How to Wire Angel Eye (Halo) Headlights

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This video covers the installation of projector and halo style headlights. Check out this episode if you want to learn more about wiring, bulb changing and tapping into the existing parking light harness.

Don't forget to watch the Headlight Sealing Episode and the general Headlight Installation and Aiming Episode.

What You'll Need

New Headlights! American Muscle offers a large variety of headlight styles for all late model Mustangs.

High Quality Bulbs: The bulb used in the video is a Luminics H1.

Wire Cutters

Crimper

14 or 16 Gauge Wire: In red and black if possible.

Line Taps: A set of four is included with the headlights.

Electrical Tape

Zip Ties

"Fully Insulated" Disconnects

Applications

This video is specific to the Ford Mustang (1999-2004) but the wiring concepts apply to any car or custom headlight.

Notes and Warnings

Be sure to seal your new headlights to avoid any moisture problems in the future.

Original Transcript

This set of headlights from American Muscle gives the Mustang a completely different look and really catches the eye at night.

The high beam, low beam and parking lights use the existing headlight and parking light connections but the halo lights and the various accent lights require some simple wiring. We'll show you every step along the way!

First thing we want to do is organize all of the wires so that they are on the parking light side of the housing and end at about the same point.

You'll need some electrical tape and wire cutters for this step. We use the tape to hold the wires in place and then use the cutter to trim the longer wires down to the right size. Each time you cut a wire you want to strip it so you have about a half inch of bare wire to work with.

We have a positive and negative wire for the halos, another set for the triplet and another set for the tiny light in the corner. So six wires total.

The next step is to make our own connector for these extra lights so that if we ever have to remove the headlight housing, for a bulb change etc., we can unplug them just as easily as we disconnect the headlights.

You can get these disconnects at a local parts store for a few bucks and each pack includes 5 pairs of female and male connectors. When connected they provide a water tight seal.

At this point we can group all of black or ground wires and twist the ends together. Then slide on one of your connectors. The connectors are a little transparent and you can see some of the wire inside but we're concerned with the metal part. That's the part you want to crimp.

After crimping the wire, a quick tug should tell you if you crimped it properly. If not using a little more force and make sure you are crimping the metal inside and not just the plastic casing.

You want to repeat this step for all of the white wires as well. After crimping it you can start bundling the wires together with some zip ties. I also recommend using electrical tape to seal and strengthen the area where the wires meet the connector.

You can use more tape to organize the halo wires since they run along the bottom. The tape won't keep them in place forever but it will make installing them a lot easier.

At this point we have taken the huge rat's nest of wires and simplified it down to just two extra connectors! Everything looks a lot simpler now.

Now we take some 16 or 14 gauge wire and cut two pieces. The red one for the power and the black one for the ground. The white wires end in a female connector so we will crimp and tape a male connector onto the corresponding red wire. Repeat for the black wire and you're about 95% done.

Before we install the headlights let's go over how to swap out a low beam bulb. These Luminics bulbs will give you a brighter, whiter beam and can be easily added to your order when you go to American Muscle.com.

Start by removing the rubber cover and folding it out of the way. Push the retainer pin forward and up to release it and then swing it out of the way and remove the bulb.

Pull the bulb out of the connector and simply slide in the new one making sure not to touch the glass part with your hand. The H1 style bulbs have little dots and a notch in one side to align it to the housing. In this case only the dots matter.

Swing the retainer around the new bulb and push it in and down to lock it. Make sure all rubber sleeves are covering the wires and then reinstall the rubber cover.

American Muscle recommends using silicone sealant for all aftermarket headlights to prevent water from leaking into your new housing. The basic idea is to apply the clear sealant where the two halves of the housing meet. You can find a more detailed video of this sealing process at www.autohow.tv or americanmuscle.com

The next question is where do we connect our red and black wires? I have a voltmeter set up to find the answer. With the negative lead connected to the battery and the parking lights on I can start probing the parking light connector with my other lead. It looks like the first wire isn't showing anything so it must be the turn signal. I don't think flashing halo lights is the goal here. The middle wire, on the other hand, is showing 11 volts. Bingo.

The black wire on the connector is a dead giveaway that it's ground so we have all the information we need! Trim back some of the wire loom and give yourself some room to work.

This headlight kit includes four, blue line taps so stretch out the one side a bit and slip it over the wire. Then take your other wire and slide it into the second hole. When you close the little flap the small piece of metal will slide down and cut into each wire making a connection.

Repeat this step connecting the red wire to the brown wire and make your connections! Just so you know the other side is the same with the middle wire being one to tap for power.

Headlight aiming is critical. Once you install your lights you may not be able to see the adjusting screw but it is there...at the edge of the headlight towards the center of the car. You will need to use a screw driver as a gear to make adjustments. We discuss the measurements needed to aim your headlights in the general headlight installation video so check that out too.

To wrap it up, this video covered wiring for halo lights and bulb changing procedure that applies to all projector headlights.

Sealing, aiming and general installation guides are covered in two other videos and you can find links to those videos at autohow.tv or americanmuscle.com.

Here are a few more after shots.