Hella 500 HID Conversion

[NwiTACO]

OK, so I know lots of you have Hella's on your trucks. I'm not sure, but I don't really think I'm the only one who is dissappointed by the light output. I have a set of driving lights and a set of fog lights so I got two 35W, H3, 4500K HID Conversion kits.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/index.php?p...=102&parent=85

Not the easiest conversion, I made it harder than it need to be, but I wanted it to look factory, and it does.

First the reflector assembly must be removed from the housing.


Then, due to the new bulb's added insertion length, you need to remove the lamp holder from the reflector assembly. This is done by straightening the three (3) tabs on the back.


Once removed, remove the inner portion of the lamp holder.


Re-insert the lamp holder, and bend the tabs back.


The main portion of the lamp wiring looks like this:


You are supposed to drill a 7/8" hole for the grommet so the wiring can enter your housing. I though it was kinda dumb to leave the stock power entering the housing, then have another grommet bring the power to the lamp from the ballast, as well as the new power wires to connect right to the old power wires inside the light. I wanted two wires entering the housing only, going to the bulb so here is the mod's to do so.

First remove the grommet from the wiring harness. Cut down the grommet to each wire. When you are done the grommet will look like this.


Now the back portion of the bulb is too long to fit in the housing when installed within the reflector. To rectify this, simply take a dremel and grind a relief down the side of the bulb so the wires can exit the side like this (Note: the lamp is still in the protective case at this time to protect the bulb):



Next remove the grommet from the original wiring for the Hella's.


Now grind off the bosses inside housing to make adittional room within the housing. It should look like this when you're done.


Now enlarge the wire entry hole so the plugs on the bulb can fit through the hole.


Install reflector assembly back in the housing, install the factory grommet around the new wires, add silicone to help seal up the entry of the wires.


Now the assembly for one light looks like this:


Simply hook up the red and black and your in business!

Now repeat for the other fog light...then the other two driving lights...and whollah:
(insert completed re-installed photo of lights on truck here)

[GatorTaco]

beat me to it. good job!

[dyogim]

Night pics please. Great job!

[NwiTACO]

I got two (2) of the the $39.95 kits linked above. I'll take some pics tonight after I do the other two (2) and put them back on the truck.

[dyogim]

Originally Posted by NwiTACO

I got two (2) of the the $39.95 kits linked above. I'll take some pics tonight after I do the other two (2) and put them back on the truck.

Thanks! I'm going to incorporate these into my Hella 700FF's.

[hytenor]

nice job!

[dyogim]

Originally Posted by NwiTACO

I got two (2) of the the $39.95 kits linked above. I'll take some pics tonight after I do the other two (2) and put them back on the truck.

Night pics? If you haven't taken any yet, no worries. I should have my kit on monday and I'll take pics and post. One thing I've read on other installs is that, you don't have to cut up the rubber grommet to remove the +/- wires. Supposedly, you can pull it through without damaging.

[NwiTACO]

Originally Posted by dyogim

Night pics? If you haven't taken any yet, no worries. I should have my kit on monday and I'll take pics and post. One thing I've read on other installs is that, you don't have to cut up the rubber grommet to remove the +/- wires. Supposedly, you can pull it through without damaging.

Yeah, but there is no way you're gonna pull the new power wires to the lamp without cutting the connectors off and splicing. Since the new wires are the high voltage silicon wires, I'm not messing with them.

EDIT: You only have to remove and modify the lamp holder for the conversion of fog lights...driving lights dont have the extra piece to remove.

[dyogim]

Originally Posted by NwiTACO

EDIT: You only have to remove and modify the lamp holder for the conversion of fog lights...driving lights dont have the extra piece to remove.

Good to know. Thanks! Still waiting for mine to arrive here at work.

[NwiTACO]

Hopefully I get them back on the truck tonite...I took advantage of them being off to repaint the light bar hoop, now I just gotta put them back on and plug them in. Hopefully some pics tonite.

[dyogim]

Originally Posted by NwiTACO

Hopefully I get them back on the truck tonite...I took advantage of them being off to repaint the light bar hoop, now I just gotta put them back on and plug them in. Hopefully some pics tonite.

I just received the kit and was messing with it. I was able to pull the red and black wires out, with spade intact with no problems. When I use the grommet with the kit, I'll just fill the holes up with a dab od silicone.

[NwiTACO]

You'll see what I mean when you go to do it. Why cut another hole in your lights for the new grommet? You only need two wires entering the housing, use the factory hole and the factory grommet. Throw away the extra one with the kit.

[dyogim]

Here's what I did to fit this kit into a pair of Hella 700's

Here's some pics of what I did to fit them and some differences between the two set-ups.

Pic of the Hella 700's on:


The kit has the red and black wires through the grommet to attach within the housing. I decided to pull it through and attach it outside the housing. I had to pull slowly and carefully in order to not damage the grommet.


With the lens removed from the housing, I removed the metal clip that holds the original H3 bulb. Can't use as the HID H3 bulb has too wide of a base and the clip won't fit.


I placed the HID H3 bulb into the lens. There are two tabs that I bent to hold the bulb in place. Surprisingly, they held pretty well. At least hopefully until, I can figure out another way to keep it in place.


Drilled a hole (not a perfect hole) to feed the new wires through and fit the new grommet.




Now to mount the ballast using zip ties and connect the wires. Connected the red and black wires to the Hella ground and + wire. All the other connections are literally self explanatory and there's no need to explain that.
Pass. side, bundled with additional wiring for other aux. lighting and the Hella wiring.


Driver side:


Here are some pics of the differences. Hella 700 55W vs the Raptor brand 35W HID kit:

Hella left, Raptor right:


Further back:


Both Hella housings retrofitted:


Overall, I think this kit is worth it if you are retrofitting some aux. lighting but, I don't think these should be installed into a factory headlight housing. For that, you'll probably want to spend a little extra for some thing better. I'm pleased with results and would do it again on a different set of aux. lights.