, except for the park/turn signal. You'll have to use the bulb socket from the factory unit:
Park light from factory headlamp unit must be re-used for new headlight kid. Simply unscrew it from it's socket
Puting factory park light into the park slot of new unit (under the "remove" sticker)
You can see that the factory unit has a much cleaner design. I'm not sure why the new unit had to have all these wires sticking out, other than allowing you to wire the extra lighting to your preference. It's kinda messy though and is rather intimidating if you're not accustomed to that:
Comparing new unit (top) and factory unit (bottom). Lots more wiring on new unit :-/
With the new headlight partially connected, we rested it near it's final emplacement for a quick compare with the factory one. Only the traditional lamps and halos were plugged in at that point. Halos dont show up in mid-day afternoon. We thought for a moment they didn't work (and was momentarily pissed) :
Unbolted light test for wiring confirmation.
We wasted a good 40 min trying to figure out why the halos didn't light up, until we realized they were lit >:-|
For connecting all the extra lightings on the headlamp units, simply use a quick-splice clamp as those (few) provided with the unit. Locate a black wire on the new headlamp unit's main projector wire, and clamp all extra black wires to that (the order doesn't mater: they're all ground wires):
Snapping ground wired together (why this isn't factory-wired is a mystery)
You'll be left with 3 white (live power) wires to connect: the LED strip above the park/turn signal lights, the inner 3 white LEDs and the halo lights. The 3 wires come out of transformer/ballasts glued on the back of the headlamp units. If you ever played serpents, you'll know which connects to what extra light fixtures.
THE FOLLOWING MAY DIFFER ACCORDING TO YOUR PREFERENCES!!!
I have wired my units as such:
*the park light has a 3-wire connector for GROUND, PARK and TURN signals. Ground is black. PARK is the center wire; you can't miss it:
LED "strip" live wire (the longest) connects to park light (center wire on the 3 prong plug)
Park light connector to LED strip was given a connector tab for convenience (not included in headlamp kit):
It connects to the center wire of the plug (female connector on the car side, and male connector on the park/turn signal side)
With final plug result with black electrical tape:
Park connector all taped-up and secured
The more you know...
If you're color-blind, get a buddy to help!
So, quick-splice -connecting the two remaining white wires to the proper (non-black) live wire off the lamps you want to use, I taped off all wire ends and properly tucked things in place:
Front left (looking from engine bay out); headlight and facia in place, showing "access" for lamp adjustment
You can either adjust the headlamp beam aim by accessing through the wheel well, or do what we did: close everything up in a hurry because we were too excited and then have to wiggle your tiny screw driver around the tiny opening to adjust the headlamps (we got stupid on that one). It's a tight fit but it's kinda doable. The outer-most (Drive) front-right headlamp is the most difficult one because of all the AC piping in that area. I had to turn the last screw's dented washer using a finger tip... not comfy...
Before removing anything (way up there at the beginning of the entire process), I had used painter tape on the garage door to mark original beam alignment. It's not a complete solution, but for a quick start, it was handy. The PDF booklet I provided you with on top of this post contains proper (complete) instructions, guides and measurement for beam alignment.
Using tape markers on the garage door with original headlamp saves a bit of time re-aligning new units. More work to be done on this (forgot high beams...)
And here is the final result!
Ta-daa!
And this is how clear those lights are:
Clear enough, despite some nay-sayers
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result but inexperience caused us to panic on the halo when we couldn't see them in broad daylight, thinking we had messed up the wiring. Also, I forgot to MARK THE HIGH BEAMS on the garage door!! :-/
That's it for now. I'll post better pictures as I make them.
I should pop 10,000 REP with this right?
Because the photos are big, it was much easier to put them on my MobileMe account and link here. Instead of inlining the photos (they're high-res), I've only linked their caption here. Click on them to view the photos individually. The complete photo album with photo captions is available here. Photos are otherwise linked in the following text using their caption as link.
Following the Front emblem glue solution discussion, I went ahead and bought ProFoam red double-sided automotive adhesive tape for ABS fixtures and other body trim parts. It's equivalent to the same function tape from 3M. It worked well and was easy to deal with:
ProFoam double-sided tape for SRT emblem
Once affixed, it didn't move anymore and felt quite secure on there:
SRT emblem
The short antenna was easy. Unscrew the factory one, screw the new one in. Since the new antenna has a round base rather than a bolt hexagonal one, you have to use a fair amount of hand grip to torque it in place to a sturdy fit. Still, it felt like an easy thing to remove so I used blue LockTite bolt adhesive (not pictured). A couple of drops evenly spread on the thread and voilà. Dont get any of that on you, or your car paint :-/
Short antena (use blue LockTite on the thread)
Now the more elaborate job: the headlamp unit replacement. If you didn't follow the previous threads, I used this nice headlamps set.
So that you have a complete toolset ready when you begin, have the following stuff handy:
- Ratchet tool with 1/4 and 3/8 (or was that 1/2?) lug nuts
- Short-length phillips screw driver (medium)
- Short-length flat screw driver (medium)
- Blanket or cushy surface to lay down facia, not to scratch it
- BE WARNED: get Extra wire splice (joining clips) because headlight units only comes with 4 (way too few). I used 14. I had to run out for more.
- OPTIONAL: 2 sets of electric tab connector (not included)
- NO SOLDERING REQUIRED (but highly recommended when satisfied with the wiring pattern)
- Helping hands for handling the facia
- Electric (black) tape
And the pièce de résistance, a 6 page excerpt of the user service manual that I yanked out just for this purpose and your benefit. See attachment for access to the PDF. These instructions should not differ weither you have a SRT4 or not. The non-SRT service manual instructions for removing facia didn't have any difference with my facia layout. See attached document at the bottom of this post.
In the first part of this booklet, about removing the inner liner of the wheel well, it talks about jacking up the car and removing the front wheels. If you wiggle your way through, turning the wheels to the opposite side you're working on, you wont have to remove the wheels or jack up the car. You'll save some time. Also, only remove the top-to-front clips and screws. You dont need to take it all off. This is only to gain access to some of the facia hidden screws.
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
dis I say WARNING ??
READ ALL of this tutorial BEFORE you proceed, to avoid surprise. Particularly the garage door tape markers I mention at the end.
There is one phillips screw and two 1/4 bolt screws to from the front of the wheel well:
Front right: bolt and screw holes holding front facia
Plus a number of plastic push rivets: follow the booklet for their exact emplacements:
Front right: push rivets holding fender lining
Above the wheel, between the exterior of the car and the suspension strut is a rather hidden one:
Front right: shot looking up strut tower for push rivet
Notice by strut tower: missing 1 rivet from factory! Both sides! Duh! I'll go buy a pair tomorrow to plug that it. I have a feeling that might become a rattler with time.
There are two size for push rivets. The front facia (under the hood) and under the facia (facing ground) use smaller push rivets while in the wheel well and under the facia by the wheel well, they used larger plastic push rivets:
Push Rivets (two sizes)
What you'll end up removing:
- 20 small push rivets (+ 2 missing from factory)
- 10 large push rivets (underbody)
- 6 bolt screws
- 2 phillips screws
Once the wheel well rivets are out, you can gently rank it out from inside the well to make room:
Front right: lossening inner fender liner
When the liner is detatch from top-to-front, you can simply let it rest on the tire:
Front Left wheel liner loose on wheel
Looking up the wheel well under the corner of the front facia is a hidden 1/4 bolt screw (so, 3 bolt screws + 1 phillips screw per side).
Front right: one last screw olding fender to top metal sheeting
When you remove stuff from your car, make sure you secure the parts in an orderly fashion:
Collection of push rivets and screws
The front facia is also held up by a large flat mushroom-like upside-down stud (about 2" diameter). The front facia as a horizontal-plane flat surface with a V-shaped groove that slides on top of that stud. Gently pull the front facia forward to slide it out of it's snug fit:
Front fachia has a V-shape notch that nudges in this big round stud (see side photo)
Pull the facia forward by a few inches but mind the fog light wiring. looking down the facia (front left) between the fender and the facia:
Disconnecting the fog light before pulling facia off
Unlock the red tab of the fog light connector and press the tab to release the connector from the light assembly. Proceed likewise for other light connectors. Then you can remove the facia:
Pulling facia forward, delodging it from the stud (notice V shape on facia)
More front facia detail:
Front right detail of V notch in facia
My garage door has an overhead mercury lamp which I almost never use. I flipped it on for the first time in months:
Meanwhile, wasps are pissed that I lit up their new home!
Seems like that light had become the new home of the wasp nest I destroyed from my front porch last winter :-/
Side view of the mushroom facia stud:
V-shape facia notch holding big round stud (side view). It fits by sliding the facia V notch in, to a snug fit
Note that I had purposely left two push rivets from under the car. It didn't look like it was necessary to remove the whole thing. We kept the inner-most rivet pair (brake air duct outside, push rivet inside):
Front left, peering up from under the body, looking at brake air duct and last holding push rivets
Not sure if there was a reason (lazyness) but given the facia was resting comfortably on a blanket, we decided to leave it there:
Looking like a car wreck
It was less freaky to look at my car that way anyway!
Moment of panic!
Facia secured on the ground (showing you my trash bins wich I had kicked down earlier...):
Front facia lying down on cushy covers
There are 3 bolts (same size as the top facia bolts) that hold the headlamp units: 1 engine side and 2 fender side, with a hip-joint -like ball screw that fits in a plastic joint as fourth mounting corner:
Front left, facing headlight and V-shape notch in facia, notice one headlight bold under the park light
Front left: facing headlight and it's two other bolts (one obscured)
This is what it will look like with a headlight unit removed:
Front left headlight unit removed. Lots of AC piping under there!
The new headlamp units come with bulbs, except for the park/turn signal. You'll have to use the bulb socket from the factory unit:
Park light from factory headlamp unit must be re-used for new headlight kid. Simply unscrew it from it's socket
Puting factory park light into the park slot of new unit (under the "remove" sticker)
You can see that the factory unit has a much cleaner design. I'm not sure why the new unit had to have all these wires sticking out, other than allowing you to wire the extra lighting to your preference. It's kinda messy though and is rather intimidating if you're not accustomed to that:
Comparing new unit (top) and factory unit (bottom). Lots more wiring on new unit :-/
With the new headlight partially connected, we rested it near it's final emplacement for a quick compare with the factory one. Only the traditional lamps and halos were plugged in at that point. Halos dont show up in mid-day afternoon. We thought for a moment they didn't work (and was momentarily pissed) :
Unbolted light test for wiring confirmation.
We wasted a good 40 min trying to figure out why the halos didn't light up, until we realized they were lit >:-|
For connecting all the extra lightings on the headlamp units, simply use a quick-splice clamp as those (few) provided with the unit. Locate a black wire on the new headlamp unit's main projector wire, and clamp all extra black wires to that (the order doesn't mater: they're all ground wires):
Snapping ground wired together (why this isn't factory-wired is a mystery)
You'll be left with 3 white (live power) wires to connect: the LED strip above the park/turn signal lights, the inner 3 white LEDs and the halo lights. The 3 wires come out of transformer/ballasts glued on the back of the headlamp units. If you ever played serpents, you'll know which connects to what extra light fixtures.
THE FOLLOWING MAY DIFFER ACCORDING TO YOUR PREFERENCES!!!
I have wired my units as such:
- LED strip powers with parks (position light) signal and NOT with turn signal*
- Halos power with Drive lights
- 3 White LEDs power with HIGH beam (unlike the factory one, they are separate bulbs from Drive ones, in this headlamp unit)
*the park light has a 3-wire connector for GROUND, PARK and TURN signals. Ground is black. PARK is the center wire; you can't miss it:
LED "strip" live wire (the longest) connects to park light (center wire on the 3 prong plug)
Park light connector to LED strip was given a connector tab for convenience (not included in headlamp kit):
It connects to the center wire of the plug (female connector on the car side, and male connector on the park/turn signal side)
With final plug result with black electrical tape:
Park connector all taped-up and secured
The more you know...
If you're color-blind, get a buddy to help!
So, quick-splice -connecting the two remaining white wires to the proper (non-black) live wire off the lamps you want to use, I taped off all wire ends and properly tucked things in place:
Front left (looking from engine bay out); headlight and facia in place, showing "access" for lamp adjustment
You can either adjust the headlamp beam aim by accessing through the wheel well, or do what we did: close everything up in a hurry because we were too excited and then have to wiggle your tiny screw driver around the tiny opening to adjust the headlamps (we got stupid on that one). It's a tight fit but it's kinda doable. The outer-most (Drive) front-right headlamp is the most difficult one because of all the AC piping in that area. I had to turn the last screw's dented washer using a finger tip... not comfy...
Before removing anything (way up there at the beginning of the entire process), I had used painter tape on the garage door to mark original beam alignment. It's not a complete solution, but for a quick start, it was handy. The PDF booklet I provided you with on top of this post contains proper (complete) instructions, guides and measurement for beam alignment.
Using tape markers on the garage door with original headlamp saves a bit of time re-aligning new units. More work to be done on this (forgot high beams...)
And here is the final result!
Ta-daa!
And this is how clear those lights are:
Clear enough, despite some nay-sayers
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result but inexperience caused us to panic on the halo when we couldn't see them in broad daylight, thinking we had messed up the wiring. Also, I forgot to MARK THE HIGH BEAMS on the garage door!! :-/
That's it for now. I'll post better pictures as I make them.
I should pop 10,000 REP with this right?