My Halo Installation Experience/Magnum

**Dantra** · 03-23-2008, 11:26 PM

Recently I purchased the Magnum Halo kit through AAC along with many other magnum owners. While waiting for my goods to arrive, I decided to tear into them since time was on my side (Motor is on the stand)

I was kinda disappointed to find that no one has actually placed any detailed info or pics...at least that I can find. So I figured I would post my newbie halo experience as I stumble along kinda guessing.

I watched the video that AAC has on youtube and it was very helpful but did find that it's not quite as easy as it looks...but survivable. This is something that most anyone can do. I don't have any pics of me baking or prying etc but the pics of that wouldn't do more than just explaining (I decided to make a few for reference). I began by preheating the oven at 230 degrees and placing my headlight in (remove all bulbs and wiring first) being sure to place it in the middle of the oven for 10 then 15 then finally 20 minutes in all. After 20 minutes they were as loose as they were gonna get and not just pull apart like in the youtube video. **Once they arrived I found that the instructions backed what I had done/230 for 20 ** Wear proper protection such as Mechaics gloves and keep a few towels for your lap. Ovens vary so you may find that you may have to increase temps and leave in longer. Do Not Keep Opening Door To Check...This Causes Elements To fire Alot Which Can Cause Melting

In order to get them apart I used a medium sized screwdriver and a small pry tool. I found it best to start at the lower inside corner, which would be closest to the grill. DO NOT FORCE IT. Slowly begin to seperate the lens from housing by inserting the screwdriver and opening the gap...move down that gap with the small prybar, giving slight twist motions to open the gap farther. I did this in both directions working away from that corner having to reheat 2 or 3 times (or more) for 5 minutes in the process...I may have being too careful but hey...It's worth it. Once I had those 2 edges with a considerable gap and it was good and hot I gave it a pull as if it were hinged at the opposite end. Be careful here as well since the inner housing may want to come with it. From here you should be golden. JUST KEEP IT HOT THE WHOLE TIME AND BE PATIENT

Take advantage of the hot housing and work the glue out of the seams unless you plan to reseal using the existing glue (more on the reseal at he end) This stuff turns to hard plastic when it cools and is imposiible to get out cool. Keep the housing hot and run a small screwdriver along each edge wall, theb come back at it from the bottom flipping it out. Keep it hot for easier cleaning.

If you have chrome inners it is really easy to eliminate that. I began by simply using 1000 grit sandpaper to sand the chrome off, super easy. The chrome is so thin that it is a very simple process. The non chrome area I just sanded enough to rough them up. I used a good primer (Dupli Color Engine Enamel/Primer) being careful to hit all the edges, nooks and crannies. Prime them using light passes and allowing them to dry before making another. Once everything is primed I began to inspect for areas that may need more attention and lightly sanded any areas that may have collected any dust. I then moved on to my BBQ Black Paint (Krylon BBQ & Stove) I was actually quite impressed with the look of it, nice satin finish. With this paint I found that it dried extremey fast and did not like to be applied too lightly. So I layed it on as heavy as I could without getting any runs. I was very impressed with the final outcome. As a side note again...Be sure to pay attention to edges,nooks and crannies.

Also while I had this assembly apart I decided to go ahead and tint my side markers for a cleaner look using nite shade spray tint.

The thing that I struggled with the most was just exactly where to place the low beam ring. I searched every picture I could find and alot seemed different than others. Some seemed flush and some seemed to set in a little. Was also unsure whether a top hole was needed for the wire or if it tucked in behind. The instructions that came with them kinda left me unsure in both of these areas. They state the ring places in flush with the shape of the housing and that you drill "A" 2mm hole. This is what I came up with...

2 holes, 1 upper and 1 lower

The center of the holes are about an 1/8 of an inch in at just the point where the with heat shrink hits. that's something else, I'd swear these are different rings than almost all the others I have seen. The others have silicone 90 deg ends or something ***I contacted AAC about this and the old style ring did have these ends. They stopped using them because at times these ends had to be turned a small amount and this is how most installation breakage occured...Too much twisting and SNAP***. Anyway, once the holes were drilled I test fit, painted the back of the ring with black nail polish (closest thing I could find at the store to a paint pen) and then taped into the position in which would be forever. When I was happy with the placement I began to epoxy 3 areas...which is where the wiring places through the holes and 1 spot 1/2 around the ring where it touched the housing. Pay close attention that the epoxy doesn't run past the ring onto the face. I just kinda kept it on the run in the directionit needed to be by turning the housing one way or the other until it set up some. If some does get where it's not wanted, I found that it wiped off pretty easy with no major stain--I used my T shirt

If any excess is on the tube I found that a drinking straw worked well to kinda scoop it off before it hardened. Hey, it worked

I then moved to the larger low beam rings. They seemed much easier to place or so I thought...until I went to put the chrome turn reflecter in. I had placed the larger ring just as I had the smaller, roughly an 1/8th of an inch from the edge to the hole center. This wouldn't allow the reflecter to snap in so I broke out the dremel and trimmied the front reflecter lip . I just marked where the ring was touching it with an exacto knife and used a small drum sander on the dremel to remove the area to the line I had made. You can do just the same or find your ring placement with the reflecter in place. To find the location for the wire hole I bent the wire inside of the shrink tubing inward to allow me to lay it in and mark. Be caustious not to bend it to close to the ring for fear of breaking it. I used a bit that was just big enough for the shrink tubing to stick in. I'd give a size but there was none on the bit. After the drilling, painting the back side, placing ((bend the wires into the holes and allow some of the shrink tubing to go in)), taping and finally epoxying just as I did with the smaller ring and it was done.

Now that my rings were in and tested it was time to think about the inverter location. There wasn't anything mentioned about location and since I had put my ends on the rings wire terminals for testing (theres some hindsight) I decided to just mount them within the housing. Not so sure that the rings wires were long enough to do anything else. Using the epoxy that had been supplied I mixed some up and applied it to the inverter and located it between the high and low beams on the bottom of the enclosure body. In these pics you can see that it doesn't matter which wire goes where when placing in the connecter plugs supplied...the rings have no positive or negative wiring. Just be sure to use the outter 2 holes and leave the middle empty. You'll also see that I drilled a hole in the back to allow the red and black inverter power wires to poke out. Might not be how everyone else does it but it's done.

By now the housing with the rings is plugged in and sitting in front of the enclosure. I placed the housing into the enclosure checking for aligment and placement of the feet. The only problem I found was that I had to bend the nubbies ( on the inside where they poke in) of the large ring a little bit because the were rubbing the chrome area between the high and low beam reflecters...no biggie and it could've been dremeled if needed. Once sure all was well I began shaking any loose pieces out, cleaning everything with Windex and a soft cloth. At the end I gave it some thorough passes with Tracys Swifter to collect any dust particles. Worked great. Take some time and inspect everything at this point, you want it as clean as you can live with because once it's sealed there won't be any going back. Don't forget to clean the inside of the lens either. My first inverter just failed 11/28/08. Back apart they must come and I may seek out trying to mount the invereter externally.

Ready to seal? Is everything clean?...check. Are my wires out?...check. Are my sealant paths clean?...check. Have you test fitted the lens to the enclosure body? Go ahead and practice a few times paying attention not to bump the corners of your housing that you painted. I did this early on and found that my paint chipped when I bumped and rubbed it...repainted and knew better next time. After practicing the fit a few few times I found that it helped in the final assembly.

Ok...it's ready! I used Permatex black silicone sealer that was in a dispensing can, kinda like the cheese in a can. What I actually used was intended as a gasket maker but worked well, just took 24 hours to fully cure. It was easy to use but was like $12 or so...There are cheaper options such as just plain black silicone in a caulking tube. But I figured if there was any left, it may be handy to have around. I applied it quite liberally and found any excess was very easy to clean up since it had such a slow curing time.

After applying I began lens placement, taking my time to check the edge all the way around. Be sure to watch the area that would be the outter edges near the fender. Had the most trouble there in my case. Once the lens was in place and I was sure that everything was sealed up I began taping the lens to the body with all the pressure I could apply...snapping any tabs that lived into place to help hold it along with the tape.

24 Hours later here was my finished product. They look more blue in the pics than they really are. These 10Ks really aren't as bright as some think.

The outside of the lens is a little dirty still and has some of the typical road blasting but they look great. AAC makes an awesome product here and the service was great but they do lack some in the instruction department. They certainly need to update the instructions to the newer rings...add things such as areas to watch like the turn reflecter...and maybe be more specific about inverter location and include better wiriring diagrams with alternate options for those with wiring questions. And last of all...Offer the suggested paint pen and a tube of silicone as a add on purchase to save guys time trying to track these items down. If I had to do it again, I would and it would be a breeze. It's just the first time and too little knowledge of it that was rough.

I know I've went on and on with this thread but I just wanted to be sure that I got it all out there and share the delimas I ran into. I'm not an expert now but I learned alot and hopefully you can learn from what I had to learn the hard way.

If this somehow helps you with your install please post about it and let others know what you experienced and post pics here of your finished product. If in turn it hasn't helped you and I'm way off base, let everyone know as well. There is just too little information on these installs and with all the group buys that have been going on...Theres gonna be lotsa folks looking for answers.

This has been my halo installtion experience...Happy Moddin'

**Dantra** · 03-26-2008, 07:39 PM

Heres a great thread on wiring them on seperate switchs. Doesn't actually show the wiring details but has some great pics of the many ways they can be ran/

Thanks AAC....

Heres another thread that talks more directly about the actual wiring of the system...such as switches and ways to run the wiring.

halo wire

Be sure to give these guys props because these are very common questions that I have seen asked. BTW both of these links were found in the AAC vendor section on page 1

**Fast Willy** · 10-07-2008, 06:05 PM

They look great. Congrats on a successful install.

**FloridaRT** · 10-07-2008, 06:27 PM

There were other threads about doing the install, I forget where.

I managed to break 3 of my Halos doing the install - not all at the same time.

They look good, but I would not do the install again.

Bob

**EvoATL** · 01-01-2010, 07:04 PM

Any additional tips on seperating the lense from the housing? 20 minutes at 230 degrees did nothing for me, I think all I managed to do was ruing the black housing with pry marks... :( ugh

**Bagged Mag** · 01-02-2010, 12:27 AM

leave it in longer or turn up the oven slightly. its not getting hot enough.

**NOTPAID4** · 01-02-2010, 01:32 AM

I love the look of halo's but would NEVER attempt to do this myself!!!

**robpp** · 01-02-2010, 08:40 AM

one comment: i sealed mine up using 3m window weld ribbon. its butyl rubber, similar to oem glue, and softens with heat. silicone is not affected by heat so you may find it near impossible to reopen if needed.

**FloridaRT** · 01-02-2010, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by NOTPAID4MSRT8

I love the look of halo's but would NEVER attempt to do this myself!!!

Smart man...................

Bob

**charginscott** · 01-02-2010, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by robpp

one comment: i sealed mine up using 3m window weld ribbon. its butyl rubber, similar to oem glue, and softens with heat. silicone is not affected by heat so you may find it near impossible to reopen if needed.

A nice sharp razor blade does good