I knew you could get a projector headlamp housing in 6x7 but I didn’t want to end up with a broke China-boop eBay setup again so I started shopping around and found Dapper Lighting. They had several testimonials describing the quality of their product (and they have a fancy website).
That China-boop
So I picked up a set of the Dapper 6x7 projector housings with the black backing and the optional HID add-on kit. First impressions when I unboxed everything was “wow, there’s more wiring here than I thought there would be.” But after that initial shock, and glancing through the included instructions (with pictures!) I realized everything was pretty straight forward and the lamp housings are really good looking.
After I got everything unboxed, I cleaned up a spot on my work bench and prepped the car and tools for the job. To do the swap, you’ll need basic hand tools: 10mm socket and wrench, phillips head screwdriver(s), plyers, provided double sided tape, and potentially a couple self-tapping sheetmetal screws.
Step 1 is put your lights up, open the hood, and remove the negative battery terminal.
I think everyone has removed a set of S13 headlights, and there’s plenty of write-ups online about that so I’ll breeze through this section
Now that the “old and busted” is out, I prepped the new Dapper units for installation.
The first thing I did was install the HID bulbs into the housings. *Note* Make sure the bulb is sitting flush to the housing or else you’re get a wonky light output when everything is installed. (details on that later).
Then, I went ahead and connected all of the corresponding wiring to the ballasts, high beam relay, power source, etc. Pretty much everything only has one way it can be installed, so it’s pretty self-explanatory. The only thing that can be reversed is the diode for the high beam flipper majigger. It states clearly in the instructions to install that wire only partially, and test the high beams. But if you’re doing this on a S13 like me, just install the diode like this:
Now, feed all the wiring through the back of the headlamp bucket and prepare to tie down the ballasts, relays and extra wiring. Pull the power and ground leads and temporarily attach them to the corresponding posts of the battery to test the lights and high beams out for correct function. Yeah, we’re starting to look good now.
Lookin’ alright
After you’ve checked that the high beams flip on and off as expected, go ahead and start mounting the peripherals and extra wiring in a safe and “mostly dry” area. I chose to use the included double sided tape to mount the ballasts to the front bumper support. I cleaned the area and stuck it on. Then I used a self-tapping screw to mount the relay next to the ballast.
I ran the driver’s side headlamp wiring up under the radiator core support to meet up with the passenger’s side headlight wiring. Then I passed both sets of wires through a shielded pass-through that was already in the sheet metal.
Run those wires to the battery and tuck them neatly.
Finish up bolting the headlamps down for the last time and reinstall the headlamp shroud.
Now I have to get the lamp beam correctly aimed as to not blind oncoming drivers. There is a procedure in Dapper’s instruction manual on how to do this. Luckily, its pretty easy to adjust the height of the headlamp beam on S13’s.
Once I was finished, I took it for a drive and basked in my new, awesome light output and pattern!
Overall, the lights are such an awesome improvement, I can’t believe I ever drove at night without them. They make the car have a much more modern look and a modern light output.
Overall, money well spent.
