Low Profile Headlight Kit Installation

The Low Profile headlight Kit you have purchased has been carefully engineered for "do it yourself" installation. The unit is composed of laser-cut high carbon steel components that have been jig-welded for an exact fit. Installation diagrams are on the last page. Before starting, check all parts from parts list on the back of the 2nd page. We suggest reading the instructions through at least one time before beginning actual assembly. Installation is a follows:

Removing The Stock Headlight Buckets

1. Remove the black plastic shrouds that surround both stock headlight assemblies (left & right). These are held in by four Phillips head screws on each assembly.

2. Remove the body colored headlight lid. Use an 8mm socket or wrench to remove the four mounting bolts (early cars lids are held on by Phillips screws that are very soft - user extreme caution not to strip the screw heads out). Use a correct size, high quality screwdriver on your first try). Hint: These early screws stick because the heads are usually painted over at the factory. Take a knife and "cut" the paint between the head and the surface. Make the cut between the washer, they bucket and the head and the washer. Then squirt with WD-40 or liquid Wrench and let penetrate... then loosen. If you strip the screw head do this... take a hacksaw blade (thin) or Dremel tool and make a new "slot" on this go around. This has always worked at our shop. Before removing the screws/bolts on the fender side rear (both sides), put a length of masking tape on the fender to protect the paint. The rear screws/bolts will require a Phillips screwdriver to start them.

3. Remove the Mazda headlight harness connector from the back of the headlight. Unclip the harness and pull it away from the work area.

4. Pop off the stock crank rod that runs from the headlight retractor motor to the headlight bucket at the point it attaches to the retractor motor stock pivot arm (excellent example of a run on sentence). Caution: you must pop it off "straight away", never at any angle. There is a plastic stud within the sockets and if it is broken off, the socket will not hold properly. Use two flat bladed screwdrivers, one on either side of the nylon joint to pop the joint open, prying between the metal headlight assembly and the crank rod. Figure 5 gives an overview.

5. Remove the two pivot bolts the run through the bushings at the rear of the stock headlight bucket assembly ( the hinge point). These bushings will be removed later in Step 6. Lift the assembly away from the car. Now remove the crank rod from the other pivot knob using the same method as described in Step 4. Set aside for later re-install.

6. Using a suitable tool (see Tidbits at the end), carefully remove the two bronze bushings out of the Mazda headlight bucket assembly. These will be pressed into similarly located holes in your new Low Profile Headlight bucket. The bushings are made of brass... soft stuff for a metal... take great care not to deform the bushings or to scratch the insides of the bushings' bores (see Fig. 1). These bushings are not able to be purchased separately from Mazda!

7. Some headlight buckets have a conical rubber stopper through the back tab. Just remove it... it was put there during the crinkle coating process and should have been removed. The headlight buckets are left and right (right = drivers' side). When looking at a bucket, the two large holes will be facing you; the top of the bucket will have an arch. The "step" side will be installed next to the fender of the Miata. Assemble the headlight into the 4 floater plates provided: Each bucket will need two floater plates. Each floater plate has two bent tabs... when installed, the tabs will point into the bucket. Floater plates slip onto the lights from backside. On the glass of each bulb is the word "top". This tells you the obvious. Do a dry run with all the floater plates to the buckets so you know which ones go where. The only go one way... the driver's side floaters have a red dot on them. Insert a bulb into a floater plate and line up the tabs. Take a fillister head screw (slotted) and screw it in until it just starts to come through both tabs. Take the 6/32" nut, hold it with a pair of needle nosed pliers, then screw in the screw into the nut. The fit is tight, but very do-able. Do the same with the other side. When the tabs on the second side seem too far apart, take the pliers and squeeze the two tabs together gently. Then finish with the screw and nut. Do this for all four floater plates. If you think this won't work, keep trying. We have always accomplished this at the shop. Take a floater/light assembly and attach it to the bucket. Take one of the m4x30mm screws and put through one of the holes. Slip a spring onto the screw, then screw it into the bucket until a quarter of an inch comes through one of the holes. Do the same with the other two screws for this plate. Now put the 4mm nylocs on the back of each screw. Only allow the screw to come even with the end of the nut. The purpose of the nut is to "cap" the screw so it will not vibrate loose. If you tighten it further, you will only limit the adjustability of the
floater/light assembly. Do the same with the other assemblies.

8. Attach the wiring harness relay to the back of the bucket with the m4x10mm screw. Turn the relay so it does not show or interfere with the bulbs. Connect the ends of the wiring harness to the wires on the headlights as follows: White wire to white wire (low beams); Orange wire to white wire (high beams)... on the other bulb; Black wire to black wire on both headlights. Included are zip ties to tidy any loose wiring. You may choose to do this after the bucket assemblies are mounted in the car. Note: the white wire from the bulbs are relatively fragile. We suggest using needle nose pliers to grip them so as not to separate the connector from the wire. This is especially important anytime when separating any of these connectors from each other.

9. Assemble a pivot knob to the main Low Profile Headlight bucket in the underside center position (similar in location as the pivot knob on your stock headlight bucket). Do not scratch the pivot bulb! Use a 7/16" Allen wrench to tighten the ¼" nyloc nut completely.

10. Remove the small rubber-headed stop bolt (and locknut) from the Mazda headlight bucket and relocate into your Low Profile main bucket in the same position. This can be a tough one because of paint over spray. The rubber stopper can easily be removed to reveal a hex head bolt. Be patient and use WD-40. replace the stopper if you removed it previously. Adjust to similar height as you found it to be in your stock bucket. These may need to be adjusted one you put the crank rod in place to insure proper position. The retractor motor should just compress the rubber stop as it raises the headlight to the full position. If the rubber is not compressed, your headlight will jitter as you ride down the road. If it is too tight, undue stress will be put on the stop arm and the retractor motor. You will check this later.

11. press the Mazda bronze bushings into your Low Profile buckets in the appropriate positions. Make sure that the shoulders of the bushings are on the outside surface of the main bucket and that the bushings are fully seated and squarely installed. If they are slightly less snug in the new bucket, its OK.

12. Assemble the other pivot knob to the new (short) pivot arm (do not scratch the bearing surface of the knob's head while tightening). Secure with the nut and lock washer provided. Remove the stock crank arm from the Mazda retractor motor (14mm open end wrench). Use a large bladed screw driver and twist it between the motor and the crank arm. Slip the new crank/knob assembly over the motor shaft and start the Mazda nut back on the shaft... finger tight only. Leave the nut loose enough to allow the crank to be swung around the shaft for a later adjustment.

13. Pop the crank rod onto the bucket knob. Sometimes the snapping on the new pivot knobs can take a little extra effort. Bring the Low Profile bucket assembly to the car, noticing which side main bucket fits which side (left or right). Fit the assembly into the pivot brackets and install the stock pivot bolts through the relocated bronze bushings, which are now in your Low Profile bucket. Tighten the pivot bolt/nut assemblies. The bushings may let the bolt through enough to just catch the threads... its OK... just tighten slowly. Move the bucket up and down to test for free movement.

14. The headlamp retractor switch must be in the "up" position for this next step. Pop the crank rod onto the other pivot knob. Hold the headlight bucket in the highest position against the re-installed rubber stop... ideally the crank rod and the pivot arm should be in a straight line and tighten the motor shaft nut position. Adjust your rubber stopper as described in step #10 if necessary and tighten. See fig 3. Do the other side.

15. Fit the Mazda headlight harness plastic connector through the receiving hole in the center cross bracket of the Low Profile main buckets. This holds the connector in a safe position to make the electrical connections and keeps the harness out of the retractor mechanism.

16. Insert the male terminal ends from your new headlight wiring harnesses into the Mazda black plastic headlight connector as follows: White wire male spade to the Mazda Red/Black wire female connector (center low position in most cases); Orange wire spade to the Mazda Red/White wire position; Black wire spade to the black wire position. Do the other side too. Use the zip ties now to keep things neat. Beware of tying the wires too close to the back of the bulbs. They get very hot! Keep the wires away from the bulbs. Re-connect the Mazda harness clip to the side of the bucket with the hole.

17. Turn on your lights and confirm proper operations in the high and low beam positions. If the high beams will not turn off, it means the diode on the relay is reversed. Just reverse those connections or call customer service. Repeat with the other bucket. Install the four lid bolts/screws into their holes. Leave them loose so the headlight lids can slide in easily in the next step. Put masking tape on the fender across from the rear fender side bolt. If you use a screwdriver to tighten this one, the paint can easily be chipped.

18. re-install your body colored headlight lid using the original bolts/screws. The front fender side bolts/screws will now be too long to screw in all the way. Use the supplied washers for the front only on the fender side. Adjust the lid to the correct position with respect to the hood, bumper edge, and fender line.

19. Observe the spacing of your headlight lid edges with respect to the surrounding body work. If the lid does not align properly around its perimeter, the entire assembly can be adjusted. Mazda has provide three nuts that hold the entire headlight mount/motor unit to the car. Two nuts are in a inside horizontal position near the retractor motor mount and the other is in a vertical position on the outside of the motor area near the fender wall. By loosening the nuts slightly, the entire lid/bucket/motor/mount assembly can be shifted to achieve lid alignment. Re-tighten the holding nuts and check all motions. Sometimes it may be necessary to "muscle" the bucket assy. towards the fender to fine tune the fit.

20. Adjust your headlights per the attached diagram (Fig. 4). Park on level ground close to a blank wall and mark the center of your low beams with a piece of tape. Back your car up dead-straight about 25 feet. With the low beams on, the top of your low beam pattern should just touch your tape marks. Adjust the lights vertically if this is not the case. Adjust the lights horizontally so that the two low beam patterns just touch in the center. Check each side lows by standing in front of one light pod as close to the Miata as possible. This will completely block one light showing the precise location of the opposite sides light pattern. Do the same with the other side, then make the necessary adjustments. High beam adjustments will need to be fine tuned after final installation... a dark stretch of seldom traveled road and a Phillips screw driver will do. Not rocket science, but it works.

Tidbits to help

Tidbit for Step 6. We use for the "suitable" tool a 5/16" socket that fits with a ¼" nut driver handle. Secure the bucket with a vice, position the socket and tap with a hammer......lightly.

Tidbit for Step 7. take a moment to look at both assembled headlight/bucket units on a bench. Put them side by side. Orient them as if they were on the Miata, but closer to each other. As you are looking at them, the lights on both assemblies that are closest to the center are the high beams. The high beams need to be screwed in a little closer to the bucket than the lows. By doing this, a slight offset is created. This offset is beneficial because there is more clearance with the high beams than with the lows. This is in regard to the distance to the outer edge of the bucket.

If you have any questions about this install, call customer service (310) 815-9825 (Pacific Time). We install these kits every week at the shop. We will be glad to be of assistance. These instructions have been revised with the help of our customers and our own experience over 6 times. We hope they are clear and easy to follow.

Team BSP