KMHPaladin

I've been relatively busy recently. Sprayed my tails red, and installed Valeo e-codes. Not exactly hardcore, but what the heck. I also included some progress shots of my ecode installation, because I found there wasn't all that much visual information on what specifically had to be done. Once I got down to it, it was pretty self-explanatory, but I would have preferred having the process a bit more fixed in my mind before I started.

Tails removed, painted red with Testors translucent red, and cleared:
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/tails_red_clear.jpg">

After:
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/tails_red_after1.jpg">

After, again... still need to do a bit of polishing:
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/tails_red_after2.jpg">

Now the ecodes. Dremeling my fender was a scary proposition, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. I can't emphasize how important I found the tape over the fender to be. I put a layer of foam tape over scotch tape (which I hoped wouldn't stick as well to the paint) and then a few layers of duct tape. Saved me from several nicks. Oh, and wear eye protection. You'll thank me.
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/ecodes_dremel.jpg">

Fender's gone... well, almost. Still have to take off the part at the bottom:
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/ecodes_fender_gone.jpg">

Fender cleared of necessary material, and painted with touchup. You can see the two areas - at about one o'clock, and two forty five - where I did manage to nick the fender. Thankfully they were within the "lip" and easily covered with several layers of touchup.
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/ecodes_fender_done.jpg">

Now the wiring begins. I clipped the wire about an inch behind the plug, and crimped on some 14-16 AWG crimps. I read several sites promoting the use of crimps over soldering (including VW manuals) and figured that was good enough for me. I also separated and taped off the fog wire:
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/ecodes_wiring_begin.jpg">

Now I've crimped the wires from the new 99.5+ plug to the crimps. I ended up having to go back and switch after testing; the Greedspeed instructions in the Valeo tech guide for the Driver side reversed white/black (for me, apparently high) and yellow/black (apparently low) wires. No big deal. I recommend using a tester to test for current before making your connections. The passenger side had two white/yellow wires, which complicated things slightly. I also used two layers of heatshrink, as you can see:
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/ecodes_wiring_crimped.jpg">

Crimping and testing done, heatshrink shrunk, and some extra electrical tape around the edges for good measure. I also taped the fog wire around the outside for when I eventually put fogs on.
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/ecodes_wiring_done.jpg">

The end result? Well, compare the old reflectors to the new projectors. Just a bit of an improvement:
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/ecodes_comparison.jpg">

And now, my attempts at glamor shots. See, you should have listened to the bandwidth warning.
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/640_drive.jpg">

<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/640_pond.jpg">

<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/640_rear.jpg">

<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/640_redbrick.jpg">

Yes, it's got quattro!
<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/640_rocks.jpg">

<img src="http://kmhpaladin.alotofuseless.info/audi/b5/ecode/ecode.jpg">

If you want to save a few bucks over the "wiring harness kit" from ECS or AWE, here are the part numbers:

8DO-973-734 (harness) qty: 2
000-979-225-A (wire/terminal) qty: 4 (3+city lights)

Thanks to my brother for putting up with my frequent requests for his digital camera, my good friend Dave from RPI for making me prove that you don't have to be an EE to work with electricity, StutterinJ for his advice on ecodes and red tails, and randy@5280wheel for his parts listing for the wires and 99.5+ plugs.

Indy

nice job...

SOLD2000-1.8TQMSport

very nice write up, looks sharp!

k2enemy

nice work!

SFexBOY

looks sweet man.....ecodes update the car so much

EDness

nice! clean work!

JMG-703

some silver colored bulbs to completely hide the color, as they are reflected in the housing. You can get them at supremepower.com or stealthbulbs.com

They light up amber but look silver.

Here's a before and after (unfortunately the before was in the dark):

<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~jmg703/pics/stealthcomp.jpg">

In the right pic, the amber is ALL reflection, they don't light up when I switch my headlights on, only when I signal.

Silv3rMoto

halogen or xenon ?

KMHPaladin

It was a big improvement just going from hazed-over reflectors to new projectors. Feels almost like I moved to xenons, I guess. I'd like to buy the RS6 kit when funds permit.

KMHPaladin

Thanks for the input!