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Install Mirage Projectors w/Halo Rings
by Gro Harlem (12-22-2003)
Credit to foreword from Puerto Rico for info on how to do this conversion. Thanks!
Model Years: 90-94 323 / 94 Protege style headlights Estimated Time: 2-3 hours

This is a how-to for installing 97-02 Mitsubishi Mirage projector headlights with halo rings into your 90-94 Mazda 323 or 94 Protege. These headlights use H3 low beams and H1 highbeams and spread the light out much more effectively than the stock beam pattern. These headlights do have left/right and up/down adjustments for all 4 lights integrated into the headlight housing. You can buy these lights for $150-200 off ebay with or without halo rings.

You will have to cut and modify your stock headlight bracket and mounting bracket sheetmetal to install these lights. You may also have to shave material from your grille and raise the hood latch 1/4-1/2" so the hood doesn't crush the headlights. Wiring these headlights requires you to splice into your stock headlight harness and to wire a hotwire to a constant + power supply .If you are inexperienced with wiring, don't attempt to install these yourself.

Tools you will need:

  • Philips head screwdriver
  • Ratchet with 3" extension
  • 10mm Socket
  • 1/4" socket
  • Flathead screwdriver
  • Dremel with cutting wheel
  • 1/4" drillbit
  • Power drill
  • Wire stripper
  • Wire crimper

Supplies you will need to buy:

  • (2) 2" long 1/4" bolts w/nuts
  • (2) 3" long 1/4" bolts w/nuts
  • (~100) 1/4" washers
  • (3) blue butt connectors
  • (4) self-tapping blue elec connectors
  • (1) yellow female disconnect
  • Electrical tape or wire loom (your choice)


Installation Instructions:
1: Pop the hood, raise and support it. Remove the grill by pressing the 4 tabs that hold it in place and by unscrewing the center screw
2: Remove the corner light of the side you chose to begin with (2 philips screws). Let the corner dangle for now. Remove the headlight by unscrewing the 4 10mm bolts holding the bracket in place. Remove it all as an assembly, don't forget to unplug the headlight itself.
3: Remove the headlight from the bracket by unscrewing the 2 philips adjustment screws (takes awhile) and popping the headlight off the round pivoting retainer.
4: If you don't want to fabricate a bracket for your grille, you will have to reuse the stock headlight bracket. but you will have to cut it in half as pictured to the side. Also shave away the material near the top mounting bolt as it will get in the way of your new headlights.
5: You will need to either cut or bend this bracket out of the way of your new headlights.
(Picture of bracket after it was bent out of the way)
6: if you didn't already, install the bottom trim peice that fills in the gap between you. You will have to shave off the material on the top of this bracket as shown...the new projectors will sit too high otherwise.
7: Now you will need to drill a 1/4" hole as shown. It should go in easy because the sheetmetal is already drilled from the factor at this location, but the plastic bracket is in the way.

8: Using the 2" long 1/4" bolt, insert it into the projector's topmost hole with a washer on the outside, and 9 washers between the projector bracket and the OEM headlight bracket to space it properly. Put the nut on the other end of the bolt. (this is very difficult on the drivers side because of the radiator)

TIP before mounting the headlight to anything, make sure the two wire harnesses aren't being crushed underneath the headlight. You will have to remove it if they are (i made this mistake)
9: For the other side, you will have to shave away the two tabs sticking out with the gold metal studs protruding on them. You won't need these and they just get in the way. You will also need to shave away the top square-shaped tab.

10: Next, using your 3" long bolt, figure out where to drill a hole on the sheetmetal and drill a 1/4" hole. Using however many washers necessary, space it so you won't stress the projector's mounting tab when you tighten the bolt. It WILL break if you tighten it too much and bend this tab back too far.

As seen in this picture, we used a machine screw. We didn't buy a 3" long bolt b/c we measured incorrectly and there was no time to go back to Home Depot to buy some 3" bolts. We ended up just using these long machine screws

11: the corner light will stick too far out, making a huge traingular shaped gap. You will need to completely shave the bottom tab completely off the corner light. The top tab doesn't really get in the way so it isn't necessary to shave it away.

After you do this you can tuck the corner light away under the fender.
12: To get the corner light sitting this flush, we had to press downward on the headlight so the corner would rest on top of the mounting bracket tab, then tuck the corner under the tip of the fender. It snaps in place well and won't come out while you are driving.
  13: Repeat steps 2-12 for the other side.
  14: Now you can install the grille. You will most likely have to shave away about 1/4" of the grille away on each side to fit these headlights. Unless you mount your headlights farther over. You can still use the 4 retainer clips on the modified headlight brackets to secure the grille.
  15: Now for the wiring part. Not sure what color wires your mirage projectors will come with, but if they are like ours, they come with a harness with a plug with a tan, green and brown wire. These three wires tell the relays whether or not your using the lows or highs.

16: Since we dont' own Mirages, you won't need that plug, so cut it off the Projector harness. You will also need to cut or splice the drivers-side stock headlight plug. If your harness or headlight plug wires are different colors, you are going to have to test which one does what with a voltmeter, otherwise wire them as follows:

Stock harness:
Black = ground
Red = highbeam
Red w/Yellow stripe = lowbeam

Projector Harness:
Green = ground
Tan = highbeam
Brown = lowbeam.
  17: After rigging the relay plug, route the two headlight plugs to each headlight and plug them in. You will need to find a 10mm bolt to ground the round ring terminals to.
18. Next you will have to wire a constant power wire to the relays. Using the female disconnect, splice both of these red wires together and crimp them to the female disconnnect. Plug this connector onto one of the spare spade terminals in your fusebox. If you want, cut a tab out of the fuse box lid so these wires won't block closing it
19. Next, you will have to rig your halo rings to work with your parking lights. You will have to remove the corner light to do this. Using the self-tapping connectors, crimp both red power wires from the halo rings to the red wire on the corner light harness. Crimp the two white wires on the halo ring harness to the black/brown wire on the corner light. Your halo rings should work!

20: Once you wire all that stuff up, test to make sure they all work properly!

(Parking lights on)
(low-beams on)
(hight beams on)
(lights off)
 
Gap on passenger side
Gap on drivers side