DIY LED Switchback
 

Step 1: Purchase the LED Switchbacks and Sealant here:

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/Audi-Style-...s-p/50-055.htm

They come with the hardware and small brackets that hold in the LED tube.

I got my sealant from LightWerkz here :

http://www.lightwerkz.net/index.php/...utyl-glue.html

Step 2:

Remove the front bumper and the headlight housings.

If you need assistance, refer to this video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txxp0P19bl0

Step 3:

Remove all bulbs and the HID ballast if you do not have halogens.

Step 4:

Preheat your oven to 240°F and place some sort of cardboard to prevent direct contact between the oven tray and the headlight housing. In my case I used a Cheezit box.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....240e229069.jpg

Step 5:

While waiting for the oven to preheat, remove the screws on the back side of the housing that hold the lens on.

Step 6:

Place the headlight housing on the cardboard inside the oven for 7 minutes at 240°F. Get a flathead screwdriver ready to pry at the corners of housing.

Step 7:

I suggest getting some gloves for this step, as the housings are too hot to get a good grip on. When using the screwdriver, you want to wedge it in between the plastic and twist it, rather than pry up. I found this much easier when starting in a corner and having a buddy pull the lens up at the same time. There are also clips around the edges that you need to pull back.

Step 8:

After you get the lens off of the housing, take a flathead screwdriver and run it down the channel to flatten out the oem sealant. Here is a before and after to explain what I mean. You want to make a clean channel for the new sealant to go in.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....f6a69f46cc.jpg





https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....b310c5d5d7.jpg

Step 9:

Now that you have the lens off of the housing, remove the 2 screws that hold this piece inside the lens.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....cdb1b588ef.jpg

Step 10:

As you see in the picture above, drill very small pilot holes for the screws that came with the mounting clips. I choose to run 3 across the bottom and one on the side. If you want to run the LED strip a different route, place the clips accordingly.

Step 11:

To run the LED strip through the clips, it's a bit of a pain. The bottom of the rubber fits snug in the clips, making it hard to just press down into them. I choose to start at the bottom and pass the strip through the side of each clip. This is very time consuming, but worth it. You may need a friend to help hold the strip when bending it up the side so that the rest does not pop out of the clips.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....dbd007e2b7.jpg


Step 12:

To make the overall appearance of the end of the LED strip cleaner, I choose to drill a hole for the end of the strip to feed through. I started off small and made my way up to bigger drill bit sizes to avoid cracking the plastic. I measured the distance from the point of each plastic piece to the center of the hole to make sure they were equal distances on both headlights. A piece of tape over the driller hole made this much easier.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....083420efc9.jpg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....57a0fb1f33.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....444f881ecf.jpg

Step 13:

You may need to cut the end of the LED strip for clearance once you squeeze it through the hole you drilled. I placed the cap on the end once I cut it as well.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....42a65611a9.jpg


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....d36b7a5406.jpg

Step 14:

Once you are happy with the fitment of the LED strip, place the 2 screws that hold in the plastic piece to the lens back in.

Step 15:

Next, place the sealant in the oven at 240°F for 3 minutes in the box that it comes in. The sealant stretches easier when it is warm.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....1c311e3fa6.jpg

Step 16:

Run the new sealant in the channel that you flattened out previously and place just the house back in the oven at 240°F for 7 minutes.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....a9dbfa823c.jpg

Step 17:

You may want to get the screws that you took off the back of the housing, gloves, and find out how you are going to run the wiring before you go all in. I choose to run the wiring up and through the side, then back out where the bulbs were. After the 7 minutes in the oven is up, get ready to have someone help you feed the wiring out the back as you press the lens back on to the housing and do your best to close any gaps. After the lens is seating in the housing, place it back in the 240°F oven for another 7 minutes.

Step 18:

Get some sort of clamps ready to squeeze the sides of the lens into the housing. As soon as the headlight is out of the oven do your best to push down the lens far enough to screw the housing screws all back in, and clip on all of the tabs. The clamps can be very useful to help seat the lens in place. Be careful not to over tighten the screws as the plastic is hot and can strip easily.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....0f5bac893b.jpg






https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....0beb4f5674.jpg

Step 19:

The sealant does not take long at all to cure, so now you can get started on the wiring. I choose to run the wiring back out the screw off cap and drill a hole through it. As this will jeopardize the water proof capabilities of the headlight, you will see later that I use duct tape to seal the small hole that I drill for the 3 wires.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....a25b75c364.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....c4359144ef.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....fecdde4a1b.jpg

If you would like to purchase the LED bulbs that are pictured, click this link:

https://www.auxbeam.com/88621845

They are plug and play.

Step 20:

As far as wiring, everyone has their own way of splicing into the existing wires. I choose to strip a segment out of the middle of the parking light and the turn signal light as well as any ground on the headlight. Then I striped about a half inch off of the wiring coming from the LED strip. I wrapped the stripped wiring off of the LED strip around the exposed existing wire on my headlights and wrapped the connection with electrical tape. The red wire goes to the parking light, yellow goes to turn signal, and black goes to any ground. I apologize for the lack of pictures of this step I forgot to take pics before reinstalling my headlights. If you need help msg me.

Step 21:

Make sure that you duct tape off the hole you drill to pass the three wires from the LED strip. Plug back in your headlights to test before reinstalling. If everything checks out, you're all good to go and you can reinstall the headlights and the front bumper.

Pics:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....ad97fc9966.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....470e9c9f8e.jpg

Overall, if you take the time to do this, it is not to difficult. I'm not responsible if you damage any part of your headlight housing during this process. Good luck if you try it! Hope it all goes well! :thumbup:

awesome write up!! kudos sir!