DIY Parabolic lights Installation Guide

[Nexus]

First of all, there are many AMC members that have contributed in this thread. All Acknowledgements will be listed in the end. This thread is to help new members with 3rd Generation Magnas such as TE, TF TH and TJ model owners with standard executive lights to convert into the Verada’s KE, KF, KH, KJ or VRX etc. model. A lot of work is involve writting such threads so please support us by giving relevant information should we have mistakes in the write up. Give me a pm to edit the thread so that I can update it without messing up this thread. I hope that the information here will help all new parabolics users to know what is involved before buying them.

To start off, the normal 3rd generation executive lights look like these:



The Verada lights or also known as parabolics, look like these:



Or these:



Notice that there is also a difference in the pictures as you have the one piece parabolics which look like this:



Or the two piece parabolic which look like these:



The difference is the one piece comes moulded with the indicator attached and looks more stylish. However its lenses is made out of plastic so over wattage bulbs are not recommended (they should not be used anyway IMO) as they may make the lenses yellow due to the excessive heat from the globes. One piece parabolics cost from anything $400-$500.00 from Wreckers, members here in For Sale section or Ebay. Anything below is a good buy. They cost about $475.00 each from Mitsubishi dealers.

The two piece parabolics, on the other hand is made of glass. Even if this is so, I would not recommend over wattage bulbs to be used. The two piece parabolic can use the Executive side indicators with it, if prefered. Cost about $350 - $450.00 approx

If you are leading to think that the Verada’s headlight will give more lighting then you should read the Headlight FAQ written by Heathyoung.

These lights are also known as Parabolics and considered stylish looking compared to the standard headlights. Though they look crystal clear they do not project their light as good as the executives. I should not talk more on this as most members would have READ the Headlight FAQ and know the reason why the lighting is not as bright etc. This thread focuses strictly on installation of one piece or two piece parabolics.

[Nexus]

First of all the Globes for parabolics.

The Low beam is H7



The Highbeam is H1



The parkers for normal Executives and Two piece parabolics (mod) can use T10 H5W (wedge type)



The one piece parabolics parkers use T4W (Pin type)



Please REMEMBER the low beam and the high beam globes in the parabolics are held on by a globe holder! Don’t be mislead!

Here is a pic of the lowbeam glob connector and part number.



If you did buy a pair of parabolics without globes then you are required to get the connectors Very Likely!

The parkers are subjective to how you mod in a two piece parabolic as you could use the wedge type or the pin type. For the one piece parabolic, there is no need to mod for their parkers as it is mostly built in and uses the pin type parkers.

Before you attempt this installation you should first understand how to do the following:
1. Parabolic wiring conversion for the low beams. (high beams are left alone!)
2. Installing the parabolic lights.

[Nexus]

Parabolic wiring has been the most frequently asked. What’s the BIG DEAL about it?
Well first off the parabolic are using H7 globes which are 2 pin globes, the standard executive uses the 3 pin globes which are H4 type. You will find that the current 3pin connector will be able to attach to the 2 pin globe holder of the parabolics. Turning on your lights will notice that the low beams will not light up but the high beams are ok when you turn them on.

The IDEA is to have both lights on when on Highbeam mode, and only lowbeams with parker when using normal headlights.

The idea here is to cut the PURE RED wire from each side of the connectors which are from your existing Magna, and have it connected (jointed) with additional wiring of your own and ground it to the Magna’s body.





A closer look at the RED wire we are all referring.



Some people who do not wish to cut the original wire in their cars can get adaptors or extra plugs to do this. An example of an adaptor is shown below:

In this example for the below adaptors, the red wire leads to the green wire and therefore you cut it and ground it. (this is an example for the adaptors.)



Which ever method you choose, is still the same, you need to cut the pure red wire and ground it from the connector end as explained in the drawing. If you are doing it by the adaptors see where the red wire leads to and cut the wire on the adaptor’s side.



Do this on both sides of your head lights for the low beams. I suggest that you try one and test first. You can simply use the globe holder from the parabolic with a H7 globe to test it rather than fitting everything and having a hard time on the wiring.

The grounding points for these wires are on the side of the Magna’s body and is attached by a screw:



Remove water bottle reservoir and Battery as space is required to find the grounding points. Attached the newly joint wire to the grounding points on each side, and test the lights. Once you have tested the low beams and high beams are working, remove the globe holders and globes and put them back into your parabolics. We be moving to the final step of putting in the lights.

[Nexus]

To install the headlights, the two piece parabolics requires you to mod the lights to have parkers in them, as this is a requirement for road use. The professional way requires you to drill and place a grommet pushing the parkers through.





The easy way about this is taking out the metal brackets that holds the parkers, and using a round file to file it till your parkers fit in them. Below shows a picture of where the parkers go. You can remove the bracket and file it down, otherwise it may be tight to fit in.



You could do the lazy way by having the parker wiring going through the rubble globe seal if you are afraid of drilling. Obviously this should be done before you fit the lights in. So before you remove your Executive headlights ensure your two piece parabolics is parkers ready. You can cut of the wiring of your parkers and ensure the parking light holder will fit into the parabolic parker holder.

The 2 piece parabolics can be a pain if you are the only person doing it, likewise for single piece parabolics. I recommend having two people on the job makes things easier. The two piece parabolics will fit straight in without having to remove the bumper. However due to the headlight brackets they may give you some difficulty in installing the indicators but they will fit.

Here is a picture of how it goes into the Magna for two piece parabolics.

[Nexus]

The one piece parabolics is slightly more difficult as it involves removing the front bumper. Below is a picture that show the removal of the bumper.
Some people are lazy and will just loosen enough to flex the bumper for enough clearence for the one piece parabolics to fit in. Just be careful to put a cloth to prevent scratching your beautiful paint work.

Removal of Bumper in general:



The one piece parabolics should go straight in without major issues, you need to relax and just find the fitting. In some cases, headlight bracket will be required to be removed in order to fit the lights in.

Enjoy Your parabolics.

PM me to edit any changes, keep the thread clean

Acknowledgements
Rally Art
Icarian
DVS
Ashneel
Heathyoung

[Ashneel]

excellent right up man. nice detailed explaination of the whole process.

[s_tim_ulate]

Good work Nexus!

Please submit any additions/corrections into this thread and myself or Nexus will edit accordingly.

[DVS]

Great work, now everyone will now PM you instead of me.

[BillionaireBoysClub]

Thanks for this guide, my one piece parras will be arriving any time soon, bit gutted that i have to take the bumper off though

[Nexus]

Thanks for this guide, my one piece parras will be arriving any time soon, bit gutted that i have to take the bumper off though

Let me know if you need help, I am in Perth as well.