2 years to bash houses thought it was 2 weeks after all theres only 3 wires, when I was a lad we did a 4 year apprenticeship then when you came out of your time they still wouldn't let you loose on your own for about another year,
 
Depends who you do your time with, I did 4 years and a year experience. And my apprentices now are on the same scheme with JTL. A full time collage course is 2 years, but I wouldn't employ someone who has a peice of paper saying they are fully qualified but have no on site experience.

My lads do an onsite apprenticeship 4 days at work, 1 day at collage
5 years total
 
Total finished costs:

Facelift kit: including front adaptive lights, rear supercharged clear lights, side vents, front bumper with fog lights and washer jet pipework, nozzles and all necessary brackets for fitment...
£980

New front reinforcement bar £80

Washer bottle and pumps £20

Paint for bumper: £50

Wiring for lights(connectors etc...) £50

Total £ 1,180


Sold the rear supercharged lights for £350

And expect to sell all of my l322 stuff for at least £350

Total costs for facelift upgrade: £480


Not bad going I think ;)
 
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Hi, just found your thread and hoping to pick your brains! I've just bought everything, I think, I need to convert my 2005 vogue to the '06/'09 front end but was after a bit of info on the conversion!
Did you need to cut much off the front end to get the new headlights to fit? And did you need to re-bond and re-paint the sections that were cut!?
I'm hoping to do the conversion myself as I'm not sure if any of my local body shops are up to the job! Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks
 
Hi,

Well.. Not too much cutting really, you just have to take it slow to get stuff to fit right. Cut a bit, check the fitment, cut a bit more etc...

So not to cut away too much.

I also followed the write up on fullfatrr which helped a lot

Regarding the front wings that need the brackets grinding off, yes they will need bonding together after and painting up to make things look pukker

It took a day to do with me and a friend

Dead easy really lol
 
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Ahh that's great, thanks for the info! Don't suppose you'd have a link to the other thread!? It would be very handy to have a bit of a guide to follow. Is the washer pump a bit of an issue as well then!? That's the first time I've heard that mentioned! I bought the new pre-wired connectors for the lights but have nothing for the washer pump-might just do without them!? Thanks again.
 
Ahh that's great, thanks for the info! Don't suppose you'd have a link to the other thread!? It would be very handy to have a bit of a guide to follow. Is the washer pump a bit of an issue as well then!? That's the first time I've heard that mentioned! I bought the new pre-wired connectors for the lights but have nothing for the washer pump-might just do without them!? Thanks again.
You'll need the washers to pass the MoT if you have HiD lamps as the Regs state the lens must have a method of being cleaned either by washer and wiper or high pressure wash...
 
Well an update on the headlight washers.

Yes fit the facelift (2006 on) washer tank and pumps.

Just a straight swap.

And I managed to get it working in the end! Was just a faulty pump causing my problem

So now the High pressure headlight washer works ! It really is high pressure lol
Washes other cars in the vacinity lol


A lot of people don't bother changing the washer pumps and tank
And I think most MOT testers don't even check them

Either way I wanted to do a proper job so went the whole hog and done it right the first time
You don't want to have to take the bumper off again to fit the tank later lol
 
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Ahh that's a massive help, thanks a million! I will now have to find me some more parts!! Thanks again, I may be in touch for a few more pointers along the way-cheers!
 
Hippo, where did you get the 16 pin round type multi plug thingy from for the 06 headlights? I have a 04 that someone has facelifted here and soldered the wiring straight to the pins in the headlight unit, looked on the bay and found them for 80 quid I think, cheers.
 
Hi mate

I didn't get them off eBay
I got them off another company. Here: Simtek (UK) - For All Your Automotive Connectors


This is where the £80 seller buys them and then sticks his profit on them.
I had to buy 3 though as my lights required all 16 pins to work but the kits only come with 12 of the pins wired. So I bought another plug to use the pins on to make up the extra four I needed on each plug.

You might have problems now getting the solder off your headlight plugs that have been bodged! Otherwise the plugs won't connect properly.

Hope this helps
 
Hippo, thnks for the info, I am back in the UK over Xmas so will get some then. I figured on the bodge so have managed to get another pair of lamps, don't suppose you have a wiring diagram,I did some reaserch and had a look at mine, and if I remeber there are 2 wires that need soldering together to make things work properly? at the mo the ones fitted have melted the bulbs to the plastic holder/surround!!
 
Hippo, thnks for the info, I am back in the UK over Xmas so will get some then. I figured on the bodge so have managed to get another pair of lamps, don't suppose you have a wiring diagram,I did some reaserch and had a look at mine, and if I remeber there are 2 wires that need soldering together to make things work properly? at the mo the ones fitted have melted the bulbs to the plastic holder/surround!!


no worries mate.

sounds unusual that the lamps have melted the housing, they might have fitted higher rated lamps which run hotter then normal lamps...

regarding the wiring diagram... PM me your email and ill ping one over to you.

cant believe what some DIY'ers do to there rangies ! a slight electrical problem with the already dodgy wiring on your headlights could easily fry the cars ECU's :eek::eek:

cheers :)
 
So tell me again what you did to get headlight power wash working. I've done the 2006 conversion, so I'm wanting the power wash to work.
 
Oh yes
Worked it out in the end

You need the later 2006 onwards washer bottle and pumps

Then you need to bridge two wires on the old headlight wiper motor plug to get the power wash to work
 
Does the original washer bottle with a new power wash pump not work. Which 2 wires needs to be connected?
 
Does the original washer bottle with a new power wash pump not work. Which 2 wires needs to be connected?

Nope no good, hence saying you have to change it.

Old ones are low pressure pumps, so it doesn't wash the lights, it just dribbles out!

Not sure of the cabling, will have to check my diagrams and let you know
 
Excellent work! I have a question.....If im to convert my 2002 to a 2006 (non supercharged) what parts would I need? Left head light off a 2006, right headlight off a 2006 and the front grille off a 2006?

Am I right in thinking the bumpers and grilles are different from a standard 2006 compared to a supercharged 2006?

Thanks
 

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