doctorj77
Junior Member
I put this on the MustanForums and thought I would share it hear. Back in 2008 I got the idea to build a set of open headlight buckets. I just now got to working on these last week. I was waiting until I had enough money to buy a Agent47 grill, which I feel goes hand in hand with this open headlight concept. Just a personal preference. So first I started with a pair of donor headlights. I was lucky enough to find a brand new set off Craigslist from a 2007 GT for $65.
First remove the 9008 bulb from the housing. I then proceeded to remove the outer lense by cutting it with a dremel tool with a cutting wheel disc. I went on the out edge and tried not to cut too much into the housing itself. The end result is not pretty. And if you don't use something to cover it up on the top edge and iner edge "towards the grill", you might see jagged edges when installed on the car. I decided to try the .5in sprinkler pipe. They are about $.98 from most places, like Lowes. I split it down the side using the dremel cutting wheel again. I then pried it open a bit, and fitted it around the outer edge. To secure it, I used small wood screws to hold it in place.
Once the outter trim was completed, I moved to cutting the reflector. In order to make this the new receptacle, you must do two things. 1. use a 3in hold cutter on your drill. This is to hollow out the center so the new H4 headlight will be able to fit through. I cut mine from the back side of bucket so I would be sure it came out centered. But the OEM reflector is too deep and you will need to shallow it out a bit. Again using the dremel disc, I cut about .5in around the outter edge. There a couple mounts securing the reflector to the bucket. You basically want to make the cut flush with those mounts. Now the reflector is shallow enough so the new H4 light will fit all the way down into your new 3in hole you cut out.
Next is to secure the H4 light into the receptacle. I bought mine from Jegs. Wysco (WA7403K) Tri-Bar Round Headlight "Black Dot" Assembly ordered from www.jegs.com. They are $66.99 a pair. I tried the steel strap idea 06Driver mentioned. While that looks like it would work, when I mounted one strap into the reflector, I had to make a slight bend to the strap so it would come straight out the back. Well the plastic in the receptacle isn't that strong. It ended up ripping the screw out of the reflector. (see picture above) So I decided to try another angle. Instead I drilled through the outter lip on the back side of the bucket, into the inner socket of the H4 light. I then used small machine screws with locking washers and nuts (both sides), to secure the light in. Now its mounted to the bucket as apposed to the reflector. I like this idea cause if "and most likely they are" the headlights are out of aliment, I can just simply drill new holes in the lip on the back of the the buck, and rotate the headlight and secure it again. Allowing me to adjust it accordingly.
I decided that since water can now enter into the bucket, through the "gill" trim bracket. It might be a good idea to drill some drain holes into the back of the bucket. Make sure you choose the lowest point in the buck so that water can collect and drain out the bottom.
Now the headlight secured into the bucket. Its time to move on to the inner trim piece. Now removing this piece, its locked into the bucket by 4 tabs molded into the trim piece. When I removed the clear lense earlier, I didn't pay enough attention to these corners and ended up "$(#U%#" them up. So I came up with the idea of not needing them. I cut the excess off with the disc again. As some may recall, on older cars that actually were made of all metal, the headlight trim was always secured witht a couple of machine screws. So nostalgia got to me, and I decided to drill two holes in the trim piece. I had to leave this in the bucket, so the drill cut not only cut through the bucket, but the trim bracket as well. This way, when I go to mount it, the two holes would be perfectly aligned. This also is a good time to test fit the trim. To make sure the reflector you cut was shallow enough, and that the trim bracket will fit over the new headlight. Next I moved on to painting the brackes. This all depends on how graceful you are removing the lense in the beginning. I of course marred up the corners a little bit. So I sanded them down with 200grit first, then 400, then 600 to make sure they were perfectly smooth, that and so the paint would adhere better. I put on two coats of gray primer, and then 4 coats of satin black enamel. Just to prolong chips, stain, flaking, etc... I put on two coats of conductor wax to help seal in the paint, and then 3 coats of general carnuba wax. It this case I used Mothers Gold.
Once the trim brackets are painted, test fit again to make sure they properly fit into the bucket with the newly mounted light. Next is totally optional. I was talking with someone once about this project. We both said it would be cool if we could mount amber reflectors inside the bucket, so once the trim bracket was installed, you'd have a reflector look on the inside. So I tried different reflectors. The self stick plastic ones you buy at Wally World or TSC are not an even fit. So you have to cut them up, and assembly them like a puzzle. Because the inside of the bucket is beveled like, its almost impossible to get the reflectors to sit evenly. I gave up on that idea. The someone suggested Conspicuity tape. Not something you can find at your local stores. So I went online and found Daybright School Bus Conspicuity tape. Ordered from www.awdirect.com. A 1in x 25ft roll was $21.95. I began to cut this into strips, about 6in long each. I lined them up inside the bucket, angled to match the contour of the bucket. I layed them in strips, go as far back as possible. You may want to insert the trim bracket after each strip to make sure you have them far enough at the to and bottom. Once done, I used a xacto knife to cut the strips into one pattern. Not a necessary step, but OCD got the better of me. Test fit the trim bracket and your done.
Now its time to insert the mounting screws into the trim bracket. I decided to paint them black to blend in. You don't see it in these pictures, but I had to trim off some excess of the screw. In addition to the lock washer, I also used some locktite on the threads to ensure it will not come loose.
Next comes the wiring. I purchased a set of H4 connectors at Autozone for $11.99. These are the female plugs the go to the back of the headlight. Now what some others have done is cut & splice into the existing OEM harness. I chose not to do this since there might come a time where, "IF" I had to return the car to stock, I wouldn't have to cut & splice new connects back. I decided to order a pair of H13/9008 Male pigtails. I got mine from www.autolumination.com. They were $3.49 each. This will allow me to simply plug these into the OEM sockets. To wire them up, I eventually found a couple schematics for H4 and H13 sockets, soldered them together and now they are ready to use. Now its time to hook them up to the headlights.
Here is how they look installed, before the bumper was reinstalled.
Now time for the Agent 47 grill
Down the road, I will probably put a pair of H4 dual beams to replace the foglights. And bypass the relay that shuts them off when the brights are turned on. Not exactly DOT approved, but eh, probably would look good. This project total cost was about $250, that with shipping charges for 2nd air. Just material costs put this around $200. If you got a steady hand a lot of paitence, this is a worth while mod.
First remove the 9008 bulb from the housing. I then proceeded to remove the outer lense by cutting it with a dremel tool with a cutting wheel disc. I went on the out edge and tried not to cut too much into the housing itself. The end result is not pretty. And if you don't use something to cover it up on the top edge and iner edge "towards the grill", you might see jagged edges when installed on the car. I decided to try the .5in sprinkler pipe. They are about $.98 from most places, like Lowes. I split it down the side using the dremel cutting wheel again. I then pried it open a bit, and fitted it around the outer edge. To secure it, I used small wood screws to hold it in place.
Once the outter trim was completed, I moved to cutting the reflector. In order to make this the new receptacle, you must do two things. 1. use a 3in hold cutter on your drill. This is to hollow out the center so the new H4 headlight will be able to fit through. I cut mine from the back side of bucket so I would be sure it came out centered. But the OEM reflector is too deep and you will need to shallow it out a bit. Again using the dremel disc, I cut about .5in around the outter edge. There a couple mounts securing the reflector to the bucket. You basically want to make the cut flush with those mounts. Now the reflector is shallow enough so the new H4 light will fit all the way down into your new 3in hole you cut out.
Next is to secure the H4 light into the receptacle. I bought mine from Jegs. Wysco (WA7403K) Tri-Bar Round Headlight "Black Dot" Assembly ordered from www.jegs.com. They are $66.99 a pair. I tried the steel strap idea 06Driver mentioned. While that looks like it would work, when I mounted one strap into the reflector, I had to make a slight bend to the strap so it would come straight out the back. Well the plastic in the receptacle isn't that strong. It ended up ripping the screw out of the reflector. (see picture above) So I decided to try another angle. Instead I drilled through the outter lip on the back side of the bucket, into the inner socket of the H4 light. I then used small machine screws with locking washers and nuts (both sides), to secure the light in. Now its mounted to the bucket as apposed to the reflector. I like this idea cause if "and most likely they are" the headlights are out of aliment, I can just simply drill new holes in the lip on the back of the the buck, and rotate the headlight and secure it again. Allowing me to adjust it accordingly.
I decided that since water can now enter into the bucket, through the "gill" trim bracket. It might be a good idea to drill some drain holes into the back of the bucket. Make sure you choose the lowest point in the buck so that water can collect and drain out the bottom.
Now the headlight secured into the bucket. Its time to move on to the inner trim piece. Now removing this piece, its locked into the bucket by 4 tabs molded into the trim piece. When I removed the clear lense earlier, I didn't pay enough attention to these corners and ended up "$(#U%#" them up. So I came up with the idea of not needing them. I cut the excess off with the disc again. As some may recall, on older cars that actually were made of all metal, the headlight trim was always secured witht a couple of machine screws. So nostalgia got to me, and I decided to drill two holes in the trim piece. I had to leave this in the bucket, so the drill cut not only cut through the bucket, but the trim bracket as well. This way, when I go to mount it, the two holes would be perfectly aligned. This also is a good time to test fit the trim. To make sure the reflector you cut was shallow enough, and that the trim bracket will fit over the new headlight. Next I moved on to painting the brackes. This all depends on how graceful you are removing the lense in the beginning. I of course marred up the corners a little bit. So I sanded them down with 200grit first, then 400, then 600 to make sure they were perfectly smooth, that and so the paint would adhere better. I put on two coats of gray primer, and then 4 coats of satin black enamel. Just to prolong chips, stain, flaking, etc... I put on two coats of conductor wax to help seal in the paint, and then 3 coats of general carnuba wax. It this case I used Mothers Gold.
Once the trim brackets are painted, test fit again to make sure they properly fit into the bucket with the newly mounted light. Next is totally optional. I was talking with someone once about this project. We both said it would be cool if we could mount amber reflectors inside the bucket, so once the trim bracket was installed, you'd have a reflector look on the inside. So I tried different reflectors. The self stick plastic ones you buy at Wally World or TSC are not an even fit. So you have to cut them up, and assembly them like a puzzle. Because the inside of the bucket is beveled like, its almost impossible to get the reflectors to sit evenly. I gave up on that idea. The someone suggested Conspicuity tape. Not something you can find at your local stores. So I went online and found Daybright School Bus Conspicuity tape. Ordered from www.awdirect.com. A 1in x 25ft roll was $21.95. I began to cut this into strips, about 6in long each. I lined them up inside the bucket, angled to match the contour of the bucket. I layed them in strips, go as far back as possible. You may want to insert the trim bracket after each strip to make sure you have them far enough at the to and bottom. Once done, I used a xacto knife to cut the strips into one pattern. Not a necessary step, but OCD got the better of me. Test fit the trim bracket and your done.
Now its time to insert the mounting screws into the trim bracket. I decided to paint them black to blend in. You don't see it in these pictures, but I had to trim off some excess of the screw. In addition to the lock washer, I also used some locktite on the threads to ensure it will not come loose.
Next comes the wiring. I purchased a set of H4 connectors at Autozone for $11.99. These are the female plugs the go to the back of the headlight. Now what some others have done is cut & splice into the existing OEM harness. I chose not to do this since there might come a time where, "IF" I had to return the car to stock, I wouldn't have to cut & splice new connects back. I decided to order a pair of H13/9008 Male pigtails. I got mine from www.autolumination.com. They were $3.49 each. This will allow me to simply plug these into the OEM sockets. To wire them up, I eventually found a couple schematics for H4 and H13 sockets, soldered them together and now they are ready to use. Now its time to hook them up to the headlights.
Here is how they look installed, before the bumper was reinstalled.
Now time for the Agent 47 grill
Down the road, I will probably put a pair of H4 dual beams to replace the foglights. And bypass the relay that shuts them off when the brights are turned on. Not exactly DOT approved, but eh, probably would look good. This project total cost was about $250, that with shipping charges for 2nd air. Just material costs put this around $200. If you got a steady hand a lot of paitence, this is a worth while mod.
