SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

Today my PIAA's came.

I understand that the Morettes perform better. I will see

That does say something that your Borther in Law jJag projectors are not as good as your morettes. Got me thinking.

John 37

I can understand that on main beam but how does the dip performance compare?

John

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

About the same, his cutoff's a bit sharper, if anything.

Alcazar

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

This is my PIAA kit layed out...



...and I have no idea where what goes

...and what else do I need so I can run the kit using the existing fog light switch?

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

A member on here, 'albob' aka Alan pm'ed saying that he had a idiots guide that Gary Foster did for fitting his PIAA...

"Fitting PIAA light kit to Subaru Impreza Turbo ( PIAA 80 ProXT 120W Versions)

This is how I fitted the (Similar to Prodrive type) PIAA Driving light kit to my Impreza. This kit I bought from DRM Motorsport.

1) What's in the box ?

Unfortunately, I didn't have a digital camera prior to fitting this kit, so I can't show you a neat piccy of whats included. This is a list of what comes in the Kit however.

2 x Prodrive style mounting plates (for mounting the lights where the Fog lights would normally go)

2 x PIAA Driving lights

2 x High Power relays

2 x PIAA Lamp Covers

1 x Power button to turn the things on (see *NB below)

Some nylon tie straps

1 x Wiring harness to connect the whole thing together.

A clip connector for connecting two wires together

*NB in the UK, driving lights must be connected so that they can only come on with the Main (Not dipped) beam is selected. The button in question is an override (ie when not on the lights will not come on at all, when on they will come on when full beam is selected).

2) What do I need and how long will it take ?

You'll need

10mm Socket with a long reach driver (screwdriver type ideal)
17mm Socket or spanner
Socket for bettery terminals (can't remember the size)
Philips screwdriver
20mm Metal Hole Drill + electric drill
Plumbers tape (optional)
Extra nylon tie straps (optional)
Automotive type relay - for connecting the Fog light plug into the circuit to use the fog switch as an override to the driving lights (Got mine from Maplins, don't worry about current rating it'll be far bigger than needed) Note :- This is not to be used to connect directly to the PIAA driving lights, if you haven't got the PIAA relays, you'll need an automotive relay of at least 30Amps.
Automotive Crimps and a Crimp kit (The red ones which will go over spade connectors (female ?), + one spade)
Electrical Tape
The PIAA Kit with Prodrive mounting plates
Nut and bolt to bolt on the Maplins relay
It will take about 3 Hours (in my case at least) + a week trying to align the lights correctly ;-)

3) Electrical Gubbins

OK, my instructions are going to assume you want to fit the kit in exactly the same way as me, that is. The override switch is actually connected to the Fog Light switch, so the lights will come on only when the Fog Switch is enabled and High beam is on. If the Fog Switch is disabled the driving lights will not come on at all. The idea being to lessen the number of power-ons to the lamp and thus increase the bulb life (less thermal shock). The problem being of course, if they are always enabled, every time you flash your lights when on dipped the driving lights will also flash - not good.

you're options are

Use the switch that comes with the kit (means running it into the passenger compartment + mounting)
Replace that switch with the Fog Light Switch (means running wires into the passenger compartment and wiring to the FL switch)
Use the existing wire(s) running to the fog lights (which will be +ve when on and 0v when off) and some how control the Driving light override with this.
number 3 is what I did. I won't explain it as it's easier to look at in this circuit diagram. This is why the extra relay needs to be purchased.

(Thanks to Mark for this circuit diagram BTW)



4) Mounting the PIAA relays

Heres where it all gets dirty then.

First things first, disconnect the battery terminals after working out how to disable your alarm. My alarm (Clifford) seemed fine taking the power off but set itself off when I reapplied power. Noisy, keep your key fob on you to turn the sod off again.

I also removed the battery to make access easier.

Now you've got the battery out of the way, it's time to fit the PIAA relays in. They need to go near the battery as the wires to it aren't that long. There's no way of screwing the relays to anything so I ended up tie strapping them to the clamp that holds the horn (I think it's the horn) in place. Here's a picture. They just about fit if you put them front to back. Thread the two wires for the battery (ie with the terminals on) around the battery tray and out of the way for now.



Thats the PIAA relays in place. The other wire that should be fitted is the remote power on. (It's the white wire without a connector on the end). Unwrap about an inch of the electrical tape from the wires going into the back of the headlight. There should be a blue and yellow wire in there, this is the one you want. Take the clip for connecting two wires that comes in the PIAA kit and place the white wire from the PIAA loom and the blue and yellow from the headlight in it. Close it up, the little teeth will make a connection between these two wires. Cover this up with electrical tape. Thats the PIAA spliced into the Main Beam circuit - easy.

NOTE :- That stupid little plastic clip thing was complete rubbish !!, causing intermittent faults. It just wasn't making a good contact with the wires. I ended up removing it, stripping off about 1cm of outer sheath of the blue and yellow cable (not cutting the wire !) and soldering the wire too it. Insulate it (heatshrink, or I just used electrical tape), no problems since then and it takes about 5 minutes.

At this point you can put the battery back in . If you want you can try out the lights now, plug the power cables onto the battery (see below for how) and plug in a PIAA driving lamp and the PIAA light override switch. You should be able to get the lamp to come on with high beam + the PIAA switch on. If not you've got something wrong.

Disconnect the battery again if you tried the lights out.

Just leave the rest of the wires etc lying around there for now, the plan is to connect it all up without the second relay to make sure all the connections work, then wire in the Maplins relay in place of the PIAA switch afterwards.

5) Running the Cables down to where the fog lights go

This is a little bit fiddly but not too bad. The aim is to run the cables with the sockets on the end in front of the radiator. This will mean taking the front grill off. To remove the front grill insert a screwdriver into the hole in the top and lever out that edge. Do the same to the other side and it should just come of easily.



Next remove the foglights, you'll need a 10mm Socket and an extension bar to get in there. There's three bolts to undo. The nuts behind them are captive so they won't fall out. Unplug the fogs and remove, tape up the drivers side cable. The passengers side one will need to be fed back up into the engine bay (where the PIAA relays are now fitted). This is fiddly, I suggest getting a long screwdriver, poking it down from behind the headlight and tying the fog light wire to it then pulling it back up. Tie wrap this to something handy behind the headlamp so it doesn't fall down again. I've tried to show you where I cable tied this in this picture.



Now, thread both cables for the driving lights through from the battery compartment to behind the grill you've just removed. Feed the longer one all the way along and you should be able to poke it down through to the fog light. Stick your hand in where the fog light was and pull it through a bit. Feed the one for the passenger side light down and pull that one out through where the fog light was as well. Here's where the cables run - right in front of the radiator. Cable tie them along the length of the grill (you'll have to remove the number plate). You cant see them once the number plate is put back on.



6) Mounting the PIAA Driving lamps.

Now the scary bit ! cutting holes in your lovely clean Scooby bumper (Gulp !).

Take one of the triangular mounting plates for the PIAA Lamp and hold it up where the fog light was screwed in. Make sure you have it rotated so that the three small holes are over where the captive nuts (that the fog light case was screwed into) are. Mark the centre of the large hole in the middle. Next you'll need one of these



It's a hole drill (duh !) I bought a hole kit (cos it was in a nice plastic case) from B&Q but you can buy them singly as well. Make sure you get a metal and wood one, not a wood only one. Use a 20mm one. Use it to drill a hole through the plastic (metal backed) bumper where you just marked - it should look like this



You can see the white PIAA connector in the picture as well.

Now you can fit the PIAA. I used plumbers tape round the thread of the light and lightly bolted it to the mounting plate. The aim of the tape was to stop it working loose as I adjusted it. I screwed it onto the bumper using the screws from mounting the fog light, into the captive nuts with the wires connected, aimed it then took it all of to tighten it up properly. I haven't quite got it right yet, best work out this bit out yourself. Heres a piccy of the mounting plate with light connected



And heres a picture of it mounted, it sticks out a bit further than the fog light used to. The cover doesn't appear to fit very well either.



7) Testing it works

If you didn't try it before fitting the lights, try it out now it should all work (fingers crossed). To connect the PIAA relays to the battery, the long wire goes to +ve, if you are unsure pull back the covering slightly and you'll see the +ve cable is white, the -ve one is black. Whilst your at it, work out which is the +ve contact in the passenger side fog light cable plug using a multimeter. Now all thats left is to replace the PIAA override switch with the Maplins relay / fog light switch (if you want).

8) Fitting the Maplins relay / Fog light switch override

Mount the Maplins relay on the handy little hole in the body work above the passengers headlight.

Refer to Marks lovely circuit diagram above. Now where the additional relay is marked on his diagram is where the PIAA switch is at the moment. There are 3 wires going into this switch, the two white wires come from the main beam and PIAA supplied relay. The black one is connected to earth. See how these line up with Marks diagram ?. So thats 3 of the wires going into the relay, and the fourth will come from the fog light connector that you pulled up into the engine compartment earlier.

Cut the wires from the switch leaving just enough to plug onto the Maplins relay. Put the red female spade connectors on these.

To connect a wire to the fog light plug +ve, cut a spade connector down till it fits in and makes a good contact. Crimp that to a cable with a female spade on the other end to fit onto the Maplins relay. Tape up the spade connector in the fog light cable plug.

Connect these four wires to the Maplins relay. This is probably terrible electronics practice (ho hum !) but this is what I did. Get the multimeter, put it on the resistivity setting. Go round all the Maplin relay contacts in turn until you find the two which have less than infinite resistance. This is the coil so connect one terminal to the black wire that used to be connected to the PIAA switch, and the other to the cable you just connected to the fog light connector. The other two wires that were connected to the PIAA switch (white) connect to the other two terminals on the relay. Tape them all up. It should look a bit like this.



Thats it !! I hope this helped a bit, and thanks to everyone (Mark, Chiark et al) who helped me out on Scoobynet when I was doing this.

Usual disclaimers apply, if you electrocute / kill / maim / cause mental insanity from following these instructions - on your own head be it.

Gary Foster"

I hope Gary and Alan does not mind me posting this. It could help a lot of members on here that what to fit this kit them selves.

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

Does this sound right?
I am rather unconfident about installing these

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

It all looks OK to me. Why are you un-confident?

I'll be at a loose end this weekend, (wife is in China), so if you fancy a trip North I could give you a hand?

Alcazar

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iTrader: (5)

Bacisially, it looks a little daunting
Thanks for the offer of meeting you at yours, but Scunny is a look too far to travel.

John 37

Trust me, it's easy.
Even if something goes wrong and you have to stop work, the car is still useable.

John

MikeWood

Very comprehensive instructions, the only mistake (a very common one too!) is that you are actually connecting into the dip beam circuit to get a +12v trigger when main beam is on.

The Prodrive kit comes with a small harness that plugs in between the headlamp and the vehicle harness so you don't need to splice into the wiring. It also has the wiring to use the original foglamp switch as the conrtol and doesn't need an additional relay. There's also fitting instructions although I can't remember all the details as it's now 12 years since we designed the kit!!!!

Mike

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

My kit did not come with any instructions

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Come up to Scunny, it's only a couple of hours up the A1.

Alcazar

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Hi-jack alert!

After a bit of advice about my set up

I've recently upgraded to 6000 bi-HID's & although impressed with the dip-beam ...Im not so impressed with main beam & so considering swapping to morettes & then fitting 2 sets of HID's into those ...if im still not happy im also considering a pair of 7" Cibie Turini's (well, ive actually got 6 from a ex WRC rally pod) & thinking about fitting those via bumper pods ...again with a single HID kit ...might sound OTT but most of my fun is B road blasts in the small hours

any comments?

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

With Morettes, you can't fit TWO sets of HID's, at least, you can't do it easily, since no-one makes HID conversions for the H2 lamp, whaich is what's in the Cibie main beam inners.

As far as the Turinis go, then go for it, but do have a look at my photos of the performance of Hella 1000FF HIDs on this thread. You'd have to fit SIX Turinis to even match it!

Alcazar

Alcazar

John 37

I will scan and pm you the instructions that came with mine tonight.
The wiring diagram is on the box. That might be more difficult.

John

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Cheers Alcazar

So classic morettes use a H4? outer for main & dip ...so i could use my current Bi-HID? ...& H2 Cibie inners?

I see what you mean about H2 HID kits! ...google kept throwing up kits for Hummers! lol

Thinking aloud ...but could the Morette inners be replaced with a more conventional bulb set up i.e H3?

& I was thinking of a single H4 HID kit to go in the Turini's, as I cant quite stretch to the Hella's

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

Jeff, thanks for the offer, but there is a tiny problem that is being sorted out as we speak. When I was looking at the lamps the plastic 'C' clip that is behind the bolt kinda snaped in half So I have contacted scoobyworld who the contacted PIAA and we have now sent the said broken part to SW for them to replce. I am guessing this part is fairly vital?

Thanks John.

James Neill

iTrader: (1)

John, you couldn't do the same for me could you? I've just picked up on this thread and have the same kit to fit (acquired 2nd hand months ago), but have never known quite how.

Have next week off - so will try to fit then and post the pics.


Thanks
James

John 37

Happy to but you've witheld your email address.
I'm tempted to publish them here but can't seem to manage to attach a scanned image.

John

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

Thanks John for the instructions

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

A little update for you all.

Tuesday I had booked for an Auto Electrician to wire up and fit the PIAA for me as it was too complicated for me to do. It took the guy 2 and a bit hours to fit and only charged me £50 for fitting.

Now, how the buggery do you set the lights up? With so much adjustment its a nightmare. How do Prodrive/Subaru align the lights when the kit is fitted eith as aftermarket or as standard (RB5)?

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

You've basically got to tighten the fittings so that the lights can JUST be moved/adjusted by a decent force. Not too much and not loose.

Then take it to a local large empty carpark, unused road etc, and standing in front of it, cover BOTH headlights and ONE PIAA, ( I use cloths etc), then adjust the other.

Repeat for the opposite side.

Now tighten both lights so that the setting is fixed.

Bit of trial and error here, as tightening often spoils the setting, but if you're on a carpark etc, just redo that one.

You can get a good idea of where they are supposed to point by putting main beams on first, after pulling the PIAA fuse to see where THEY point Then replace PIAA fuse and away you go.

Alcazar

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

Cheers Jeff for that. Thats kinda what I thought you had to do.

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

This afternoon, I did what you said covering the headlights up and pointing the PIAA's where I wanted them and it is was little tricky but I got there. It took 2 attempts to get them right and OMG...what a difference I am really happy. Half way through tinkering with them I was saying things like 'what a waste of time' and 'why did I bother buying them'. But when you get them right they are really worth it in the end. So a top tip take your time setting them up.

I will try to get some photos of them on and off so you can see the difference.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Can't stress this enough. I had it demonstrated to me YEARS ago at the Mintex rally by Cibie technicians.

Even top rally lights, badly aimed, are a waste of time;( But when you get them right.............wow!

Alcazar

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Ideally park car near a wall on a flat area.

Put main beam on, chalk mark the wall at centre of lights....

Reverse back and cover main beam,,,

Allign spots with chalk marks...

Sorted.

Dunx

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

Please excuse the dirty car, did not have time to wash her





I have brought some clear self adhesive (1/16ths) that stick onto the the glass to protect them. As the glass is £46 to replace it it gets cracked.

with the supplied covers - Might get these colour coded, not sure yet.



now for the test...



and now at night

Dipped beam with the GE 50% brighter H4 bulbs



Mainbeam/highbeam same bulbs



and mainbeam with PIAA's on

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Not much difference then?

Next person that forgets his main beams coming your way is going to wish he hadn't

Alcazar

John 37

Now you will realise just how bad dipped beam acyually is.
An easy way to get better dip is to relay the system. I measured my MY2000 classic and there's 1.5V drop on the dip wiring. So when the engines running, my 14.2V becomes 12.7V at the bulbs. That's about 50% less light output.
The other way is to go the HID route. I'm ordering mine now.

John

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

I had a Hid kit that I brought from Alex GB and it was phants to say the least. Maybe it was the kit itself, or it could of been the poor subaru OE lamps or even a little of both. Good luck with them.

Quite a few people have measured their volts at the lamps and noticed a drop...hmm mmm


Thanks Alcazar for all your help. When I first switched them on I could not believe the difference in light once I had pointed them where I wanted them..its like 'I can see', which reminds me, must eat more carrots