This should be good .....

Curious to see how well the new morimoto LED projectors work out. The Morimoto line up of HID parts has been good over the years, I've been using their bulbs, ballasts, and projectors for a long time now (heck i think my current retrofit is ~7yrs old with the D2S 3.0's). Never used their LED stuff though.

 

When the first MLED ever came out I ordered it for my Camry retrofit, the high beam solenoid was stuck and didn’t work. I returned them and went with NHL G5-ExL with cbb bulbs and xb55 ballasts. Amazing setup, but this time I want to try something different lol

 

I had seen retrofit posts from sweeneyp and nogo for their pre-'11 vehicles and nhighlander on his '12. After seeing there was a custom bracket that will adapt the G5-R or D2S 5.0 into the '11-'13 headlight, it didn't seem difficult to do my own G5-R retrofit. Bi-LED projectors seem to be getting better in design and quality control, even NHK has sourced a few into their lines that will be similar to the G5-R size, but the MLED 2.0 is still the one to beat at the moment.

I have the HB LED in my daily driver and it was quite a different experience than I'm used to, but in a good way. It does project distance wise, and not just throw light all over compared to halogen in a reflector. It was retrofitted after I had done the MH1-7 first, but the color difference is definitely noticeable since I'm using 4300K H1. The Mini Gatling Gun shrouds fit perfectly, no trimming was required.

 

In for the results! Am curious how MLED performs. Another Quad modder! Running Mini4.0 & Acura TL D2S’s in my Rolla Titled: Project Midnight Ascend for those interested. Good luck!


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Update:
Sanded down my portions I want to paint gloss black. There were small sections (like tabs) I didn’t sand down, sprayed them with couple of coats and saw them run a bit. I’m going to go check on it soon.

(Got my second covid shot today so I’m waiting to see if I get symptoms lol. maybe that’s why I half ass sanded, I should have primed before instead of using all in one primer paint)

 

ok so this is what happened 😬 Should I try another couple coats or sand down properly and prime and paint again?

 

You probably answered your own question, but I'd sand it down properly, then prime and paint. You don't want to seal everything back and ask, "What if..."

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Next time, try spraying in VERY light coats, one at a time, letting them dry between. Otherwise, it can't stick to the smooth chrome surface, and just pulls together in drops like that, like water does. So the idea is to put down not enough paint for it to collect together.

 

well fun fact for next time, toilet cleaner w/ bleach or oven cleaner + a few hours + toothbrush made the chrome come right off mine leaving the bare plastic. That chrome is a pain to stick too. Rustoleum enamel high temp primer + high temp paint a few days later sticked great. If you try super thin coats, make sure you're good w/ the end results...otherwise you'll notice it forever if your OCD like me haha. I'll add, I made the mistake on my first retrofit of painting and resealing the headlight 1 day later...well I ended up with a fogged up interior of hte lens from the paint outgassing while curing. My last retrofit, I literally waiting a week for the paint to fully cure before resealing, no issues on the inside 7 years later.

 

Thanks guys, I sanded down and primed this time. Last time I’ll ever believe that “primer and paint in one” BS. 😂 sprayed them down and looks good so far. Will let dry overnight and see how it turns out in the AM

 

Primed and actually started light coats of gloss black already. Taking my time and letting them dry and doing light coats.

 

 

So I believe I’m done painting. I reinstalled the turn signal lens and side marker. I’d like some input, I am installing a highbeam projector, should I paint the bowl black and have the chrome mini Gatling gun shroud or leave it all chrome, bowl and shroud?

 

That looks great, I’d go reverse for the high beam setup. Chrome bowl & black shroud.

 

Why not try mocking it up? I think it looks great how it is, nice and balanced, but another pair of eyeballs/pupils in there will change a lot. Try putting the other projector in there and the shroud. It might match the other projector well enough, or look weird. I think painting the bowl black might be a bit much there, but if you paint the bowl AND the Gatling gun shroud black, it might be interesting.

 

I didn’t get the projectors in the mail yet. Hopefully Monday! Fingers crossed!

 

Just for future reference the oven cleaner works amazing. Spray it on, let it sit for an hour or so and the chrome just washes off. After that I just prime the parts and then spray them. No need to sand them.

 

So if I tape off part of the headlight (to keep chrome looking shroud) will oven cleaner still seep through the tape and mess it up?

 

Ok my projectors came in today. I did some fitting and some cutting in the original projector area. I’m exhausted so I’ll do more pics posting and less typing for now.

 

 

The Retrofit looks great! I just bought a 2013 Highlander Limited for the wife a couple months back and want to swap the halogen projectors for the MLED 2.0's as well. This will be my third retrofit, the first being a quick bracket swap 4tl-r (no internal cutting/drilling) on an Impreza and the second being a Mini D2s in the reflector bowls of my 05 Camry. Could you go into a little detail about the bracket situation? I see you needed to hollow out the area around the mounts to fit the MLED, but did you make your own brackets or modify the stock ones or what? Any rotational alignment or aiming issues? Thanks!

 

If you see the picture I posted of the brackets, one is the original that comes on the mled2.0 and the other is one I purchased mled2.0
To rx350(Toyota) and it’s a replacement center bracket, so you take the bracket off the meld and replace it, much cleaner that way. I might be interested in selling them if you want DM me .