I purchased a set of the one piece Cefiro headlights, knowing that I was going to be into some modification to get those buggers in there.
So I started out, followed the instructions here --> http://www.redlinemax.com/3/CefiroWriteup.htm
Well it turns out that in order to get them in I had to hack apart waaay more than just what the write up says, as well as cut the grill a little bit, but they are in.
Now the problem is the lights are waay out, the fender side where the city lights are is the worst its either sticking out or corner tucked in, and without a RIDICULOUS modification to the headlight bracket/rad support brackets, I cant tuck them in any more. The only reason this bothers me so is my actual beams are not even near the road. I tried adjusting them but still NOT EVEN CLOSE. I will take pictures in a couple hours, and at night, I realize its hard to help if you can't see it.
Can anyone give me some insight here, anyone had the same problem or similar?
I really dont want to put the old headlights back on and throw the money and time out the window.

Thanks for reading,
Matt

OK the car is dirty I JUST WASHED IT!!!
anyways, here's some pics, I'll take more tonight to show how bad the beams are. and I'll pull a light out tomorrow I got to go to work right now.

 

well thats why I will never get cefiros. There is way too much work needed to make them fit and the still dont look that good. It's better to get the r34s and deal with bad light output or projectors. You need to modify a lot on the front end to get the cefiros to fit. IIRC you do need to cut the brackets to make them fit. Thats why guys say if you get cefiro you stick with them because you cant put other lights on. Maybe I'm wrong tho.

 

is there a better/more extensive write up on the install??? The Redline one is the best I've found. I really need some pointers here I'll admit it, I am stuck, short of brutality, I don't see how I am going to get the beams even close to straight!!

 

only thing I can say is try to find someone that has them installed. They'll be able to give you the best explanation. I'm almost positive the brackets need to be modified (cut I believe). Can't be sure tho.

 

well the brackets I'm having problems with are the large brackets that the 'main' bolts go through, as well as the long adjusting bolt (for aiming). I've already cut the brackets where the fenders come to a point at the front.

 

I have never installed these headlights, and for this reason plus I'm not a fan of them but when looking at the write ups it seemed as if there wasnt really just one way to do it, it is pretty much up to you and the tools you can get your hands on to make it fit, look good, sit flush, and aimed right.

my suggestion would be to go to the car and just look at it, look at the space you have to work with, figure out why its not fitting in properly, think about what you can do to make it fit in properly, cut what might be needed, bend what might be needed, make them fit, fit securely, and look as flush as possible.

 

I can get the lights to look ok apperance wise, but the beams are WAY off, I need to tuck in the bottom, escpecially on the inside towards the rad, to get the beams close. I'll post the pics of the beams tonight, any help though to at least let me know if I missed some part, or if i actually have to completely hack the brackets apart, bend, etc.?????

 

Mine were installed a while ago, but from what I remember we hacked a lot of crap. I'll try to take pics of the inside tonight, but here's what they look like outside.

 

thos look good, they're tucked in on the inner(rad) side bottom, mine I cant get in anymore!!! here are the shots of the beams:



I cant see jack shyt its driving me nuts, I really need some advice here

 

Sorry to say, I hope you knew about this before you bought them. That's perfectly normal because the shape/curving of the A32 Cefiro fenders are not the same as the A32 Maxima fenders. When installed on a Maxima, that's the best you're going to get. Most people fill that gap with black rubber weather stripping so it doesn't look as bad.

 

yeah not just the fenders but the Cefiro hood is one piece with a grill insert. Unlike the maxima which obviously has a seperate hood and grill..

 

That's not true; he can get them a lot closer to the fender than that. Should only have an inch gap at most.

 

I never installed this, but I've seen successful installation. I noticed on item 10-13 on the instructions and that's the only thing that I would check if the lights can't fit.

 

I hacked a lot more out as well (more than the instructions said). All in the corner where the marker light is. My adj. screws and mount bolts fit right up after enough cutting of the fender brackets was done. (Up by the 'zip tied' corner, and that little tab in the direct bend where the corner light was too.) The bracket the zip tie is in wil be cut down pretty good too (I'd say 1"x 1.5"). I do not have a camera though to show, so only have old pix, sorry.



I didn't have to aim them either. I have a perfect pattern, no darkspots, and cutoff is waist high (I am 5'5") at 10 feet out. Maybe I was lucky. I did use the weather stripping from Autozone to fill the fender gap. About a 6" piece on each side.

Side note: I wouldn't trade my lights for any others, esp those new dual R34 ones (they look alright, just I do not prefer them. - BUT that beam pattern!). I worked hard for my lights to install, but worth it. I love the beam, and the look. Usually you can't really notice the gap either. But everyone is entitled to an opinion, and that's just mine.

 

I cut all the stuff out of the way, but the beams are like a spread 'V', pointing out into the ditches completely. I'm wondring if the lights are faulty because I can see no way other than cutting out the old 'main' headlight bolt bracket and finding some other way to secure it. Thanks for all the imput so far, I really need to get them fixed I hate not being able to see more than 10' in front of me lol.

 

I tried to alter the OEM Maxima headlight bracket, but could not get it to work as the housing stuck out too far. Did you aim with the adj. screws? Those change it side/side. I know it sounds ridiculous, but have to ask. I messed w/ mine to see if I could get a better pattern, but ended up satisfied w/ the way they came. Some may just happen to be adj. right from the factory, also some cars are 'off' a little symmetrically. So its hard to say. Maybe you did get a bad set, its possible I guess.

 

I think the long screw is side to side (correct if wrong) and the small up and down. I put a air ratchet on them because I quickly got sick of the hour long ordeal. The adjusters aren't seeming to much at all, and I'm at the point with the long adjusters that they are litteraly doing nothing(at end of threads??) as such the only way I can see to get them close to the road is to move the whole housing, which is going to require some serious hacking and slashing, fabbing, etc. Am I the only one who has had this problem? I am going to contact the seller tomorrow because this is just ridiculous, I didnt spend the money and time to have the headlights lighting up the ditch.

 

Yes, the long gold screw is the side/ side. DEFINATELY try that. I hope you did not strip out the adj with the air ratchet, its metal on plastic, is very easy to do if your not careful. But yes they are fine threadding, it so does take a minute. If going to fab more, just try using a washer or too (diff sizes too) in between the housing and the core support, you may be able to just 'shim' it.

Like I said, mine did not need adj. but I was maybe lucky. Hopefully one of the others on here with them can help answer that for you. Maybe you recieved a faulty set, or maybe your car was punched in the nose before. These are also a possibility.

Check and make sure everything is sitting right around it before taking any extremes (not that you could, with all the cutting you already have had to do.) But I did have to wiggle and play with mine a little, but I never modified (notched left->right) the holes. I did see someone did, but do not remember who.

 

Your problem is aiming issues. You need to aim the lights. When I first installed mine, the beam pattern was pretty crappy. I turned the screw for what seemed like centuries and then I finally started seeing movement.

As stated, I hoped you didn't strip the threads with your impatience with the air ratchet.

As for the long adjuster bolt just keep turning it to the right (like if you were trying to tighten it) and it should eventually pull your light output in front of you (if nothing is stripped).

As for fitment issues, like was stated before you just need to cut or bend or remove whatever you need to get the headlights to fit. The will not be flush because of the shape, but can be made to fit well enough that a person who didn't know anything about maximas would never notice.